Duo couldn't stop grinning. This was what he'd been waiting for, searching the last several months to find; and stage one was set to begin. Heero was driving the jeep, the one stipulation Trowa had set on this 'road trip,' which told Duo that Trowa had never ridden shotgun with Heero before. He drove worse than Duo in most situations.
"So what's the address?" Heero asked Duo, and Duo promptly gave his answer. Duo had been the one to find the information on David's relatives, and so he was the one who was giving the directions. As they were taking a road trip Duo had to be obstinate, so they were now driving through Liverpool, lost in a little suburbia homestead and looking for an address that Duo had not, until that moment, cared to share with his 'copilot.'
"And it's just the uncle who lives here?" Heero asked, wanting to confirm the data. At Duo's silent nod, Heero parked the jeep and got out. Duo moved quickly, pulling on his (barely worn) jacket that showed he was a CPS worker under the Preventer Corps. Heero was wearing a light blue jacket; it was not Preventer issued, but it matched close enough to hold up to a casual glance. The whole mission was based on intimidation and the quickest tongue, and those were two areas Duo felt he excelled in.
Rapping his knuckles briskly on the plyboard door, Duo made sure his posture wasn't relaxed by any means. His braid was tucked down the back of his jacket, the tail end brushing his skin irritating, but easily ignorable. The damn hat however, was much more annoying. They were so tacky-
The door opened, cutting off Duo's mental rant. A large man stood on the other side, watery blue eyes squinting down at them hesitantly. They glanced over the logo stitched on Duo's shoulder, and his face paled as he started to realize the two were not going to make this pleasant.
"Mr. Vernon Eustace Dursley?" Duo asked sharply, getting a shaky nod in return.
"My name is Agent Maxwell with the Preventer Corps Division of Child Protection, and next to me is my partner Yuy. We have some questions in regard to a child who had, until recently, been in the care of you and your ex-wife, Petunia Dursley nee Evans. May we step inside, or shall we conduct business on your stoop?"
Vernon nodded hastily, muttering a frantic "come in, come in" as he turned to step inside the townhouse. As they walked inside, Duo heard Heero mutter a near-silent question.
"'Stoop,' really Duo?"
"Hey," Duo whispered back, "I read it in a book."
"Don't fuck this up," Heero snapped back, making sure his voice didn't carry to the ears of the resident. "We're already walking a very fine line."
"I won't, I won't," Duo snapped back just as quietly. "I know what I'm doin'."
"Can I get you anything to drink?" the man stuttered, and Duo shook his head, taking a seat on the single loveseat in the sitting room. Heero sat next to him, Vernon Dursley claiming a large portion of the matching sofa. The design of the fabric was rather feminine, leading Duo to assume that it was a part of what he had won in the divorce. The records showed that it had only finalized a few weeks ago, custody of their son being given to the mother. But it wasn't the time to get lost in thought, so Duo started in on business.
"Mr. Dursley, did you, until November 9 of last year, have a young boy named Harry J. Potter in your family's care?"
Vernon's mouth opened and closed silently, his face changing colours rapidly. He seemed to go from pale, to flushed, to pale again. If time had allowed for it, Duo would have sat back and waited to see how long it took for something to happen, but they had a deadline.
"I would suggest giving a simple 'Yes' or 'No' answer, Mr. Dursley. You're already in over your head, let's not make it worse," Heero said neutrally, and the man collected himself visibly.
"Yes."
"Did he leave your household on the date specified?" Duo continued, jotting down words on his little notebook. It was to give the impression that this was an authorized visit, that Vernon's answers held weight; the truth was he was writing down impressions the man gave. The words would remain within Duo's mind until he wrote a report later. He was just hoping Une would overlook the lack of permission to approach and 'handle' the man the way they were.
"Yes."
"Was the child in your care that day?" Heero asked, and Duo figured out quickly they were going to tag-team the man, keep him answering swiftly. The less time he had to think, the more likely they'd find out what they wanted to know.
"Yes."
"Can you name where each member of your household was on November 9th?" Duo asked, and the man hesitated. Heero cleared his throat, looking surreptitiously at his watch.
"Petunia and Dudley were on a cruise in the Caribbean, and Harry and I were at home," Vernon answered, his tone bitter. Duo and Heero shared a glance, more to try to affect the man across from them; they weren't surprised, they could see where this was heading already.
"So he vanished while in your care," Heero remarked, not even bothering to try to inflict it as a question.
"Yes."
"And you know how it happened," Duo said, his pen making messy loops in a mockery of cursive. That reminded him to ask Wufei to teach David to read that; the plaque was written in a rather beautiful script of it...
"...Yes." That answer had been slower in coming, more resigned. Good, they were all on the same page now; no more games.
"Can you explain it for me, Mr. Dursley?" Duo asked coldly, holding his pen ready in a show of being willing to quote him word-for-word. Vernon's face was changing colours again (Duo had to wonder if that was healthy or not. He'd never seen such a visibly drastic change before!), and his words stumbled over each other as he tried to hastily backtrack.
"I... Petunia... I tried! I tried to get him out! I made him go to you people, to get someone who could help him!" Apparently, the man didn't want any of the blame on him, and was trying to play the Good Samaritan card.
Too bad, Duo thought nastily, that I'm familiar with the Bible more than you, buck-o.
"Why not just call one of us? There are people in my department who are there for just that reason," Duo asked calmly, scribbling down the word asshole on his paper. He felt Heero's heel dig into his shin and ignored it.
"It wouldn't have been quick enough! I know that they'd want to look around, ask questions, and I wasn't going to have him there any longer than he needed to be! I... I wanted to help him..."
Bingo! Duo's mind gleefully cheered. It wasn't his best time, but getting the man to crack within four minutes wasn't too bad either with a 'rookie' next to him.
"Can you give me more details about why you felt so pressured into committing child abandonment?"
And so the next thirty minutes were spent listening to a man who had held in his fury and disgust for far too long. It was only years of practice that kept Duo's features schooled into a blank, detached appearance, mimicked perfectly by Heero next to him. Duo's pen was now drawing rather violent doodles on the pad, the pretense of taking notes long abandoned. He had also thickened the word asshole on his paper to be lost in a sea of violent scribbles and depictions of what he would have done to the man if he could have gotten away with it.
After asking Vernon for his phone number and another time when they could come ask more questions, Duo left the house feeling very satisfied. Getting in the passenger side, he waited for Heero to drive them around the corner before chucking the notepad behind him and sliding his seat back as far as it could go to stretch his legs onto the dashboard and recline.
"Well, I'm happy," Duo declared as he dug into the plastic bag between their seats and pulling out a small wrapped salt taffy. Popping the entire candy into his mouth, he quickly unwrapped it with his tongue, pulling the now-wet and empty waxed paper with pinched fingers and winking at Heero as he did so. All he received for his efforts was a roll of the other man's eyes.
"I would happily eliminate that man's existence," Heero said darkly, his hands gripping the steering wheel. Duo hummed in agreement, digging another candy out.
Ooh, licorice flavoured...
"I can't believe they'd treat anyone in such a fashion, let alone their own blood-" Heero vented, though to be honest, Duo had tuned him out. He tried to listen with half an ear, humming and muttering his agreement as he quickly worked his way through the bag of candies that had been bought for their road trip. Heero's thoughts were rather aligned with his own, which was the main reason he didn't bother to listen intently.
Sirens caught their attention, and Duo sat up, glancing behind them.
Well, shit, Duo mused, taking a glance at the speedometer. He wasn't very familiar with road rules, but he was pretty sure that 130 kilometers-per-hour was not to be done within city limits. And I shouldn't be the one driving, Tro?
"This 's yer fault, yanno," Duo said to the bed above him, watching the boards move as Heero shifted on the mattress.
"I recall you being the one saying they should do something productive instead of leering at handsome citizens?" Duo snorted, more at the way Heero had cleaned up his statement than being blamed for their situation. Heero's wording was putting it lightly, but it worked for now. Maybe he'd use that in his explanation to Trowa later when he was allowed his phone call.
"You were 'posedta be the responsible driver, weren't 'cha?" Duo shot back, a grin spreading across his face. He reached up to scratch the bridge of his nose, ignoring the familiar sensation of cold metal around his wrists.
"You could have informed me of my speed long before the police did. I was preoccupied."
"Really? I didn't notice," Duo teased, rolling onto his stomach. His braid slid off the side of the bed (the main reason Duo had claimed the bottom bunk, as he didn't want Heero yanking on it), the end brushing the floor. He made a mental note to wash it as soon as he could; he didn't want whatever was on the floor in his hair.
"If you had actually been paying attention to what was going on around you instead of the candy, you might have noticed a lot more," Heero snapped, losing his temper. Duo gave a mental cheer (Only five minutes! Record!) and sat up, letting his eyes peek over the top bunk to meet harsh blue.
"Oh, I was paying attention, kind of. You were just sayin' what I was thinkin'. 'Sides, you got bigger things ta worry 'bout than me," Duo warned, his tone betraying his amusement. His eyes probably did too, because he was often told whenever he was being an ass that it was obvious.
"...What could be bigger than this?" Heero asked warily, and Duo stretched higher, letting his grin show.
"Trying to explain 'this' to Relena," he answered, dropping down to duck the blow aimed at his head. Laughing, he dropped back onto the bunk, hearing the familiar sound of Heero burying his face into the pillow and groaning.
Ah, he missed this. He should go on road trips more often.
A/N - Hello everyone! So hopefully this chapter clears up some details and brings a smile to your face. A big shoutout to TCM, who's great questions and conversation helped inspire me into writing. Now that midterms are over, I just have five more weeks until classes are over :) And look, is that... really... the plot peeking out?
Until next time! Drop a review, I love to hear from my readers! You all keep me motivated! I've never written such a long piece before, let alone a real sequel to any of them. You guys motivate me to push my limits, and I love it!
ALT