Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Integration ❯ Close Call ( Chapter 10 )

Warnings and Disclaimer on page one of this story

Integration

By: Bane's Desire

Part 10 - Close Call

An article appearing on the fourth page of the Chicago Tribune on January second reported two murders that occurred downtown in the red-light district on New Year's Eve. Because both deaths were similar, the police suspected they were committed by the same person. The article went on to state where the murders occurred and that one of the victims was missing his wallet and any form of identification. Robbery was attributed to the motive for the second murder victim and the investigation was continuing.

Two days following that news report, the names of the murder victims were given and further information that one of the men had a long-term lover that was missing. Jason's name and physical description was given as well as a picture from his driver's license. The police also described him as being timid, shy and soft spoken and asked the general public for help in reporting any information concerning the whereabouts of the missing young man. The investigating officers hinted at the possibility that foul play was also suspected in Jason Phillips' disappearance.

Duane and Debra each had spoken with each other after separately reading the newspaper articles and avidly watched the news reports, knowing that their mutual friend was most likely the killer of and a victim no longer to Scott Mercer. Debra told him the police had been to her workplace and questioned everyone, including herself, about Jason. They'd all told them of the abuse Jason has suffered by Scott's hands and many voiced their views that Scott might have killed Jason himself before he met his own fate. The two decided to not speak for a while in case they became suspects.

It wasn't until two weeks later that Duane came home from a performance at a dental hygienist conference to find a surprise, uninvited guest casually sitting in his living room, drinking a beer. Despite his altered appearance and healing bruises, he recognized the missing person now sporting white, bleached-out hair and eyebrows. He quickly shut the front door behind him and turned to his unexpected guest.

"Long time no see," Duo greeted with a grin and a rise of his braced, broken arm that successfully distracted the slightly older man's eyes from the other's own guarded expression.

"That's a good look for you," Duane said, forcing himself to remain as casual as possible. He now knew all too well that the timid and abused Jason Phillips was buried and gone and sitting on his couch was a trained killer. He'd had two weeks to wonder and worry if the former gundam pilot would return to kill himself and Debra because they alone knew who he was and what he'd done. The police were still in the dark as to who the identity of the killer was of the two men on New Year's Eve was and continued to search for clues as to what happened to Jason Phillips.

Duo shrugged in reply. "It'll be even better when my hair grows out. I really miss my braid."

Taking off his coat, Duane hung it up on the coat tree along with his cap, scarf and gloves and tried to act casual as he turned and asked, "So, what's up?" He mentally winced at the fact that his voice was shaky.

Duo's eyes narrowed and he studied him for a moment. "What's the matter?"

The hypnotist moved to sit in the chair next to the fireplace, positioning himself so that he could use one of the iron tools there to defend himself if the need arose. He sat and looked warily at the young man.

Then suddenly, Duo's eyes widened and Duane noted what he thought was a flash of pain in them. "You're afraid of me," he stated with hurt disbelief.

"Well, you did just kill two men," Duane answered, wary and defensive. "It leaves me wondering why you're here."

A sad expression crossed the handsome man's face and he woefully shook his head. "This is why one of the reasons why I ultimately agreed to undergo the Integration, because people could only see us as killers. You should have seen the hired help in Relena's palace, how they skirted us with eyes as big as saucers, afraid we'd slit their throats if they got too close." He looked up, his eyes imploring as he continued. "I swear to you, Duane, I'll never hurt you or Debra. You're my allies and I've taken pains to protect the both of you from discovery. I really need you to believe and trust me because I still need your friendship and your help."

The dark-haired man studied the other, reading sincerity in his expression. He suspected the charismatic young man could sway anyone to do anything he wanted when he approached them in such a manner. "What do you need?" he asked, a bit more trusting now, enough so that he could feel the muscles in his shoulders beginning to relax.

"Nothing right now other than someone to talk to. I've been more or less holed up in a cheap hotel room for two weeks with only a crappy television for company."

"Did you have to kill them?"

The air stilled between them. Duane had decided to get to the crux of his worry. He'd been plagued by that question since he first read the newspaper article that told of the murders and listed Jason as missing. He knew then that it was Duo who had killed the other two men. He watched now as the other man combed his fingers through his white hair and took in a deep breath before he spoke.

"Listen, Duane, I can't honestly say I'm sorry Scott's dead, but I hadn't planned on doing anything other than humiliating him and ruining his career. I had plans to walk away but they went to hell in a handbasket when he took me into a strip club and introduced me to a man who referred to me Scott's boy toy before they started getting it on with each other. I have no doubt that those two had some pretty nasty plans for me that night, and there was no way I was going to let it happen. I could see that there was no way I was going to be able to just slip away, not sandwiched between two sadistically horny men. When Harris tried to break into the bathroom stall I was in, I killed him. He wasn't a good man, Duane, and I've no doubt what he and Scott had in mind for the evening might have destroyed Jason if he were still in control. After that I didn't have a choice about whether or not to kill Scott. He was a Preventer and my watchdog, and when Harris was found dead, he would have figured it out that I didn't just disappear but that I'd broken my Integration. As it is, the bullet hole in the alley wall above Scott's body, the missing wallet and evidence of an assault has led the authorities to believe he was mugged and that Jason, being the wuss that he was, fell into the wrong hands and disappeared."

"Will the Preventers believe that?" Duane asked, still troubled by the killings.

"I don't know," Duo answered soberly. "They know what I'm capable of. If they decided I'm not dead, I'm sure they'll keep looking for me. I'm not the sort of person they want running around, especially if I remember who I am and who did this to me. What I know about Relena Peacecraft could destroy her and any good she's done. Une will protect her as much as she can, even if she has to destroy me in order to do it."

Duo stretched his arms above his head, held them there a moment and then let them drop down with a sigh. "As I'm sure you've already read in the paper, they publically identified Scott as being an undercover agent working on an undisclosed case," Duo replied, a sneer crossing his lips. "I think they got that wrong. How about an undercover Preventer thoroughly working over his secret assignment." His voice was clipped with bitterness as he spoke.

"Will they suspect you've broken your Integration?"

"Probably, though breaking someone's neck wasn't my trademark kill; that was Trowa's. It was uncanny how he could sneak up on anyone without their knowing."

Duane studied the younger man's face a moment, noting there was a look of weariness and age that would have been more in place on an older person than that of a twenty-one year old man. "So what will you do?" he asked.

"Run and hide." A sad grin tugged at the younger man's lips. "Seems I was destined to do that for my entire life." He shook his head and ran his fingers though his bleached-out hair again. "I was a fool to believe them, that the Integration would make my life better. What a joke." He then laughed without any humor. He stopped suddenly and leaned forward with an intensity of purpose shining in his eyes and said, "Listen, Duane, I'm going to have to start moving soon, travel around without leaving a trail to make sure I stay a missing person. But when I think it's safe, I want to contact one of my other Integrated friends and I want you to do for him what you've done for me."

The dark-haired man understood the serious expression on Duo's face, that what he was asking could once again have an impact on his life. There was no question that he'd be digging himself deeper and deeper into trouble should the government discover his hand in helping the Integrated gundam pilot and his friend. He thought a moment, then answered guardedly. "I've already broken more laws than I can count, Duo. But I'll do what you ask, but only on the condition that you have this person's permission for me to restore his memory and remove any blocks. That means you're going to have to explain yourself and his current life and then give him a choice to remember his past or stay in his present situation."

"He'll give it," Duo replied with confidence. "I located him on L-4 but I can't go there directly. I'm sure the authorities will be watching for me to show up sooner or later at Q's place, especially considering that he still carries the family name. I guess being from a rich family has its advantages, but it beats the hell out of me how he managed that. If I wait a while before going there, keeping my existence from the people looking for me, they'll most likely consider me dead and the shuttle ports will be less patrolled and any watch guard set in place around my friend will relax."

"This person, he's a gundam pilot too?"

Duo nodded. "But that's between me and you, all right?" He waited for Duane to nod before he spoke some more about what he'd discovered about his friend. "I looked him up on the net as well as the other guys. Quat's the only one I found other than Heero's false name. He's still on his family's colony and he's gotten even more handsome over the years. He always looked so young and innocent; now he looks like sex in a business suit."

Duane blushed at the frankness of the younger man, a fact that was noticed by Duo and found great humor at it. He calmed after having a good laugh at the older man's expense and continued with a more sobering look coming over his face. "I looked up every picture I could find, but there was not one shot with Trowa anywhere within the camera's range. There wasn't anything about them being together, only a series of gossip column remarks about Q's apparently very active love life." He looked into the other man's face. "I think they got screwed over like I did, probably by Q-man's family. They didn't approve of their relationship. Guess the rich princesses didn't like the idea of their little prince being gay."

"Prince? L-4?" The bits of information began to fit together. "Are you talking about Quatre Winner, the heir to the Winner fortune?"

"I take it you've heard of him," Duo said.

Duane's eyes widened with disbelief. "Hasn't everyone? But wait, are you telling me the only Winner male was a gundam pilot?"

"He built and piloted Sandrock, not to mention Wing Zero."

"Holy shit!" The words left the other man's lips on a faint breath, his angular face was a picture of disbelief.

"Q-man's always been a good guy with a heart too pure for fighting a war," Duo said as he reflected on his friend. "But damn, if he didn't pull his own weight. He was born a strategist and proved himself to be a generous and a good friend. He and Trowa, another pilot, were really tight, if you know what I mean." He wagged his eyebrows suggestively. "I can't imagine one of them being without the other."

Duane raised a skeptical eyebrow. "So you want me to be ready to fly to L-4 on a moment's notice to hypnotize Quatre Winner. Do you think you can actually get that close to him, being that he won't remember who you are? I'm sure he has bodyguards and security to keep strangers from approaching him."

Duo shrugged, seeming unconcerned. "Sure. Once I get there and scope out his home, work and security, I'll sneak in and have a little heart to heart with him or approach him in some other way. I'll try to give you a heads up so you can have a couple of days to get a ticket and make arrangements. I'll pay your expenses and make it worth your while if you're willing to do this."

"Forget it," the slightly older man said, standing from his chair. "You know I've got enough money to pay for myself. It's not a burden at all. Want another beer?" he asked as he stood and made his way towards the kitchen, feeling slightly more at ease now with the former gundam pilot.

"Not unless you've got food to go with it," Duo called after him, then settled back into the soft leather sofa.

"Tell you what," Duane poked his head back out the doorway. "There's a football game on tonight. How about I order a pizza and we'll watch it together?"

Duo shifted on the sofa to turn and give the other man a grateful, beaming smile, happy to have something to do other than watch T.V. by himself another night. "Sounds great," he answered enthusiastically.

Duane smiled back at him then went to get the phone book to look up the number. He wondered at the rapid changes in the other man's personality, thinking a psychologist would have a field day sifting through the former gundam pilot's twisted mind. Duo was a killer - he knew that, and yet he found the former gundam pilot to be charming and personable. Not two weeks ago he'd killed two men with his bare hands to ensure he'd make a clean break from the authorities, a strategy that seemed to be working. And though he found that to be morally repugnant, he began to think that maybe it was himself that needed his head examined. Not only was he harboring a criminal and killer in his home, but he was actually looking forward to the evening ahead. It had been clear, by the expression on the face of the man in his living room moments before, that Duo was looking forward to it too. Dialing the number for the pizzeria, he ordered a large supreme pizza, figuring the two of them would polish that off in no time.

Two weeks later, Duo packed up his meager belongings into a duffle bag that he would carry aboard the shuttle. He checked out of the flea bag hotel room he'd been staying in and hailed a taxi and directed the driver to take him to the shuttle port.

The thirty-five minute drive was done in silence as he contemplated going into space again. He absently rubbed his arm, the clean, temporary brace had been tossed into a back-alley dumpster. It felt like his nerves synapses were firing impulses like crazy because he had a difficult time trying to sit still. Excited didn't even come close to expressing how he felt about going into space again after so long. It could only be more of a turn on if he were flying there himself.

At his arrival, he paid the cabby, grabbed his bag and patted the pocket of his jacket, reassuring himself that the papers that would stand up against any questions about his false identity were in place. He knew the airport well; he'd been there on several practice runs just to check it out. He'd come the first time to check out the shuttle schedule to several colonies and to determine the type of security he'd have to pass through. He noted then that there was a strong showing of Preventers checking passengers at the security gate. He returned another time, in disguise, to purchase a ticket to L-1, noting the number of Preventers seemed to have diminished some. He thought that maybe they had gotten tired of looking for him when they weren't even certain if he was alive or not. Whether that was the reason for their lessening in numbers or not, Duo was grateful for it.

His duffle bag was his only luggage, enabling him to bypass the main desk where he'd bought his ticket two weeks previous. He stood in the long line that would eventually let him pass through the spaceport's security checkpoint. He combed his fingers through his fringe of platinum hair, then adjusted the small oval glasses on the bridge on the bridge of his nose.

After ten minutes, he stepped up to the uniformed security man and handed him his papers and ticket. The black security guard looked at his papers and then to his face to see if his picture matched. The man nodded, seeing the identities did indeed match, then motioned Duo to put his bag on the moving belt that would send it through the x-ray machine. "You headed home?" he asked Duo, dressed in loose fitting jeans and turtleneck sweater to give the appearance of being a young college student.

Duo nodded. "Yeah, there are some financial troubles at home, so I'm quitting school to help out the family. I have to go home and find a job. How's the security job pay?" he asked, and followed up with several more questions, trying to take the man's mind off of him.

"Not bad, but the hours are a bitch."

"Well I don't think I'm going to be able to be choosy," he drawled. "I hear it's kind of hard to get a job anywhere within the colony system."

"There's always something for someone who's a good worker," the man said, then motioned Duo to walk through the scanner.

"All that's left is for you to look into that camera until you see the green light," the man told him, and motioned to the mark of the floor where he was to stand. This was something that was relatively new to the shuttleport's security system. From what he'd gleaned from careful observations during his previous visits, he knew it was a Preventer camera which fed into a room of agents from that organization who scanned the faces of the passengers and put them against photos of wanted criminals. He'd picked up that bit of information from a conversation he'd overheard when an elderly woman complained loudly about having her picture taken and wanted to know what it was for. The security guard had been patient with his explanation, obviously hoping to sooth the older woman's agitated state. Little did he know his explanation was given to someone who needed to know of the latest security measure.

He approached the red line on the floor, forced his smile into a horizontal line, unlike his own smile, and kept his brown, contact-covered eyes that were hidden behind small round glasses, half-lidded and squinting, then looked up into the camera. He began to get a bit nervous as the time that he stood there was drawn out and the green light hadn't appeared as quickly as he'd anticipated. His mind quickly went over his options as well as the map in his head should he need to run for it if they were onto him. Much to his relief, the light below the lense flashed green and he turned back to the conveyer belt where his duffle bag was waiting for him. Giving a friendly wave to the helpful guard, he began the walk towards the boarding gate for the shuttle that would soon take him into space.

He was an hour early for his flight, which gave him time to find a seat in the area near his boarding gate. He munched on some over-priced food he'd bought to pass the time and kept his eyes moving over the crowd. He spotted several plain-clothes men, obviously police or Preventers. Shoving down the last of his garlic bread, his eyes caught sight of two people walking confidently down the center of the terminal walkway. One was a tall blond man and the other a shorter Chinese man with a fierce, determined look on his face. He knew the both of them at once. Zechs Marquis, a.k.a. Milliardo Peacecraft and his old war buddy, Wufei Chang. Both men wore the Preventers' uniform as they strode with purpose through the shuttleport concourse, their eyes shifting to take in the faces of everyone they passed.

Checking his watch, Duo noted that he had about ten minutes until the boarding of the shuttle commenced. He didn't know if they were looking for him specifically, that he'd been identified by their camera, but he knew he couldn't take a chance of being captured again. "Damn," he muttered under his breath. What were the chances that three of the six Integrated in Sanq were now Preventers and two were looking for him? Of course, they wouldn't remember him as a comrade, but were most likely going off a profile of a possible elusive criminal. One thing was for sure, they were no longer on his side and he couldn't count on them for any assistance. Just the no-nonsense look on their faces told him they were seriously dangerous people, and those civilians looking up to watch them as they passed by must have seen it too as they gave the two agents a wide berth, clearing a path for them just like Moses in the Bible parting the waters of the Red Sea for the children of Israel. He would have thought that analogy funny if the situation wasn't dire.

He watched them for a moment and found a strange sense of longing building in his chest. Wufei looked good, he thought. He was a bit taller than he'd been after the war, certainly taller than himself, but there was a strength about him that bespoke of training and a look of self-possession that always looked good on the once haughty and proud teenager from the destroyed L-5 colony. Zechs looked pretty much the same, still looking like some kind of rock star with his long blond hair. But there was something about the way the two walked together, a sense of unity and teamwork. The two couldn't have been more opposite in physical appearance, white hair next to black, Scandinavian skin tones contrasted greatly with Asian caramel. Then it struck him that the two might be lovers. He hadn't known either of the men all that well during the war, Zechs was the enemy most of the time and Wufei purposely distanced himself from the other gundam pilots until it suited his need to pair up with them in the final battles. Yet the way they walked next to each other, moved in tandem, exchanging silent messages with their eyes or a flick of their hands led him to believe they were something more than work partners.

Knowing he couldn't risk the chance that they'd somehow recognized him from the camera at the security check point and had come to arrest him, he knew he had to act fast. He was free now and was determined to stay that way. Moving quickly, he went back to the food court and stood in line to buy a drink, hoping to lose himself in the crowd. As he neared the counter, he kept a surreptitious eye on the two, watching their progress as they moved around the concourse. He ordered his drink and looked around at the tables, most of which were filled. He saw an open spot at a table occupied with a young family. The parents seemed to be wrestling with their three children, the baby was fussing in its carrier, the toddler was playing with his food, making a mess of his fries and catsup, and the older child, looking around ten or eleven years old, was loudly complaining about the long trip ahead of them. He headed straight for them.

Standing next to the table, he asked if he could have the one vacant chair. The startled group looked at him as if he were out of his mind. The father nodded, and Duo sat and began to engage them in conversation, playing with the two little kids while talking with the parents. He looked like part of the family by the time the two Preventers entered the eating establishment. They looked around and Duo could feel the moment their eyes lit on him as the hair stood up on his neck. He picked up the baby and set her on the table before him and began to jabber in baby talk to her. The nine month old promptly grabbed a hold of his hair and pulled, trying to put the white substance into her mouth. Duo laughed at her antics even as his body tensed. As he pried her fingers loose, he smiled at the little cherub face and casually glanced to the entrance of the court to see the two men had gone.

Putting the baby back into its carrier, Duo smiled at the family, bid them a good trip to L-4 and stood from his seat at their table. He quickly left the eating area, throwing his drink into the trash can as he left. Noting the two men in uniform, former friend and acquaintance, were headed down the way they had come, towards the main terminal, he turned to walk the short distance to gate number fourteen while a steward announced that boarding was commencing. He reached into his jacket, got out his boarding pass and felt like lady luck was riding on his shoulders once again.

TBC

Author's note: Thanks to all who've reviewed. It's nice to know this fic is being read and appreciated by you faithful few. Hum... it seems as if some of you have some pre-conceived ideas about how this story will end. Keep an open mind, is all I can say at this point. We have eight chapters to go with twists and turns yet to come.