I think this chapter was the most fun to write – and it came out easier than the others once I sat down at started writing it. 90% of anything I do is getting motivation, but it felt more like 99% with this.
Anyways, I have a standard policy – you review and all that, and I'll write the next chapter faster. And this story I'm enjoying, so... anyways. Feedback is greatly appreciated. And feel free to throw me an email if you notice any spelling or grammatical errors.
A Rebel and Anomaly
Taka Momos
The car rolled to a stop as Heero and Chang prepared for another encounter with the loud-mouthed, braided terror that was Duo Maxwell. Heero could see the dread on his friend's face, yet found himself oddly excited. Of course, the investigation was at a complete standstill and hinged on whatever this witness could tell them, but it was for another reason that he looked forward to the meeting – the braided man intrigued him.
He wasn't sure why, but something about the way the man ran his mouth without a care in the world to the consequences threw him off balance – a feeling few others could instill in him. It was new, and a part of him begged for something "new" in his life.
The two men walked towards the door, knocking on the dirty, cracked glass through the metal bars of the wrought iron storm door, a clear sign that visitors were rarely welcome. A quick glance down the street reminded him that security was an issue in this neighborhood – that visitors rarely had good intentions – and understood the need for such precautions.
"God have mercy on us...", he heard Chang mutter. He couldn't help but smirk at the look on his friend's face, a look he would expect from someone about to be given a shot – right in the ass. His friend had been so traumatized by the man that he even ordered some of the detectives to double check his visit to the hospital – just to make sure whatever drugs their witness had been on was prescribed.
The mood turned serious as the same man from before, Barton if he remembered right, peeked through the crack in the door as he opened it just enough to see who it was. He closed the door again, and, after the sound of locks being turned, opened the door for the two men.
"Hello detectives, how nice to see you again so soon." Heero studied the man's face closely, finding himself annoyed by the unreadable expression and inflection-less voice – just enough to prove neither sarcastic nor genuine. The man turned and led them into the living room before he could study him further. His instincts told him to be suspicious, though logic could find no reason to think he was a threat. He was... so innocent he seemed guilty. The blond emerged from what appeared to be the kitchen – though he had difficulty telling what it was underneath all of the dirt, filth, and dead cockroaches – cheek still noticeably stolen.
"Detectives! Welcome back! I take it you're here to follow up with Duo?" Unlike the other man, the blond made no effort to disguise any emotions – although the syrupy sweetness of his mood was clearly one of feigned civility, as genuine as the feelings may have been. He walked into the kitchen once again, returning with a tray of tea cups. "Have some tea while I go get him." He set the tray on a small, scratched-up coffee table in front of them, before disappearing through the door behind the couch. Chang eyed the liquid suspiciously. The blond returned seconds later, walking around to sit on the couch.
"He'll be right out. It takes him some time to wake up in the morning – he's more of a night person, unlike myself." Chang nodded idly as Heero watched the door eagerly. Chang glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.
"What are you so excited about?", he asked. Heero only shrugged. The door whined as it opened, a pained look on the face of the braided brunette as he staggered over to the couch. The blond was quick to introduce everyone.
"Duo, these are detectives Yuy and Chang. They've come to ask about what you saw at the bombing." Heero noticed the weary glance the injured man threw his friend's way, only at that moment picking up on nervousness.
"Well...", he began slowly, "I remember seeing the police all lined up 'nd shit in front of some guys, bitchin' about permits or somethin' stupid –"
"The protesters lacked the appropriate registration." Chang interrupted, an angry glint in his eyes. Duo only looked slightly amused at the Chinese man's reaction, far short of the intimidation intended.
"Yeah, whatever. Anyways, so like I was sayin' – the pigs was all up on 'em about permits and stuff, then there are explosions 'nd screams 'nd shit, then somethin' hits my arm while I was runnin' away. Don't really remember much after that, ya know – arm bleedin' 'nd all." Heero felt his excitement sink, realizing that their only witness could tell them less than they already knew. Chang broke the small silence that the conversation slipped into.
"Why were you there?" Duo opened his mouth to speak, but stopped short of an actual sound. A confused look crossed his face, before he replied.
"Huh?" Chang looked him square in the eyes, repeating his question firmly.
"Why were you there? For what reason did you go all the way from the slums to the upper-class area of the city? It's not like you had any business being there..." What would obviously have been an angry response was stopped as the expressionless man placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, giving him a placating look. A deep breath and moment of thought later, Duo answered.
"I heard about the protest and thought I'd check it out, ya know?"
"And what about the hours after the attack? Where did you go?" Duo looked at him slightly confused.
"I told you, I don't remember."
"Yes, I understand. But you need to remember. Your friend told me yesterday that they spent the night in the emergency room with you – and while the wait in an emergency room does take a considerable amount of time, that leaves an entire late morning and early afternoon unaccounted for. So – where did you go?" The braided man was stunned, mouth hanging open slightly.
"U-uhhh... I don't know, alright? I don't remember. Nothin' more I can say 'bout it." Heero glanced over at Wufei, curious about his partner's line of questioning. The Chinese officer excused himself when his phone rang, leaving Heero to continue by himself. He decided to lighten the mood by engaging in more conversational than interrogative questionings.
"Mr. Maxwell, is your arm doing better?" Duo rubbed his arm a bit, grimacing at the slight pain.
"It's alright – been better, ya know? They told me the doc said I was lucky. Can't say that's something anyone's ever accused me of being!" His laugh and toothy smile led Heero to smile lightly as well – until Wufei burst back in the room and headed straight for their witness.
"Duo Maxwell, you're under arrest for suspicion of terrorist activities against the state. You have the right to remain silent –"
"What the hell, man!?" Heero found himself stunned by disbelief, watching as the blond man called for his friend while Duo struggled against Wufei's attempts to handcuff him.
"Chang, what's going on?", he asked, elements of concern and confusion lacing his voice.
"That was a call from the emergency room – they have no records of a Duo Maxwell coming in for medical treatment the night of the attack. He lied to us, Yuy." Duo, struggling and fighting, shot his blond friend looks of concern.
"It'll be alright Duo, we'll work this out. Detectives, I expect you to treat him lawfully and with respect – if anything happens to his arm, I'll make sure you're held responsible." Chang only scoffed at the threat, leading Duo, who was angrily thrashing his legs in any direction possible, out the door. Heero made sure to grab the injured arm firmly, attempting to protect it from being damaged any further.
By the time they had gotten the thrashing man to the car, his objections had become as much vocal as they were physical,
"Let go of me, you motherfucking gorilla! This is police brutality! Come on, take the cuffs off – make it a fair fight, ya candy-ass pansy!" Chang was less than gentle in shoving the angry man into the back of the car, walking around to the driver's seat briskly in an attempt to keep his anger reigned in.
"God, don't you ever shut up!?"
"Come back here and make me! Stop bein' such a pussy and fight me!"
"You have the right to remain silent – use it!" Heero only shook his head at his partner's exchange with the witness. It was going to be a long ride back to the station.
---
Trowa pulled the panicking Quatre into a firm embrace, whispering into his ear in an attempt to calm him down.
"Quatre, Duo needs you to be strong right now. You need to call your lawyer and have him work on getting Duo out of there. While you're doing that, I'll go see about getting one of the other leaders to speed up their plans a bit." Quatre nodded quietly, a small sniffle escaping as he headed for the phone. Trowa headed for the door while his blond made the call to the lawyer. They would get Duo out of this mess.
---
Heero met a clearly frustrated Chang outside the interrogation room, finding himself laughing at his friend's misfortune.
"No luck, I take it?"
"His last words were 'Fuck you and the whore you came from.' After that, he shut his mouth – damn idiot can't do anything right, shuts his mouth when we want him to talk, talks when we want him to shut his mouth, idiot!" Heero wondered if the suspect had shut his mouth voluntarily – cracks about his mother were the fastest way to turn the usually restrained Wufei into a violent whirl of Chinese fury.
Heero decided that the less he knew about his partner's actions, the better. That way, he could honestly say he didn't see his partner hit a suspect – just in internal affairs got wind of anything. It wasn't hard to convince them to look the other way, no matter the evidence. He stepped into the room, instantly noticing the eerie silence of the witness. Wufei grabbed his shoulder and whispered in his ear before he went through the door –
"They say the most dangerous moments of war are the ones of silence."
I had to crack a quick smile, swallowing it as I walked in view of the suspect. Chang could be funny at times, despite what others said.
"Not sayin' nothin'." Heero allowed for a few more moments of silence, spreading out pictures of the bombing site in front of the suspect. It was his usual method – fix a steady glare on the suspect and let the silence eat away at him. Silence was better than any method of interrogation or torture. His hope lifted as the man on the other side of the table began shifting, but found it quickly deflating when he found a comfortable position and settled in, shooting a steadied glare right back into his own.
Destabilizing him was clearly the first task at hand – most suspects were unnerved by the wait and the interrogation room, but some were stronger than most. This was one of the stronger ones. Heero decided to take a less predictable approach – predictability was clearly what made the suspect comfortable, so defying the common approach would leave him guessing.
"You're quiet for someone who spent most of the ride yelling at us." He waited a few seconds, waiting for any kind of reaction. All the suspect did was continue to stare at the floor.
"We can't help you if you don't talk."
"Ya ain't tryin' to help me – you're tryin' to prove I did it. I ain't gonna help ya do that." Heero mentally cursed himself – he'd used that line dozens of times before, and none of the suspects had thought to throw that back at him. Wufei would be stunned that the loud-mouthed brunette had any sort of intelligence underneath all of his stupidity.
"You could try to prove to us that you didn't do it."
"Nope."
Heero felt his eyebrows furrow, despite such an action being against every ounce of his training not to let weaknesses show through his usually emotionless mask. The suspect was bordering on illogical now – readily admitting that he wouldn't help his own defense, despite what was assumed to be his declared innocence.
"Did you do it?" He had to establish some sort of logic. Maybe he was admitting that he couldn't prove he didn't do it.
"Not tellin' ya." Again, an illogical response.
"So you aren't going to say that you didn't do it?"
"Maybe." Heero found himself scoffing at himself – he should have expected it; he couldn't have seen it coming, but he should have expected it. The witness was playing dumb, just like a toddler would.
"Mr. Maxwell, this isn't a game –"
"The hell it ain't. You got all your fancy little 'tactics' 'nd shit. You just ain't used to havin' someone come back at ya with 'em."
"Mr. Maxwell, we will hold you for as long as necessary to conduct this interrogation."
"Go ahead."
"You're calling a bluff that doesn't exist – that wasn't a bluff, it was a threat. You can either cooperate, or be held for hindering a federal investigation."
"'kay."
"That's all you've got to say?" He knew he was grasping for a handle on the interrogation, but he felt a sense of accomplishment when the suspect finally looked him square in the eye, shifting to lean himself forward by hanging from his arms handcuffed behind the chair.
"Way I see it, you're the one that needs me. I can be here as long as it takes for you to let me go. I grew up on the streets, jail cells are decent compared to some of the shit I've slept in. And anyways, we both know that the more time I waste, the more nervous you'll get about wastin' time on a bad lead instead of investigatin' your precious case. And I know you can't prove I did it since I didn't, so it's just a matter of time 'til you let me go."
"So you aren't cooperating to spite us?" The violet gaze set on him instantly flared with anger.
"Naw shit, Sherlock. Ya come to interrogate me as a witness, then end up arrestin' me as a suspect, pullin' me out of my house and draggin' me downtown. So yeah – I'm just spitin' ya now. Damn, man – I hope you're a better detective than this, or this case ain't ever gonna get solved!" Heero found himself at the end of his patience – heart pounding, sweat pouring, fingers tapping nervously.
"Can you explain why we have no records of your visit to the emergency room?"
"Yeah, sure. I mean, I was just all kinds of conscious during the time I couldn't remember nothin' – what the hell kinda stupid question is that!? Ya think I remember anythin'? Ya wanna know that – ask my friends. Or didn't ya think to?"
"I could have them brought in, if that's what you want." Heero knew it was a bluff, but maybe he would change his tune if his friends were involved.
"Go ahead, spread this shit around. How ya think it's gonna look when a bad lead turns into a multiple arrest that got the case nowhere? Dumbass..."
Or not.
Or maybe...
"You keep this kind of attitude up and it'll just make me and my partner mad. And I've just got to wonder – were the painkillers you were taking obtained legally? Because your friends would be the ones who would have obtained them. They'd be responsible, not you. And that's... what? Both possession and distribution of a controlled substance. Do you really want us to go there?"
"Trowa and Q don't do nothin' wrong. They wouldn't 'ave done it." Heero studied the face carefully, searching for even the slightest hint of fear. Or concern. Anything –
nothing.
He turned around to look at the mirror, knowing his partner would be on the other side. He mouthed three words that were crossing both their minds in tandem:
He knows something.
Maybe not something related to the case, but no suspect was this comfortable, even if they were innocent, unless they knew something that would shield them from any kind of charges; any kind of interrogation methods. He knew he was safe from anything physical, verbal, legal – no threat would touch him.
It took a special kind of safeguard to ensure this kind of protection.
He was alerted by the sounds of shouting outside the door, and found himself on his feet when the door swung open. The blond man, taller man close in tow, along with a chubby man in a suit pushed their way by the officer into the room. He could hear the door behind the glass slam as Chang hurried to his side.
"What the hell is he still doing in handcuffs!? Un-cuff him – now! And you'd better have one hell of an explanation for why he isn't being represented by council during this interrogation!"
"Sir, you aren't allowed in here. Escort them out please." The officer who'd been shoved out of the way looked at him helplessly. Before Chang could find his ground, he found a furious blond in his face – Heero hadn't even considered the small man capable of such fury.
"Explain why he has no representation! NOW!"
"He didn't ask for it.", Heero offered, trying to bail his friend out. It served only to remove the blond from Chang's personal bubble, but brought him directly into his own.
"Bullshit! He's well aware of his rights!"
"I may remember something along the lines of 'lawyer' being mentioned when we brought him in, but it doesn't matter – he's not given that right during an investigation into terrorist activity."
"He was guaranteed that right when you arrested him! I witnessed it!"
"Standard arrest procedure. His rights lasted only until the charges were filed, at which point they were rescinded. He was also given the right to remain silent, which I'll mention he failed to utilize."
"You'd better have a hell of a case against him for terrorism, or I'll make sure ever resource at my disposal is brought down to crush you." Life seeped back into Chang's face at the threat – threats were not welcomed by his friend.
"You're lucky we didn't bring you in! You lied about his whereabouts! It was enough to bring him in!"
"Let me inform you then, we –"
"Good. Inform us." Anger flashed across the blond's face once again.
"We didn't take him to the emergency room – we took him to a private doctor for surgery. I'm sure you can understand why I avoided self-incrimination. He has an alibi, which means you no longer have a case. I want the handcuffs off. Now!"
"I find it hard to believe you possess the necessary resources to gain him access to such spontaneous medical treatment, Mr. –"
"Winner. Not Qasim. I lied. My name is Quatre – Quatre. Raberba. Winner. –"
"The hell it is!"
"– And while we're introducing ourselves, Officer Chang, I'd like to introduce you to my attorney, who will ensure that my friend is released. Unless you'd like to do it yourself." Chang's slowly began to resign to his defeat as the lawyer began reciting the many reasons why the suspect would be released. It was the quality of the lawyer that drove the point home – a Winner. It was better than a "get out of jail free" card.
"Mr. Maxwell, you're free to go...", Chang ground out.
"You bet your ass he is! Come on, Trowa! And Allah have mercy on you if a single stitch was torn while you were manhandling him!"
The cuffs were removed and the group were escorted out, leaving a winded Chang and stunned Heero left alone in the path of destruction. Seconds of silence passed before Chang showed signs of life.
"GODDAMNIT!" Chang's voice was nothing short of a roar, bouncing off the walls of the interrogation room.
"Yeah..."
"We had one fucking witness and now he won't cooperate! And even if he would, he's got a damn Winner guarding him! Fucking shit! And where the hell did he find a Winner anyways!?"
Heero nodded his head dumbly as his partner answered the phone. He noticed the paling of his face as the call went on, and found himself wondering what the blond had threatened while leaving the station. It wasn't until Chang staggered back and collapsed into the seat that he knew something was wrong – more wrong than an angry Winner brandishing an attorney. Chang closed the phone and dropped it on the floor, running a hand across his clammy face.
"Chang, what –"
"Another bombing. Twenty minutes ago..."
Another bombing...