Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ United Hearts ❯ Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own the G boys. They belong to their respective copyright companies. I do however own Shane, Paul, Colin, Mickey, Benny, Toby and any other unfamiliar characters. I also own the plot if you can call it that.

Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4x3, 5+S

Rating: NC 17

Warnings: Angst, Yaoi, Shonen-ai, violence, language, references to rape, sap, blood, Death (not one of the boys), Lemon/Lime, medical stuff, and any other weird thing that comes out of my head.... be afraid...

Notes: This is the sequel to "Lost Souls." While it is not necessary to read "Lost Souls" first I do recommend it otherwise some of the occurrences may not make sense. The references to medical procedures, medical reports, autopsies etc. are entirely based on my own pathetic knowledge of such and so I apologise in advance for any incorrectness contained there in. :)

" United Hearts "

Aug. 2002 ShenLong

Chapter 14

Wufei and Trowa stopped at the games hall when their shift was over to collect the boys. Opening the door they found the trio looking rather subdued, intent on playing an old board game of pre colony times. Wufei studied the scene for a moment picking up on the vibes.

Trowa also noticed the subtle undertones but elected not to say anything for the moment. He figured that one of the boys would tell him what had happened when they were ready to, either that or Paul would inform Wufei and he would find out from Wufei what was up.

Toby looked up as Trowa and Wufei entered the room. He gave a small smile of welcome, unsure if the man from earlier had carried through with his threat to notify security.

Paul also tried to read Wufei's eyes and get a glimmer of what the Chinese man as thinking but may sooner have tried to interpret Spanish as make out anything in Wufei's depths. The man was extremely hard to read.

"Had a good day boys?" asked Trowa in his quiet tone.

"Yeah, wasn't bad." offered Benny.

"If you would care to pack up your game I think it's time to go back to our rooms and enjoy an evening meal." said Wufei.

"Okay." came the reply.

Wufei looked at Trowa and raised an eyebrow. Trowa looked back through his one visible eye and shrugged his shoulders. He had no idea what was behind the unusually quiet behavior.

With the game packed away the three boys exited the hall with their respective guardians. Walking back to the hotel Trowa supressed the urge to ask what was wrong, instead he spoke to Wufei. "Would you and Paul care to have dinner with us tonight?"

Wufei looked up at Trowa and read the underlying reason. "Yes I would like that Trowa. Sally cannot make it tonight as she is caught up with Une and looking into this unusual finding on L2. I think the company would be nice."

Trowa gave a small smile. Wufei knew what his intentions were. "I will let Quatre know and meet you in the hotel lobby at seven then."

"Okay. Seven it is."

They entered the hotel and took the elevator to their floor. Separating in the hallway Trowa nodded to the ex pilot before entering the key code and swiping his security card through the lock of the door. The door flashed green and unlocked.

Quatre was sitting at the small desk placing papers into his briefcase as the three entered the room. He looked up and immediately sensed that all was not well. Something was troubling Toby he could tell, but what, he didn't have a clue. Benny's aura also told him that the boy was disturbed by something. He looked at Trowa quizzically and Trowa sent him a silent look that said to wait.

Turning to the two unusually quiet boys Trowa told them to go to their room and get showered ready for dinner. Glad to escape Toby and Benny immediately headed to their room to do as they were asked. Once they were gone Trowa moved to his lover.

"So what's wrong?" asked Quatre as he kissed his love.

"I don't know. They were all as quiet as mice when Wufei and I fetched them from the games hall. Something has happened but they haven't said what as yet."

Quatre thought deeply as he hugged Trowa's lean frame to him. "Do you think they will tell us?"

Trowa proceeded to place feather kisses along Quatre's jaw. "I'm not sure but I have asked Wufei and Paul to join us for dinner so I am hoping that Paul will have told Wufei something by then or if not we may find out over dinner."

"Hmmmm...." said Quatre as he tilted his head to allow Trowa's lips unhindered access to the flesh of his neck. "I get the feeling that they want to tell us but it's a case of finding the right moment and words to do it."

"Just trust them. I'm sure they will confess soon enough. So how was your day?"

"Pretty boring really. All those stuffy people." sighed Quatre as he felt Trowa's hand moving under his shirt to find a nipple to torment. "Ohh.... hmmmm...."

Continuing his explorations Trowa managed to undo the buttons on Quatre's shirt.

"Did... Did you say we were meeting Wufei for dinner?" breathed Quatre as the cool air caressed his skin.

"Yes we are..... I think we should get showered now as the terrible two some sound like they have finished in the bathroom."

Quatre moaned as Trowa removed his fingers from his nipple. Stealing a quick kiss from his love's lips he spoke "After dinner what say we continue this?"

"Most definitely." came the lust filled reply. "I have had a really tiring day and need to relax a bit."

"Well my day has been both boring and frustrating so I have a lot of stress to work off." replied Quatre as he reached between Trowa's legs and squeezed the Latin's crotch.

Trowa moaned softly and rocked into the touch. "Lets hurry up then, the sooner we have dinner the sooner I can partake of my supper."

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

Evans glanced up as he heard the knock on his door. He put the papers down that he was reading and moved to the small com unit beside the door. Pushing the small button he spoke. "Yes, Who is it?"

"Maintenance here. Someone reported a fault in the air conditioning system."

"Ahh yes. One moment please." Evans unlocked the door and opened it to admit the two men waiting outside.

The pair entered the room and Evans shut the door behind them once more snapping the lock into place. He looked at the two men dressed in overalls with the hotels logo emblazoned on the left top pocket. "In here." He motioned for the men to follow him through to the bedroom. He knew the security would be in his room as well but wasn't sure just how far the system would go. He figured that the bedroom was probably the safest place to exchange items and information as even he couldn't see the security stooping to putting cameras in the bedrooms.

The pair followed and once in the room faced the senator. The taller one introduced himself as Nylan. "I believe there may be a problem with the unit in here sir." he said, keeping his voice low.

Understanding the need for secrecy in case of bugs, the three continued their conversation threading within the information they needed to exchange.

"I think there may be something caught within the unit." said the other man.

"Yes I do think that may be the case." replied Evans. "Any chance you can take a look and fix it?"

"No problem." said the other man whom Evans identified as being Carter by the security tag that hung on his pocket.

The pair shifted to the small unit on the wall and proceeded to unscrew the face plate. Reaching inside Nylan retrieved the small package that Evans had hidden there earlier. Passing it to Carter the item was quickly placed inside the open tool box. Nylan fiddled around for a few more moments on the pretense of 'fixing' the errant machine before re screwing the face plate back in place.

"There you go sir. It should all be working fine now."

"Thank you." replied Evans.

Carter closed the tool box and made to leave. Nylan dipped his hand into his pocket before extending it to offer a handshake.

Evans grasped the hand and felt the small object press into his palm. As the contact was broken so he slipped the small black box into his own pocket.

"If you should have anymore problems please contact us." said Carter as he moved aside to allow Evans to unlock the door.

Opening the door the two men passed through. "Thank you again." said Evans before retreating once more inside and closing the door.

The two maintenance men made their way back down the hallway to the elevator, Evans returned to his perusal of the paperwork, small pager unit safe in his pocket.

In the main surveillance room a pair of eyes watched as the two men made their way from the senators room. He watched carefully not noticing anything unusual. A mug of coffee found its way in front of him and he dragged his eyes away from the screen.

"What's happening?" asked the young Preventer agent.

"Nothing. These guys have just come from the L2 senators room." he replied.

"Oh? What were they there for?"

The young man brought up the data on the computer screen. "Seems like a problem with the air con unit in the senators room. It was reported earlier." he said as he looked at the maintenance report on the screen.

"Okay. Shift finishes in another hour, want to go to the bar and play a couple of games of pool?"

"Yeah. Sounds good. I'm getting sick of watching these screens." A puff of air escaped the Preventers mouth. "Beats me why we have to monitor this shit, I mean no one is going to try anything knowing the measures that are in place and the fact that it was that Japanese whiz that set it all up."

A laugh. "Yeah well I guess Une has to justify our pay somehow."

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

Right on seven the elevator door slid open and Trowa, Quatre, Benny and Toby alighted into the foyer. Wufei and Paul were standing a little off to one side reading the small notice board. Hearing the chime of the elevator doors they looked up.

"Wufei... Paul... so pleased you are going to join us for dinner." said Quatre in his charming voice.

"Thank you for asking us." replied Wufei. He gave Trowa a look and Trowa shook his head in response.

"Shall we go then?" asked Quatre.

The six moved off to the dining room in the elegant restaurant of the hotel. Soon seated they perused the menu and ordered. The conversation consisted mostly of the days work that Trowa and Wufei had endured, relating funny incidents and swapping stories of the various heads and their entourages. Quatre filled them in on his afternoon of suffering with the many boring heads and even enlightened them on Relena's comments.

With the meal out of the way and the spirits light, Trowa thought it time to broach the subject of what was wrong with the boys. In his usual subtle manner he spoke calmly and quietly. "Are you three feeling alright?"

Toby looked up at his guardian. "Whadda ya mean?"

"Well the three of you have been unusually quiet throughout dinner." prodded Trowa.

"We can be quiet at times yer know." huffed Benny.

"I know that Benny." said Quatre "But usually you two are bursting full of news of your day and this evening you have hardly said two words."

Benny looked at his plate, Toby opted to stare at the small floral arrangement sitting in the center of the table. Paul tried to fade into the background. None of the three former Gundam pilots was fooled.

"Paul, is there something you should be telling us?" asked Wufei. "Because if there is I suggest it would be much more preferable for you to tell us yourself rather than us find out from other sources. And believe me, I *will* find out."

Paul looked at his guardian. Wufei's posture suggested that the man was calm, serene even, and Paul had no doubt that Wufei meant what he said. He would have no trouble in finding out what had happened. Paul took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak when he was cut off by Toby's small voice.

"It wasn't Paul's fault Wufei, It was mine. I was the one that did it so I'm the one yer should punish." He lowered his eyes once more.

Quatre looked at the little boy and then to Paul who looked away, unable to hold Quatre's puzzled gaze. "Would someone please explain what is going on here and why we should punish you Toby?" asked Quatre.

Trowa looked expectantly at the three. Reluctantly Paul spoke. "We was in the games hall and these pair was playin an old vid game when Toby got hungry. I was reading a book..... Don't look like that Wufei, I do like ta read ya know." said Paul as he took in Wufei's look of disbelief.

"Glad to hear it." responded Wufei in a low tone though secretly he was pleased that Paul had found the pleasures that books could bring.

Paul continued the tale, "Well I was so inta the book I was readin that these pair sneaked up on me and scared the living shi... daylights outta me."

Wufei's eyebrows went up a notch at the small slip. Sally and he had been doing their best to train the boy out of his habits of using bad language. He thought they had been succeeding..... obviously they still had a long way to go.

"One thing kinda led to another and I was chasin them pair around the hall tryin ta get my revenge when Tob decides ta duck out the doorway." Paul paused for breath and Toby took up the tale....

"I jus opened the door an ran out. I knew I shoulda looked an all but I didn't and then I was lying on the floor." Toby trailed off.

"When we got ta the door Tob had run inta some fella and knocked him clean offa his feet."

"I did say I was sorry but he was real angry and kept yellin at us an callin us hooly.... holly... ummm hollygoons." Toby's brow furrowed as he fought to pronounce the strange word and failed.

"I think you mean hooligans Toby." said Quatre. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth but he fought it back.

"Yeah that's it." Toby scratched his head. "What's a hooly thingy anyways?"

Seeing that the subject was about to be changed Trowa quickly intervened. "I will explain the word fully to you later Toby. Now please continue."

Toby looked downcast again and Paul spoke for him. "We did say we was sorry and made sure that he was okay but he was really nasty about it an said he was gonna tell security about us an that scared Toby."

A tear escaped Toby's eye and tracked down his cheek. "I don't wanna be punished." he whispered. "I really did try ta be good and I did says I was sorry. I didn't mean to knock him over." Toby looked up at his guardians, his bottom lip quivering as he fought to stay in control.

"Who was the person you knocked over Toby?" asked Trowa.

"I dunno. I didn ask his name but I fink he was one of the people that works here."

"He was wearing overalls and not nice every day type clothes like all the others are wearin." offered Paul.

Trowa thought for a moment. "We can easily check on the surveillance tapes from that sector tomorrow."

Wufei agreed.

Toby looked uncertainly from one guardian to the other, the tears still washing his cheeks.

Quatre's heart melted and he couldn't stay angry at the little boy. He knew Trowa would probably berate him later but he hated to see anyone upset. "You say you apologized to the man Toby?"

"Yeah I did, lotsa times." sniffled Toby.

Trowa gave Quatre a warning look. He knew all about Quatre's compassionate side and while he wouldn't have his koi any other way he also knew that Quatre had to take a stand at times otherwise the boys would walk all over him, never respect authority and never develop a good set of values by which to grow up by.

Quatre saw the look and flashed his lover a quick tight smile that said *I know what I am doing*. Turning back to Toby he spoke quietly. "I think you realize what mistake you have made Toby and I don't think you will do it again."

Toby looked up, eyes hopeful and then dropped them again as Quatre continued.

"However, that doesn't excuse your behavior. You were trusted to behave yourself with Paul and do as you were told. I think no television for two days and bed by eight for the next week should suffice." Quatre glanced quickly from Toby to Trowa to see how his verdict had been received.

Trowa nodded in agreement and Toby looked a little relieved. He could go without television for two days and an earlier bed time wasn't so bad. He weighed it up in his small mind before thinking he had probably got off quite lightly; all things considered.

Benny had remained silent throughout the conversation, not wanting to get into trouble himself. Suddenly he felt the weight of the three men's eyes upon him and looked up.

"You have anything to say for yourself?" inquired Trowa.

Benny shook his head.

"Then you will share the same punishment as Toby." concluded Trowa.

"The same goes for you Paul." said Wufei. "You are supposed to be older and set an example to the younger two, not go chasing around after them. This is not the sort of behavior I expect from a boy of 13."

Paul was about to protest but shut his mouth and kept the words within when he saw the look on Wufei's face.

Trowa couldn't help but notice that Benny seemed a little worried. "Was there more to this?" he thought. "Benny..... Is there anything you would like to add to this?" he asked.

Benny looked up slightly startled. "Ummmm no."

Trowa looked at Paul, the question in his eyes.

Paul nudged Benny. "Go on, yer might as well tell em."

"Tell us what?" asked Wufei.

"Benny says he has seen the guy that Tob knocked down somewheres before." said Paul.

"Is that true Benny?" asked Quatre. For some reason Benny's aura and feelings were changing constantly, indicating the boy was being troubled by something.

Benny just nodded.

"Where have you seen him before?" asked Quatre gently.

"I'm not sure.... It was back on L2 but sometime ago." His brow furrowed as he tried to recall the elusive memory.

Quatre rested his hand gently on Benny's arm. "That's okay Benny. When you remember just tell us okay?"

"Yeah I will." sighed Benny.

Trowa looked at his watch. "It's time to call it a night I think. You two have curfew, so being as it's after eight now the punishment will start from tomorrow."

The group stood to leave and bade the restaurant staff a good evening before making their way back to their rooms.

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

Heero looked up from his laptop as the door to the room swung open. getting up he moved to greet his koi and take in the sight of their new friend.

"Heero this is Fayah, Fayah this is my other guardian Heero." said Shane.

"Pleased to meet you Fayah." said Heero as he extended his hand. His blue eyes took in the form of the girl before him, around 14 or 15 he guessed, delicate feminine features and long hair. He smiled to himself. "Long hair." he thought. He looked at Duo and the smile spread to his face as he studied the long chestnut braid. "Must be an L2 thing." he decided.

Fayah shyly took the offered hand. "It's nice ta meet yer too Heero." she replied in her soft voice.

Duo bounced up behind his love and wrapped his arms tightly about his waist. Placing a kiss upon the bronzed neck he spoke. "So what have yer managed to find out Heero?"

"Hn. It seems our doctor friend worked for a while doing research into different diseases at the teaching hospital across town. It was terminated after six months." Heero moved back to his laptop and quickly tapped at the keys.

Becoming a little impatient Duo draped himself over Heero's shoulders as the Japanese man typed. "So what happened to him then?"

Heero looked at Duo and then across to Fayah and Shane who were sitting close together on the couch. Duo followed his gaze and a grin lit up his features as he saw the pair trying to get to know each other without making it too obvious. He also understood that Heero didn't want to divulge further information with a stranger in their midst.

Shane happened to catch Heero's eye and also realized what Heero was trying to say without using words. "I don't think Fayah is going to tell anyone what's going on here Heero." Shane offered.

Fayah looked up and became aware that she was the current topic of the silent discussion. With a deep breath she spoke in her soft tone. "I dunno what it is you guys are up ta and frankly I don't wanna know. I offered ta help as I heard someone was askin about a couple of street kids that hadn't come back to their gangs. I remember seein an older guy several times pickin up kids an going off wiv them for a quick bit of fun. Some of those kids never came back, a couple I knew as friends......." her voice trailed off and she tried desperately to stop herself from giving in to the lump in her throat and the tears that threatened to spill.

Sensing her distress Shane put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. He stroked her hair as he attempted to soothe her. Duo could read the body language. Swiftly he crossed the room and crouched down before the upset girl. He placed a finger under her chin and tilted it up so as he could see her eyes. What he read in those depths sent a stab of pain through his heart.

"There's more isn't their Fayah?"

She nodded.

"Tell me Fayah..." Duo continued never breaking eye contact. "These friends....."

Duo didn't get any further. Fayah's body slumped and she squeezed her eyes shut as sobs began to break forth. Balling her hands into fists she pushed them into her eyes as she fought with her emotions. She was a street kid, she was tough, she wasn't supposed to cry, and certainly not break down like this in front of these men she had only just met.

Shane rubbed her back with one hand as he tried desperately to comfort the girl. He looked hopelessly at Duo who gave a thin smile. Duo let the girl sob for a short while then tilted her face again to look at his.

"It was more than a friend wasn't it." Duo whispered gently.

Fayah nodded then hiccupped. "My... my brother Pete... he... he went with this guy..... I ain't seen him since." She collapsed again into sobbing, only this time Shane pulled her into his arms and let her use his shoulder.

Duo stood up and walked back to Heero. Frowning slightly he stared at his koi. "I don't think Fayah poses any threat to our investigation." he said quietly.

Heero nodded in agreement. Looking at the weeping girl his heart went out to her. He stared again at Duo who was watching Shane comfort Fayah, a look of sorrow on his normally happy features. "We will get this bastard Duo."

Turning his head slightly Duo spoke. There was an undercurrent of anger in his voice. "I know we will Heero, I know we will."

Heero saw a flash of something familiar pass through Duo's eyes and he recognized it immediately.

Shinigami was back....

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