Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Preventors' Case #84309: Splicers ❯ Chapter 21
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: bikkothewriter 
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Hentai / Romance | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 02.22.2009 | Updated On: 09.27.2010 | Pages: 6 | Words: 6.4K | Visits: 510 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Hentai / Romance | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 02.22.2009 | Updated On: 09.27.2010 | Pages: 6 | Words: 6.4K | Visits: 510 | Status: Work In Progress
Preventors' Case #84309: Splicers
Pairings: Main 1x2, others may show up
Warnings: Yaoi, Language, blood, gore, lemon, lime, angst
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Splicing idea taken from a Batman Beyond episode.
Summary: Heero is working for the Preventors on a case dealing with genetic mutations gone wrong. When he finally manages to make a break in the case he finds Duo, whose been missing for four years, right in the middle of it. Where has Duo been and what has he done to himself?
***
He knew he'd been moved when he woke in a bed. There were doctors and nurses surrounding him almost immediately, poking and prodding, asking him questions. After reassuring them that he knew his name age and the current ESUN president over a dozen times he was finally left relatively alone.
Trowa had stood off to the side, his arms crossed over his chest watching the proceedings and as the last nurse left the room, he approached the bed. He dropped his hands to the guardrail, his face blank.
"How long have I been out?' Heero asked.
"Two days. You were found in the parking deck at four in the morning with Duo's ankle tether in your hand."
"Where is he?" he asked angrily. He clenched his hands into a fist so tight that his whole hand trembled with the force. He knew that Duo was gone even before confirmed it. He felt stupid for trusting him, for believing in him and he shut his emotions down, locking them out much like he had done during the war. His emotions clouded his judgment and left him open for Duo's attack. He would not repeat the same mistake again.
"Gone, along with Gervais and Hughes. Rhys is with the Bonhams."
Heero threw the covers off, not surprised that Gervais was missing but Hughes being actively involved was new. Swinging his legs off the side of the bed, he looked up to Trowa asking, "What are we doing to find them?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" Heero repeated looking at Trowa confused.
"We're off the case, Heero. Both of them."
"What do you mean?"
"The entire team has been suspended. We're not allowed inside the building until Yates approves it."
Looking at Trowa, really looking at him he realized that he wasn't wearing his uniform, instead dressed in a navy button-down and khakis.
"He can't be serious. We haven't done anything wrong."
"It isn't just Gervais who's missing but all his splicing patients as well. Yates thinks we were in on it. That one of us helped him kidnap Gemmell and the others. You're the only one with an obvious alibi."
He wasn't completely surprised by the news. Gervais was determined to prove that he was a good guy, a hero. No doubt, he was holed up in a lab somewhere constructing a tank to restore the missing patients. Transporting seven unconscious people with only Duo for help however was impossible and Yates was right to assume that they had help. And Heero wasn't ready to dismiss one of the members of his team as one of Gervais' helpers.
"Where are Price and Weber?"
"In the waiting room. We've been waiting for you to wake up."
"What was I drugged with?"
"We don't know. Something Gervais invented. The doctors weren't sure you would wake up at all. Your heart was barely beating and you had no brain activity until an hour ago."
He paused, realizing how close he had come to dying or spending the rest of his natural life in a coma. He couldn't see the point of Gervais and Duo nearly killing him. He couldn't imagine what they would gain from putting him into a two-day coma.
"What else is there Trowa?" he asked knowing that there had to be more.
"Chase has been assigned to the Murai case. He caught Nellie yesterday."
Sick to his stomach, he closed his eyes taking deep breaths through his nose. He had to be dreaming, having a sick drug-induced nightmare. He worked on the Murai case for months before even identifying the man and now Chase was taking his case, making an arrest in less than two days.
"What are we supposed to do? Sit around until the Director decides that we're innocent?"
"We're lucky that he didn't fire us on the spot, Heero. Yates read us the riot act for leaving the two alone and he'll want to see you as soon as you're well enough."
"I'll go and see him now," he said moving to stand. He wanted to get back to work immediately. He had to find not only Murai and Nellie, but Gervais and Duo as well and he had no intention of sitting around waiting for Chase or another agent to solve his case.
"Heero," Trowa said, putting his hands out to stop Heero from getting out of bed, "I think you should see Kitten before you meet with Yates."
"Why? Is he hurt?" he asked thinking the worst.
"Hughes abandoned him. We found him alone in her house with all of his clothes and toys packed. He was holding Gervais' tether crying."
The small boy's face came to mind as he thought back to finding Kitten locked inside a cage, the red and puffy face tracked by tears. Reassuring him then had been easy. He couldn't see himself lying to the boy, telling him that his father and Nana would be back soon.
"I'm sure that Joyanne or Mrs. Bonham are more suitable for caring for him. I don't think I'm the best one for him right now. "
"I don't think you have much of a choice. Duo named you Kitten's Godfather and legal guardian."
"What?"
"Hughes, Rains, and Dewitt signed off as character witnesses and Judge Burbank is upholding the decision."
Heero flashbacked to the meeting between Duo and three women and how they had all looked at him guiltily. The papers scattered on the small children's table that Hughes had been in the midst of signing had to have been the forms of testimony. Heero could not feel at all flattered that the group thought him good for the young boy. It meant that the women were on some level aware of Duo's plan to disappear.
"You should go and see him first."
"I want to talk to Weber and Price. Then," he said, "Then I'll go and see Kitten."
The two agents stood as he approached, though it was more labored for Price with her cracked femur. The remaining members of his team, as well as Sally and Wu Fei, stood with him in the Plainsboro waiting room and he had to question why he wasn't being taken care of at the Preventors' clinic.
"Maxwell and Gervais bombed the place," Weber said.
"Flash bombs," Price elaborated, "The clinic is full of dust and debris and is unusable."
"Should you be up and walking, Heero?" Wu Fei asked.
"I'm fine, I don't feel tired at all," he said. He was surprised that he wasn't tired and aching after being down for so long. He felt refreshed and eager to move, to get to work. He also noticed that his chest had healed significantly as he had slept, the scratches nothing but pale, fading lines.
"You're lab work came back clean," Price said and Heero looked to her confused. "I asked the doctor's to run tests to see if it wasn't just a heavy sedative you were given. They found no traces of animal DNA in your system."
"Thank you, Price."
He was glad to hear that he would not be growing a tail or scales anytime soon, having no desire to be spliced. A part of him had been afraid that if he did wake up after the attack that he would find himself with cat ears and tail to match Duo and his son.
"Boss, we didn't help them. I didn't know anything about it until I got the call from Barton."
Heero didn't say anything because he couldn't be sure that he could trust Weber. The man had a close relationship with Gemmell and to see the woman confined to a hospital bed, her arms and legs turned into long undulating tentacles was reason enough to help Gervais escape.
Both Price and Sally could easily feel sympathetic to Northman and her predicament. If Gervais was persuasive enough to cause Duo to abandon his friends, betray them, and leave his son behind, he could influence Price. Sally could have been taken in by the older man's charm and as a fellow doctor would do anything to save lives.
He couldn't imagine either Trowa or Wu Fei aligned with Gervais but even they couldn't be fully trusted. Heero's mind supplied him with reasons and angles where the fight between Duo, Gervais and Trowa could have been staged to keep them from suspecting the man and Wu Fei had been oddly quiet about his opinion on the situation.
The faith he'd had in his team and been sorely tested and broken and while he wanted to believe the best of them but he couldn't help but to suspect them. He needed to be away from the group to have a chance to regroup.
"Heero," Trowa called, touching his shoulder when he didn't answer right away.
"Sorry," he answered absently, looking at the expectant faces around him. "I don't plan on giving up on this case. I will get to the bottom of this."
"Gervais or Murai?" Sally asked.
"Both."
"We know that Gervais isn't running, not with six splicing victims as cargo," Wu Fei said, "he'll need a lab to take care of them."
"As well as money. We need to look into the mysterious benefactor," Trowa said.
"How? We're banned from HQ," Weber informed.
"We don't need a lab full of technicians to track down a bank account. Just one. I'll take care of it," Heero said not wanting to entrust the task to anyone else but himself.
"What about Murai? Chase captured Nellie; it's only a matter of time before she tells him where Murai is."
"She hasn't yet, which means he's still out there, still a threat. We shouldn't give up looking for him because we were thrown off the case."
"Yates will have our jobs, Commander," Price said, "We were given explicit instructions to stay away from both cases not just headquarters."
"I won't require that you or anyone else jeopardize your job," he told her.
"I'm not saying that I won't help, I just want to be sure that you understand what's at stake if we proceed. You didn't receive the dressing down that we did."
"I understand. I have a meeting with Yates once I see to Kitten."
"Are you really going to take him home?" Sally asked.
"Yes," he said simply.
Sally smiled a strange tension easing from her shoulders, "Good, he'll be glad to hear it."
***
"Commander," Helen said pulling the door to her home open, inviting Heero in, "It's so good to see you. I'm glad that you're alright."
"Thank you," he said stepping over the threshold and into her house for the third time.
"How is he?"
After leaving the hospital, against doctor's orders, Heero went to the Social Services home office to sign off on the papers to take Kitten into custody and into his home. He no longer thought of the boy as Rhys, preferring to call him by the name he had given himself rather than the one Duo had named him. While he didn't know much about how to care for a small child on a permanent basis, he was determined not to fail the boy. He would keep the boy safe, happy and healthy to the best of his abilities. He had no intention of abandoning him or giving him up.
"Not good," she admitted leading him down the hall, "he hasn't stopped crying. Nothing we've done cheers him help. Hopefully seeing you will help."
They turned the corner into the living room with its pictures of foster children on the light blue walls. Heero disregarded the pictures looking to the sofa where Kitten sat his ears low, shoulders slumped, tears running down his face. A teenager that Heero recognized from one of the photos kneeled before Kitten, the small boy's hands in his as he talked to him softly.
"This is Julian," Helen introduced, "He's been helping to take care of Kitten. Kitten? Look it's Mr. Heero."
The small boy turned his tired puffy face to Heero, sniffling. "Hi," he said pathetically and if Heero didn't hate Duo before he did now. He'd given the boy up once and now had disappeared on him.
"Could you excuse us?" he asked quietly and Helen readily agreed leading Julian out the door giving Heero and Kitten space. He knelt before the boy, taking his hands much the same way Julian had and Kitten only cried harder.
"Nobody said bye," he cried, "Everybody left me."
"I'm sorry," he said taking the boy's face in his hands running his thumbs over his cheeks to wipe away the tears, "I'm sorry."
"Nana packed all my toys. She said she had to go," he hiccupped, "She said you would come and you didn't."
"I'm sorry," he said pulling the boy close, wondering how Janet, who claimed to love Kitten so much, could leave the boy the way she had. He could only imagine the raiding party storming the house looking for Gervais and finding a crying three-year clutching a tether in his hand.
"I was in the hospital," he explained, "I came as soon as I woke up."
"Are you hurt?" Kitten asked looking up at Heero from where he held him firmly around his chest sniffling.
"No. I'm fine. I came to take you home with me."
Kitten buried his face against his chest again asking, "Are they coming back?"
"I don't know," he said and honestly he didn’t know if he cared.
***
"I don't think we should beat around the bush here," Yates opened, "You're fired."
"What?" Heero all but yelled looking at Director Yates shocked.
When he'd gotten the call to come in immediately, he assumed that he would receive the same speech that his team members had. Losing his job had never crossed his thoughts, though he should have suspected something when Commander Chase met him at the door escorting him to the Director's office. The man stood quietly at the door as if to mediate the situation and Heero looked back at the blond man wondering if he had known what was coming and had failed to warn him.
"Be glad that that's all I'm doing. The only reason why you're not in a cell is because I can't prove that you helped Maxwell and Gervais escape as you were unconscious at the time."
"I don't understand. You think I was a part of their plan?" He asked incredulously.
"Maxwell attacked me. He stabbed me in the back and injected me with an unknown drug."
"A drug that Gervais conveniently made to use on you. A drug given to you by Duo Maxwell."
"I didn't know anything about their plan. I did not, and would not, have helped them."
"Not even to restore one of your teammates?" Yates asked towering over Heero where he stood before his desk.
"No," he said angry.
"Popular belief is that you and Maxwell were having a sexual relationship. Special Agent Long says he saw Maxwell in your office-"
"Agent Long is prejudiced against Splicers and would say anything to undermine me."
"He isn't the only one who saw him."
"I was not having a sexual relationship with Maxwell. We did not have sex in my office," he said slowly, forcefully as is speaking to a child. He was more than pissed that Long would try to slander his name and that Yates would believe it.
"But you were together in your office? With the door closed. No doubt working out the details of your plan," Yates said picking up several sheets of paper from his desk looking them over and Heero was not impressed. He used the same techniques when interrogating suspects.
"I was not a part of any plan."
"It seems almost too convenient that Maxwell left his son with you as his legal guardian. The papers being entered and cleared only days before his escape."
"I didn't ask to be made his guardian. It was planned behind my back."
"Which means your story corroborates with Rains and DeWitt's story. I'm beginning to wonder how many crooked people are affiliated with this case and with you."
"I have done nothing to show myself as anything other than a loyal and dedicated agent. You said yourself that I've never failed a case."
"That was before one of your former comrades came under suspicion."
"So I'm guilty by association?"
"You tell me what I should think Yuy. The last person to see Maxwell before he nearly blew my clinic up was you. You think I don't see through his plan? He knocks you out so you can have an alibi while he runs off to experiment on my agents?" Yates asked loudly.
"I wouldn't help him kidnap people. I can only assume that because you refused to give him and Gervais access to a lab with ample Preventor supervision that he took matters into his own hands," he said deciding that if Yates wanted to lay blame, wanted to accuse him of things he had no part of that he could do the same. He no longer had a job and worrying about disrespecting his boss was now a thing of the past.
"Are you blaming me for this, Yuy?" Yates asked, his eyes narrowing as he took a step towards Heero.
"Are you assuming that I had a hand in this?" he asked, unflinching.
"You're pushing it, Yuy."
"I'm past pushing, Yates. I've been loyal to this organization since its inception. I've risked my life day in and day and you're attacking me and my integrity because of a few rumors and a half-assed theory."
"Your entire team is suspect, Yuy. Every one of them has the potential to be involved with this plot but you more than anyone is vested with Maxwell. I won't let you compromise this organization or any more of my agents.
"I have four agents, two interns, and a civilian missing. A number of dead and injured civilians half of which were caused by one of your team members. On top of that, I have a psychotic seventeen-year-old girl in lockup who refuses to speak to anyone but you. You care to explain how she knows you? How are you involved with her?"
"I've never met her before."
"You've never met her but she seems to know you pretty damn intimately. You're all she talks about. Your eyes, your hair, the coffee you drink."
"What are you implying?" Heero asked his eyes narrowing.
"I want to know why she wants to talk to you. I want to know why after four months of searching you weren't able to catch up to Murai or this girl but Chase manages to catch her in two days. How are you involved with them?"
"I've thrown myself into this case and you think I'm helping them? You think I've been letting those sick fucks kill innocent people for the hell of it?"
"No, Yuy, I don't know. But what I do know is that you are going to follow Commander Chase downstairs. You're going to put on your uniform for the last time and you are going to interrogate Natalie London. And when you're done and I know where to find Murai, I don't want to see you within fifty feet of this building."
"And if I refuse?" Heero said not seeing himself follow the man's orders.
"Then I charge you with obstruction of justice. And don't think that I've forgotten about Rhys Maxwell. I want the boy brought in for testing."
"No. I'm his legal guardian and I won't allow you to run tests on him. He's not a lab rat."
"I would suggest that you keep in mind who is in charge here, Yuy."
"You fired me remember? I no longer answer to you."
"Need I remind you that you're under investigation? It's in your best interest to cooperate fully. You don't want me to take the boy away from you entirely Yuy, because if I press hard enough I can get the ruling overturned."
Heero said nothing, glaring at the man hatefully. If he refused to cooperate, Yates would take Kitten away from him and he didn't relish the thought of giving the boy up. Already heartbroken he couldn't do anything that would hurt the boy more and with Yates threatening to take him away he was reminded of Quatre's threats to take the boy. Taking on Yates and Winner over custody for Kitten was simply not an option.
"Good. I see that I'm finally getting through to you. Chase," Yates said turning to the other man, "Take Mr. Yuy downstairs."
Heero turned, storming out of the office leaving Chase to try to keep up with him as he surged through the hall towards the elevator. The older man barely managed to catch the sliding doors, alerting the sensor to reopen the doors. He stepped in letting the door close behind him looking at Heero with a careful expression.
"Heero, I know you. I know you didn't have anything to do with Gervais or Murai. Once this thing clears up Yates will give you your job back," he said carefully as if talking to a frightened animal.
Heero did his best to control his anger wanting nothing more than to lash out at Chase but the man had done nothing to deserve his rage.
"Why would I want it? Why would I want to work for Yates after what he said to me? After he accused me of helping murderers."
"He doesn't mean it. The media has been having a field day with this whole thing and the president-"
"Do you think I care, Chase?" he asked seriously. He would not help murderers. Even though he had doubts about his own team, he wouldn't be so bold or so rash as to accuse them to their faces the way Yates had done to him.
"You should. This isn't the end and even if Yates says you're off the case, I still need you. This is your case, you know the ins and outs and I need that information."
"You caught Nellie without me."
"Catching the girl was a lucky break, I'll admit that. If Sandford hadn't got to his taser when he did we would have lost her."
"I don't know why she wants to talk me, Chase."
"It doesn't matter. Just get her to talk," he said as the elevator doors opened.
Heero followed the man, holding his head high as they passed other agents some of whom stared openly at him while others averted their gaze. He would not be made to feel like he was a criminal. He had done nothing wrong. He kept reminding himself of that fact as he dressed in the locker room Chase had led him to, but standing in front of the mirror running his hand down his tie he felt saddened.
He had always been proud to put on his uniform. He felt powerful and righteous, knowing that he was doing good work. That every time he put it on he was going to right wrongs, to pull murderers of the streets, to stop terrorists. Now wearing the uniform, knowing that it was his last time to wear it legally because he was now thought of as a criminal was painful.
"Are you ready Heero?" Chase called.
He looked at himself one last time before making his way over to Chase to be escorted to the lock-up where Nellie waited. Outside the interrogation room, they were met by Yates, who barely looked to Heero as he held his hand out. In his palm was an earpiece and Heero looked at it unmoving.
"You are going to wear this and ask her the questions I tell you to," Yates said and Heero took the earpiece dismissively pressing it into his ear. He took the folder that Yates handed him as well.
He pushed past the man opening the door to the interrogation room. Nellie sat cuffed to the metal chair at her wrists and ankles, while leather straps kept her torso firmly attached to the back of the chair. Her black hair hung around her face and shoulders and moved as she raised her head smiling cruelly, lips thinned. Her yellow eyes focused on Heero as he walked through door and she watched intensely, ignoring Chase completely.
He pulled out the chair across from the girl, setting the file on the table before sitting, straightening his tie as he did. He was simply not in the mood. He didn't want to help Chase take his case. He didn't want to be forced to interrogate Nellie because he was ordered to. He didn't want to be a part of any of it.
"Well he's here" Chase said, "Talk."
"I don't want you here," she said looking up at the man. "Go away. I only want to talk to Heero."
"Do you think you can do this?" Chase asked looking down at him and Heero only nodded not looking away from the girl before him.
Chase left the room shutting the door behind him and Nellie's smile only widened. Heero sat back watching the girl, noting her attire. She was dressed in a school uniform consisting of a light blue button-down with a dark blue blazer with matching skirt and tie. He didn't see that girl attending classes on a regular basis to be caught by Chase.
"Why did you want to talk to me?"
“Take that thing out of your ear," she said, nodding her head towards his right ear.
Given the excuse, he plucked the tiny machine from his ear, Yates voice sounding small and distorted as he protested. He tossed the earpiece away not caring if it became lost or damaged.
"Why did you want to talk to me?" he asked again.
"I wanted to see you for myself. I wanted to meet the man that made Gabby so mad."
"I see," Heero answered, looking down to the folder he'd brought in with him. He opened it, finding the crime scene photos of several splicing victims were stacked inside and took them one by one laying them out before Nellie. Her gaze swept across the photos quickly and she didn't bat at an eyelash, leaning as far forward as her restraints would allow.
"You're sad. Did your girlfriend leave you?" she asked.
"No," he said not looking at her, continuing to lay the photos out.
"Your boyfriend?"
"No."
"Why? Why are you sad? Tell me."
He looked her boldly in the eyes, "The man I thought I loved betrayed me, attacked me, and now everything I've worked for is falling apart."
He heard knocking against the two-way mirror and knew that Yates was not happy with where the conversation was going. He didn't care if Yates knew that he had had feelings for Duo. In fact, he was sure the man believed that they had been sleeping together. His admission wouldn't change the man's opinion of him.
"You've still got your big wig job," she said, "Still the boss man."
"I was fired half an hour ago. They're forcing me to talk to you."
She pulled against the chair attempting to get closer to him, "Why?"
"Because you know where Murai is."
"No, why did they fire you?'
The knock came again but they both ignored it.
"Because someone I know broke the law and now I'm taking the blame," he said simply not wanting to elaborate.
"The man you love?"
"I don't love him and yes," he said focusing his gaze on the photos again, tilting them this way and that.
"I know about that," she said softly, "Being betrayed. If you let me go, I'll kill him for you."
"No, thank you." If anyone was going to take out his anger on Duo it would be Heero himself and no one else. He didn't need a seventeen-year-old girl to do his dirty work.
"You're just like Brandon. Always so sad. He didn't want me to kill anyone either."
"Brandon Moore. What happened to him?" asked, encouraging her now that they were on track.
"He died."
"Were you there?"
"Yes. I watched him. We did it together. The splicing. I did him and he did me. I got so sick to my stomach, like my insides were melting but Brandon… He had blood coming out of his eyes, his nose, his mouth. It was everywhere," she said her head cocked to the side a wistful smile on her face, reminiscing. "He started coughing up blood, it got all over me. Gabby showed up and we watched him die together. We just watched the light go out of his eyes. Watching him die, it was so beautiful. He died with a smile on his face."
"Gabby? You mean Murai?"
"He doesn't like being called Gabby."
"Why are you with him? Why are you helping him?"
"I hate those pretenders. Those people who want to be spliced so they can be cool, so they can fit in with the crowd. They don't know what it means. They don't know what it meant for me and Brandon."
"What did it mean?"
"A chance to let our inner soul free. To be the person that we were meant to be."
"What was Brandon meant to be?"
"A protector. Strong, powerful, aggressive."
"And you?"
"A killer," she said with a vicious smile. "I want to hurt people."
"Other Splicers?"
"No, the people that would hurt me. I want to kill them before they can hurt me."
"Is that why you came after the Preventors?"
"That was Gabby's idea. He says you ruined everything."
"You were killing innocent people."
"Brandon was innocent. Why did he die? Why should those bastards get to live when he's dead?" she yelled. "He was mine!"
She went limp suddenly, head hanging, the harsh sound of her panting filling the room. Heero sat quietly looking at her bowed head in shock. She wasn't stable, that was obvious, but seeing her so distraught over the boy was painful to see. Knowing that she had real feelings, even misguided ones, that she grieved for Brandon Moore was unexpected.
"He's inside me, you know," she said softly without lifting her head, "When he coughed on me, his blood got in my mouth and I swallowed it down. He lives inside of me now."
She lifted her head looking at Heero with her strange inhuman eyes and he resisted the urge to look away.
"You remind me of my Brandon. Your eyes." She strained forward again, her fingers just barely clutching at the edge of the table, "you can be my Hero."
"I don't want to be anything to anybody. I don't want to love anyone."
"Because they'll hurt you. I know," she said quietly. "I'd forgive you if you hurt me. Just like I always forgave Brandon. Even when he gave me his little speeches about not hurting people."
"Why did you want to hurt people before? Before Brandon died."
"I'll tell you, I'll even forgive you if you give me that look." She settled back in the chair, slouching, her hands falling limping to the sides of the chair. "My father, or the man my mother said was my father, didn't have a job. He didn't have the money to buy the drugs he loved so much. And when he ran out, he'd dress me up real nice and put make-up on my face and then he'd invite his supplier and a couple of friends over to have a good time with me. I was seven years old when he first started. Social Services didn't come for me until I was thirteen. I still have the scars between my legs."
He looked away, closing his eyes, panting through his nose. His hands were balled into fists, his nails digging into his palms as he tried not to picture what the girl had gone through to turn her into the sociopath that she was. He couldn't blame her for wanting to be something with claws, something that could fight back. He couldn't blame her for wanting to reclaim her body in whatever way she wanted.
"He's still out there."
He opened his eyes looking back at her, "Tell me his name."
He didn't need to be backed up by the Preventors to find the son of a bitch who'd hurt the girl. He dedicated himself to helping people, saving those who couldn't save themselves and he didn't need to wear a blue, green and khaki uniform to do it.
She smiled, softly at him, "You're just like my Brandon. He wanted to find him too. He wanted to kill him. It's why I bought the kits. He wanted to strong enough to kill him."
"Tell me his name," he growled and Nellie shivered in her seat her face eager and open with excitement.
"Will you kill him for me Heero," she said breathlessly. "Tell me you'll kill him for me."
She squirmed in her chair in such a way that he knew that she was squeezing her legs together, getting off on the idea of him killing her father. Her face was flushed and her hands clenched around the arms of the chair, chest heaving. Her pupils were dilated, the yellow of her eyes disappearing into a thin line. He knew in that moment that she would tell him anything he wanted to know.
"Yes," he said and the knock against the window was deafening.
"My Heero. My Hee-chan. I want you. I want you inside me. I want you inside me like my Brandon. Please," she begged shuddering in her chair.
"Tell me where Murai is and I'll kill him for you."
"Yuy what the hell are you doing?" Chase yelled over the intercom and Heero jumped from his chair dragging it to the door wedging it under the handle. He knew that it would only be a matter of moments before Yates and Chase came tearing into the room to separate him and the girl and he was determined to get the answers he wanted no matter what.
"Yes, yes," Nellie panted as he approached her. He pushed the table way from her, planting his hands on her arms squeezing. She bucked in the chair thrusting upward trying to touch her body to his.
"Tell me where I can find him," he said again his face just inches from hers. He could hear Yates and Chase at the door, banging against it, trying to force it open and he needed her to answer before that happened. Needed her to give him the closure he needed in seeing Murai finally behind bars. He would worry about the consequences of his actions later.
"Oh please, oh please, do it, do it. Want you. My Hee-chan."
"Tell me where I can find Murai and I'll do whatever you want, Nellie. Tell me before they come in," he said looking pointedly at the door.
"Say you'll be my Hee-chan. Say you'll be all mine."
He pressed his forehead against hers, looking into her strangely colored eyes and said,
"I'm yours."
Pairings: Main 1x2, others may show up
Warnings: Yaoi, Language, blood, gore, lemon, lime, angst
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Splicing idea taken from a Batman Beyond episode.
Summary: Heero is working for the Preventors on a case dealing with genetic mutations gone wrong. When he finally manages to make a break in the case he finds Duo, whose been missing for four years, right in the middle of it. Where has Duo been and what has he done to himself?
***
He knew he'd been moved when he woke in a bed. There were doctors and nurses surrounding him almost immediately, poking and prodding, asking him questions. After reassuring them that he knew his name age and the current ESUN president over a dozen times he was finally left relatively alone.
Trowa had stood off to the side, his arms crossed over his chest watching the proceedings and as the last nurse left the room, he approached the bed. He dropped his hands to the guardrail, his face blank.
"How long have I been out?' Heero asked.
"Two days. You were found in the parking deck at four in the morning with Duo's ankle tether in your hand."
"Where is he?" he asked angrily. He clenched his hands into a fist so tight that his whole hand trembled with the force. He knew that Duo was gone even before confirmed it. He felt stupid for trusting him, for believing in him and he shut his emotions down, locking them out much like he had done during the war. His emotions clouded his judgment and left him open for Duo's attack. He would not repeat the same mistake again.
"Gone, along with Gervais and Hughes. Rhys is with the Bonhams."
Heero threw the covers off, not surprised that Gervais was missing but Hughes being actively involved was new. Swinging his legs off the side of the bed, he looked up to Trowa asking, "What are we doing to find them?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" Heero repeated looking at Trowa confused.
"We're off the case, Heero. Both of them."
"What do you mean?"
"The entire team has been suspended. We're not allowed inside the building until Yates approves it."
Looking at Trowa, really looking at him he realized that he wasn't wearing his uniform, instead dressed in a navy button-down and khakis.
"He can't be serious. We haven't done anything wrong."
"It isn't just Gervais who's missing but all his splicing patients as well. Yates thinks we were in on it. That one of us helped him kidnap Gemmell and the others. You're the only one with an obvious alibi."
He wasn't completely surprised by the news. Gervais was determined to prove that he was a good guy, a hero. No doubt, he was holed up in a lab somewhere constructing a tank to restore the missing patients. Transporting seven unconscious people with only Duo for help however was impossible and Yates was right to assume that they had help. And Heero wasn't ready to dismiss one of the members of his team as one of Gervais' helpers.
"Where are Price and Weber?"
"In the waiting room. We've been waiting for you to wake up."
"What was I drugged with?"
"We don't know. Something Gervais invented. The doctors weren't sure you would wake up at all. Your heart was barely beating and you had no brain activity until an hour ago."
He paused, realizing how close he had come to dying or spending the rest of his natural life in a coma. He couldn't see the point of Gervais and Duo nearly killing him. He couldn't imagine what they would gain from putting him into a two-day coma.
"What else is there Trowa?" he asked knowing that there had to be more.
"Chase has been assigned to the Murai case. He caught Nellie yesterday."
Sick to his stomach, he closed his eyes taking deep breaths through his nose. He had to be dreaming, having a sick drug-induced nightmare. He worked on the Murai case for months before even identifying the man and now Chase was taking his case, making an arrest in less than two days.
"What are we supposed to do? Sit around until the Director decides that we're innocent?"
"We're lucky that he didn't fire us on the spot, Heero. Yates read us the riot act for leaving the two alone and he'll want to see you as soon as you're well enough."
"I'll go and see him now," he said moving to stand. He wanted to get back to work immediately. He had to find not only Murai and Nellie, but Gervais and Duo as well and he had no intention of sitting around waiting for Chase or another agent to solve his case.
"Heero," Trowa said, putting his hands out to stop Heero from getting out of bed, "I think you should see Kitten before you meet with Yates."
"Why? Is he hurt?" he asked thinking the worst.
"Hughes abandoned him. We found him alone in her house with all of his clothes and toys packed. He was holding Gervais' tether crying."
The small boy's face came to mind as he thought back to finding Kitten locked inside a cage, the red and puffy face tracked by tears. Reassuring him then had been easy. He couldn't see himself lying to the boy, telling him that his father and Nana would be back soon.
"I'm sure that Joyanne or Mrs. Bonham are more suitable for caring for him. I don't think I'm the best one for him right now. "
"I don't think you have much of a choice. Duo named you Kitten's Godfather and legal guardian."
"What?"
"Hughes, Rains, and Dewitt signed off as character witnesses and Judge Burbank is upholding the decision."
Heero flashbacked to the meeting between Duo and three women and how they had all looked at him guiltily. The papers scattered on the small children's table that Hughes had been in the midst of signing had to have been the forms of testimony. Heero could not feel at all flattered that the group thought him good for the young boy. It meant that the women were on some level aware of Duo's plan to disappear.
"You should go and see him first."
"I want to talk to Weber and Price. Then," he said, "Then I'll go and see Kitten."
The two agents stood as he approached, though it was more labored for Price with her cracked femur. The remaining members of his team, as well as Sally and Wu Fei, stood with him in the Plainsboro waiting room and he had to question why he wasn't being taken care of at the Preventors' clinic.
"Maxwell and Gervais bombed the place," Weber said.
"Flash bombs," Price elaborated, "The clinic is full of dust and debris and is unusable."
"Should you be up and walking, Heero?" Wu Fei asked.
"I'm fine, I don't feel tired at all," he said. He was surprised that he wasn't tired and aching after being down for so long. He felt refreshed and eager to move, to get to work. He also noticed that his chest had healed significantly as he had slept, the scratches nothing but pale, fading lines.
"You're lab work came back clean," Price said and Heero looked to her confused. "I asked the doctor's to run tests to see if it wasn't just a heavy sedative you were given. They found no traces of animal DNA in your system."
"Thank you, Price."
He was glad to hear that he would not be growing a tail or scales anytime soon, having no desire to be spliced. A part of him had been afraid that if he did wake up after the attack that he would find himself with cat ears and tail to match Duo and his son.
"Boss, we didn't help them. I didn't know anything about it until I got the call from Barton."
Heero didn't say anything because he couldn't be sure that he could trust Weber. The man had a close relationship with Gemmell and to see the woman confined to a hospital bed, her arms and legs turned into long undulating tentacles was reason enough to help Gervais escape.
Both Price and Sally could easily feel sympathetic to Northman and her predicament. If Gervais was persuasive enough to cause Duo to abandon his friends, betray them, and leave his son behind, he could influence Price. Sally could have been taken in by the older man's charm and as a fellow doctor would do anything to save lives.
He couldn't imagine either Trowa or Wu Fei aligned with Gervais but even they couldn't be fully trusted. Heero's mind supplied him with reasons and angles where the fight between Duo, Gervais and Trowa could have been staged to keep them from suspecting the man and Wu Fei had been oddly quiet about his opinion on the situation.
The faith he'd had in his team and been sorely tested and broken and while he wanted to believe the best of them but he couldn't help but to suspect them. He needed to be away from the group to have a chance to regroup.
"Heero," Trowa called, touching his shoulder when he didn't answer right away.
"Sorry," he answered absently, looking at the expectant faces around him. "I don't plan on giving up on this case. I will get to the bottom of this."
"Gervais or Murai?" Sally asked.
"Both."
"We know that Gervais isn't running, not with six splicing victims as cargo," Wu Fei said, "he'll need a lab to take care of them."
"As well as money. We need to look into the mysterious benefactor," Trowa said.
"How? We're banned from HQ," Weber informed.
"We don't need a lab full of technicians to track down a bank account. Just one. I'll take care of it," Heero said not wanting to entrust the task to anyone else but himself.
"What about Murai? Chase captured Nellie; it's only a matter of time before she tells him where Murai is."
"She hasn't yet, which means he's still out there, still a threat. We shouldn't give up looking for him because we were thrown off the case."
"Yates will have our jobs, Commander," Price said, "We were given explicit instructions to stay away from both cases not just headquarters."
"I won't require that you or anyone else jeopardize your job," he told her.
"I'm not saying that I won't help, I just want to be sure that you understand what's at stake if we proceed. You didn't receive the dressing down that we did."
"I understand. I have a meeting with Yates once I see to Kitten."
"Are you really going to take him home?" Sally asked.
"Yes," he said simply.
Sally smiled a strange tension easing from her shoulders, "Good, he'll be glad to hear it."
***
"Commander," Helen said pulling the door to her home open, inviting Heero in, "It's so good to see you. I'm glad that you're alright."
"Thank you," he said stepping over the threshold and into her house for the third time.
"How is he?"
After leaving the hospital, against doctor's orders, Heero went to the Social Services home office to sign off on the papers to take Kitten into custody and into his home. He no longer thought of the boy as Rhys, preferring to call him by the name he had given himself rather than the one Duo had named him. While he didn't know much about how to care for a small child on a permanent basis, he was determined not to fail the boy. He would keep the boy safe, happy and healthy to the best of his abilities. He had no intention of abandoning him or giving him up.
"Not good," she admitted leading him down the hall, "he hasn't stopped crying. Nothing we've done cheers him help. Hopefully seeing you will help."
They turned the corner into the living room with its pictures of foster children on the light blue walls. Heero disregarded the pictures looking to the sofa where Kitten sat his ears low, shoulders slumped, tears running down his face. A teenager that Heero recognized from one of the photos kneeled before Kitten, the small boy's hands in his as he talked to him softly.
"This is Julian," Helen introduced, "He's been helping to take care of Kitten. Kitten? Look it's Mr. Heero."
The small boy turned his tired puffy face to Heero, sniffling. "Hi," he said pathetically and if Heero didn't hate Duo before he did now. He'd given the boy up once and now had disappeared on him.
"Could you excuse us?" he asked quietly and Helen readily agreed leading Julian out the door giving Heero and Kitten space. He knelt before the boy, taking his hands much the same way Julian had and Kitten only cried harder.
"Nobody said bye," he cried, "Everybody left me."
"I'm sorry," he said taking the boy's face in his hands running his thumbs over his cheeks to wipe away the tears, "I'm sorry."
"Nana packed all my toys. She said she had to go," he hiccupped, "She said you would come and you didn't."
"I'm sorry," he said pulling the boy close, wondering how Janet, who claimed to love Kitten so much, could leave the boy the way she had. He could only imagine the raiding party storming the house looking for Gervais and finding a crying three-year clutching a tether in his hand.
"I was in the hospital," he explained, "I came as soon as I woke up."
"Are you hurt?" Kitten asked looking up at Heero from where he held him firmly around his chest sniffling.
"No. I'm fine. I came to take you home with me."
Kitten buried his face against his chest again asking, "Are they coming back?"
"I don't know," he said and honestly he didn’t know if he cared.
***
"I don't think we should beat around the bush here," Yates opened, "You're fired."
"What?" Heero all but yelled looking at Director Yates shocked.
When he'd gotten the call to come in immediately, he assumed that he would receive the same speech that his team members had. Losing his job had never crossed his thoughts, though he should have suspected something when Commander Chase met him at the door escorting him to the Director's office. The man stood quietly at the door as if to mediate the situation and Heero looked back at the blond man wondering if he had known what was coming and had failed to warn him.
"Be glad that that's all I'm doing. The only reason why you're not in a cell is because I can't prove that you helped Maxwell and Gervais escape as you were unconscious at the time."
"I don't understand. You think I was a part of their plan?" He asked incredulously.
"Maxwell attacked me. He stabbed me in the back and injected me with an unknown drug."
"A drug that Gervais conveniently made to use on you. A drug given to you by Duo Maxwell."
"I didn't know anything about their plan. I did not, and would not, have helped them."
"Not even to restore one of your teammates?" Yates asked towering over Heero where he stood before his desk.
"No," he said angry.
"Popular belief is that you and Maxwell were having a sexual relationship. Special Agent Long says he saw Maxwell in your office-"
"Agent Long is prejudiced against Splicers and would say anything to undermine me."
"He isn't the only one who saw him."
"I was not having a sexual relationship with Maxwell. We did not have sex in my office," he said slowly, forcefully as is speaking to a child. He was more than pissed that Long would try to slander his name and that Yates would believe it.
"But you were together in your office? With the door closed. No doubt working out the details of your plan," Yates said picking up several sheets of paper from his desk looking them over and Heero was not impressed. He used the same techniques when interrogating suspects.
"I was not a part of any plan."
"It seems almost too convenient that Maxwell left his son with you as his legal guardian. The papers being entered and cleared only days before his escape."
"I didn't ask to be made his guardian. It was planned behind my back."
"Which means your story corroborates with Rains and DeWitt's story. I'm beginning to wonder how many crooked people are affiliated with this case and with you."
"I have done nothing to show myself as anything other than a loyal and dedicated agent. You said yourself that I've never failed a case."
"That was before one of your former comrades came under suspicion."
"So I'm guilty by association?"
"You tell me what I should think Yuy. The last person to see Maxwell before he nearly blew my clinic up was you. You think I don't see through his plan? He knocks you out so you can have an alibi while he runs off to experiment on my agents?" Yates asked loudly.
"I wouldn't help him kidnap people. I can only assume that because you refused to give him and Gervais access to a lab with ample Preventor supervision that he took matters into his own hands," he said deciding that if Yates wanted to lay blame, wanted to accuse him of things he had no part of that he could do the same. He no longer had a job and worrying about disrespecting his boss was now a thing of the past.
"Are you blaming me for this, Yuy?" Yates asked, his eyes narrowing as he took a step towards Heero.
"Are you assuming that I had a hand in this?" he asked, unflinching.
"You're pushing it, Yuy."
"I'm past pushing, Yates. I've been loyal to this organization since its inception. I've risked my life day in and day and you're attacking me and my integrity because of a few rumors and a half-assed theory."
"Your entire team is suspect, Yuy. Every one of them has the potential to be involved with this plot but you more than anyone is vested with Maxwell. I won't let you compromise this organization or any more of my agents.
"I have four agents, two interns, and a civilian missing. A number of dead and injured civilians half of which were caused by one of your team members. On top of that, I have a psychotic seventeen-year-old girl in lockup who refuses to speak to anyone but you. You care to explain how she knows you? How are you involved with her?"
"I've never met her before."
"You've never met her but she seems to know you pretty damn intimately. You're all she talks about. Your eyes, your hair, the coffee you drink."
"What are you implying?" Heero asked his eyes narrowing.
"I want to know why she wants to talk to you. I want to know why after four months of searching you weren't able to catch up to Murai or this girl but Chase manages to catch her in two days. How are you involved with them?"
"I've thrown myself into this case and you think I'm helping them? You think I've been letting those sick fucks kill innocent people for the hell of it?"
"No, Yuy, I don't know. But what I do know is that you are going to follow Commander Chase downstairs. You're going to put on your uniform for the last time and you are going to interrogate Natalie London. And when you're done and I know where to find Murai, I don't want to see you within fifty feet of this building."
"And if I refuse?" Heero said not seeing himself follow the man's orders.
"Then I charge you with obstruction of justice. And don't think that I've forgotten about Rhys Maxwell. I want the boy brought in for testing."
"No. I'm his legal guardian and I won't allow you to run tests on him. He's not a lab rat."
"I would suggest that you keep in mind who is in charge here, Yuy."
"You fired me remember? I no longer answer to you."
"Need I remind you that you're under investigation? It's in your best interest to cooperate fully. You don't want me to take the boy away from you entirely Yuy, because if I press hard enough I can get the ruling overturned."
Heero said nothing, glaring at the man hatefully. If he refused to cooperate, Yates would take Kitten away from him and he didn't relish the thought of giving the boy up. Already heartbroken he couldn't do anything that would hurt the boy more and with Yates threatening to take him away he was reminded of Quatre's threats to take the boy. Taking on Yates and Winner over custody for Kitten was simply not an option.
"Good. I see that I'm finally getting through to you. Chase," Yates said turning to the other man, "Take Mr. Yuy downstairs."
Heero turned, storming out of the office leaving Chase to try to keep up with him as he surged through the hall towards the elevator. The older man barely managed to catch the sliding doors, alerting the sensor to reopen the doors. He stepped in letting the door close behind him looking at Heero with a careful expression.
"Heero, I know you. I know you didn't have anything to do with Gervais or Murai. Once this thing clears up Yates will give you your job back," he said carefully as if talking to a frightened animal.
Heero did his best to control his anger wanting nothing more than to lash out at Chase but the man had done nothing to deserve his rage.
"Why would I want it? Why would I want to work for Yates after what he said to me? After he accused me of helping murderers."
"He doesn't mean it. The media has been having a field day with this whole thing and the president-"
"Do you think I care, Chase?" he asked seriously. He would not help murderers. Even though he had doubts about his own team, he wouldn't be so bold or so rash as to accuse them to their faces the way Yates had done to him.
"You should. This isn't the end and even if Yates says you're off the case, I still need you. This is your case, you know the ins and outs and I need that information."
"You caught Nellie without me."
"Catching the girl was a lucky break, I'll admit that. If Sandford hadn't got to his taser when he did we would have lost her."
"I don't know why she wants to talk me, Chase."
"It doesn't matter. Just get her to talk," he said as the elevator doors opened.
Heero followed the man, holding his head high as they passed other agents some of whom stared openly at him while others averted their gaze. He would not be made to feel like he was a criminal. He had done nothing wrong. He kept reminding himself of that fact as he dressed in the locker room Chase had led him to, but standing in front of the mirror running his hand down his tie he felt saddened.
He had always been proud to put on his uniform. He felt powerful and righteous, knowing that he was doing good work. That every time he put it on he was going to right wrongs, to pull murderers of the streets, to stop terrorists. Now wearing the uniform, knowing that it was his last time to wear it legally because he was now thought of as a criminal was painful.
"Are you ready Heero?" Chase called.
He looked at himself one last time before making his way over to Chase to be escorted to the lock-up where Nellie waited. Outside the interrogation room, they were met by Yates, who barely looked to Heero as he held his hand out. In his palm was an earpiece and Heero looked at it unmoving.
"You are going to wear this and ask her the questions I tell you to," Yates said and Heero took the earpiece dismissively pressing it into his ear. He took the folder that Yates handed him as well.
He pushed past the man opening the door to the interrogation room. Nellie sat cuffed to the metal chair at her wrists and ankles, while leather straps kept her torso firmly attached to the back of the chair. Her black hair hung around her face and shoulders and moved as she raised her head smiling cruelly, lips thinned. Her yellow eyes focused on Heero as he walked through door and she watched intensely, ignoring Chase completely.
He pulled out the chair across from the girl, setting the file on the table before sitting, straightening his tie as he did. He was simply not in the mood. He didn't want to help Chase take his case. He didn't want to be forced to interrogate Nellie because he was ordered to. He didn't want to be a part of any of it.
"Well he's here" Chase said, "Talk."
"I don't want you here," she said looking up at the man. "Go away. I only want to talk to Heero."
"Do you think you can do this?" Chase asked looking down at him and Heero only nodded not looking away from the girl before him.
Chase left the room shutting the door behind him and Nellie's smile only widened. Heero sat back watching the girl, noting her attire. She was dressed in a school uniform consisting of a light blue button-down with a dark blue blazer with matching skirt and tie. He didn't see that girl attending classes on a regular basis to be caught by Chase.
"Why did you want to talk to me?"
“Take that thing out of your ear," she said, nodding her head towards his right ear.
Given the excuse, he plucked the tiny machine from his ear, Yates voice sounding small and distorted as he protested. He tossed the earpiece away not caring if it became lost or damaged.
"Why did you want to talk to me?" he asked again.
"I wanted to see you for myself. I wanted to meet the man that made Gabby so mad."
"I see," Heero answered, looking down to the folder he'd brought in with him. He opened it, finding the crime scene photos of several splicing victims were stacked inside and took them one by one laying them out before Nellie. Her gaze swept across the photos quickly and she didn't bat at an eyelash, leaning as far forward as her restraints would allow.
"You're sad. Did your girlfriend leave you?" she asked.
"No," he said not looking at her, continuing to lay the photos out.
"Your boyfriend?"
"No."
"Why? Why are you sad? Tell me."
He looked her boldly in the eyes, "The man I thought I loved betrayed me, attacked me, and now everything I've worked for is falling apart."
He heard knocking against the two-way mirror and knew that Yates was not happy with where the conversation was going. He didn't care if Yates knew that he had had feelings for Duo. In fact, he was sure the man believed that they had been sleeping together. His admission wouldn't change the man's opinion of him.
"You've still got your big wig job," she said, "Still the boss man."
"I was fired half an hour ago. They're forcing me to talk to you."
She pulled against the chair attempting to get closer to him, "Why?"
"Because you know where Murai is."
"No, why did they fire you?'
The knock came again but they both ignored it.
"Because someone I know broke the law and now I'm taking the blame," he said simply not wanting to elaborate.
"The man you love?"
"I don't love him and yes," he said focusing his gaze on the photos again, tilting them this way and that.
"I know about that," she said softly, "Being betrayed. If you let me go, I'll kill him for you."
"No, thank you." If anyone was going to take out his anger on Duo it would be Heero himself and no one else. He didn't need a seventeen-year-old girl to do his dirty work.
"You're just like Brandon. Always so sad. He didn't want me to kill anyone either."
"Brandon Moore. What happened to him?" asked, encouraging her now that they were on track.
"He died."
"Were you there?"
"Yes. I watched him. We did it together. The splicing. I did him and he did me. I got so sick to my stomach, like my insides were melting but Brandon… He had blood coming out of his eyes, his nose, his mouth. It was everywhere," she said her head cocked to the side a wistful smile on her face, reminiscing. "He started coughing up blood, it got all over me. Gabby showed up and we watched him die together. We just watched the light go out of his eyes. Watching him die, it was so beautiful. He died with a smile on his face."
"Gabby? You mean Murai?"
"He doesn't like being called Gabby."
"Why are you with him? Why are you helping him?"
"I hate those pretenders. Those people who want to be spliced so they can be cool, so they can fit in with the crowd. They don't know what it means. They don't know what it meant for me and Brandon."
"What did it mean?"
"A chance to let our inner soul free. To be the person that we were meant to be."
"What was Brandon meant to be?"
"A protector. Strong, powerful, aggressive."
"And you?"
"A killer," she said with a vicious smile. "I want to hurt people."
"Other Splicers?"
"No, the people that would hurt me. I want to kill them before they can hurt me."
"Is that why you came after the Preventors?"
"That was Gabby's idea. He says you ruined everything."
"You were killing innocent people."
"Brandon was innocent. Why did he die? Why should those bastards get to live when he's dead?" she yelled. "He was mine!"
She went limp suddenly, head hanging, the harsh sound of her panting filling the room. Heero sat quietly looking at her bowed head in shock. She wasn't stable, that was obvious, but seeing her so distraught over the boy was painful to see. Knowing that she had real feelings, even misguided ones, that she grieved for Brandon Moore was unexpected.
"He's inside me, you know," she said softly without lifting her head, "When he coughed on me, his blood got in my mouth and I swallowed it down. He lives inside of me now."
She lifted her head looking at Heero with her strange inhuman eyes and he resisted the urge to look away.
"You remind me of my Brandon. Your eyes." She strained forward again, her fingers just barely clutching at the edge of the table, "you can be my Hero."
"I don't want to be anything to anybody. I don't want to love anyone."
"Because they'll hurt you. I know," she said quietly. "I'd forgive you if you hurt me. Just like I always forgave Brandon. Even when he gave me his little speeches about not hurting people."
"Why did you want to hurt people before? Before Brandon died."
"I'll tell you, I'll even forgive you if you give me that look." She settled back in the chair, slouching, her hands falling limping to the sides of the chair. "My father, or the man my mother said was my father, didn't have a job. He didn't have the money to buy the drugs he loved so much. And when he ran out, he'd dress me up real nice and put make-up on my face and then he'd invite his supplier and a couple of friends over to have a good time with me. I was seven years old when he first started. Social Services didn't come for me until I was thirteen. I still have the scars between my legs."
He looked away, closing his eyes, panting through his nose. His hands were balled into fists, his nails digging into his palms as he tried not to picture what the girl had gone through to turn her into the sociopath that she was. He couldn't blame her for wanting to be something with claws, something that could fight back. He couldn't blame her for wanting to reclaim her body in whatever way she wanted.
"He's still out there."
He opened his eyes looking back at her, "Tell me his name."
He didn't need to be backed up by the Preventors to find the son of a bitch who'd hurt the girl. He dedicated himself to helping people, saving those who couldn't save themselves and he didn't need to wear a blue, green and khaki uniform to do it.
She smiled, softly at him, "You're just like my Brandon. He wanted to find him too. He wanted to kill him. It's why I bought the kits. He wanted to strong enough to kill him."
"Tell me his name," he growled and Nellie shivered in her seat her face eager and open with excitement.
"Will you kill him for me Heero," she said breathlessly. "Tell me you'll kill him for me."
She squirmed in her chair in such a way that he knew that she was squeezing her legs together, getting off on the idea of him killing her father. Her face was flushed and her hands clenched around the arms of the chair, chest heaving. Her pupils were dilated, the yellow of her eyes disappearing into a thin line. He knew in that moment that she would tell him anything he wanted to know.
"Yes," he said and the knock against the window was deafening.
"My Heero. My Hee-chan. I want you. I want you inside me. I want you inside me like my Brandon. Please," she begged shuddering in her chair.
"Tell me where Murai is and I'll kill him for you."
"Yuy what the hell are you doing?" Chase yelled over the intercom and Heero jumped from his chair dragging it to the door wedging it under the handle. He knew that it would only be a matter of moments before Yates and Chase came tearing into the room to separate him and the girl and he was determined to get the answers he wanted no matter what.
"Yes, yes," Nellie panted as he approached her. He pushed the table way from her, planting his hands on her arms squeezing. She bucked in the chair thrusting upward trying to touch her body to his.
"Tell me where I can find him," he said again his face just inches from hers. He could hear Yates and Chase at the door, banging against it, trying to force it open and he needed her to answer before that happened. Needed her to give him the closure he needed in seeing Murai finally behind bars. He would worry about the consequences of his actions later.
"Oh please, oh please, do it, do it. Want you. My Hee-chan."
"Tell me where I can find Murai and I'll do whatever you want, Nellie. Tell me before they come in," he said looking pointedly at the door.
"Say you'll be my Hee-chan. Say you'll be all mine."
He pressed his forehead against hers, looking into her strangely colored eyes and said,
"I'm yours."