Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Family Ties ❯ Chapter 99 ( Chapter 99 )

“Family Ties”

 

January 2007 ShenLong

 

Chapter 99

 

[Satellite XRB 23 Corridor near Control Room]

 

Heero checked the doors down the corridor that Zechs had pointed out. One led into a small conference type room, the other was what had once been a recreation room. Leaving the door to the conference room open, he jogged back down the hall to where the other three were doing their best to drag the corpse and unconscious man along.

 

Duo was struggling with the arm of Zaheer he was currently tugging on, Wufei pulling strongly on the other arm. Zechs was pulling Matthews along quite easily.

 

“Duo!” Heero growled and grabbed his partner's arm. “You shouldn't be straining yourself like this,” he admonished. He was about to say more when he realized the company they were in and promptly shut up.

 

Duo scowled and sent a pointed look in both Zechs' and Wufei's directions. Unfortunately, both men had heard Heero's words.

 

Wufei raised an eyebrow, eyes searching both men's faces. Zechs was more to the point.

 

“Why shouldn't he assist with getting the evidence out of sight? He's just a capable as the rest of us,” Zechs snapped. He was still a little miffed over the fact that Maxwell had gone against direct orders and killed one of their 'wanted' men, plus there was something going on here he wasn't aware of and he didn't like going on a mission without being fully informed.

 

Wufei understood though. Before either Yuy or Maxwell could respond, he spoke for them. “Maxwell has been injured during the course of his abduction and severe physical strain such as this could be contrary to his healing injuries.”

 

Heero and Duo both gave the Chinese man a grateful look.

 

Zechs wasn't quite so convinced. “Didn't seem to matter when he was fighting in his Gundam or taking these bastards down,” he muttered.

 

“Those were necessary actions, this is not. No point in aggravating injuries when there is no need to. Besides, we will need Maxwell at his functional best when we arrest Barton.” Wufei's reply was sharp and short.

 

The blonde snorted. “That's assuming we can get into the control room.”

 

Wufei declined to answer, opting instead to put his energies into hauling Zaheer's body to the conference room. Between himself and Heero, they managed to drag the corpse in and to the side where it wouldn't be spotted too easily. Although there was the small problem of the trail of blood that they had left smeared on the floor.

 

“Never a cleaning closet around when you need one,” Duo muttered to himself a he saw the evidence of their moving of the body.

 

“Not a lot we can do about it,” Heero stated when he noticed where Duo's eyes had strayed.

 

“Yeah, I guess not.”

 

“Agents, I think we need to figure out how we're going to get into this control room and to Barton. We're not exactly blessed with time here,” Zechs said, pulling them away from the thoughts of the mess in the corridor.

 

All four went silent as they thought about their immediate problem.

 

“Chang, your palm top...” Heero looked to the other agent.

 

“Yes?” Wufei replied and pulled the palm top out of his pocket.

 

“Can you see if there's another way into the control room?”

 

Wufei began to check through the blueprints on the device. “There's the air ducts.”

 

“No way. I refuse to go crawling through air ducts,” Zechs stated firmly.

 

“I must admit, I'm not all that fond of that idea myself,” Duo agreed when he looked over Chang's shoulder to the blueprints on display. “Besides, have you seen how small they are?” Duo looked pointedly to the vent in the corner of the room. “There's no way that blondie would fit - hell, even I'd have a problem getting through and I'm one of the skinniest of us all.”

 

“Then how do you-” Wufei fell silent when Duo's violet eyes suddenly sparked.

 

“I wonder...” Duo muttered and strode over to where Zaheer's body lay. He began to go through the dead man's pockets.

 

“Maxwell, now is not the time to return to your ways of a pickpocket,” Wufei sniffed.

 

Duo ignored the jibe and continued to ransack the pockets. Suddenly he stopped and a feral grin lit up his face. Standing up, he turned to face the rest of the group. “My fellow agents, I think we just hit the jackpot.”

 

* * *

 

[Preventer Shuttle 221]

 

“Preventer communications, this is Preventer shuttle 221, Agent Space here. Do you copy?” Quatre waited patiently for a reply.

 

“Agent Space, this is Preventer communications, Agent Sun here. I copy you.”

 

“Sun, is the commander there? I need to report in and bring her up to speed on the situation here on the satellite.”

 

“I'm paging her now, Space.”

 

Quatre sat back and gave his lover a warm smile. Trowa smiled back, the second shot of morphine was running through his system and he was feeling so much better. Trowa returned his gaze to the computer screen and the diagnostics report, figuring out the best way to tackle fixing the problems the shuttle currently had so it would be able to fly back to earth.

 

“Commander Une here. What do you have for me Space?”

 

Quatre brought the Commander up to speed on their current situation. “... All the mobile suits have been incapacitated with minimal casualties. We are currently running diagnostics tests on the shuttle and Gundams and there is damage to the shuttle that will need repairing before it will be safe to return to earth, ” he finished.

 

“And the Gundams?” Une questioned.

 

“Minor damage to Sandrock and Shenlong. Heavyarms will require major repairs, the status of Wing and Deathscythe are unknown at this stage, Commander.”

 

“Can you send through a complete damage report for the shuttle? I'll get the maintenance crew to go over it and see what will be needed to repair it. What about the other shuttle? What is the status of that?”

 

“Commander, Agent Air here. From what I can tell from the damage report, we should have most of the materials and the facilities here on the satellite to fix the shuttle, although I have no idea how long it will take to repair it so it can fly safely back to earth,” Trowa informed. “At this stage we haven't checked on the other shuttle. I am assuming all is okay with it as the cloaking device is still engaged.”

 

Une fell silent, deep in thought.

 

“Commander?”

 

“Sorry, Space. Look, send through the report as requested and I'll have the crew look it over. For the moment do nothing in regards to repairs. Please check the other shuttle as soon as you can and send through the report on that.”

 

“But if we can't repair the shuttle, how will we get the Gundams back to earth?” Trowa demanded. “I'm not leaving Heavyarms here.” The threat was clear in his tone.

 

Quatre placed a soothing hand on his husband's arm and took over the conversation. “I apologize for Trowa, Commander. He's been injured in the battle and I'm afraid the drugs he's on for those injuries are having a slight effect on him.”

 

Trowa gave his lover a glare. Clearly he wasn't amused by his husband's apology on his behalf - he'd meant what he'd said.

 

“Apology accepted. I can understand his reaction under the circumstances.”

 

“Commander, with all due respect, what are you planning on doing with the Gundams once this is all over? I think we have a right to know as they technically do belong to each of us,” Quatre asked

 

Une sighed. She really didn't need this right now. “At this stage, I was planning on putting them back into storage, returning them to where they have been for the past seven years.”

 

“I can accept that,” Quatre replied. “I think we will need to discuss this in more depth though once this mission is over with.”

 

“I agree. Now, have you heard anything from agents Wind, Fire, Day or Night?”

 

“The last report we had was that Wind and Fire were making their way through the Dome to join up with Night and Day. Commander, Night and Day have located a couple of senators on their way through the Dome and both have been arrested. They are currently awaiting retrieval from the Dome once Barton is in custody.”

 

“Good. At least we have a couple of them.”

 

“Any word on those shuttles of Barton's and the troops they were carrying?”

 

Une gave them the current low down on the situation. “If that is all, I need to get back to this meeting and see what we can do to stop these troops.”

 

“We will send through the diagnostic results and wait for further orders from you in relation to the shuttle 221. We will also check the other shuttle and send that through. I'll contact again when I have further information in regards to the other agents. Agent Space, out.”

 

“Thank you, Space. Commander out.”

 

Quatre removed the headset and ran a hand through his locks. “Think you can make it to the other shuttle?” he asked his husband.

 

Trowa shook his head. “I don't think I'll be able to. Besides, one of us should really remain here and keep an eye on the Gundams, also monitor the communications in case Duo or one of the others calls in.”

 

“Good point. If you're sure you'll be okay, I'll go check the other shuttle.”

 

“I'll be fine.”

 

Quatre stood up, wrapped his arms around Trowa and seized his lips in a deep kiss. “Love you,” he said as he pulled away.

 

“Love you too and hurry back. I think I'm gonna need some serious nursing.”

 

Quatre swatted Trowa's shoulder. “You'll get all the nursing you need once this is over,” he promised.

 

“Good, 'cause I think I'm gonna be sick for some time.”

 

With a laugh, Quatre left the cockpit.

 

* * *

 

[Satellite XRB 23 Conference room]

 

Zechs frowned, Heero raised an eyebrow; Wufei went right for the jugular.

 

“What do you mean we've hit the jackpot?”

 

Continuing to grin, Duo moved to where the other three stood and showed them what he'd found in Zaheer's pocket.

 

“It's a communicator,” Zechs said, stating the obvious.

 

“Give the man a cigar,” Duo replied, the sarcasm clear in his voice.

 

Choosing to ignore the jibe, Zechs continued on. “And just how is that supposed to get us into the control room?”

 

“It's quite simple, my dear Watson. Obviously, Zaheer was carrying this contraption so he could keep in contact with Barton. All we need to do is use this device, request they open the door and bingo - we're in.” Duo looked quite smug.

 

“Barton will know it's not Zaheer by the voice,” Wufei pointed out.

 

“Fire is right. Once Barton hears your voice he will know it's not Zaheer and will figure out something is up,” Zechs sniffed.

 

Heero watched the 'male, verbal posturing' with an amused expression on his face. He already had a pretty good idea of what was going through Duo's head.

 

“Ah, but Barton will open the door to us, for we are not the ones who will request him to open it,” Duo said with a cheeky grin.

 

“But...” It dawned on Wufei then, just what Duo had in mind.

 

“And just how do you plan on making a dead man speak?” Zechs snapped.

 

“Not him,” Heero said softly, “the other one.”

 

Zechs turned around and stared at the unconscious form of Matthews. “Oh.”

 

Duo smirked. “Our friend Matthews here will do the talking for us.”

 

* * *

 

[Mansion]

 

“He's sleeping,” Nurse Brown said as she entered the kitchen after settling Keitaro for his nap and took the offered cup of tea from Sally. “Thanks.” Holding the cup in her good hand, the nurse managed to pull out a chair from the kitchen table with her other hand, the plaster cast only hindering her action a little.

 

“You're welcome.” Sally also sat and picked her own cup up and took a sip.

 

“I wonder how they are all getting on?” Margaret said, staring off into space.

 

“I wish I knew,” Sally replied with a sigh. “I hate this, not knowing what is happening, not being able to contact Une.”

 

“I'm not exactly fond of it myself,” Margaret chuckled.

 

“I wonder if I could manage to drive through to headquarters,” Sally mused aloud.

 

“No way!” Margaret stated flatly. “You are not going out there and risking driving back to headquarters. Harim has already told us to remain locked inside here, it's far too dangerous to be out there and he should know.”

 

Both women fell silent as they recalled the Maguanac's warning. With the release of the Firecell the people had panicked, the panic turning to anger and many riots had broken out. So far, Harim, Raphael and the other Maguanacs Quatre had sent had been able to keep the mansion and surrounding grounds safe from any intruders. But none of them knew how long that would stay the case. From the reports Harim had given them, it would not be wise to leave the safety of the mansion at all for some time yet.

 

The two women continued to sip at their cooling tea.

 

Miracle gave a soft whine from where she lay under the table. She was missing her masters.

 

“Fuck off,” chirped Barney.

 

“Barney! That's enough,” Nurse Brown scolded.

 

Sally couldn't help the chuckle and then shivered as the bird - currently sitting on her shoulder - decided to nibble at the lobe of her ear.

 

“Pretty boy, give us a kiss.” Barney fluffed his feathers.

 

“I hate to tell you this, Barney, but I'm not a boy,” Sally snickered. She turned her attention back to the nurse. “I see Duo's been giving him lessons in talking.”

 

“More like verbal diarrhoea,” Margaret muttered. “There's no way he will give up that language now,” she sighed and then ran a finger down the feathers of the other weiro that sat perched on her shoulder. “I just hope that Fred here doesn't pick up on any of it.”

 

“Piss off.”

 

“I think it might be a little too late for that,” Sally snickered.

 

* * *

 

[Satellite XRB 23 Conference Room]

 

With the smug grin still in place, Duo turned to Heero. “We need to have something figured out for when Barton opens the door.”

 

“Agreed. Do you remember the layout of the control room?”

 

“Yes. Once you step through the door there are several computer stations immediately on your left, three rows deep and roughly eight computers to a row. On the right there's more computer stations, but these are single ones. They had Hawkins working at one station on that side. Dead ahead is a large, viewing screen and just to the side of it another station which is where Barton generally spent most of his time with his goons beside and behind him,” Duo replied, recalling all he could from his time spent in the room working on programing the doll side of the suits.

 

Heero thought on that information for a moment. “I'd suggest that when the door opens two go in low and split to the sides, the other two go in high and also split to the sides. I'm betting the techs won't do much at all, it will be Barton and any soldiers he has in there that will be the ones we need to worry about. Keep an eye on those techs though, they could surprise us and try to fight back.”

 

“What about Hawkins?”

 

“We need to protect him, try to get him away from Barton if possible. We will need him to help reverse this Firecell program,” Heero said.

 

“What does he look like?” asked Zechs.

 

All eyes turned to Duo.

 

“Ummm... He's about fifty-ish, tall and skinny. His hair is starting to thin and it's turning gray. He also wears glasses.”

 

Each agent filed that information away.

 

“Who will go low and who will go high?” Zechs questioned, getting back to their plan for storming the control room.

 

“Duo and I will go high, you two go low,” Heero replied. “We're both better shots so if anyone starts to fire we can incapacitate them quickly and duck for cover.”

 

Neither Zechs nor Wufei argued that point. Heero was simply stating a fact. Whilst both Zechs and Wufei were excellent with a gun, Duo and Heero had that edge on the both of them.

 

“I think we should wake our entry ticket and see if we can learn anything of interest from him before we go into the lion's den,” Duo mused.

 

“Good idea.” Wufei walked over to where Matthews was sprawled on the floor. Crouching down beside the man he rolled him over and hauled him up a touch so he was slumped against the wall. Pulling his head up by the hair, Wufei slapped Matthews' cheek - hard. “Time to wake up,” Wufei growled and slapped the cheek again.

 

Matthews had been enjoying his unconscious state and was reluctant to come back to the real world. The slap to his cheek stung and soon had him blinking his eyes. He groaned as pain flooded his body.

 

“Wake up,” Wufei snapped and grabbed the man's chin, pushing it up and back.

 

“Who the fuck are you?” Matthews slurred out.

 

“Your third worse nightmare,” Wufei replied.

 

“Uh?” Matthews shook his head to try and clear it a little. “Third worse nightmare?” he mumbled and blinked his eyes, trying to get them to focus.

 

“Yes. Maxwell here would be the first...”

 

Matthews' vision cleared enough for him to make out Duo's form. He swallowed when he recognized the long haired man and the look of hatred in those violet eyes.

 

“His partner, Yuy, would be the second...”

 

A pair of cobalt eyes locked with his, eyes that were like chips of ice and promised to finish off whatever Maxwell left.

 

Matthews felt the room starting to spin and black edged his vision again.

 

“Oh no you don't,” Duo muttered and added his own slap to the already stinging cheek. “You're not going to pass out on me, not until I have what I want.”

 

Somehow, Matthews managed to remain conscious.

 

“Good.” Duo patted him on the head. “Now, I will ask the questions and you will give the answers.”

 

“I've got nothing to say,” Matthews growled.

 

“I think you do.” Duo's eyes darkened.

 

“I'd suggest you talk, otherwise you just might end up like your friend over there,” Heero interjected and gave a nod in the direction of Zaheer's body.

 

Matthews shifted his gaze, took one look at Zaheer and then rolled to the side, his stomach heaving on him.

 

“That's the problem with today's hired help,” Duo sighed. “No balls at all. They puke at the smallest of cuts.”

 

Heero raised an eyebrow. He wouldn't exactly say the cuts to Zaheer's body were small; hell the one on the man's throat was from ear to ear!

 

“Finished?” Duo asked, the sarcasm clear in his tone as Matthews rolled himself back to his slumped position against the wall.

 

Matthews mumbled something intelligible and carefully avoided looking at Zaheer's body. He shivered as his leg began to throb, reminding him of his injury.

 

“Now, I want to know how many people Barton has in the control room with him, techs, soldiers and so on. I also want to know what fire power they're packing and any other possible threats.” Duo's eyes began to change color again, deepening into the rich purple of Shinigami as the alter ego dwelt on the fringes of his mind.

 

* * *

 

[Preventer Headquarters]

 

“We have the reports back in from those agents currently in the field near the ESUN,” Agent Spice informed Une as she re-entered the conference room after her talk with Space.

 

“I hope we have some good news,” she muttered and sat down. “Okay, Spice, what's the situation?”

 

“There are three agents near enough to have scoped out the building. All senators that were in the building were evacuated earlier and are now in various safe locations. There are still some personnel remaining in the building, mainly security guards, but there's a few civilians too.”

 

“What civilians?”

 

“Mainly office staff; secretaries, filing clerks, techs; those sort of people.”

 

“I see.”

 

“The security staff that remain are managing to keep the building safe from outside intrusion at this stage. I think the mobs have realized that there's no use in trying to gain entry as the senators are no longer in residence.”

 

“Very good, Spice. Now, listen up, all of you.” Une glanced around the table at the five agents. “I have word form one of our agents in the field that Barton's army has landed at an old Alliance base and formed up. They are on the move and from the direction they were observed traveling in, they are headed for the ESUN Headquarters.”

 

The five agents paled a little.

 

“I'm assuming from the broadcasts that Barton made before this Firecell was unleashed that their intent is to take over the ESUN building and have it ready to replace the ESUN with Barton and his own governing body.”

 

“How many?” Spice asked.

 

“Roughly six to eight hundred at the moment. I'm guessing that Barton, once he takes over the ESUN, will no doubt call upon the people to join his cause - once that happens, well...”

 

Une didn't need to elaborate any further, each agent understood clearly the words that remained unspoken. With Barton installed at the ESUN Headquarters it would only be a matter of time before the Preventer Organization was brought to its knees.

 

“What can we do, Commander? There's not nearly enough of us to stop this from happening,” Spice stated.

 

“I'm fully aware of that, Spice.” Une rubbed her aching temples.

 

“We can't just give up,” Agent Lunar growled.

 

“I have no intention of giving up!” Une snapped and glared at the agent.

 

Lunar lowered his eyes.

 

“At the moment there isn't much we can do other than sit tight. We have a few agents on the satellite where Barton is currently running this operation from and they are moving closer to him as we speak. The intention is to take Barton down, reverse this Firecell and bring law and order back to the earth sphere and the colonies,” Une informed them.

 

“With all due respect, Commander, I think it's going to take a bit more than that to restore the peace.” Spice raked his hands through his hair.

 

“One step at a time, Spice. I have complete faith in these agents on that satellite. Once they have disabled Barton I also have a little something up my sleeve that should go a long way to returning the peoples' loyalties to the ESUN and peace.”

 

Spice raised an eyebrow. “These agents, they must be good. If I may, Commander, who are they?”

 

Une smirked. “Agents Fire, Day, Night, Space, Air and a certain Agent Wind.”

 

Spice's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. “You're kidding me?”

 

Une looked down her nose. “Agent, I do not `kid'.”

 

“Well, shit.”

 

* * *

 

[Satellite XRB 23 Control room corridor]

 

“Everyone set?” Heero asked as he checked his own gun.

 

Three nods in the affirmative.

 

“Good.” Heero nodded to Duo who pushed the muzzle of his gun against Matthews' temple.

 

Wufei handed over the communicator to Matthews. “Do it,” he commanded.

 

Matthews reached out and took the device.

 

“Don't even think about warning anyone. One wrong word and your brains will be splashed all over that wall before you can get a syllable out,” Duo growled.

 

Matthews paled further and swallowed. He nodded through the pain of his leg and other bruising he'd suffered whilst being `interrogated'. He knew the demon meant what he said. With a shaking hand, he turned the device on.

 

“Control room.”

 

“Is that you, Keller?” Matthews did his best to keep his voice steady.

 

“Yeah. That you, Matthews? What's going on?”

 

“All's fine. Look, can you open the door? I need to speak to Barton.”

 

“Sure. Hang on a sec.”

 

Wufei snatched the communicator back and clocked Matthews on the back of the head, rendering the man unconscious again.

 

With guns drawn, the four waited on either side as the control room door began to open.

 

~ * ~

 

tbc...