Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, this is a Fan Fic!
Yaye, it's another chapter. Finally being able to post a chapter of Scars put me in the mood to post another one here and I just typed, I really didn't expect to get more out so soon! And so much drama!
Locked Doors
Part four: Believe What You See
Duo hadn't told Heero but his home was also in the Hotel Lin. When he'd first come to this colony he'd been out of cash but apparently not out of luck. He had meet Kitty while out looking for a job and a place to stay. She'd been half way into a car engine when oil had splattered her right in the face.
She had cursed loudly and backed away and ran into Duo. Duo had acted on instinct and took her to the side of a building where he saw a spigot. Kitty had been yelling loudly about hot oil in her eye while Duo forced her head down and under the water.
When the oil was finally gone and Kitty was left with only red and irritated eyes she had thanked Duo. Apparently she worked for some company to fix their cars on call and they were underpaying her but it was all she could find. No one else would hire her. Kitty was a very mad woman who had been applying almost weekly to every garage there was on the colony only to be turned away from each one every time.
Duo had helped her with the car and in turn she offered him a place to stay the night. Duo had followed her back to a small hotel that looked a bit run down but as if the owner were trying to fix that.
"This is my girlfriends hotel, she bought it from the police after they found the loser owner selling drugs and whores." Kitty had walked into the lobby and past the girl sitting at the check in counter. The girl with big brown eyes and short blue hair had looked up at him and winked, but Duo ignored her.
"Ember!" Kitty called out, and a woman appeared, she had long black hair pulled back at the base of her head and it flowed behind her like a tail. She had bright green eyes; they were dark pine where Kitty's were light like fresh grass. She wore dark jeans and a blue shirt tucked in.
"What did you bring home this time?" Ember asked as she leaned forward to kiss Kitty.
"This is Duo! He just landed, he needs a place to stay." Kitty smiled brightly.
"And he has no money." Ember looked Duo up and down with a frown. Duo was just about to turn and leave.
"Please Baby! He helped me on a car today, and he saved my eyes!"
"What?" Ember turned back to Kitty with alarm, "What did you do now?"
"S'not my fault, the oil just came out of no where!" Kitty protested as Ember suddenly tilted her head back and was checking her eyes.
"You got oil in your eyes?" Ember sounded beyond alarmed.
"Oh relax!" Kitty pushed away. "At least the battery didn't explode this time! And Duo shoved my head under a faucet!"
Duo couldn't help it, he started to laugh. It went from a snigger that he hid behind his hand to a full blown belly laugh that he couldn't have hid if he'd wanted to. Both women had turned to him and stopped bickering.
"Sorry!" Duo said between breaths, "But you two are great!"
Ember and blushed and Kitty had smiled brightly. "Awe, come on Ember! He's great!"
"Ok, we'll put him in the room next door." Ember finally gave in and welcomed Duo with a hug. The next day Duo had proposed that Kitty help him open his own garage with the promise of a job, Kitty had agreed wholeheartedly. Ember helped them buy the empty building down the street.
Duo stayed with the girls as a permanent resident at the hotel. He didn't have to pay rent and his two new best friends were next door. Ember's hotel grew and grew and Duo's garage started to make money, especially with the business they got form the hotel. Duo loved the life he'd created here, and the Heero had come through his door.
Duo slammed into his room at the hotel and dumped his stuff on the table in the living room. He had a room that was just as big as Heero's but it was on the ground floor past the kitchens and in the back hallway. He had a door outside with a little patio facing the courtyard where the pool was.
Duo grumbled as he went to the bedroom and pulled off his shirt over his head. He scowled as he pulled a fresh shirt from his dresser and slammed the drawer shut.
"Asshole!" Duo kicked off his shoes at the wall. "My Girlfriend? As if!" Duo stormed out into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from his fridge. "He knows perfectly well that I don't like women!"
Duo sat down on the couch and turned on his TV, he laughed harshly, "As if Kitty would ever do me." He flipped the stations, not really caring what was on. "As if Ember would let her! She'd kill me!"
Duo turned off the TV and sat staring at his reflection on the black surface. "He only sees it because he wants to." Duo finished his beer and went to bed; he was asleep on top of the covers as soon as he hit the bed.
Heero paced his room; he'd already sent a typed report of Duo's findings and agents were probably already being sent to investigate the gang that had been caught for the robbing. Heero hated that someone was going around using Duo like that, but did Duo really need his help? He'd been untouched by all of this so far, most of the media didn't even know that Duo lived here and had a steady business. They believed he was hiding on earth somewhere, guilty or not.
This would all be solved before the media got any wiser. And Duo would remain untouched and unaffected. It appeared as if his trip out here had been a waste if not for what Duo had found. Duo was happy here, with Kitty. Even after what he'd said…but who could blame him, Heero knew he'd been harsh. He'd…but that was behind them, and there was no taking back what had been said.
Heero felt his stomach roll and in his mind he could still see how Kitty kissed his cheek, how he relaxed at her touch. Heero walked out onto his balcony and pushed what he'd seen from his mind. He didn't need this kind of distraction. He would stay just long enough to make sure Duo would be ok and then he would leave and go back to the council and his job.
Duo slept the day away; he woke when he got hungry and padded into the kitchen. He opened his fridge blurry eyed and pulled out a Styrofoam box of leftovers. He heated them up so that they were halfway warm and plopped down on the sofa, pulling his legs up under him. Duo turned on the TV, forgetting everything that had happened before he'd gone to sleep. Dusk was set outside so that everything looked slightly orange, and it was dark when Duo finished eating. The "night" was hot, and Duo changed into cut off shorts and a tank top. He shoved his empty Styrofoam box into the trash and left the hotel.
He was restless and needed something to do, so he went to where he felt comfortable, his garage. There was an engine block calling his name that needed careful attention. He'd told Kitty he would handle this one, and now he would. Duo whistled as he walked along happily and people passing by smiled back at him. Duo felt at home here, more so than anywhere he'd been since the war. People knew him here and accepted him, they didn't listen to the hype the Gundam pilots got from being war heroes, here, he was just Duo.
Duo turned on lights and opened one of the garage doors. He turned on some music and got out his tools. Kitty's were mostly all put away, but he could see where she'd left, pieces laying around in a horse shoe pattern as a tell tale of where she'd lain to get under a car. She must have left just a little before he'd gotten there, some of the engines were still hot, the heat made Duo sweat in a double hit of outside air and inside air. The circulation of air coming in the door was like a good slap in the face and Duo loved it. He didn't mind working in these conditions the least, he felt at home.
Duo set about his work and got lost in the heavy beat coming from the stereo and the work in front of him that took up all of his concentration.
Heero decided that he needed to check with Ember on how long he could abide here and take away from her clientele. She probably needed his room for someone else, and he shouldn't be there much longer anyway. If the media found out he'd left his post, they would have no problem tracking his paper trail here. Heero had traveled using the councils means, not his own, which meant someone could easily follow him.
Heero asked at the desk for Miss Easton and the man he'd seen her with that morning said that he would page her, but that she was probably out for the night. Heero nodded and told them he would call her later and not to bother with the page.
Heero wondered to the dinning area for dinner and ate alone in a back table set against the wall. He watched waiters come and go as well as guests. There were businessmen, vacationing families, and traveling lovers. There was even a couple who looked like they might be on their honeymoon. They sat near Heero discussing a trip to a neighboring colony and house back on earth.
Heero finished his meal and paid quickly. He'd seen someone go into the kitchen that was not wearing a uniform. They hadn't come back out, which meant that there were probably service halls back there. Heero decided that he would explore the hotel a bit; he needed to know different routes out of the building.
Heero checked his gun subtly, no one watching him would have noticed what he was really doing, and slid into a door marked 'employees only'. Heero found the laundry shortly after, with maids loading large loads of sheets and towels into industrial sized washers. They chattered as they folded and gossiped loudly. Heero was glad to see that all of the employees here were treated well and seemed to enjoy their jobs. He also passed some waiters standing just outside a door that lead outside and talking quietly while they smoked.
Heero ghosted past all he meet and made his way through the maze of service halls inside the hotel. He was making his way towards the front lobby and passed a number of doors that had no signs on them, but numbers, like the hotel rooms in the rest of the hotel. Heero backtracked and found a short hallway off to the side where he could stop and watch as he heard an all too familiar voice.
"I did good, look, I bought the groceries!" Kitty's voice; Heero peeked around the corner to see her holding large brown bags in either arm. Beside her walked Miss Easton, her suite jacket was off; she wore a tight, white button down shirt with a high collar and a brooch with a red jewel. She had her hair down, it moved around her like a black waterfall, falling over her shoulders and waving into her face as she walked.
"Yes, I see." Ember smiled at her, "You did do good. Did you remember the eggs?"
"Yes, I remembered the eggs!" Kitty said, tilting her head as if indignant of even a hint that she might have forgotten them.
"Then of course you remembered the cheddar." Ember smiled knowingly.
Kitty stopped dead and her face fell. "Oops."
Ember laughed and turned to face her, they were now standing next to the first numbered door. "Don't worry, we'll just go out again later, the omelet can wait."
"Hurry and open the door, my arms are killing me!" Kitty urged her.
"What ever you do, don't drop the groceries, you're carrying the eggs." Ember reminded her.
"Yeah, yeah, I won't drop them, don't worry." Kitty smiled broadly, she shifted the bags and leaned her shoulder against he wall for support while she waited.
Heero was confused by all this, shouldn't Kitty be with Duo right now, why was she with Miss Easton at what was probably her residence here at the hotel.
"Oops! I seem to have lost my keys." Ember very suddenly dropped her keys down Kitty's white tank top. Heero's eyes widened as Kitty squealed and slammed against the wall behind her.
Ember's eyes went predatorily as she made a big show of going after the keys.
"E-Ember!" Kitty blushed hard as Ember found the keys and opened the door, but kept one hand down her tank top, she pulled Kitty in after her and slammed the door behind them.
Heero quickly left his hiding spot and left he service halls at a fast walk. He'd been foolish, he'd assumed things again and found himself with the wrong answers. He needed to apologize to Duo, right now. No doubt Duo was very angry with him by now.
Heero paused in the lobby, he'd slipped out unnoticed, but came to the startling conclusion that he didn't know where Duo lived.
Heero finally chose his only lead and left the hotel for the garage. He walked fast and he felt muffled in the hot air. It seemed as if it pressed in all around him, reminding him that he'd messed up again. Heero had an impeccable record, but it seemed as if everything failed him whenever it came to Duo.
Heero found the garage open and with all it's lights on, music drifted down it's driveway and Heero saw Duo's braid follow him just out of sight as he'd walked by the open door. Heero dashed up the driveway and into the open garage door.
"Duo!" Heero called and Duo turned around in surprise, grease spotting his nose and cheek, his bangs plastered to his forehead with sweat. He wore very little in the warm weather and Heero found himself distracted by Duo's legs. All that bare skin, and his shirt was riding up as he shifted the box he was carrying.
"What are you doing here so late?" Duo asked, a hint of anger in his voice.
"I'm sorry Duo!" Heero let out very suddenly. Duo looked taken aback by his sudden apology.
"For what?" Duo asked, obviously wondering what he was going to accept an apology for.
"I assumed that you and Kitty were involved and I didn't thin-"
"Again with the not thinking!" Duo said in exasperation, he put down his box and put his hands on his hips for emphases. "You do realize that you could fill several books with what you don't think about. For that matter, we could create a guide of what not to say for men based on what you have said since you got here!"
"Duo, that's unfair." Heero frowned.
"Is it?" So far since you've gotten here you've apologized, but for the wrong reasons, you waited three weeks before you brought me in on a case where I was the main suspect, you lied to me a number of times, I know I can see it in your eyes! And you barely even look me in the eyes; you only talk to me when it concerns this killer! I'm going to help Heero, but I want you gone after it's over!" Duo couldn't help it as anger started to pour out from him, built up anger, things he'd been wanted to say for a while spring to mind, but he strove to keep his mouth closed. He wasn't going to open that box, not now.
"Duo! I'm sorry." Heero felt a little of his own anger rising in answer to Duo's. He'd been ready to leave himself, just as Duo wanted him too, but now it seemed like something was holding him here, something other than the case. But right now, that was all he had. "I need your help on this case. You're the best, that's why I came, not just because you were a suspect. I can't afford to have you reject me now; people's lives are at stake. We don't have time to-"
"People's lives?" Duo was outraged at his audacity, "me, reject you." Duo slammed his fist down against the wall, he felt the skin break, but he ignored it, he was too mad. "You're the one who rejected me!"
