Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Family Ties ❯ Chapter 53 ( Chapter 53 )

“Family Ties”

 

January 2007 ShenLong

 

Chapter 53

 

Crouched in her cramped hiding place, Nurse Brown listened intently as she distinctly heard the sound of the door knob turning. Holding her breath and trying to keep her heart from racing, her mind scrambled to try to come up with who might be coming into the basement now. Had it been Duo she was sure he would have made some sort of noise to let her know it was him. God how she wished he would call out, tell her to come out from hiding, that everything was okay.

 

Seemed she wasn't going to have any such luck any time soon.

 

Fervently she hoped it wasn't their captors, or the other voices she'd heard. Come to think of it, who were those other people?

 

She made out the sound of someone entering, but still no voice. She tried to crawl closer to the wall.

 

Keitaro started to stir.

 

// Not now, // thought Nurse Brown as she tried to keep the infant from making any sound. “Shhh, little man. We have to be silent,” she whispered to the child.

 

Keitaro blinked open sleepy eyes, confused as to where he was for the moment.

 

Then an anguished cry tore through the basement and into the night, shattering the silence.

 

“DUO!”

 

Margaret caught her breath. She -->knew[Author ID1: at Thu May 7 20:41:00 2009 ] that voice.

 

“Heero?” she called out tentatively. At the same time, startled by the scream, Keitaro started to cry.

 

* * *

 

“Heero?”

 

Hearing his name and the sound of a baby crying, Heero looked around wildly. Seconds later he was joined by Trowa and Quatre.

 

“Nurse Brown? Duo?” Heero cried out as he shot fully into the basement to look around. A movement in the corner caught his eye and he headed for a pile of rags, drums and cans.

 

“Over here, Heero,” called the nurse, the relief evident in her voice. Being crouched in the corner as she was and covered too, she couldn't do much to get herself out. Her good arm cradled the babe, whilst her wrist, although bound, was still useless.

 

“Heero? You found Duo?” Quatre questioned as he homed in on the corner Heero was heading for.

 

“Give me a hand,” Heero barked, ignoring the question. His heart was pounding in his chest, nerves just about completely shot.

 

Both Trowa and Quatre were beside the Japanese man in a second, hands reaching and pulling away the drums and rags. Beneath it all they found the nanny and Keitaro, huddled tightly in the corner and shaking.

 

“Thank, Allah!” Quatre sighed when he saw the pair.

 

“Nurse Brown, Keitaro,” Heero breathed and reached in to take his wailing son.

 

Keitaro was passed over, the baby being hugged close to Heero's chest and swamped with kisses, the child settling instantly as he recognized the scent and sound of his father.

 

Trowa reached in and with Quatre's assistance, managed to get Nurse Brown out from the corner.

 

“Thank Allah you're all right,” Quatre breathed and hugged the nurse tightly.

 

Margaret allowed the hug, the relief at finally being found reducing her to tears.

 

Heero checked his son from the top of his head to the tips of his toes, eyes flooding with relief when he found the child unharmed. Only when he was certain his son was okay, did Heero turn his attention to Nurse Brown and noticed the bandage on her wrist, the pale, withdrawn look about her face.

 

Choking back a sob, Heero wrapped the woman in a one armed embrace, his other arm still holding his son close. “Thank the stars you're alive and okay,” he mumbled.

 

“Am I relieved to see you,” Nurse Brown managed to get out around the lump in her throat.

 

“Where's Duo?” Trowa asked as he continued to search around the basement.

 

“Isn't he with you?” Margaret responded as she broke away from Heero and dried her tears on the handkerchief Quatre offered her.

 

“No. There's no sign of him upstairs. We thought he was in here with you.”

 

“No,” whispered the nurse.

 

Still cradling his son, Heero turned to look at the nurse. “Where is he?”

 

“I, I don't know. There was a lot of noise, gunfire overhead. Duo told me to hide in the corner with Keitaro and stay there no matter what. I heard someone come into the basement - they,” Margaret paused for a moment, then continued, her voice cracking. “They found Duo and took him out with them. I haven't seen or heard anything since.”

 

“Heero?” Trowa said softly, drawing the agent from his thoughts. “We need to call in, let Une know we have found the nanny and baby and get a call out that Duo's still... missing.”

 

Feeling his heart plummet to his feet, Heero nodded.

 

“We'll take over for a while. You sit here with Keitaro and Nurse Brown,” Quatre said kindly and ushered the pair across the room to the bed. Once he was sure Heero wasn't about to go anywhere or do anything stupid, Quatre turned back to his husband. “You call it in, I'll start to secure the premises.”

 

Nodding, Trowa reached for his communicator and called into headquarters.

 

* * *

 

In the back of the black van, Duo and the others were jostled around as the van sped over the unsealed road and into the night. Once the van hit the sealed road again, the ride became a little smoother, something Duo was grateful for as his ribs had begun to ache with the jolting movement and his ankle throbbed from constant use in keeping himself seated.

 

Continuing on through the night, Duo's thoughts switched to the men who were now holding them hostage. He knew Duric didn't know them, was just as much in the dark as he was. He very much doubted Murphy did considering his injuries; and Farrow? He was just a wimp in Duo's eyes. The man had done nothing but shake, tremble and dart scared looks around him.

 

So, just who were these men and what did they want? At least with his other captors, they'd told him what they wanted, what their plan was. Could these people be plotting something along similar lines? Or maybe they were there to extract revenge for the murders of the ambassadors. That brought another train of thought. The L3 ambassador's body. He knew it would have been discovered by now, his almost capture evidence enough that something was going on. But had Nolen contacted the ESUN and claimed responsibility?

 

Come to think of it, where was Nolen?

 

Seeing that their captors were chatting amongst themselves, Duo took the opportunity to try questioning Duric. Keeping his voice to a whisper, he faced the other man.

 

“Where's Nolen?”

 

Obviously, Duric couldn't answer with his mouth still duct taped, but at the mention of Nolen's name, Farrow began to whimper and look decidedly green. Duo switched his attention to the geek.

 

“You know where he is?”

 

Farrow looked like he was about to pass out.

 

Noting the paleness of the skin, the sweat Farrow had broken out into and the terror in those eyes, Duo put two and two together and came up with...

 

“He's dead, isn't he?”

 

Farrow turned his head away, desperately trying to push the picture in his head of his boss sprawling over him with blood and gore oozing out, away.

 

Duric nodded. When they'd brought Farrow into the room with him and he'd seen the blood on the man's shirt, he'd known instinctively that Nolen had been killed. A quiet word in Farrow's ear and the resulting reaction confirmed his boss was no longer with them.

 

“Damn. I was looking forward to taking him apart, limb by limb and now these jerks have rained on my parade,” Duo muttered.

 

Duric's eyes widened in disbelief, he couldn't believe the cockiness of the man. Farrow did his best to curl into a ball. Murphy didn't seem to give a shit either way, he wasn't exactly fully conscious anyway, the pain from his injuries keeping him in a semi conscious state.

 

“I hope they fix him up,” Duo said quietly and nodded in Murphy's direction. “Then I can take great pleasure in ripping him apart. You too,” Duo finished and stared at the other man.

 

Duric swallowed.

 

With an evil grin, Duo moved a little closer to Duric. “I don't forget,” he said simply. “I owe you, all of you for what you did to the nanny and forced me to do. I promised you I would kill you, and that hasn't changed.”

 

The unholy light that shone in Duo's eyes chilled Duric to the core. He knew instantly that his days were numbered.

 

* * *

 

Chang returned to headquarters, tired, hungry and more than frustrated. His team had done all they could for now, forensic evidence had been gathered from the scene, the ambassador's body removed and on its way to the Preventer morgue for a full autopsy and all staff had been interviewed and had their statements logged.

 

Striding through the foyer and to the elevators, Wufei wondered if anyone had heard from Yuy and the others. How their search was going? He sincerely hoped they were experiencing better fortune than he'd had.

 

So far, all the forensic evidence they'd collected hadn't given them anything at all on the assassin's identity. No fingerprints, no DNA, nothing. Chang doubted very much they would get anything off the security tapes either.

 

He knew it was Duo, it had Duo's name written all over it and whilst Wufei felt deeply for the anguish his friend must have gone through when perpetrating the crime, he couldn't help but be thankful there wasn't any concrete proof his fellow agent was responsible.

 

Knowing how the law worked, Duo could be up on a dual murder charge - provided they had sound evidence he'd been at the scene.

 

It was a catch 22 situation - one Wufei would be quite happy to leave alone.

 

Detouring to grab a cup of green tea from the staff room, Wufei made his way to the forensics section. He'd get something to eat later.

 

* * *

 

Sally yawned, covering her mouth as she made her way along the corridor to the Preventer autopsy room. It would have been nice if this could have waited until the morning, but Preventer work was like that sometimes. It didn't obey the usual rules of society.

 

Pausing in the anti chamber to grab the surgical scrubs and don them, Sally spotted the body already on the slab, covered by a green sheet. She noted the orderly inside, clipboard in hand and taking down some notes. Slipping her feet out of her loafers, she pulled on the regulation, white gum boots and with the surgical mask loose around her neck, hair shoved inside a cap, she pushed open the door and entered the autopsy room.

 

The orderly nodded and approached, clipboard in hand. “Doctor Po,” he said.

 

“What do we have this time that's so important it can't wait until the sun is up?” Sally asked as she held out her hand for the clipboard.

 

“Caucasian male. Forty-three years of age, died in a motor vehicle accident,” the orderly reeled off.

 

Sally checked the clipboard, noting the details there and suddenly came wide awake. “Senator Jefferies?” she said in disbelief.

 

“I believe so,” the orderly replied.

 

“Shit!” Sally moved over and lifted the sheet from the corpse. “Bloody hell,” she gasped. Sally was fully aware of what was currently going on at Preventer, the various investigations, Duo still missing and the threats to the ESUN.

 

“From what I've heard on the grapevine, doc, this was a deliberate accident.”

 

Turning back to the orderly, Sally raised an eyebrow.

 

“Rumor has it that someone planted a bomb and blew up his car.”

 

Folding the sheet back, Sally turned to the orderly and spoke in a clipped tone. “Tell me, does this look like a bomb blew up in his car?”

 

The orderly swallowed and gave a sheepish smile. “Err... no. No, it doesn't, doctor.”

 

“Good. I suggest you stop listening to the rumor mill and concentrate on the facts. That is after all what we're here to find out, is it not?”

 

“Yes, ma'am.”

 

“Right. Bring over the instrument tray and let's get this autopsy started. We're after the facts, nothing else.”

 

“I'm on it, ma'am.”

 

* * *

 

Entering the forensics section several minutes later, Wufei was surprised to see the commander there. He turned and headed for Une, he could get to his section where his team were working after.

 

Une spotted the Chinese agent as he walked in the door and met him half way. “Agent Fire. What news do you have for me?”

 

“We're still in the stages of looking at all the evidence, commander, so I can't give you concrete facts just yet.”

 

“I realize that, Chang. Come, let's go somewhere a little more private.” Une led the way out and down a hall, past a couple more forensic rooms and stopped at a deserted office. Opening the door, she ushered Wufei inside, both of them taking a seat.

 

“Okay, Fire. Tell me everything you found and what you suspect.”

 

Taking a sip from his tea, Wufei began to fill the commander in on what they'd discovered at the ambassador's residence. “I take it you have heeded Yuy's advice and doubled the guard on Relena?”

 

“Yes, yes we have. Aside from her own security detail, we have two agents monitoring her at all times. She can't go anywhere without someone with her.”

 

“I'll bet she's not too happy about that,” Chang chuckled. Whilst he didn't dislike the woman, he wasn't falling over himself to be overly nice to her either. He was simply polite and tolerant towards her.

 

“I think she understands the severity of the situation,” Une replied.

 

“How is the investigation into Jefferies' accident going?”

 

With a long suffering sigh, Une relayed the information they had thus far. “Of course, it's still just words at the moment. The team is compiling the forensic evidence now and Sally is doing an autopsy on the body. It wasn't an accident at all, no, it was definitely a hit on the man and from what we have from the crime scene, it all points to Agent Night's work.”

 

“Maxwell?!”

 

“I'm afraid so.”

 

“Well, shit. That's not good, commander. I know Maxwell and there's no way he would have done something like this himself. He would have been forced into it.”

 

“I happen to agree with you, Chang. However, as you well know, the law is the law and not only do we have to look into the crime itself and find the perpetrator, but in this case, we also need to find evidence to prove that Night was forced into this, that he had no choice.”

 

“Justice can be a little skewed these days,” Wufei snapped. Whilst Wufei was a keen advocate of justice being served, he also understood that sometimes the law was wrong. If they couldn't find evidence to support their claim that Maxwell had been given no choice in the murders, and the prosecuting team had enough evidence to charge the agent with first degree murder, then it looked like Maxwell would be put away for quite a few years.

 

That's providing they could find the missing agent.

 

“Commander?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Any word from Agent Day and his team?”

 

“Not yet.”

 

“Damn.” Wufei studied his fingernails for a moment. “I guess I should go check on my team, see how the evidence in coming along.”

 

“I'll be back in the other forensics lab with the team working on Jefferies' case.”

 

“Thank you, commander.” Wufei stood up and left.

 

Une sat for a moment, collecting her thoughts. With another heavy sigh, she stood up and left the office. Halfway back to the lab, her communicator went off. “Une here.”

 

“Commander, it's Sky from communications. I need you to come to the communications section immediately.”

 

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Une replied. “Whatever it is, can't you patch it through to my cell or communicator? I'm a little busy with two forensic investigations into two murders, in case you weren't aware.” The sarcasm was clear in her tone.

 

It didn't faze Sky though. “Commander, it's Agent Air, one of the temporary agents currently on assignment with Agent Day and Agent Space. I don't know how secure the internal communications are or your cell for that matter. I'd prefer it if you were to come here and take the call, that way I can insure complete security.”

 

“Why the hell didn't you say it was Barton in the first place?” Une barked. “I'm on my way.” Not waiting for a reply, Une closed the communicator and took off for the communications section, only barely keeping herself from running.

 

* * *

 

“What did she say?” Sun asked from where he was currently monitoring across the room from the other agent.

 

“The short version or the long version?” Sky replied.

 

“Short, thanks,” Sun said with a grin. He already had a pretty good idea of what the longer version would be like.

 

“She's on her way.”

 

“Right.” Sun turned back to continue monitoring his own airwaves.

 

“Agent Air? Do you copy?”

 

“Air here. I copy.”

 

“Commander is on her way to communications now. She should be here any second so please, remain on this frequency.”

 

“Thank you, Sky.”

 

Moments later, Une burst into the communications room and made a beeline for Sky. Seeing the commander heading right for him, Sky quickly removed his headphones and vacated his seat.

 

Handing the earphones over he enlightened the commander. “Channel is all set. Air is still on the line, commander.”

 

“Thank you.” Une slipped the earphones onto her head and adjusted the small mic attached. Pushing the small button, she spoke. “Agent Air? Where are you? Is everyone okay and what's happening? Have you located any of the missing party?”

 

“Hello, commander,” Trowa's rich tenor came down the line. “I have some news...” Trowa proceeded to give Une a run down on their findings.

 

When he'd finished, Une closed her eyes for a moment and tried to absorb all she'd just learned. “Agent Air, I will have a team dispatched to the coordinates immediately. Please, continue to lock down the scene and wait for the team to arrive. I will brief them as to the circumstances and mission. Once they are there, hand over the scene to Agent Flame. I want all of you, including Day, the nanny and child to report directly here to headquarters.”

 

Before Trowa could protest, Une continued.

 

“I know what you're going to say, but there are protocols here that need to be adhered to. Report direct to me at headquarters. Contact me when you are five minutes out and I'll meet you in the lobby. I'll alert Sally Po and have the medical wing on stand-by to treat any and all injuries, also I want her to give that child a thorough check too.”

 

“Understood, Commander Une.”

 

“There was no sign of Maxwell?” Une asked, although she already knew the answer.

 

“No, ma'am. He was here, but we've been unable to locate him at this point.”

 

“How is Yuy taking it?” Une's voice had softened a touch.

 

Trowa glanced to his friend. “Not very well, I'm afraid. He's overjoyed he has his son back, but as you can appreciate, he's pretty torn up that Maxwell is still missing.”

 

“I understand. Take care of him, Barton.”

 

“We will. Agent Air, out.”

 

“Commander, out.” Une pulled the earphones from her head and dry washed her face. Would this nightmare ever end?

 

* * *

 

The van continued on into the night, Duo and the other captives managing to get a little sleep. As dawn was beginning to streak across the sky, the van pulled up by a nondescript house somewhere in a suburb.

 

Inside Duo's body the cells had continued to divide and grow. The small fetus had floated down what passed for Duo's fallopian tube and into the malformed uterus where it had immediately burrowed into the lining and continued in its process of dividing, multiplying and growing. Whilst it wasn't quite recognizable as a child yet, the blueprints of both parents' DNA were firmly embedded in the cells and it wouldn't be much longer before it did begin to look like a tiny baby.

 

~ * ~

 

tbc...