Ch. 2 Old Friend, New Case
If it was physically possible, Heero could have sworn his heart had fallen out of his chest. The black hole in his heart that had developed in Quatre's absence tore open violently and he had to force it aside; the news of Quatre overriding everything else. The silence stretched between them for what felt like an eternity, Janice's distraught showing plainly on her face, something was very wrong.
Seeing Heero for the first time in just a little over two months, Janice wished she had come to him sooner. The other pilots had decided to keep him out of the loop for as long as possible, hopefully allowing them time to locate the Sandrock pilot. She had known better, Heero should have been notified as soon as they had found out.
His appearance concerned her; pale, gaunt, he had obviously not been eating any of the food she had been delivering. His eyes held the deep rings of sleepless nights and troubled thoughts. The bandages on his arms worried her most, but she made no comment, just patiently waited until he could process what she had just told him. It took a moment before he stepped aside, a silent invitation for her entrance.
If Quatre was in trouble he wanted all possible information and if his normally collected secretary was this distraught, it had to be serious. He motioned her to sit on the couch while he took up residence on one of the stools at the counter, not trusting himself to be near another person at the moment. His training kicked in, on full alert and watchful of everything, from the most minute behavior to the obvious, he would miss nothing. He watched her calm body language, though her facial expressions proved she was anything but. With Janice here and not any of the other g-boys told him they didn't know she was here. That told him only one thing, they couldn't find Quatre, and they didn't want him to know. The slight shift in weight as Janice leaned more on her left hip told him she was ready.
"He went missing four months ago." Her voice was steady, even, not shaken at all.
Has it really been that long? He thought.
"WuFei and Preventers have been working the small amount of evidence they have to go on. They're trying to profile the kidnapper to have some sort of idea why they kidnapped Quatre in the first place. Whoever did it didn't do it for the obvious reasons." She paused for a brief moment, probably to organize her thoughts.
"Duo and Trowa followed the trail but it went cold at L4. They have been following every lead the Preventer office can find, but they aren't having much luck."
He noticed that she watched him intently, her training in full gear, but she was waiting for something and he had an idea of what it was.
"Where?"
"From the front of you apartment…" hesitation, "the day he left."
His heart stopped, blood ran cold and he knew the blood had drained from his face. If he had gone after Quatre like he had wanted. If he hadn't been wrapped up in his own self pity he would have been more alert, would have known if someone was stalking Quatre. Whoever had kidnapped him had been researching Quatre for some time, especially if they were brazen enough to grab him in front of another pilot's apartment, especially his.
"I received this last night." She got up and handed him a crisp business-like card before sitting on the edge of the couch.
Heero took it almost fearfully before opening, but the contents surprised him more than he had thought.
We are hunting you…Was scrawled in perfect cursive across the inside of the card.
This was not what he had expected to see. His eyes flashed to hers instantly, unsure of what he would find there and what he did find was more shocking. She was embarrassed. His expression must have alerted her that he didn't understand her reaction.
"There have been several attempts on my life since this started, that note was unnecessary." She stared at her hands for a moment where they lay motionless in her lap before continuing. "I lied to WuFei and told him my apartment was vandalized. He moved me in to his place after the 5th, obviously failed attempt. I haven't shown him that either." She laughed bitterly. "If he knew I was here, he would probably kill me himself. I've been investigating into the attempts but I have no leads. And working Quatre's case on top of it..." she trailed off.
He stared silently, afraid of the resulting answer.
"I can't run both. One of them will have to go on hold."
That was one of the reasons she was so popular around Preventers and why she was a great agent. She put others before herself and worked everything that was given to her. He could tell by the wariness on her face and bags under her eyes how taxing this really was on her. This was no longer the Janice he had known, the one that had worked for him, with him, with Quatre. She was barely a shell of her former self, but she kept going like any good soldier would. All for Quatre. That struck a chord the he suppressed violently.
He needed to know all the inner workings of the case and there was only one person he could get that kind of information from. The one person Janice had discreetly kept pertinent information from, but he couldn't leave her alone, not after what she had told him.
"Hn." He responded. Heero watched as she removed herself from the couch arm to pace in front of the coffee table, running a hand through her normally impeccable hair, tousling it further.
"There has to be something I missed." She spoke more to herself than to him, but he kept silent. "I'm missing something, I know it." She whispered.
He could tell that both cases were eating at her constantly, most likely the cause of her current state. Like the best soldiers he had worked with, she probably spent all her waking hours hunting through clues and piles of information, dissecting every piece of evidence available; long tedious days with no results to show.
"Sit." He commanded his tone nonnegotiable.
She obeyed, collapsing wearily onto the couch.
Heero stood up from his perch and walked into his bedroom. He threw on the blue jeans he was so fond of and a long sleeved, fitted tee to hide his suffering before locating his tennis shoes. He yanked his cell phone off the dresser and turned it on for the first time in months. As predicted, there were no missed messages. He speed dialed Preventers and directly to the man he needed.
"My house, now." He didn't bother to announce who he was just hung up his phone. WuFei would know who it was, even if the call had surprised him.
Returning to the living room he found Janice passed out on the cushions. His assumptions were correct, she was burnt out. He opened his apartment door a fraction of an inch so WuFei wouldn't bother knocking, then took up residence on the bar stool again. It wouldn't be long before WuFei showed up. In fact he waited less than ten minutes before WuFei actually arrived.
He entered cautiously, gun drawn, but holstered it immediately when he saw Janice on the couch and Heero on the stool. He opened his mouth to question, but Heero motioned towards the bedroom. As soon as they had some privacy, Heero handed WuFei the card and watched as WuFei started.
"It's not mine."
Horror flashed across his face in mere seconds before his careful visage was back in place. Heero watched as he put the pieces into place.
"Her apartment?"
Heero nodded.
WuFei swore in a half dozen languages. "Why didn't she ever mention this?" he demanded, his anger aimed inwardly. "How could I have missed this? Everything was right in front of me, clear as day, yet I failed to put them together. What the hell is going on?"
From WuFei's rambling, Heero could tell the pilot was rattled. "I don't know, but it's tied to Quatre."
WuFei's head jerked in his direction, obviously unprepared for the statement.
"Janice told me. I assume Preventers has no leads on his current state either."
A low curse escaped before WuFei replied. "Not much, we know he was taken from the front of your apartment. The one lead he had ended at an abandoned railway station on L4. Trowa and Duo have been scouting the colony for any information regardless of how trivial it may be, but its leading us know where." He stared down at the note. "When did she get this?"
"Last night."
"I need to look at everything she's been researching."
Heero took his queue and retrieved his handgun from beneath his pillow as well as the extra clips from the dresser drawer. WuFei had already taken Janice to his car; the fact that she hadn't protested worried him. This situation was graver than he'd thought.
Standing in the doorway to his apartment, he took one last look around. There would be no coming back without Quatre; there was no life without him. Grabbing his laptop from the entry table, he shut the door resolutely behind him.
