Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Family Ties ❯ Chapter 100 ( Chapter 100 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Heero, Duo, Wufei and Zechs enter the control room with the intent of taking Barton down, but the man isn't going to give up easily.

Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Hentai / Romance / Suspense / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 10.03.2010 | Pages: 8 | Words: 8.4K | Visits: 250 | Status: Work In Progress

Many thanks to everyone for reading. Warm hugs for the continued support and encouragement. The feedback you have given me has been wonderful and I thank you all for taking the time to let me know what you think.

“Family Ties”

January 2007 ShenLong

Chapter 100

[Satellite XRB 23 Control Room]

As the doors to the control room began to open, Duo felt the adrenaline begin to course through his system. His eyes had darkened, not quite as purple as they had been when he'd dealt with Zaheer, but dark enough for Heero to know that Shinigami was present.

Heero waited on the left of the door, gun poised and ready. Zechs was crouched just below, gun also drawn. Opposite him, Duo was a mask of concentration, Shinigami lurking and fighting to be free. Chang was crouching below, his body like a coiled spring just waiting to be allowed to unleash his own kind of justice.

The doors opened enough and with a nod to the others, Heero took a deep breath, steadied his nerves and sprang into action.

“FREEZE!” Heero yelled as the four of them surged into the control room.

“Preventer agents, you're all under arrest. Drop your weapons and put your hands in the air!” Wufei yelled as he remained low, eyes scanning around.

For a moment stunned silence fell over the control room - then, all hell broke loose.

* * *

[Inside Duo's Abdomen]

The tiny being turned restlessly inside the watery world that was its home. A feeling of unease settled over the fetus, although it wasn't aware of the actual emotion itself. The exchange of nutrients across the barrier of the placenta also brought with it a flow of hormones.

A little fist was made and the fetus punched out at nothing, the small movement barely causing ripples in the amniotic fluid that protected it from outside harm. It was restless, sensing all was not right with its mother.

Adrenaline flowed across the barrier and into its bloodstream sending the tiny heart beating more rapidly. The fetus rolled over and then stilled. The small body trembled slightly and then relaxed.

Whilst the fetus could not understand what was going on, its senses provided enough for it to grasp certain `feelings'; and right now it felt something was off, its mother was agitated and not alone. Curious, the fetus moved again.

The second presence the tiny child could feel along with its mother was lurking somewhere nearby. It felt dark and deadly, and yet the child was not afraid.

Another wave of hormones passed through the barrier, only this time they soothed and calmed the babe. Content for the moment, the child drifted back to sleep, snuggled into the protective lining of the womb as the gentle caress of peace passed over its small form.

With the babe now settled, Duo's alter ego turned its full attention to delivering its own form of justice to those who would have harmed what he determined to be his.

* * *

[Satellite XRB 23 Control Room]

The doors to the control room opened up, Craven looking absently across from his computer station as the doorway darkened. Simons also glanced up and froze in shock. At the rear of the room, Professor Hawkins saw the doors open and the men that entered. A small smile crossed his lips as he recognized the long haired man. Noting the guns a split second before the yelling started, Hawkins discreetly looked for somewhere he could hide, preferably away from his captors.

Barton raised his head, eyes merely glancing to the doorway, his curiosity aroused as to who would be coming in. He knew Zaheer and Matthews were outside, he was well aware of the orders he'd given both men so there was no need for them to be coming back in. His eyes came to a screeching halt, his heart rate shot through the roof as a mix of anger, frustration and fear lodged in his gut.

Hearing the words `Freeze' and the following litany containing the words: `Preventer agents' from the other man, Barton felt the hatred steal over and through him. “Kill them,” he screamed to his guards.

Ducking behind a terminal, Barton pulled his own weapon out, checked the safety was off and prepared to wage war with his enemy. Around him people scattered in all directions, ducking under tables, flattening themselves against floors or scrambling to find some form of cover.

Duo noted where Hawkins was a moment before the professor ducked for cover, he also made note of Barton's position. The gun in his hand bucked as he fired off a shot, retaliating against the one aimed for him by a guard. He quickly dived behind a console to his right.

Heero and Zechs had similarly taken cover on the left side of the room as the bullets began to fly. Noting there were several techs scrambling for cover under and behind the tables, Heero took a moment to speak with the other agent.

“Wind, see if you can round up those techs, use anything you can find to restrain them. I'll keep us covered.”

Zechs nodded and crawled along between two rows of computer desks, gun drawn and ready.

“Give it up, Barton,” Heero yelled in a moment between gunfire.

“Go to hell,” came the reply.

“This is senseless. Innocent people are going to get hurt. You don't have a chance of winning or escaping, best to quit now,” Heero tried again.

“Fuck off.” Barton shifted slightly behind the desk he was using as a shield. Craven was just along from him, pale, wide eyed and shaking. “Craven!” Barton hissed.

The computer tech turned his frightened eyes to his boss.

“Get onto your computer and alert all personnel in the satellite that the control room is under attack. Tell them all to converge on the control room now and assist in taking these bastards out.”

Craven's eyes widened further and he trembled with the fear. He darted a glance from his boss to the computer station and back again. He shook his head. “It would be suicide,” he gritted back.

“Do it or I'll kill you myself,” Barton snarled and leveled the gun at Craven.

Swallowing hard, Craven forced his shaking legs to unfold and drew himself onto his knees. Doing his best not to collapse with the fear running through his body, Craven inched towards his computer station. A trickle of cold sweat ran down his spine, the hairs on the back of his neck prickled in the knowledge that his boss had a gun trained on him and any sudden movement could be his last. His hand slowly reached upward to his computer desk, feeling around for the keyboard. A finger brushed over the edge of the hard plastic and with a grateful sigh, he latched onto it and pulled it from the desk. A split second later, he was cradling his wounded hand against his chest, pieces of the keyboard shattered all around him and a steady stain of red spreading across his shirt.

Wufei had spotted the slight movement across from where he was taking refuge. Lining the hand up in his sights, he had an idea what the person was up to and as soon as that hand grabbed the keyboard, he fired. The shot was true, passing directly through the palm just below the middle finger, the keyboard flying out of the grasp and smashing on the floor.

It was too much for the stressed tech. Craven fainted.

Wufei grunted in satisfaction. “One disabled and Nataku knows how many more to go,” he muttered.

There wasn't anything Barton could do so he curled his lip into a snarl and turned away from the injured tech. Let him bleed to death for all Barton cared, he had bigger things to worry about. Noting where the shot had come from, Barton raised his gun and sent a volley of shots in that direction.

Chang and Maxwell ducked for cover as the bullets whizzed through the air above their heads.

“I think you pissed him off, Chang,” Duo snickered.

Wufei just grunted, waited for the gun fire to cease and then returned fire.

Crawling along the floor, Zechs located a couple of computer techs. “You're under arrest,” he snarled at them. The techs looked like they were about to wet themselves and Zechs gave an inward sigh. Yanking a couple of cords from the computers, he handed them over to one tech. “Tie his wrists and ankles together,” he ordered, indicating to the other tech.

The tech took the cords and without a murmur, did as requested. Once one was secure, Zechs took the other cords and began to tie up the other tech. He'd almost finished when a sudden shift in the tech's eyes alerted him that something was off. Spinning around he barely managed to avoid being hit squarely on the head by a hard drive. As it was, it caught him a glancing blow to the temple and then crashed heavily against his shoulder.

The pain shot down his arm and up through his neck as his body acted on reflex. The uninjured arm shot out, fist curled and slammed against a jaw. The tech keeled over, completely knocked out.

“Bastard,” Zechs muttered and raised his hand to feel his shoulder. It didn't feel broken, just badly bruised. Heaving a sigh of relief, he forced the pain to the back of his mind and continued to tie up his `prisoners'.

Peering over the edge of the desk, Heero located another of Barton's guards. Carefully he took aim, waited for his chance and then squeezed the trigger. The bullet found its mark in the guard's upper arm.

“Face it, Barton. It's over,” Heero yelled.

“Never!” Barton screamed back. The gun bucked as he sent another round at Heero.

“Cover me, `Fei,” Duo muttered.

“Maxwell?”

“I'm going to try and get around the side, see if I can get to the professor.”

A guard with an AK 47 sent several rounds of ammunition in their direction, hitting computer screens and sending showers of glass over the pair.

“Fuck this,” Duo snarled. “They keep on taking out the computers and we'll have nothing to work with to reverse the Firecell.”

“Maybe that's their intent,” Wufei mumbled.

“Actually, I think it's more a case of being rotten shots,” Duo snickered.

Another shower of glass came their way when another monitor was hit and exploded.

“Shit! Now I've got glass all through my hair, it's gonna take forever to get it all out,” Duo moaned.

“Maxwell, suck it up or cut it off.”

“Remind me to tell Miracle to crap in your shoes next time you visit.” Without waiting for a reply, Duo checked the magazine in his gun and moved away.

“Maxwell!” Wufei cursed avidly in Chinese at the long haired man whilst raising his gun and returning fire.

Keeping low, Duo managed to work his way along the computer stations. He sincerely hoped that Hawkins was somewhere near the console he'd worked on when Duo had been forced to program the dolls. He recalled the professor ducking for cover in that vicinity. Purple eyes scanned the area, knocking out one tech that stood in his way.

Peering around the edge of a desk, he spotted Hawkins up ahead. Problem was, a guard was right next to him.

“Fuck, fuck, fuckety fuck,” Duo cursed as he pulled back. Bullets continued to be traded all around him as he tried to think of the best way to get Hawkins away from the guard. He really didn't want to kill anyone, not just because of Une's orders, but he was tired of the killing, tired of the continuous blood on his hands, the fighting and constantly looking over his shoulder.

Tired of his darkness that was Shinigami.

Duo Maxwell was just plain tired of it all and had had enough. Once this was all over he was seriously thinking about handing in his badge, taking his family and moving as far away as he could. He wondered what Heero would think about quitting.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. “Okay, old buddy, one last time,” he whispered to himself. Purple eyes deepened further and Shinigami surged forward.

Having tied up three techs, knocked another one unconscious and a guard sporting a gunshot wound to the knee, Zechs thought he'd done pretty well. Double checking that none were going anywhere, he crawled back along to where Heero was still firing at the enemy.

“Four techs in custody and one guard,” he told Yuy.

“Good.”

“How many guards and techs still left?”

“Not sure. I've wounded two guards and I think Chang and Duo have taken out a couple too.”

Zechs did some quick math. “Without knowing for sure how many the other two have taken down I'm guessing that leaves around another six techs, five guards, the professor and Barton.”

“Sounds about right to me,” Heero gritted. He spotted the top of Barton's head behind the desk and pulled the trigger twice. Both shots missed, just ruffling Barton's hair as they lodged themselves in the wall behind.

“I hope this satellite is thick skinned,” Zechs muttered.

“So do I,” came Heero's reply.

Duo lay flat on the floor, gun pointing ahead as he crawled slowly towards the edge of the desk. Taking another look, he noted the guard had his attention focused on where either Heero or Zechs was currently shooting at him. Eyes shifted to Hawkins, the professor noting the slight movement and diverting his gaze.

Seeing the tiny wisp of a braid, Hawkins knew the young man was coming for him and he let a small sigh of relief escape. His eyes widened a fraction when he noted the hand signals sent his way. Whilst he wasn't all that clued up on hand signals, he could make out enough to know that the man wanted him to get down and stay down. He nodded in understanding.

Lowering himself to the floor brought the guard's attention back to him and Hawkins did his best not to give away the young man's position.

Taking careful aim, Duo waited for the professor to be flat on the floor; then he got his chance. The gun bucked, bullet shooting from the chamber, flying through the air and hitting the target in the abdomen. The guard went down immediately.

Seeing the guard hit the deck, Hawkins scrambled towards Duo, keeping himself low and out of the firing range. “Thank you, young man,” Hawkins said as he flattened himself against the desk beside Duo.

“Don't thank me yet, prof, we ain't out of the woods by a long shot,” Duo grinned.

“Are they really Preventer agents?” Hawkins questioned as Duo reloaded his gun.

“Yeah. They're agents all right, the best. If anyone can get us all safely out of here, it's this group.”

“You're an agent yourself, correct?” Hawkins was sure Duo had told him that when they'd had their discussion in the bathrooms.

“Yup, sure am, prof.” Duo took the chance to look over the top of the desk and fired off another round of bullets, taking down another guard. Ducking back down, he realized the professor had more questions.

“The mobile suits?”

“All destroyed, thanks to you, prof.”

“The program worked?” The professor's eyes widened.

“Sure did. Why look so surprised about it? The code kicked in and the suits all failed to respond to the program; in fact, they were quite a sight to see. Made it much easier for my colleagues and myself to take them out.”

“Ah. I hoped it would work, but I wasn't sure exactly what it would do. I only made up the code when you asked me for something. I didn't know if it would work as it hadn't been trialed, but as long as it did something then that's all that matters.” Hawkins stared Duo right in the eyes. “What do you mean they were a sight to see?”

Duo snickered. “They kinda looked like they were dancing, bad dancing.”

“I see.” The professor allowed himself a small chuckle.

“Come on, prof. I need to get you back to my captain. Once we have Barton and the control room under Preventer control, we need you and my partner, Agent Day, to try and reverse this Firecell.”

Hawkins paled a touch.

“You can reverse it... right?”

“In theory, yes. But I've never had to try it out as the Firecell has never been used before.”

“Then I guess we will have to hope and pray. Don't worry, prof, Heero is a computer genius too and I know that between the two of you, you will be able to stop it and reverse it all.” Duo gave the professor a warm, reassuring smile.

A split second later, Duo found himself sprawled flat on his back, the professor half over the top of him.

“Ummm, prof, first up, I'm not that kind of guy, I'm a married man, and secondly, I didn't think you swung this way.” When the professor didn't immediately answer, Duo knew there was something up.

“Guard,” Hawkins croaked out and pushed himself to the side so Duo could see.

“You fucking bastard!” Duo snarled and leveled his gun.

The guard Duo had shot in the abdomen had managed to regain consciousness and fired his gun. Hawkins had seen it coming and pushed Duo out of the way, taking the bullet himself.

Shinigami came forth, purple eyes sparking fire as Duo sent the bullets slamming home. All thoughts of taking prisoners were tossed aside as Duo's alter ego delivered his own retribution.

Having dealt with the threat, Duo turned his attention back to Hawkins. “Where did the bullet get you?” he asked, eyes scanning the professor's body.

“Shoulder, I think,” Hawkins replied.

Duo carefully moved the professor until he could clearly see the blood staining the man's shirt. Hawkins coughed, a small spray of blood leaving his lips.

“Shit! Judging by the entry point, I'd say the bullet has nicked your lung,” Duo said as he studied the bullet's entry point. “It's still in there too,” he added quietly when he saw no exit point. Duo also noted that if the professor hadn't done what he did and taken the bullet for him, the bullet would have gotten him in the neck.

“Thanks, prof. I owe you one,” Duo stated softly.

“You can pay me back by stopping Barton so I can reverse this Firecell,” the professor replied.

“You got yourself a deal,” Duo smiled.

“It's all over, Barton,” Heero tried again. “Your suits are destroyed and your army is in the process of being taken down so why don't you give it up?”

“You're bluffing,” Barton snarled.

“I don't bluff,” Heero replied, voice as cold as ice.

“I may have lost the suits, but my army is marching as we speak and will soon have the ESUN under my control. The people will follow me and the earth will no longer dictate what will be done,” Barton snapped and sent a bullet Heero's way.

“Asshole,” Heero muttered as he ducked to avoid the bullet. Turning to Zechs, he spoke. “I'm going to see if I can get around the side a bit and get a clear shot at him. I'll see if I can get Duo or Wufei to do the same on the other side. I'll need you to cover me though.”

Zechs nodded his head in agreement.

Heero managed to move back a bit towards the door where he could see Chang but not Duo. “Chang!” he hissed in an attempt to get the other man's attention.

Hearing his name being called, Wufei glanced around - then he spotted Heero out the corner of his eye. He made a hand motion to signal he'd heard.

Using the same hand signals they had during the war, Heero conveyed his intent to Chang, indicating he wanted Duo or Wufei to do the same from their side. Chang replied in kind, but alerted Heero that Maxwell had gone after the professor.

“Fuck!” Heero swore.

Before Heero could get too riled up, Wufei spotted the agent and professor slowly making their way back to him. He let Yuy know.

Heero breathed a sigh of relief with the signal and then saw his lover with his own eyes which reassured him further.

“Yuy intends to try and take Barton down by moving around the side to get a clearer shot at him. He wants one of us to do the same from this side,” Chang informed Duo.

“I'll go,” Duo said. “I owe that bastard and it's time to pay up.” He turned to the professor. “Stay here with Agent Fire, he'll keep you safe.”

Hawkins nodded and wedged himself against the desk they were currently hiding behind.

“He took a bullet that was meant for me,” Duo whispered to Wufei. “Entered just below the shoulder blade and I'm pretty sure it caught his lung. There's no sign of exit so I assume it's still in there.”

“I'll do what I can,” Wufei replied.

“Thanks.” Duo checked his gun and patted his arm, comfortable in the knowledge he'd managed to return one of his knives to its sheath. Peering around the edge of the desk, he motioned to Heero that he was ready.

“Cover us, Zechs,” Heero muttered as he slipped past the tall agent and began to make his way along the back of the computer desks.

Across the other side of the room, Duo was similarly making his way towards Barton.

Unaware that he was being approached from both sides, Barton continued to fire at will. He'd come this far and wasn't about to have anyone or anything ruin his plans. It had been bad enough that the mobile suits had been taken out, but his army was safely on earth and should be just about at the ESUN by now. He smiled to himself. There was no way that Preventer or the police force could stop his army, they would be lynched by the angry citizens.

Amid the exchange of gunfire, he spotted a movement and immediately homed in on it. “You bastard,” Barton muttered as he recognized the dark hair of his enemy. He lined up the shot and fired.

“Shit!” Heero grimaced and gritted his teeth against the pain as the bullet glanced across his biceps. Immediately he returned fire, looking for somewhere that would offer him a little more cover. The monitor of the computer above him shattered as a bullet found it, the shards raining down on him. Heero scrambled forward, another bullet whizzing past his ear and he ducked on reflex.

Duo had stealthily made his way around the outside of the room. He'd stayed in the shadows, flitting from computer station to computer station, blending with his surroundings as he drew ever closer to his target.

Only three stations now stood between him and his nemesis.

Duo remained hidden, watching for a chance to take Barton down. He spotted Heero across the room just as Barton did and watched with his heart in his mouth as Barton fired repeatedly at his husband. He wasn't sure if a bullet had connected or not, but he did know that Heero was in trouble. There wasn't anywhere for him to be able to hide and get in a good shot at Barton.

“Fucking asshole,” Duo muttered. He continued to watch as another round of gunfire was exchanged and caught Heero's minute grimace indicating that Barton had managed to hit his mark.

Purple fire flooded his eyes as Shinigami surged forth. Rage consumed Duo to his core and he surrendered to his alter ego. “Just don't kill him,” Duo told himself as he let his psyche retreat and Shinigami take over.

With Barton's attention fully on Heero, Duo moved silently and swiftly, pulling the knife from its sheath as he flitted behind the desks. With one last look at his prey, Duo took a deep breath and moved.

“Stay still and let me shoot you,” Barton snarled, trailing Heero's movement with his gun. He couldn't quite get the clear shot he needed. Just as Heero passed between consoles, Barton raised the gun and went to squeeze the trigger.

Duo was on him in an instant.

A dead weight hit him in the back whilst at the same time a searing pain shot through his wrist, gun dropping from lax fingers. Barton fell forward, shock on his face as another pain made its presence known - this one to his temple.

Through blurred vision, Barton managed to twist around enough to see who or what had tackled him. Fear flooded his blood stream when he stared directly into violet eyes that burned with the flames of hell.

“I told you I would come for you,” Duo snarled, knife at Barton's throat. “And I never lie...”

~ * ~

tbc...