DISCLAMIMER: I do not own any of the material present from the anime/manga series Gundam Wing; I use this content under the fair usage policy of the international copyright laws, in this policy it allows for entertainment with no profit gain. I do own the Creativity Licence for the plot written within this story, as well as all original content added there in. All original content may not be duplicated or used with out (my) the authors WRITTEN Permission.
I hope you enjoy this chapter, and thank you for putting up with my disclaimer x.x
AKA Bounty Hunters
Chapter Two: A Preventer's Job Pt-2
The interview with Ramaro had been enlightening, the man was actually half intelligent considering his file labelled him as a drug abuser. He had kept nearly exactly to the collaborative statements made by the AKA bounty hunters 'agents'. He had left out the bit where they had cornered him, saying instead that someone blind sided him brought him to the ground and in some freaky kung-fu move broke his ankle like a twig, while he was already face down in the mud.
Wufei didn't believe him but that wasn't the point, he still had to gather all the evidence and put it together to form a file that could prove beyond reasonable doubt that Jose Ramaro had gone after two Fugitive Recovery Agents with a short knife and that he had to be put down hard.
So this lead to Wufei sitting in front of AKA Bounty Hunter's home address, as they where like Samson had said over the phone earlier in the day, sub-contractors meaning people came to them for jobs and they didn't go looking for them.
All three operators of AKA Bounty lived in a multi story warehouse, which held an empty office/retail space on the front main level. Parking his car Wufei climbed out and walked to the front door. He hit a buzzer which brought a voice to say, "Come on up, Follow the stairs to the top."
Unlike some Preventers Wufei believed in calling a head, not in the cases of a homicide investigation, but when it came to an arrest where the 'complainant' was injured and it was hardly a surprise. There was in his opinion, no point in making enemies in the law enforcement sector when he didn't need to. He was well aware of how people thought of Preventer- with a grimace.
As he reached the top of the stairs a woman stood holding the door open for him. He recognized the woman from the basic profiles of AKA Bounty Hunters' Operators. He hadn't paid attention beyond the subject and the complainant. However he remembered at least her name.
Kekko Yurigami stood five feet two inches off the ground, her hair was long wavy chestnut, and her eyes naturally heterochromatic, the left blue, the right green.
"Captain Chang, I would welcome you to our offices, however as I am sure you're perfectly aware, one does not welcome the jury to their homestead." The woman stepped to one side allowing him to step inside.
"Perfectly understandable." He agreed sliding his shoes off at the door, well aware that this was not only their place of business but their home as well. It was engrained in him at a young age, that shoes where removed before entering any homestead, regardless of who's it was. Arresting a suspect however didn't count.
She flicked her eyes at his shoes then at him again, her expression was one of curiosity, yet not of the kind normally received from a female to a man. With out skipping a beat she turned and started to walk.
"I am sure Martha has already faxed you her medical summary including all prescriptions given, however I am warning you now, that Ayame has not taken a single pain suppressant since your phone call this morning. They effect her ability to think and she prefers to have all official meetings with a clear head." As Kekko spoke they walked through a short hallway that opened into the central living area.
Wufei felt his eyes widen, if the external shell of the structure was supposed to be camouflage then it worked well. He had been expecting concrete and industrial finishing's. He was wrong.
Directly in front of him was a small closet spaced half bathroom, most likely for guests to use at their leisure, beside which along the outer wall was a large buffet kitchen with a bar that opened the space into the main entertainment area.
Turning to follow Kekko's progression into the main living space the first thing that caught Wufei's eye was a black spiral stair case that lead to the third floor which was a semi-loft like space. Directly to his right was a section lined with book shelves, filled with books and three large chairs that reclined. A small table with a lamp sat between the empty space of the chairs. The reading area was tucked underneath the over hang of the third floor, giving it a cozy and relaxing image. The area was marked by a plush crème coloured throw carpet.
He made a slow progression past the reading area and out into the open air-space, where the ceiling disappeared another ten feet above his head. A large projector screen was lowered along the wall beside the spiral stair case, with two couches and a chair creating a home theatre system that rivalled anything he had seen outside the life styles of the rich and famous.
Between the reading nook, and the home theatre was a smaller television hook up with every kind of entertainment system he had ever heard of. An arcade game that he hadn't heard of, DDR, but it looked pre-colonial and expensive. He had gotten to be a good judge of how much things cost having two of his brothers submerged into the extravagance of celebrity life.
Still following Kekko, who was silent now and standing at the bottom of the stairs he caught sight of yet another space, beside the kitchen. It looked like a sparring area, a punching bag was resting in a corner, along with free weights and a thick mat lined the floor meant to absorb impacts from being thrown.
He took all of this in and more in a matter of seconds, as Kekko turned to look at him. "So needless to say, she may be irritable and I wanted to warn you of this in advanced so you can be prepared."
"Noted, and appreciated." He responded as she started up the stair case. As he climbed up he caught sight of speakers attached to the railing that contained the upstairs and kept people from falling to the second floor.
At the top of the stairs Wufei took in everything at once. Their home office space held three computers, each in their own corner. Two computer desks where against the exterior wall, while the third was directly to his left, against a thin false wall.
He saw two doors, down the hallway on the right hand side. One directly at the end of the hall, which looked secured and reinforced- most likely to house their tools of the trade. The loft space was 'L' If the L was laying on it's side.
Down the short half of the loft was a door that faced him, and one at the end of the balcony space. On the short half he noted the railing held what looked like living ivy. Glancing over his shoulder he noted plants scattered through the space that had looked miniscule in the whole space but from the above perspective it looked like a garden had sprouted.
Sitting in the center of the office space where two women, the first looked to be Akira Hiensmen, she was watching him with narrowed nearly hate filled green eyes. Her red hair appearing windblown with it's short almost Heero style. Her feet where propped up on a round table as if she had all the time in the world.
As Kekko walked past her, she pulled the woman's feet off the table with out comment. Sitting on the woman's right was Ayame Taylor. She sat impassively her blue eyes watching his every move, in the blink of an eye he felt as if she had seen into the deepest parts of his mind and laid them on the table.
The illusion was added to as she slowly sat up, the fingers on her right hand flexing despite the sling keeping her arm pinned to her torso.
"Captain." she said slowly, her voice like that of gruff velvet. He inclined his head, setting his bag on the table.
"I have been over your companies file, and as I am sure your aware these interviews have to be done individually, is there a place where we can set up?" he asked, keeping his gaze on the subject.
He saw Akira move to open her mouth, but Ayame beat her to the punch. "We will do our interviews here, the other two will retire to their rooms until you need them at which time the interviewed will retrieve them, is this acceptable for you?"
"It damn well better be." Akira muttered, and Wufei pretended he hadn't heard it.
"That will be acceptable, this isn't a murder investigation simply an excessive force. Now, Miss Yurigami as you weren't on scene at the time I'll start with you." Wufei pulled his gaze from Ayame's penetrating stare to look at the other woman.
"Alright." She nodded, as Ayame stood up, her left hand nonchalantly gripping Akira's arm dragging her from her chair. The woman sputtered at the sudden motion falling into step begrudgingly. Wufei watched both women walk to the other side of the balcony and disappear into the door facing him.
"Let us begin shall we?" He asked as the door closed, pulling out his own note pad.
"Okay what the hell?" Akira snipped turning on her the moment her door was closed. "Do you want to lose your licence?"
"I will not lose my licence." Ayame sighed, sitting down on her bed her hand reaching up to unhook her shoulder strap for the sling. The fact that she had it on still shocked and amazed her. The thing was beyond annoyance.
"You're the subject of the investigation, I'm the only other person that was witness to the crime and we're in here chatting it up like we're plotting to keep our stories straight." Akira paced back and forth from her bamboo wall to her bed.
"He has already made up his mind about the investigation, this is only formalities." Ayame said simply trying to reach behind her to undo the back strap that kept her arm from moving. "Do you mind?" She asked shifting so Akira would do it.
"Why are you taking that off now? Are you trying to make Kekko crazy?" Akira asked giving up on her minor rant, if Ayame wasn't worried about her licence then she wouldn't be worried either. Wasn't her finical situation that needed looking at.
"No." Ayame answered slowly her eyes sliding to look up at her, after a moment of staring she blinked, "You didn't notice?"
"Notice what?" Akira hated how elusive Ayame could be, and wasn't expecting a straight answer from the woman.
"That isn't just a Preventer captain you where giving cut eye to." Ayame stood from her bed testing her right arm, wincing a couple of times as feeling came rushing back to the sleeping appendage. Her stab wound was healing nicely, but she had to be cautious not to rip the stitches- they where too new still three more days and she would be able to start using her arm like mostly normal. Which meant she'd be picking up the weights again.
"I don't honestly give a flying fuck who that is in the office, they're a Preventer and they're going to make my life difficult. Bad enough he is getting an eye full of my set up, if he actually knows anything about computers I'm screwed. Or did you forget that Preventer already raided me once?"
Ayame couldn't contain the dark chuckle that worked up her throat. "Oh he certainly knows more than something about computers. At least he better having piloted a multi million dollar WMD constructed of 75% computers 15% Armaments and 10% Gundanium."
"Who care-" Akira paused in her resumed pacing and whipped around to look at her. "What. The. Hell?!"
"That is Captain Chang, Wufei. Head of the 22nd investigations unit here in capitol. His unit normally works homicides, but he is registered to work external-relations cases like this. Looks like I drew the short straw." Ayame shrugged, "Just try not to jerk him around too much, because there is a reason why he thrives in the Preventer atmosphere."
"What? He's a jerk with a superiority complex?"
Ayame chuckled, amazed at how a woman with the brain that Akira had, could find a way to simplify things to the extent of grouping people together.
"No, Because during the war he was called the Dragon of Justice. For a woman who worked how you did back then you really didn't pay much attention did you?"
Akira shrugged, "What did I care about some kids piloting Gundams? They didn't get in my way, and I didn't get into theirs. What more did I need to know?"
"Plenty, and it shocks me how you ever survived with out knowing more. But then again, sometimes the best way to survive is to keep your nose to one pile of shit at a time eh?"
Akira rolled her eyes, "Lord knows that everyone was covered in it."
"Indeed. Now, I know you can act but don't rely on the fact that he won't sniff out the acting a mile away. Be your self just tone down the hate-on you have for Preventer. I know it's justified, but you can't afford to piss off a gundam pilot. They're not known for being resentful, but it's better not to risk it."
"Oh yeah and why's that?" Akira questioned brow raised as she flopped backwards on Ayame's bed.
"Because I don't know of anyone who's pissed them off and wanted to talk about it after the fact. Just leave it to general Preventer hating and don't make it personal. He could have dragged us into the city center at this time of the day to have these interviews in stuffy closets with all eyes watching us. Take that into consideration."
The woman on her bed shrugged, "We'll see how I feel when I start talking to him."
Ayame wondered if she'd even get to talk to him before a fight broke out.
Wufei watched Akira stalk down the hallway and pound on the door she had been summoned from. The door opened, the woman's hands flitted back and forth before she shoved her way past into the room beyond as Ayame Taylor walked out towards him.
The first thing he noted was the sling was missing from her arm. Freeing her injury from it's confines could have been a coincidence but he doubted it, given how the woman he had just spoken to looked like a corked bottle ready to pop. She had been holding in most of her sarcasm and attitude, yet still he wanted to take a shower to wash off the contagion.
"I see that Akira managed not to insult you over much." The woman said as she sat in the seat across from him.
"I don't take it personally anymore, the uniform garners me a lot of insult apparently." He answered swiftly, forcing himself to shove the bubbles of his own controlled annoyance down. He was after all a professional who needed to concentrate.
"As I am sure you have gathered by the fact that we're not at Preventer H.Q., this interview is just a formality, to keep the higher up's happy. With that being said, I will need to record this conversation for the record." Wufei pointed to the small black recorder on the table. Noting the woman's gaze didn't shift a millimetre in it's direction.
"Yes, I had come to that conclusion, and I was also expecting to be recorded. I have nothing to hide from the investigation nor am I afraid of the out come. I am however in a fair amount of pain and would like to go back to recovering so why don't we get this started?" The woman settled back in her seat, but as she did so Wufei heard the chair click- her feet no doubt locking the wheels of the chair to prevent her from rolling.
"I was informed by your roommate and partner that you have refused to take your pain management medication to keep a sober mind for the record. It has been noted to file, with the appreciation of Preventer and the justice department. Now, we'll begin with the basics- Name, age, and FRA registration business and licence numbers."
He watched her take a slow controlled breath, as she gave the information she watched him as closely as he was watching her. To him it was like looking into a mirror her expression a controlled stoic mask, her eyes void of thought, her voice missing mannerisms that most people held when speaking. She was the epitome of neutral as if auto pilot had activated.
"On May 6th this year, in your own words what event occurred that brought this investigation into fruition, and what are your thoughts on the accusation of excessive force?"
The woman shifted slightly as if a tension had transferred from her shoulders to her back, then as if it had never been there, the tension disappeared altogether.
"May 6th this year was the evening AKA bounty hunters completed a contract for arrest for one fugitive Jose Ramaro. In the process of completing this contract the subject of, incurred injury to his right ankle, requiring medical attention. In the event, I, Ayame Taylor was the one who subjected Jose Ramaro to the injury. My thoughts on the accusation of excessive force, are varied. Professionally I expected the investigation the moment his bone broke. I personally have better things to fill my thoughts with then an investigation over an action I deemed necessary to take in order to ensure my personal safety and the safety of my partner Akira Hiensmen."
Wufei took a slow breath before opening the file on the table before him. He didn't need to look at it, but felt the need to stall for time in order to gather his thoughts. The woman was completely different then her two partners, he needed a moment to simply adjust to the new extreme, or rather lack thereof.
"What brought you to believe that you or your partner where in immediate danger?" Even to his own ears the question sounded scripted, and while it was to some extent, he could have done a better job of it.
"There where multiple factors to take into account, the most prevalent being that he had already stabbed me with a weapon that went against his bail contract. While I cannot speak about his personality while sober, the fact that the man was on uppers was also another factor I had to take into account. As I am sure you and your superiors are aware a subject on any kind of mind altering drug whether prescription or recreational are like a mistimed bomb, they eventually go off and it's not normally quiet nor with out fatality. The final factor was however, following the realization of the man's mental state due to the drugs, and being stabbed, when I was knocked to the ground and the man with every intention of killing me rose his booted foot off the ground attempting to slam it against my face."
Given the woman had three days earlier lived through an event that most people would find somewhat traumatic Wufei was surprised to find no infliction of emotion in her voice. While Akira had been rage filled, and Kekko calm yet anxious, Ayame Taylor had no hint of her true thoughts or feelings on the matter. Which in turn told Wufei more about the woman then he had known just by reading her file.
The woman had great control over herself, either because she had no choice or because she was frightened of herself. In either case, the control was there and it could be used to either mislead or to hide simple truths that made all the difference between acceptable and excessive.
"Explain to me how you managed to not only avoid the killing strike, but also bring a man with seven inches on you to the ground and break his ankle."
The woman shifted again this time placing her arms on the table, the chair clicked as she pulled it closer to said table and clicked again as she settled.
"It is a rather simple manoeuvre if one can keep their wits about them in that sort of a situation. As the assaulting foot is traveling down towards your face you shift your body towards the stationary foot, using one of your hands to deflect the foot travelling towards you. This forces the person off balance and usually slams their foot to the ground, now you are between their legs, and no matter the gender a swift punch between there will stun the assailant. I however didn't resort to the punch as I have the reflexes to pull the move out with out needing to stagger the attacker. You roll towards the foot that just landed, hook your arm around their ankle, and your hand against the back of their knee. Pull their knee joint into unlocking as your rolling back towards their stationary foot, as you do so your further throwing off their balance and they end up face down on the ground. While your rolling in one fluid motion you roll up onto their thigh, Planting your feet to give you stability. Your hands then wind up holding their foot, which then gives you all the manoeuvrability to either, on a sober person to over extend the ankle joint, and on a person who is effected by uppers which block pain receptors, you can easily snap their ankle with out much pressure. It is one of the many techniques I teach in the women's self defence seminars I host every month."
Wufei had figured that was the move she had made, however with the confirmation of, he had also gleaned a new look at the woman sitting across from him. She had grew attentive when speaking of the act, not in a way to relive the event as most repeat excessive force offenders he had witnessed, but in a way that spoke of someone teaching something.
"And that effectively ended the threat by bringing Ramaro's mind onto the pain rather then yourself?" He asked, and the woman nodded slowly.
"On the pain and threatening our lively hood through a lawsuit."
Wufei glanced at the file, and decided that he needed to shake the woman in front of him as best as he could. "As am I sure your aware during an excessive force investigation, or an investigation of any kind dealing with injury to a suspect or fugitive the investigator always runs a preliminary background check." As he spoke he watched the woman's neutrality slipping, and continued regardless, he needed to get a look at the person hiding behind the calm exterior. Not only for himself, but for the investigation, it wouldn't do to have someone accuse him of scripting the interviews. "While I reviewed your background check I noticed a few things."
"Oh?" She asked, her tone more warning then curious.
"For one I noticed that your file has a few restricted or flagged incidences in it. Normally when a subject of an investigation holds more then one flagged event we investigators need to take a look behind those curtains to ensure those flags do not have any basis on their investigation." Wufei sat back in his seat. "the first flag was in your background history going back to about 195. And normally we would by-pass this given other information in the file, yet, your file wasn't active again until 199 and your not listed as ex military."
The woman remained silent, her eyes holding steady, yet as she blinked Wufei thought he saw what appeared to be anger or fear building in her gaze. "Would you care to explain that?"
"Not at this time, as it holds no bounds on this investigation, and if you so choose to dig into that history and have the security clearance then I can do nothing under the public safety and freedom of information acts." The woman opened her eyes again, all agitation once again vanished from her gaze. Yet, instead of a steady calm Wufei saw the look of someone who had expected to be found eventually, and most definitely held something to hide.
"How about something more recent then? What of the 201-202 year? That file is flagged and sealed in both your personal history and the company history, yet if I look at either of your partners history there is no mention of a flag for that year."
She nodded slowly, "Which would make sense considering neither one of them where part of the company or licensed for fugitive recovery at the time. As for the reason pertaining to the sealed access I am under an executive order not to speak of it again with out clearance. If you have the clearance for the flag, then you would have no reason to ask me about it. Not that it holds barring on this case either."
"Well since you cannot speak about it, why don't we talk about the unsanctioned death in 204?"
Ayame shifted again this time turning her body to one side, a tact often used when a person was feeling threatened or cornered. Yet Wufei held a feeling that it was more of a comfort issue then anything else. "The Unsanctioned death, if you had looked into the investigation was deemed as accidental on part of the fugitive." She crossed her legs, "I was on a hunt, and the man was a runner, he bolted out into oncoming traffic hoping that I would not follow him. He never got a chance to find out as a shuttle transport truck speeding in excess of 10 Mp/H hit him and killed him instantly. The event was beyond my control, and could have been avoided if the fugitive hadn't decided to run, or had decided to turn left or right inside of tempting fate."
Wufei conceded the point with a nod, "Is there anything you'd like to add to the report, questions? Comments?"
"Nothing, I know the due process as I am sure you are aware this isn't the first E.F. investigative report this company has been through, I am also aware your thinking of having me evaluated not only in fire arms proficiency but also having a psychological evaluation done, before conditional reinstatement following a doctors okay." Ayame slowly stood from her seat. "I welcome such evaluations, as they will go a step further to keeping further investigations such as these from occurring and will help forgo the automatic reaction of law suits."
Wufei stalled, who the hell welcomes psychological evaluations? he asked himself silently, then nodded sharply. "You are going to receive notice for evaluation in all those areas as you have said. Given the flags in your file the interviewer will have access to those flags and they will want to know more about that, in your own words." He couldn't help himself but attempt to ruffle her feathers, he had to see her reactions, it was a strange urge- childish even, yet, the woman put his hair on end. Almost like she wasn't human. Or worse, it was almost like looking at any of his brothers at the end of the war.
If the woman was still that mindset and she hadn't snapped yet, it was a scary thought as to what it would take for her to implode, or worse, explode. As she herself had said, mistimed bombs eventually explode and were not with out fatality.
Wufei knew he would be flagging her on a watch list. While he disliked such lists, they where necessary.
"Then I have nothing more, I'll show myself out. I suggest you rest, a stab wound isn't something to take lightly, your doctor gave you the sling for a reason. I would use it." He said by way of farewell, standing and lifting his file from the table. Stacking his file and note pad, he slid them into his carry bag, and left the warehouse more suspicious and curious then he had been during his lunch meeting with Yuy and Maxwell.
She waited long enough for him to make it to the main exit before sliding her chair towards Akira's computer. She flicked on the monitor, and Alt-tabbed the screen to their security camera's. Having long ago been drilled on the proper keyboard short cuts for the program, Ayame zoomed the camera facing the Preventer's car to it's maximum resolution.
"Spying on the enemy?" Akira quipped as she leaned against the round table. Ayame, hardly in the mood for friendly banter watched the screen her gaze narrowed. She wasn't per-say ticked off, but she was vastly uncomfortable with how interested the man had been about her files.
Of course nothing in the file was of any consequence to the case at hand, and the Psychological evolution was standard, at least in all the investigations she had undergone in her time as a 'Fugitive recovery agent'. Yet, despite knowing that on a conscious level, Ayame couldn't help but feel she was on the precipice of some great event, and would later look back on such and go think, 'I should have known'.
It was an unnerving feeling, especially given that while she had used her real name, her given family name, she had gone to a lot of trouble to hide her activities during the war. To hide who and what she had become during those times of blood and fire, yet, she knew if anyone was going to uncover the unspoken it would be that Preventer.
If for nothing more than to answer his own niggling questions.
She couldn't blame him, considering she would have done the same in his shoes, yet she knew she would. It was a curious sensation to know a head of time how she would react when her carefully constructed cocoon of post-war safety was broken.
She had been one of the ones who had come out of the war more or less intact in the terms of psychological stability. She had flash backs, and nightmares, questions of guilt and what if's but any soldier who ever said they held none of that was a liar. No one could live through a war, be on the front lines, call themselves a soldier in the truest sense, and not have flashbacks.
Yet she had been able to cope with them, after a time. In the lag time between the Eve wars (As the whole of 194-196 was essentially two separate wars back to back) and the week of the remnant coup, she had been recovering from an explosion she almost didn't make it out of.
She had been listed as a civilian, and that was exactly how she liked the medical staff to believe it. She didn't say anything when asked about her nightmares, beyond that there was lots of fire and she was burning.
Ayame had been surviving, and her ragged existence back then could have hardly been considered survival. By the time some of her fellow soldiers had found her, she had been a mess. They dragged her out of the sterile rooms of the hospital, and back into the fold of security and family she had been without.
She had needed them as much as they had needed her. She still needed them which was why she was so bothered by Morris' lack of communication. She had said that she would go hunting for him, and that had been a fatal error. She had forgotten just how stubborn the man was if he didn't want to be found. She didn't want to alert the media but she was concerned greatly.
Which didn't make her life any easier, with the looming Preventer and his no doubt blood hound like nose, Morris and essentially useless to herself for the next week if not more, she was feeling angry. She didn't allow for depression, not anymore.
"He's gone you know." Akira's voice pulled her out of her thoughts, and she spun away from the desk to face the woman watching her with suspicious eyes.
"I am well aware, I was just thinking." She lied through her teeth, knowing that she could at times such as these. She needed her thoughts to herself, otherwise the people she kept close would worry and that would only cause more problems. "Have you gotten anywhere in the-"
"No I haven't. I would have told you if I had. Stop chewing the bone, you've called Willamina, and she knows that you couldn't do anything about it anymore then she could-"
"Yes, I could have. I could have simply ignored the man's wishes and gone with my gut, instead I am sitting here useless while he's god knows where." Ayame interrupted, watching the woman's suspicious eyes turn to surprised.
"Wow. You're more worried then I thought." The woman stood from the table and tugged her chair behind her. "What's got you so riled, weren't you the one who told us just yesterday that Morris was the best there was during the war?"
"I am in pain, and not enjoying the idea that an ex-gundam pilot has hold of my file. If I know anything about the gundam pilots, and I would hope I do, they're like rabid pit-bulls. Once they catch the scent of prey, or in this case, suspicion, they don't let go until they have every available question answered to the fullest." Ayame leaned back in her chair, her left arm draping over her eyes. "There was a reason why I didn't join Preventer, and it isn't because they're green. I didn't want my life displayed all over the place just like him, just like all five of them. I don't need to be known the world over, and I like my simple life."
"Well, I did tell ya not to keep using your original name, it was bound to come up sooner rather then later. Besides, it just goes to show that after ten years I think you've had it pretty easy considering just how not green Preventer is. Your name should have popped on their radar a long time ago." Akira started typing on her computer, Ayame lifted her arm to glare at Akira, only to catch sight of the screen. The woman was working on the orbiting satellites memory for the night of their hunt.
Ayame instantly removed her glare before Akira turned around, the woman was trying to help, it wouldn't do to ruffle her feathers.
"I will not disrespect my family by hiding under a false name. Besides, that's how you where first put on their radar, your fake identity and your interesting pass times."
"Hey, It's hardly my fault that Preventer was slow on the uptake, and got pissy about it. It was hardly illegal poking at old Organization of the Zodiac files to find that what's what on missing persons of interest. Hell they where only butt hurt that I managed to get around a couple dozen fire walls and security software written by one of the wonder boys." Akira shrugged, "They didn't and still don't know that I was raised on code."
"I thought you where raised in the circus." Kekko quipped in as she rounded the corner, holding a foil packet and the blue sling.
"I don't need them. Not yet. I'd rather have a clear mind for a while." Ayame stated simply, as Kekko set the objects on the table beside her.
"I am not fighting you on it, you're an adult, but if your recovery time goes to shit don't come crying to me about it later." with that Kekko moved around the table to her desk in the opposite corner.
Suddenly the room felt too crowded, which was rare for Ayame to feel in a home of the size the warehouse was. At times it almost felt too big, but at that moment, she just felt too… watched. She knew her sisters well, and she knew that was exactly what they where doing. Pretending not to watch her so they could keep a closer eye on her.
She was hardly in the mood.
She stood abruptly and walked down to the main level, she took her time in the entertainment level, checking on each plant's soil as she passed, not thinking, not planning, just doing. After about twenty minutes of silence from the troublesome two-some, and finding the soil to be adequate Ayame walked under the balcony and down the hall, scooping up the company car keys on her way past.
"Where are you going?" Kekko's voice asked from above, echoing slightly with distance.
"Out." Was all she said, pleased and mildly perturbed that the woman's hawk-like ears had gotten better with age, and experience.
"Don't do anything stupid." Akira called out, "As I will know about it the moment it happens."
"Don't make me pull the lo-jack out by the cables Akira." Ayame quipped back, in a semi-normal play-by. She slid on her runners, and grabbed her light jacket from the closet as she left the main level and walked to the street level. On that level the stairs which faced the front of the building were encased in a hall way with three doors. The street exit, which the preventer had taken, An Office entrance (one that was unused 95% of the time) and a garage entrance.
The Garage Entrance was located under the stairs facing the back of the building. Ayame turned out the Garage entrance and slid into the never locked car. Stuck the keys in the ignition and pulled out.
True to her word, Akira was watching her, and opened the large garage door long enough for Ayame to back out, before the door was closed via-computer controls.
Reaching into the center console Ayame pulled out a pair of sunglasses and pulled down the unpaved alley way.
She drove for all of twenty minutes before finding herself parked across from the 7th pier in the industrial sector. Her right arm throbbed something vicarious, yet, she ignored it as she looked at the dock where the man she had looked up to and trusted beyond herself had supposedly gone to three nights prior.
The dock was in a state typical for an industrial loading dock, the thing was made of concrete and rebar, with a rectangle cut out of the whole sea wall, just waiting for a ship to pull in. The street lighting was bright enough, or should have been, yet given the amount of dirt and crude caked onto the glass covering, Ayame could see the light being yellow instead of false white/blue, and most likely flickering.
The two would have met, Morris in his car, sitting with the engine off, waiting for some kind of signal from his source. Watching the area around him, all doors locked to the car, the trunk pushed right up against the loading dock as far as it would go with out dumping him in the wet.
She saw the rain, and the mist, felt the humidity, the thunder rumbling in the distance. She tried to put herself in Morris' shoes, what was he seeing, feeling, sensing as he had called her wondering as if he would need back up later in the night.
She should have gone to the pier instead of running in the rain. Kekko and Akira would have called up a new-be hunter in the area and given them a training lesson, most likely co-ordination and tactics, running the whole show differently. She wouldn't have been stabbed, and she'd know what the hell happened to Morris.
Opening her car door intent on getting out the of vehicle she froze, her gaze watching the pier, then the car. If she was trying to get someone out in the open…
Slowly she climbed out of the car, less then twenty feet between the pier and the warehouses, all it would take was someone who knew the alleyways behind the warehouses and had a way of making skizzy say things he didn't know squat about.
The perpetual knot in the pit of Ayame's stomach turned into an iron ball. She closed her car door, and leaned against it, suddenly dizzy.
When the world righted itself again, she looked out over the water, a giant body of unmarked graves, a giant body that didn't get dragged by Preventer until four months from present.
Her shaded gaze caught sight of the E20 remnants standing in the water, mostly pillars of concrete no one had bothered to pay to deconstruct, and beyond those was the 2E20, the replacement created after the war had decimated the entire region.
She slid into her car, and put the vehicle into drive, bound for the far side of the canal, and towards the one person she could talk to- needed to talk to about her thoughts on Morris' mortality.
Wufei sat back in his seat, his gaze trained on the open file on his desk. What had been handed to him was an excessive force report, yet what he was looking at was a Pandora's box of questions. Questions that he had tried his best to unravel with out opening the box.
It had taken him the better part of the afternoon to touch the tip of the iceberg. He could sense there was more to be found, buried under fifteen metric tons of crap and false hoods. Yet, as Duo had rightfully said at lunch earlier in the day, it was still an excessive force report. There was no point ten years later to dig up a past that hadn't been found before.
Yet, Wufei's well honed instincts not only from the war, but the years of field work that followed after it where screaming at him to dig deeper. What if? What if while the woman appeared to be a regular every day tax payer playing for the good guys she was secretly working on the next big bush fire waiting to explode in all their faces? If he had been a field agent still and came across the file, he wouldn't need to ask for level 9 access' he would have just taken them and dealt with the consequences.
Now, well now he was tied to a desk with a director who held a vendetta over his career choices and was making his life rather difficult. Thus the file, still incomplete lay flat on his desk staring at him. Slowly his coal eyes slid to his computer.
He had sent a request to Director Une Hours ago to approve the level 9 access for all of Taylor's sealed archives. Nothing was signalling that the messages had been read, never mind approved. He opened the Date logs file, and updated the psycharitrist board. He blocked the appointment for five days time, printed the hard copy for the file and slid it into place.
The Head Doctor would determine if Ayame Taylor was mentally qualified to take the proficiency exam for fire arms, and recertification. If there should be conditions made, or removed on their licensing. Wufie had peeked into the woman's Instructional logs for the Arms safety board and learned a few things that hardly surprised him.
'Like the fact that she had gone under the radar as long as she had.' his mind thought with out his consent. He would be like a dog with a bloody bone and he knew it, there was no doubt that the woman had seen action, or at least was damn well trained for it. Given her age and identity where real as far as he could tell, if they where fakes they where top quality of the kind his brothers had been given to use.
He opened a program that he had helped construct with Barton and Yuy, he typed in Ayame's Name, and license information as well as work permit information. He clicked the search bar, watching as the Background digger started sniffing around for all information available on the fugitive recovery agent.
The log counter said it would be another eight hours before it would be finished. Turning off his monitor Wufei stood from his seat, stretching out his back in the process. Closing the quickly thickening file Wufei slid it into his active drawer picked up his coat and decided home would be a good place to go.
Pulling his phone from his hip, he checked the link-it applications, finding no word from the director he turned off the screen and left Preventer for the night.
Authors Notes: YAY Chapter Two is Completed! Phew, that was a lot to cover in one chapter- but you'll be glad that I did. Better to get this stuff out early so we can deal with the action-y stuff, and other tid-bits that I want to put in here.
I know I have a bad history with finishing stories, this is why it is taking me so long to put out my chapters. I don't want to loose my muse for this one and I am taking a slightly different approach.
Hopefully it doesn't all become apparent straight away. Don't worry we're going to get to the serial killer again soon, I promise! WHOOT!~
I don't think I should be excited about that… but call me crazy, I am.
So, between school, and getting ready for criminal justice studies starting in November (drat) I am hoping to have this story in a nice neat bow before posting each chapter. With that being said, PLEASE REVIEW! If you notice inconsistencies, or even want to praise me on my awesome skills, then Review! (It also helps keep me inspired to put out chapters.)
Can't wait to see you in Chapter three (Yeah yeah I know it doesn't feel like it- like I said, better now then later when you just want the action.)