Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Murder and a Music Box ❯ The Man Who Had it All, Part 1 ( Chapter 9 )

Author's Notes: First I would like to thank Sailor Firestar for her review. Furuba rocks! I love all those boys *sigh* but I have a very special place in my heart for Momiji ^__^

Okay, I have a really good reason for not writing and posting this chappy sooner. My cat was really sick and almost died the Friday before last. We had to rush her to the vet and they had to do emergency surgery on her. Then she was in the hospital for over a week and she didn't get to come home until this last Saturday. So, while all that was going on I didn't really feel like writing. But now she's home and doing much better! However, I'm not gonna curse myself and say I'll get the next chapter quicker, but I will try! Thanks ^__^

Disclaimer: Duh, I don't own Gundam Wing. If I did I would have a lot more money.

Warning: In this chappy there is some bad language, but only a couple times. Shonen ai, but if you're reading this fic you already know that. I guess I should mention there is a little 2x4, he wishes, 4x1, maybe a little 3x2? Man, Duo gets a lot of action. Oh, and past Rx5xR.


The Man Who Had it All, Part 1

Well, after I saw that I knew where I had to go. So, I drove to the police station Trowa worked at. I only hopped he wasn't on his lunch break this time. I got there and practically ran into his office. He was staring at his computer, like usual, and had a cup of coffee and a half eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich on his desk.

"Hey," I said and smiled.

He looked up at me, a little confused. "Duo? What do you want?"

"Come on, is that anyway to greet me?" I said and took a seat. Really, I couldn't figure out what his problem was.

He shrugged. "I know you want something, that's why you come here. So, what is it?"

Well, by then I was feeling a mixture of excitement and annoyance. He didn't have a right to treat me like that, did he? I mean, I gave him Chang's info. We were square, right? Oh, what the hell am I asking you for. We were square in my book.

"I actually wanted to tell you something, but if you're too busy," I left that sentence hanging on purpose and stood up. I guess my feelings were a little hurt.

He took a sip of his coffee and finally looked at me again. "So, what did you want to tell me?"

Well, at this point I was wondering whether I should tell him or not. He was being even more of a jerk than usual so maybe he didn't deserve the benefits of my brilliant detecting. But, in the end, I told him. "I saw Dorothy Catalonia just now and guess who she was with?" I asked and smiled widely.

"Who?" he asked and didn't even seem excited.

"Come on, Trowa. This is a big break in both of our cases. You can at least try and be impressed by me."

He studied me for a moment and sighed. Then a small smile crept its way onto his lips. He always looks so much cuter when he smiles. "I am impressed Duo. I'm just tired. But, come on and tell me who Ms. Catalonia was with."

I nodded in acceptance. "She was with two people actually. One of them was the woman I bought Quatre's music box from, I don't know her name. The other was none other than an Akito Sohma, aka Cobra."

Well, Trowa really looked at me then. "You're sure?"

"Yeah," I said, "positive."

"Where?" he asked and grabbed a notepad and pen off of his desk.

"The Blue Angel, it's a bar down near my place. I've met quite a few interesting people there. That's also the first time I met Cobra," I said and leaned back. I was more than a little pleased with myself.

He nodded and wrote the information down as I told him. "Thanks Duo. I'm gonna stake the place out. See what they do and how often they come and go."

"Hey," I said a little annoyed, "it's my lead, so I should be doing that."

"Well, we could do it together," he said and smiled. Well, my mind works on a number of different levels at once so maybe I'm just being a pervert here, but that really sounded like a come on to me.

"Yeah," I said and smiled back, "we could."

"You gonna take the pictures?" he asked.

"Of course, Trowa. I wouldn't trust you with a camera. When do you wanna go? I have one in my trunk." That's just a photographer's habit, I guess. We always need a camera somewhere close by.

"We can go now," he said and shut down his computer.

"Great," I said and followed him out of the station. I stopped by my car and grabbed my camera while he went around back and got one of the undercover cops cars for us to use. I took my chances this time and let him drive.

We got back to The Blue Angel about fifteen minutes later and parked across the street with a clear view of the door they went into. I set up my camera so it was focused on the door. Then we did what you do on a stake out. We waited.

Now even though I'm a man of infinite patience even I find stake outs a little boring. Okay, maybe not just a little. Even with Trowa there it got dull, fast.

"Have you talked to Chang yet?" I asked to break the silence that had been ringing in my ears for an hour.

"No," he said and took a sip of an almost empty water bottle. "I was gonna do that tomorrow."

"Maybe you can work your charm on him in a way I couldn't," I said and laughed.

"You mean you couldn't win him over with the famous Maxwell charm? You must be slipping, Duo," he said but grinned. I smiled too. It was good to have the old Trowa back.

"He's a pretty tough customer. You'll see," I said as the door to The Blue Angel swung open. The German girl walked out with Akito at her side. I quickly began to snap pictures of them together, all the way until they got into his car.

"Well, that explains how he knew my name," I said after they drove away.

Trowa was marking down the time on a notepad and he looked at me. "Cobra knows your name?"

"Yeah, he said it while he kicked my ass," I admitted, painfully. Not because the memory of the beating was traumatic, but I was admitting it to Trowa.

"Hmm," he mumbled but didn't press the subject.

We sat for a long time after that and waited for Ms. Catalonia to exit the bar. It was pushing midnight when I saw the lone figure of a man approaching it from down the street. Even at a distance I could tell who it was wearing the black slacks and red button up shirt. Every street lamp he passed under lit up his chocolate hair in a halo of light. I hate to admit it, but I think I even held my breath.

"Do you know who that is?" he asked and was looking at Heero through the binoculars.

"Yeah," I said and took a deep breath, "he's the bar's musician and Quatre's boyfriend."

Trowa didn't say anything for a long time as Heero walked into the bar. "He's cute," he said finally and lowered the binoculars.

"I know," I said and leaned my chair back. "You can let me know when the blonde leaves the building. I think I'm gonna take a nap."

"All right," he said and smiled at me just as I shut my eyes.

I swear I had just fallen asleep when Trowa nudged me hard. "Wake up, Duo, she's leaving," he said and nudged me again. I blotted up right and began to snap pictures before I was even fully awake. Then I realized what I was doing, adjusted the focus, and went back to snapping.

"Are you gonna follow her?" I asked as she climbed into a black Mercedes.

"Not tonight," Trowa said as she pulled out and drove away. "The streets are too dead, it'd be too obvious. Anyway, it looks like Duo needs his sleep."

I knew he was messing with me, but I was too tired to care. "Yeah, I do," I said and yawned. "We can continue tomorrow. I'll give you a call when I wake up."

"Sounds great," Trowa said and drove back to the station.

* * *

The next day I did what I said I was gonna do. I got up and called Trowa over a bowl of Lucky Charms.

"Hey Barton," I said when he picked up the phone.

"Duo, so you finally dragged yourself out of bed?" he asked and gave a small laugh.

"Shu up," I said with a mouth full of cereal. "We stayed up late last night and I was tired."

"I know. I'm gonna go see Chang today and ask him some questions. You wanna meet up after that?"

Well, I wasn't opposed to the idea, but I also had one of my own. "That's fine, while you do that I'm gonna go and question the German girl. She knows more than she let on."

"Be careful, Duo," he said and sounded pretty serious.

I just laughed. "I'm not the one stepping into the dragon's cave, you are."

He sighed on the other side of the phone. "Well, I'll talk to you later then."

"Yeah, later Trowa," I said and hung up. I had some unfinished business with that girl and I wasn't about to let my guard down this time. No sir, not the Great Detective Maxwell.

So, I finished breakfast, developed and printed some of the pictures from the night before, took a shower, pulled on some clean clothes and headed for the antique shop. I was actually kinda surprised Trowa didn't want to go with me. He may have liked her little shop. It was filled with all kinds of junk.

Well, by the time I got in the neighborhood it was around two in the afternoon. I had to park about a block away from the shop because the street was packed. Go figure, maybe one of the stores were having a sale.

I walked up to the store and glanced in the window before going in. It was lucky I did, actually. It was one of those defining moments in a case. The moment things start to clear up, like all the mud and sand has finally started sinking to the bottom. And when you can see things that clearly it's a good sign, even if it makes you realize what a fool you've been. Okay, not you, me.

So, like I said I looked in the store's window and who did I see in there having a conversation with the little German girl? Come on, can you guess? Quatre Winner! Well, my initial reaction was "what the hell?" But that was before it started to clear up. He looked like he was arguing with her, and she just kept shaking her head. For a brief moment I felt sorry for him, but it passed. I was really debating whether I should just burst in and act like I hadn't known. You know, surprise him and all, but I didn't do that either. Instead I pulled out a tiny spy camera, not the best quality pictures but good enough, and took a few while hoping the window didn't cause too much glare and distortion. I didn't use the flash though, so I didn't think it would. Then I stepped around the corner into an alley and waited for him to leave.

While I stood there I really tired to keep calm, but I felt like an idiot. And no one wants to feel like an idiot. I had been played by the kid. I didn't know how, but I knew I had been played. There he was in an antique shop I hadn't told him about talking to the woman who was friends (or more) with that psycho Cobra. What was he doing there? Ah man, I was so pissed. But I contained it and about fifteen minutes later he left the shop, ran across the street and got into his car. I snapped pictures of him the whole time.

* * *

More Author's Notes: So, I bet you noticed this chapter is a lot shorter than the others. Yeah, I know. Well, I did that because otherwise it would have taken me a lot longer to write and post, so I decided to split it up into two chapters with a part 1 and 2. The second part should be coming soon! Please let me know what you think. Thanks!!!