Yami No Matsuei Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Whispers in the Dark ❯ The Wind Howls ( Chapter 5 )

~*~AN~*~ This chapter is centered more on the other characters in the story. I figured I should let you guys in on what's happening elsewhere, plus I'm going to pull the rest of the Gundam team in along with a couple Shinigami.

 

The Judgment Bureau was more active than it had been in quite some time. Having two of their Shinigami missing in action was partly why. The Bureau had been busy with the strange appearances and disappearances of souls, but when Tsuzuki and Hisoka had failed to come back from checking out that abandoned building the other Shinigami had thought the worst.

 

Tatsumi was rubbing his temples, his ever-present glasses deposited on the desk before him. He was in Chief Kanoe's office listening to Watari yell about how they should be sent for Tsuzuki and Hisoka immediately. They had been sent out the afternoon before, and when they hadn't returned to the office the night before to get the necessary paperwork everyone had figured Tsuzuki had talked Hisoka into going out to get something to eat with him, which always took awhile.

 

“It's never been like Bon to miss a day of work! I would expect Tsuzuki to skip out a day or two if he could, but with Bon as a partner he would probably be dragged from bed. Something has to be wrong! What if it really was where Muraki was hiding out? What if-“

 

“Watari! Please!” Kanoe composed himself after Watari quieted and sat down again, a pout evident on his face. He knew Watari and Tatsumi were worried, the very fact of Tatsumi coming with Watari made that clear, and he was worried as well. “I know the two of you are worried about Tsuzuki and Hisoka, but Watari I need you in the labs. We will look for them, but we need to deal with everything else as well.”

 

The chief didn't seem to acknowledge whether or not Tatsumi could or could not get sent out, but he knew that was because he was the secretary, and hadn't worked in the field for a long time. The chief didn't even consider him a real agent anymore, but that wasn't about to stop him.

 

“Chief Kanoe,” being addressed by Tatsumi, how had put his glasses back on, caught his attention, “I would like to go check the abandoned building they were sent to, and you know as well as I do that Watari will only end up blowing something up in order to free up his time and come help me.”

 

The chief sighed and looked between the two Shinigami sitting before him. He shook his head, wondering how he ever got stuck with the Shinigami he had.

 

~*~*~

 

Tatsumi and Watari stood outside the old abandoned building, wary of its crumbling façade. They only stayed outside for a few moments before Watari put on a determined face and began to march towards the door. It had still been propped open from when the first pair had come. Tatsumi followed behind, but kept enough distance between him and his partner. He many be a Shinigami, but he didn't fancy falling through the floors or being crushed by some falling piece of debris. So, naturally, he let Watari stalk in first.

 

They followed the sets of footprints in the dust, Watari wandering up the stairs as Tatsumi followed the path around the living room. He could hear the steps of his blonde companion above him, the noise pausing every so often as he checked out the rooms Hisoka had stopped at. He continued around suddenly coming to a halt as he noticed there were now three sets of footprints through this room and they all seemed to lead to the wooden trap door left upturned in the middle of the floor.

 

Watari had been staring at the floors, following the small footprints. He knew from the size of the feet that it was Bon that had come this way. He stopped, blinking down at the prints as they made an about-face and headed off back down the stairs. He had only gotten through a little over half of the hallway. He glanced back down the hall, wondering what had happened, `Maybe Tsuzuki had found something? Or had Muraki shown up?'

 

“Watari, I've found something down here.” It seemed the blonde might have found his answer. He followed the voice of Tatsumi back down the stairs and around through a few small rooms. He stopped when he saw his current partner crouched over an open trap door with a jacket in his hand.

 

Tatsumi glanced up as Watari entered and held up the jacket, “Tsuzuki's suit jacket was over here by this door. They must have found it and opened it.”

 

Watari stepped closer, taking the material in his hands. He had a bad feeling about this. As he took the jacket he noticed the footprints, “There are three sets here,” glancing over at Tatsumi, “Do you think Muraki followed them?”

 

“It looks like it. All three sets lead down into the room hidden beneath us.”

 

“We're following in their footsteps aren't we?” He only paused long enough for Tatsumi to stand upright. “Well, then we better go check out this hidden room.”

 

Tatsumi followed Watari with a sigh as he trudged down the set of stairs. He left the door open as it had been and shifted his gaze to the walls around him. They were metal, and they looked very new and very well taken care of. He noticed the steps were metal as well, their footfalls ringing in the room.

 

A gasp escaped the scientist as he caught sight of the room. It was a full-fledged laboratory. Now he knew this had been where Muraki was hiding, but was he still there? Tatsumi walked up behind him, but had opted to stay by the stairs as Watari wandered further into the room. He was inspecting the machinery, eyes flickering over the papers strewn around the room, trying to get a sense of what Muraki had been up to. Or was still up to, for that matter.

 

Tatsumi had begun walking through the room much like Watari had, confident there were no traps now that his partner had made it to the center of the room. He watched as the scientist examined all of the different machines in the room, not really concerned with him `playing' with them. He probably knew what most were for and how they worked. A few even looking similar to things he had seen in Watari's own lab.

 

As he approached he noticed Watari focusing his attention on one machine in particular. It seemed to take up a good bit of space on the table at the center of the room and the look of awe on the blonde scientists face lead him to believe it was meant to do something important.

 

“It's…it's like a black hole.” Watari's whisper reached Tatsumi's ears, but it hadn't really been meant for him, more a thought spoken aloud.

 

“What do you mean?” The sound of Tatsumi's voice so close snapped him out of his daze and he glanced at his partner.

 

“It's set up like a black hole. It's sucks whatever his near it into a wormhole of energy only to be spit out somewhere else at the end of the path. Only, this isn't an actual black hole, just an imitation.” Watari was staring in awe at the machine again.

 

“I take it this is Muraki's doing?” Spoken more as a statement to the other Shinigami. “What is he using this for? And how did he manage it?”

 

“Well, it looks like he's using spiritual energy and channeling it into a specific path to follow. He'd need a great deal of people to pull such residual energy from. Have there been any reports of large groups of missing people?”

 

Tatsumi shook his head, a deep scowl on his face. They would have noticed such a large number of missing people. `So wherever he was getting these people from, it wasn't Japan, and the other bureaus would have mentioned such an occurrence, right?' He was drawn from his inner thoughts by a question:

 

“Where does the energy path lead?”

 

Watari let a small smile creep onto his face as he reached out toward the panel on the machine. “Only one way to find out…”

 

~*~*~

 

Quatre let himself flop gracelessly into the leather chair behind the large mahogany desk in his home office. He was finally home after traveling around to multiple colonies in L2 and L3. He was trying to expand branches of Winner Enterprises Inc. and had been meeting with up and coming companies interested in merging.

 

It was early morning on L4 and he had wandered the halls looking for Trowa. He was usually up with the sun exercising to keep in shape for the circus. He didn't travel with them as a livelihood anymore, only on special tours. Now he lived with Quatre, his lover. The blonde smiled, he had heard the shower running in the bathroom down the hall and decided to relax in his office and catch up on the news.

 

The TV flicked on with the idle pressing of a button, but Quatre wasn't paying too much attention to what it said. He caught the headlines, tuning the stories out if they didn't seem too important.

 

“This is breaking news on the catastrophe going on at the Preventer Headquarters in Neo-Tokyo…”

 

Quatre's head snapped up in alarm as he stood turning up the volume before leaning forward, hands on his desk. That was the Preventer building Duo, Heero, and Wufei was assigned to, and he was waiting to hear what had happened. `Had there been an attack?'

 

“A sudden violent storm ripped through the center of Neo-Tokyo, causing damage to the city as traffic lights, street signs, and trees were pulled from the ground. One tree limb was thrown into the third floor windows of the Preventer Headquarters killing five officers and putting over a dozen others in the hospital…”

 

~*~*~

 

Trowa stepped out of the shower, toweling off quickly before pulling on a pair of clean sweatpants. He had been expecting Quatre back around now and knew just where to look for him if his flight had come in on time. Which, of course, he knew it had, as he had checked on it before getting in the shower.

 

As he left the bathroom he headed towards Quatre's office, which was conveniently located across from their bedroom on the second floor. His suspicions were confirmed as he heard the TV going in the office. He gave a small smile as he walked into the room, hoping to distract his busy lover, but his smile faded quickly as he saw tension in his lover's body as he stood staring at the news broadcast.

 

He walked further into the room, turning his attention to the news as his ears picked up on the end of the reporter's sentence:

 

“…Preventer Headquarters killing five officers and putting over a dozen others in the hospital. We are still waiting for the identities of the five deceased officers as well as the health status of the wounded.”

 

“What happened?” Trowa's quiet voice startled Quatre out of his worried daze. The news segment had been changed to something else until they had more information. Quatre sat back in his chair as Trowa came to sit on the desk just to his left.

 

“A violent storm in Neo-Tokyo sent a tree limb through the third story window of the building.” The blonde ex-pilot rubbed his temples until one of his hands was taken away and tucked between the hands of his tall lover.

 

“You're worried about Duo, Heero, and Wufei. What is your heart telling you?”

 

“I'm not sure… something isn't right, but I don't know if it's the others or something else. The sudden storm doesn't make much sense. It did a lot of damage. Wouldn't they be able to see that on the weather radar and warn the people?”

 

“You would think.” His responses still short, the tall ex-pilot was still just as quiet as he had been years before.

 

“You think I'd get through if I called the guys?” He was going to call anyway, the little blonde was always stubborn, even more so than Wufei or Heero.

 

“Maybe not the office. Try their cell phones.”

 

~*~*~

 

Quatre grumbled with frustration as he slammed the vid-phone shut for the tenth time. He had already tried the cell numbers he had none of them were answering. He had called their office numbers each three times. And Duo and Heero still had separate phone lines even though they shared an office.

 

Trowa was currently off in the kitchen getting Quatre a cup of tea to help calm his nerves a bit. He really didn't have a good feeling about this at all, especially since he couldn't get a hold of anyone. He still had their houses to call, maybe they had been sent home? No, if they were unharmed than they'd all insist on staying to help. Wouldn't they?

 

A steaming cup of tea appeared under his nose as he closed his eyes and took in the aroma. It was Chamomile, one of his favorites when he was stressed. Needless to say, he drank it a lot due to his position as President of WEI. Strong hands were on his shoulders a moment later, rubbing the tension away.

 

“Mmmm. I've missed you're back rubs.” Quatre took in a deep breath as Trowa's thumbs pushed firmly between his shoulder blades, a soft pop of the vertebrae relieved some of the ache.

 

“You should wait a while. It must be chaos down there.”

 

“Oh? And what are you going to do to distract me?” The question had an edge of mischief in it. He had indeed missed his lover after being away on business for over two weeks. Trowa gave one of his rare smirks as Quatre swiveled his chair around.

 

Trowa took his lover's hands and pulled him up to stand. Their height difference was obvious. Quatre ended up being the shortest of the ex-pilots and Trowa maintained his reign as the tallest, standing at just less than six feet. He laid a kiss on the short man's forehead before moving down to his nose, then a cheek, before finally resting on his lips.

 

Quatre was practically purring at the gentle caresses across his face and down to his lips. He deepened the kiss, pulling Trowa back with him as he moved back to desk. He broke the kiss to allow them both to breathe before hopping up to sit on his desk top, grabbing hold of his tall lover's shirt and pulling him forward to stand between his legs.

 

Brown hair brushed across Quatre's cheek as soft lips touched his neck, leaving barely-there kisses from just below his ear to his shoulder. A shiver ran down his spine as a wet tongue danced across his neck, pulling his earlobe into the awaiting hot mouth to be sucked. He groaned at the sensations such an act caused. Trowa may be quiet and reserved most other times, but he became quite the charming aggressor “in the bedroom.”

 

The expensive silk tie was removed unnoticed by expert hands and fingers popped the buttons of the soft shirt open. Trowa had managed to undo half the buttons before Quatre noticed, helping him by yanking the shirt out of his pressed black slacks. Once the shirt was fully undone the hands of the ex-infiltrator danced across his lover's chest before sliding up and over the smooth alabaster shoulders, taking the shirt with them.

 

Neither paid any mind to the shirt as it fluttered to the desk, it's owner's hands running their own course over tanner chest of his partner. Trowa had opted to leave his shirt off, clad in only the sweatpants still, and was working on getting Quatre's pants off. The leather belt was yanked through the fabric loops and tossed to the side, a hand drifting down to rub across the front of Quatre's slacks. A moan escaped the small blonde's lips as his eyes rolled back, slipping shut for just a second before his hands roamed down to his lover's hips and pulled him forward, their hips meeting a bit forcefully, creating friction for their growing states of arousal.

 

As the button of Quatre's pants was finally freed Trowa moved to slip his hands in and touch his lover's skin, but was distracted by the shrill ring of a cell phone. Quatre groaned as his phone, sitting off to his side on the desk began screaming to be answered. The tone was one he had set for work related urgent calls, the ones he couldn't miss.

 

Trowa pulled back, scowling lightly at the phone, but let out a sigh. He knew his lover would have to take the call. He leaned forward so his lips brushed against his lover's ear, “Answer it. We'll finish this later.” His lips darted to meet Quatre's, the passionate kiss only lasting long enough for Trowa to dart his tongue into the awaiting mouth for a second before pulling away.

 

Quatre bit his lip as he watched Trowa leave the room before leveling a glare at the still ringing phone. He was known for his fowl moods when frustrated, so it usually wasn't a surprise when he got snippy with an employee. He snatched the phone from the desk and flipped it open before growling out his greeting. “What do you want?”

 

~*~*~

 

It was late afternoon almost early evening by the time Quatre had gotten his business calls and minor problems put out of the way. He had already put his shirt back on, only buttoning a few of the middle buttons to keep it secure, but he refused to tuck it back in. Trowa had delivered him another cup of tea, still shirtless, only a little while ago and as he sipped it he suddenly remembered the incident that the Preventers office in Neo-Tokyo.

 

He flipped open the vid-phone in front of him and dialed the first number that came to mind, which happened to be Duo and Heero's home number. As it began to ring he realized the time difference would make it almost midnight, but Heero always answered if he was home, at least.

 

Trowa had come by to check on Quatre, only to find him calling someone else. He frowned as he leaned in the doorway. The head of WEI had been working for the last few weeks and now he was being forcibly consumed by work all over again in his own home. He walked forward with the intention of dragging the man away from his work when he heard the voice on the other end. Smiling to himself he walked over to stand behind his lover. Of course Quatre wouldn't have forgotten about making sure the others were okay.

 

~*~*~

 

Heero woke instantly to the sound of the vid-phone ringing. He wanted more than anything to just shut it off and curl back against Duo's still naked form. Really, he did, but he just could never ignore a ringing phone. What if it was an emergency?

 

The phone had also awakened Duo, and it seemed he knew exactly where his lover's mind was as it continued to ring. “They'll call back, `Ro-koi. Go back to sleep.” He knew it wasn't going to work, it never did. Heero shifted, sitting up on his elbow as he reached an arm across Duo to turn on the light and flip open the vid-screen, effectively answering the call.

 

He was surprised when Quatre's face appeared, just as surprised as Quatre was to find him answering from bed with Duo, both looking as if they were naked under the blanket that covered them.

 

“Quatre, hello. What's on your mind?” All the other pilots knew that Quatre called them for specific reasons, and Heero had no doubt it had something to do with the accident at headquarters earlier that day.

 

The name of his old friend and fellow ex-pilot peaked Duo's interest as he finally decided to open his eyes and roll over, just in time to see Trowa step into view looking rather shirtless. He also took notice of the state of dishevelment Quatre's shirt seemed to be in at the moment. He smiled wide. “Kat! Tro! How've you two been?”

 

Quatre smiled, relieved to see that they both looked okay. “We've been good, Duo, as always.” His expression changed to that of concern. “I saw the news report about the accident. Are you two both alright?”

 

“We're fine, Quatre. We both came close, but we're fine.” Heero answered as Duo fell silent.

 

“I'm relieved to hear that. I was trying to get a hold of the three of you all morning here. Have you seen Wufei? Is he alright as well?”

 

“He's fine, in fact, he was called back out to help not long after Sally forced him to see us home.” Heero scowled slightly at that. They had been fine and could have helped as well. He glanced at Duo, who was staring back at him. Quatre watched as some question passed between them before a silent decision was made. Heero looked back up at the screen.

 

“Quatre, we should probably talk. This storm wasn't natural and there are a few other things going on. I'd feel more comfortable if we had a secure line or-“

 

“We can be there by early evening.” Quatre blinked, glancing over his shoulder at Trowa, who had made the decision. He knew the information was important, and Trowa always hated when he worked too much after long business trips. He sighed, his attention back on the vid-screen.

 

“Well, that settles it then. We'll leave as soon as possible and we'll meet you at your place.”