Title: Mischief
Author: Banshi
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is the property of Bandai, Sunrise and Viz Comics. Leslie and the Clinic are property of DC Comics. I'm using the characters for fun and not receiving any money. The intellectual property that is this specific story however does belong to me, and I'd like to keep it, even if it doesn't help to pay the bills. Thank You.
Summary: The continuing adventures of Duo, Trowa and the L2 street kids. Sequel to "Urchin", set decades after.
Notes: I'm not entirely pleased with the way this portion turned out. It plays out much more like a comic book in my head, pictures that I'm having trouble describing in a way that goes with the narrative. Please let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions for improvement: SHARE!... please ^_^
Prologue
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Duo wiped the steam from the bathroom mirror with the towel before setting to work on his hair. A few more glints of silver shone in the damp brunette mass today. Looking into his reflected eyes, Duo winked, knowing that he'd earned every one of those silver hairs. The stubble that he shaved from his weathered face each morning was now decidedly more gray than brown, but he didn't care. Only one person saw the stubble anyway, and Trowa's was even grayer.
Duo chuckled as he finished towel-drying the waist-length tangle. Years ago he had decided that laugh lines suited him. His opinion hadn't changed, even though he knew that now he looked every one of his approx. fifty years. Sometimes he even looked a little older. L2 had been kinder these last decades than it had been when he was a kid, and Duo knew that he was partially to blame for that. It just made him smile more.
He finished drying and quickly braided, his fingers still skilled and nimble. Despite all the kids he'd taught over the years, Duo Maxwell was still the best thief on the colony. Unless Heero and Relena's daughter was visiting, then he was tied for best. That girl had talent. He chuckled to himself, securing the braid with a black (of course) elastic band.
There was a knock on the bathroom door. "Duo! If you don't get your skinny ass out of there in five seconds, I'm kicking the door down!"
Ah, it was such a pleasure sharing a bathroom with Une while she was visiting. Duo counted to four then opened the door and waved the Lady in, just as Pagan would open doors for Relena. Une huffed passed him and slammed the door closed behind her. Duo just chuckled again and sauntered towards the kitchen, hoping that someone had already made coffee.
Trowa was sitting at the kitchen table, helping one of Ben's kids finish up her homework before heading off to school.
"Remind me why we told her to stay here instead of a hotel with the rest of the Preventer representatives?" Duo asked plaintively as he poured himself coffee.
"Because she's nearly family, and you wanted to soften her up before asking for more Clinic funds." Trowa didn't look up from Helena's hand written grammar exercises. Duo looked from his beloved's concentrated expression to the young girl's anxious eyes. They went through this every morning: Helena would come in, bawling that she'd done the work all wrong, and Trowa would look over it, and pronounce it perfect. Which of course, Helena's homework always was.
Duo leaned to read over Trowa's shoulder, as he did every morning, and whispered the current variation of his opinion on the situation. "You know, you're just encouraging her to give herself and ulcer." Last week it had been "study herself to death," but Trowa had told him that he was being melodramatic.
"We're almost done." Trowa whispered back, "Eat something, it's your turn to walk them to school." Duo nodded and turned away. Helena's eyes were wide and frightened, proving that she hadn't heard what they were saying and assumed that something was horribly wrong with the exercises, Duo shot her one of his patented grin+wink combos and watched her relax into the chair. Duo made a mental note to have Ben get her blood-pressure checked. That much tension couldn't be healthy.
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Gina was frightened. She'd heard stories about things like this but they started: "When Duo was a kid..." Now she stared up at the men with wide eyes. She tried to make the "awww cute" expression that worked so well on grown ups. The men didn't do anything, just kept looking at her. She got nervous, and shifted her weight off of her feet, and bringing her tied hands up to clasp the simple gold disk that hung from a chain around her neck. She wanted to go home, but the men were standing in her way, had cornered her in the street as she tried lifting a couple of apples from a storefront. One of the men smiled as she went still again. It was the kind of smile that the police smiled when Duo came to bail someone out. It wasn't a nice smile and it caused fear to sizzle in the pit of her stomach, sharp and unpleasant.
The other man pulled a syringe in a plastic baggie, removed the syringe and held the evil-looking thing in his hand. Gina couldn't breathe around the scream that seemed frozen in her throat. She tore her eyes away from the syringe to look at the man's face. Now he was smiling too, as he sat on his heels so that he was eye-level with her.
Without a word he pulled the plastic cap off of the needle and grabbed her arm. The sudden tug broke the necklace chain. Gina nearly did scream then, except for the large hands covering her mouth and squeezing her throat. There was a pinch on the inside of her elbow, and the hand was squeezing her neck so that she couldn't get enough air. Gina started flailing, trying to get them away from her as the world went blurry with gray spots before her eyes.
Viktor smiled at Decasco as the girl went limp. She was a tiny child, no more than eight years old. They had seen her visit the clinic frequented by the homeless; a place of vermin to be sure. Now at least she would serve mankind, and the two men would be paid handsomely for delivering the test subjects.
A quick search of the girl found a piece of gum, a few pieces of currency, and one of those photo ID's that this insignificant colony required for it's younger residents. Fools.
Viktor tossed it all into the nearest trash container as Decasco swung the girl over his shoulder. They left the alley as they had entered it: without a trace. The golden disk that Gina had treasured slipped to the ground, unnoticed. A soft electric buzz began emanating from the metal. An ominous signal when paired with the engraved kanji on the disk's back side: "Shinigami"
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End Prologue
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Ah, it's so good to be posting again, and apologies that this sequal took so long. Hopefully it will lead to an interesting story. Anyway, please let me know what you think, either by reviewing or sending me a note at fate@unseelie.zzn.com because you know how I love feedback! ^_~