Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Matchmaker ❯ The Walking Dead ( Chapter 15 )

Title: The Matchmaker 15/20?
Author: Makoto Sagara
Series: Gundam Wing
Archive: the usual suspects (ffnet, affnet, Foreverfandom, my site, mediaminer, my update LJ, and the D&DML on yahoo); anywhere else, please ask first.
Category: Supernatural, Angst, Romance, Sap

Pairings: Eventual 2x5x2, 3x4x3, and 1xRx1
Rating: T
Warnings: Shonen ai, language, angst, sap, het, supernatural dealings
Disclaimers: Yeah, like I own Gundam Wing. (Goes off to cry, but not before turning out pockets) I am poor as well. Flames will be used to amuse my muses. They are easily entertained, but highly obnoxious.

A/N: Didn't see that one coming did you? Mwhahahaha! Many thanks go to Jokes for her help with the latest chapters!

Chapter Fifteen - The Walking Dead

“NOVENTA?” Wufei yelled, making Duo wince in pain. Not only was the Chinese man's voice loud, but his mind was awash with screaming and threats and unfamiliar Chinese words that made Duo blink rapidly. “It's impossible,” Wufei said in a more reasonable voice after he'd stared at Duo for a few moments. “He…”

“Yeah, he was on that shuttle we blew up, but it's not that Noventa, `Fei,” Duo answered, hoping his words were reaching the other man.

“What's going on?” Heero asked as he came crashing into the room, gun drawn and eyes surprisingly lucid. “I heard Chang yell.”

“Duo's found out who hired our friend here,” Trowa said quietly.

“Who is it, Trowa?”

“Noventa,” Quatre whispered. Heero blinked before replacing his gun into the waistband of his jeans slowly.

“How?” He directed his question directly to Duo, who felt just as guilty as the other four.

“Not that Noventa, `Ro… His son…” The silence in the room was as deafening as if they'd all been screaming. “I guess we should've seen this coming.”

“Be that as it may,” Relena said primly. “I fail to see why he would target just one of you. From what Heero's told me, all five of you were responsible for that… situation.”

“Well, Quatre has speculated that it is because Duo was practically a sitting duck up on L2 by himself,” Trowa answered. The braided man sighed as he caught the look in his friend's eye as he read his mind. `It's not going to be so easy now that the rest of us are together, Duo. I'd stay as close to Wufei as you possibly can.'

“Thanks for that, Tro,” Duo muttered.

“Alright, so, now that we know who it is, what's the next part?” Relena asked as she looked at the five men in the room.

“Now, we plan,” Quatre answered succinctly. “Obviously, Noventa isn't the one who's hiring people like our friend here or her compatriot.”

“What makes you so sure, Winner?” Wufei asked, taking one of Duo's hands and distracting him from the conversation by rubbing his thumb across the soft webbing between Duo's fingers. “If she knows that it's Noventa who is behind this all, and I'm disinclined to believe her at this point, why wouldn't it be him who's hiring her directly?”

“The political ramifications would be tremendous,” Relena whispered. “He may not be a politician, and if he was I'd know, but that name still pulls in a lot of notice, even a few years after his death.”

“I'm siding with `Lena,” Duo said, shaking his head to clear the haze brought on by Wufei's soft touch. “It would be easier, and more politically sound for the future, if he went through a middleman.”

“Alright, so who is the middleman?” Heero growled, locking his blue eyes with those of the assassin. “Who is your boss?”

“Go to hell, 01,” she snarled, making to spit at Heero, but was rocked back when Relena punched her in the face.

“Ow,” the princess said, shaking her hand. “I know you taught me how to do that properly so I wouldn't break anything, Heero, but it still hurts a lot.”

Heero's lips twitched up into a smile and he came over to his girlfriend to inspect her hand. “I'm proud of you,” he whispered, but it still carried to the other occupants of the room. “Nothing's broken, and if you'd hit her a little harder, you might have actually broken her jaw.”

Duo began snickering. “You taught the pretty, pretty princess to throw a punch? Niiiiiice.” The other pilots laughed at Duo's nickname for Relena, while she blushed from the roots of her hair to the base of her neck.

“It was either that, or wonder if we could cover up the fact that she'd fractured fingers from the press,” Heero answered, placing a soft, brief kiss on the woman's cheek. `She's gotten a lot better since that time she argued with Zechs too.'

“You taught her to throw a punch so she could properly sock her brother? That's crazy,” Duo said between snickers.

“He was being particularly asinine,” Relena snapped while her blush deepened.

Quatre looked up from inspecting their prisoner's face. “She can still talk, but I doubt that she will. Relena really got her good.”

Trowa nodded amiably at their female friend before turning to the bound woman. “You'll tell us what we want to know, or I let Quatre at you. Or you'd rather Relena give you a repeat performance?” She stiffened before shaking her head. “Good,” Trowa purred dangerously. “Now, who is your employer?”

“He goes by the name of Grumman,” she said after a slight pause. “I don't know his real name. He runs a cartel on L1.”

“I know who that is,” Wufei growled under his breath. “Une's been trying to find someone to infiltrate his business to further our investigation. He hires out assassin contracts, smuggles guns and drugs, and helps with the prostitution in the area.”

“Basically,” Relena said, “anything that is illegal, he's got his finger in it?”

“That's a very apt way of putting things, but yes,” Wufei answered. “If Grumman's involved in it, I'm surprised that no one's been successful in actually taking Duo out.”

“What can I say?” Duo chirped with a false cheerfulness. “It's impossible to kill Death.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Heero sighed as he watched his best friend. The very fact that he was referring to himself as Death was a sign that he was going to break down soon. During the war, it had taken hours for Duo to come out of his self-imposed shell after a mission that required a lot of killing, and it was usually Heero who had to drag him out. That had been his first step into helping others when in distress and part of the reason he was able to actually communicate with others now.

A look at Chang said that he noticed as well, if the arm that snaked around Duo's waist was any indication. The sudden shy smile that the braided man gave him spoke volumes about the progress their relationship had made since the lunch where the Preventer had to be practically hit over the head to remember himself.

A quick look at Relena let Heero know that he wasn't the only one who'd noticed the casual, but intimate gesture between the two men. However, he knew too well that this wasn't the time to bring it to anyone's attention. `I'm just glad that Chang finally decided to realize that what he was doing to Duo was about to drive all of us crazy.'

Duo cocked his head in Heero's direction, an easy and happy smile passing quickly over his features before he turned to face the assassin that they had yet to figure how to deal with. “Heero wants to know what we're going to do with miss missy,” the braided man said slyly.

“Hm, I hadn't really thought about it,” Quatre said, “but, I can't imagine that this is her first time doing something like this.”

“So, you're suggesting what exactly, Winner?” Wufei asked with a neutral tone

“Well, London's a huge city, Wufei,” Trowa responded, obviously picking up on the blond's thoughts. “I believe there's a Preventers office here, yes?”

“Of course, Barton. Don't be stupid.”

“Then, you can call in that you found her trying to break into your room,” Heero said, finally catching on to what their friends were suggesting. “You're the only one who wouldn't be questioned extensively about keeping her overnight without reporting the incident to the police and Preventers right away.”

“You have a point, Yuy,” Wufei said, turning to face Duo. “Do you think that you could handle some light questioning?”

“I'm not a total invalid, `Fei,” Duo answered with a mildly reproachful tone. “I can handle any kind of questioning these locals try.” He puffed out his chest dramatically. “I am a Gundam pilot, after all.”

“While you two are dealing with the locals, Trowa and I will try to find any relevant information about Grumman,” Heero said before turning to Relena and Quatre. “Do you two think you can find out as much about Noventa as you possibly can?”

“Of course,” they answered at the same time, making the corners of Heero's mouth twitch into a fond smile. They really were too much alike sometimes. The snort from Duo let Heero know that his best friend shared his thoughts, even if reading them without any warning was a bit annoying and invasive.

“Sorry, `Ro,” Duo whispered, making the former Wing pilot shake his head fondly.

“Don't worry about it, Duo,” he answered. “How about we meet here as soon as Wufei and Duo are done with the questioning, and then we'll go from there.”

“Sounds like a plan, Heero,” Quatre said, getting up and going into one of the bedrooms, no doubt to do some phone work with the WEI network.

“If you run into any trouble, Duo, call me,” Relena said as she moved to place a chaste kiss to their friend's cheek before going into the other bedroom to do her part. “You too, Wufei.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Duo stretched out on the couch in the hotel room he shared with Wufei, letting out a heavy sigh as his… `What are we? Lovers? Boyfriends? Guess that's something that we'll have to talk about later.' …friend showed the three Preventers agents from the London office out with their new guest. “Do we have to go back upstairs?” he whined when the door was shut and he and Wufei were alone again.

“I suppose that we can spend some time down here,” the Chinese man answered. “But, tell me, why don't you want to go back up to the others?”

“Because I just want to be with you,” Duo answered quickly. He almost started cursing himself as soon as the words left his mouth, but he noticed the uncharacteristic blush on the standing man's cheeks and smiled. “When we go back, we'll have to talk about going after some guy who's mad at us for killing his dad. I really don't want to deal with that. My leg aches. I'm hungry. And Heero's stupid smiles are making me want to put my fist through his teeth.”

Wufei's cheeks faded back to their original color as he raised one sable eyebrow in curiosity. “And what is Yuy so smug about?”

“He thinks we're cute,” Duo said, emphasizing his disgust with that one word.

Wufei made a noise that sounded like he was choking. “Did he actually use that word?”

“No, but he didn't have to either, `Fei. I know him well enough to recognize that stupid smirk he wore any time he looked over at us.”

“What about Winner and Barton?” Wufei asked.

“Luckily, Q, Tro and `Lena were too preoccupied with Little Miss Killer to really pay attention, but that doesn't mean they won't be making stupid comments when we go up there.” He turned big purple eyes on the Chinese man who was sitting near his feet on the couch. “So, can we pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease stay here for a while?”

“I don't see why not… Would you like to order dinner from room service?”

`Oh, that's good, but not exactly what I had in mind,' Duo thought as he eyed the other man quietly. “Sure… whatever will be fine.”

Wufei cocked an eyebrow in question, but said nothing. `One moment he's begging like a small child and the next he staring at me as if I were a prime rib dinner being placed before a starving man,' he thought amusedly. `I don't know whether to worry or humor him.'

“You can do both, I promise you,” Duo whispered, pulling the other man to him and crushing their lips together in a searing kiss. Soon, all thoughts of food and the others were nonexistent.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Where do you think they are?” Relena asked as she sat next to Heero on the couch after spending the last four hours making phone calls regarding a Nigel Noventa. “Surely the questioning is over by now.” She watched as Quatre flushed and only took a moment to think before she too was blushing. “Ah, well, in that case, how about we have dinner while we wait for Duo and Wufei to… uh… join us.”

Heero placed a soft kiss to her temple. “That's a rather safe way of putting it,” he said. “I am hungry though. I don't remember when I ate last.”

“Oh, that's a great idea,” Quatre said. She noticed that his face was slowly losing the embarrassed flush. Trowa and he stood at the same time, the taller man taking the blond's hand with a secretive smile.

“Yes, and while we're eating, we can discuss what we've found,” the banged man replied.

The group had just grabbed their jackets, and in Relena's case her purse, and were making their way to the door of the suite when Heero's computer made a pinging sound, alerting them to a new email. “Leave it, Heero,” she said, watching as he looked from his laptop to her scowling face.

“I can't,” he said, leaving her side and strolling over to read the new message. Suddenly, he stood up straight and let out a long string of cursing, in Japanese.

`I really should learn more Japanese so he can't do that to me any longer,' she thought sourly. “What is it?”

“Nigel Noventa was in Barcelona two days ago, and is on the way to Paris.”

TBC