Ch. 11 Case Solved

That night Quatre lay awake staring at the ceiling with Heero sleeping soundly next to him. He couldn't sleep and he didn't think he ever would. Every time he closed his eyes, that man was there. Preventers had been pretty quick to pick up the body; fortunately for them it had been late so no one would notice that they were carrying a body out.

Letting out a frustrated sigh he rolled to his side facing away from Heero. How had his life gotten so bad in such a short amount of time? All he wanted was a vacation from the dullness of work; a chance to get away and sort through things. Then Heero had walked, ok, stumbled back into his life and turned it to chaos. It had always been that way, where ever Heero was, danger was sure to follow.

He smiled to himself. Even with all the dangers, he wouldn't have it any other way. Back in his normal life he had no real purpose except to approve or deny what ever what put in front of him. With Heero and just like during the wars, he had a purpose and it wasn't pushing papers. Life had taken an odd twist for him when peace had finally settled. A part of him missed all the activity and chaos of his soldier days, but those were long gone and when this was over, so would Heero.

Heero. He'd shown a side of him that Quatre knew none of the other ex-pilots knew about. It was all out of duty; he'd taken a mission and wouldn't accept failure. Sometimes he wished Heero had never stumbled into his tent that night because when he left, it would only bring heartache. At the same time he was grateful, Heero had always shown him that there was more to life than what was right in front of him.

"You'll never get to sleep if you keep thinking so hard." Heero's voice drifted softly.

Quatre rolled onto his back to see Heero resting on his elbow above him; he never even heard him move.

"I can't sleep." He said honestly.

"I can tell." He paused staring down at him. "Nightmare?"

"Something like that." Quatre noticed the softness in Heero's eyes; it was almost like looking at anyone but a battle hardened soldier.

"Come." Heero lay back down as he gently pulled Quatre on top of him. He stroked his back reflexively, providing a measure of comfort.

Quatre didn't argue and let Heero pull him to him. His heartbeat was soothing to his restless mind and before he knew, he had fallen asleep. He woke up one time during the night, tears in his eyes with the vividness of the rape still in his mind. Heero's comforting touch and reassuring words easily lulled him back into sleep.

(o)(o)(o)

"I've contacted WuFei." Quatre said without looking up from the laptop.

"Did you fill him in on your findings?" He asked rubbing a towel through his wet hair.

"No, I want to go through the rest of the cases before we tell him. I want to make sure that there aren't any more links."

"So is he working on the file you found?" He tossed the towel on the floor of the bathroom before slipping a shirt on.

"Yeah, that one case is the key to all of this; I just need to figure out why."

Heero let a faint smile cross his lips as he watched Quatre in his element. He had always been the strategist and his mind just had to figure this one out to find a way to catch their rogue assassin. Quatre seemed happier when he was working on things like this, even during the wars. He never expected Quatre to settle down as much as he did. Of course they all knew he would take over Winner Enterprises, but they hadn't known how dull his life had become. He was never in the press like the rest of the wealthy people and no one ever knew what was going on with him. It seemed to them like he had shut himself off to the rest of the world.

"What do you think MD stands for?" Quatre asked breaking into his thoughts.

"I'm not really sure, but it's probably the one thing that'll find this guy."

"I had WuFei look into the other business cards that were left behind. With any luck they'll explain this one."

"I hope so." Heero sighed as he pulled on his shoes. "Why don't we go out for a little while. Get out of this room."

"Do you think it's safe?" Quatre was a little hesitant to leave after the previous night's events.

"There isn't much we can do here. We've been over the cases and they haven't given us much to go on. Maybe taking a break will give us some new insight on this."

"Alright." Quatre logged out of the computer while Heero hid their small arsenal. After hiding the laptop and securing their weapons on various parts of their bodies, they made their way out into the commotion of people moving about the colony.

Heero couldn't help but feel content as they casually strode through the streets. The warm sunshine felt good against his bare arms and by the look on Quatre's face he could tell that he was enjoying the weather as well. He had gifted him with a radiant smile as they walked, eyes shining with happiness. At one point during their aimless wandering, Quatre had grabbed him by the arm in delight when they had passed a pet store. He allowed himself to be dragged through a throng of people to get to the store not wanting to deny Quatre any amount of happiness he found.

It was relatively quiet in the store with the exception of the mewing and barking of the cats and dogs. He watched as Quatre stopped by a small play area to pet the puppies that were inside. Quatre had always been fond of animals and he wasn't about to refuse himself the sight of that beautiful smile.

While Quatre entertained the puppies he moved on to the cats. He had always been partial to cats; there was just something about them that drew his affection towards them. It had always seemed that cats were studying him and calculating their next move. They were quiet and stealthy, like a four legged version of himself. One in particular caught his interest in the batch of newly born kittens.

He was a small thing, the runt of the litter and the outcast. While the others squirmed and wiggled to stay close to the mother, he was off to the side, away from the commotion. Heero watched the kitten so intently that he didn't even know Quatre had come to stand beside him.

"Can we see that one?" Quatre asked to shop owner.

Heero jerked out of his trance at the sound of Quatre's voice. He continued to watch as the store owner went behind the glass and returned with the kitten in hand. Quatre took it from the woman and began to stroke its glossy black coat. A smile formed on his lips when he discovered that the kitten had a tiny patch of white on his forehead along with three white toes on his left front paw.

"Here." He said softly, handing the kitten over to Heero.

The kitten was much smaller than he had originally thought, fitting perfectly into the palm of his hand. He gently caressed the short black fur as the kitten began to fall asleep. It had been a long time since he'd had time to take pleasure in the simple things in life.

Quatre watched Heero's transformation as he stared down at the tiny ball of fur. Something about the cat had brought out the lighter side of Heero, a less reserved side. He was smiling and there was a genuine happiness about him that even reached his eyes. Not wanting to disturb the moment he remained quiet until Heero had returned the kitten to the shop owner and they were once again walking the streets with no where in particular to go.

Not really paying attention, Quatre almost fell when Heero grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop. Rather angry with Heero's actions, Quatre turned on him with every intention of lashing out at him, but Heero wasn't even looking at him, instead he was staring up at an abandoned, grey building with the words Medical Research and Development still visible on the paint chipped exterior. Beneath was the buildings logo, the initials MRD with the R slightly lower than the other letters.

"This is where they did research for test tube babies." Quatre said while Heero continued to stare blankly at the building, his eyes cold and emotionless. "This is where we were created and birthed." Quatre continued referring to all people created from a test tube.

"Hn."

"When they fixed the reproduction problem they no longer had a need for the facilities so it was shut down."

"Hn."

"We should probably head back." Quatre suggested not wanting to dwell on the past.

Heero nodded his agreement and they headed back towards the hotel. He couldn't help but think that the building was somehow tied to the murder cases they were working on. With a tug from Quatre they stopped at a restaurant for lunch where they both sat in silence, each deep in their own thoughts.

Back in the hotel room Heero discovered that WuFei had tried to contact them while they were out. He immediately sat down and called Preventers to find out what WuFei had discovered.

"Where were you guys? I called a few hours ago." WuFei chided halfheartedly.

Quatre grinned. "Out."

"Out, what is that sup…

"Do you have something for us?" Heero asked putting an end to their joking.

"We went over all the business cards and haven't found anything significant. I had them scanned in so that I could send them to you. You should already have it."

Heero checked his Inbox and found the file.

"The business cards are in order. If you find anything let me know so I can the superiors."

"Did you find anything else out on the case?" Quatre asked hopefully.

WuFei shook his head in annoyance. "We couldn't find anything. I think he just screwed up when he took on an apprentice." WuFei noticed the uncomfortable look on Quatre's face with the mention of the dead man. He was going to ask about it when Heero changed the subject.

"What does Lady Une have to say about all of this?"

"Une isn't particularly happy with all of this. Our people are stretched thin covering other cases because we have so many working on this one. Even the crime lab is hard pressed with their investigations."

"Hn."

"Don't worry about Une, I can handle her. Just solve this case before we lose anyone else."

Quatre caught WuFei's glance in his direction.

"We will." And before Wufei could reply, Heero disconnected the call.

"Can you pull up the business card file, I have an idea." Quatre asked pulling up a chair. While Heero retrieved the file Quatre grabbed the hotel's complimentary pen and paper.

"Ok, zoom in on the initials on each business card."

"What's this 'idea' of yours?" Heero wondered letting curiosity get the better of him.

"I'll tell you if it works."

He watched as Quatre started to scribble down the letters off each business card. D,E,A,R,S,H,C,M,I,N,D,D,A,T,N,P,M,C,A,L,E,E,V,O,L,E,A,E,R. Heero read them off to himself wondering what the list of random letters was supposed to mean. Something was off when he realized the Quatre had stopped writing.

"What's wrong?" he asked looking up at Quatre then at the computer screen.

"This one doesn't fit and it's on that same case I have WuFei working on."

"What's on it?"

"M, R, but the R is lower than the M. None of the other business cards are like that."

Heero's mind suddenly raced back to the building they'd seen earlier. Without thinking, he pushed Quatre out of the way to have better access to the computer.

"Hey!" Quatre yelled as was almost knocked out of his chair, but when he caught sight of what Heero was doing, he held back his remark.

Heero copied the business card Quatre had found into another program along with one of the other MD cards. Over lapping the two cards gave him the logo MRD with the R just a little lower than the other two. Knowing they'd finally had a break in the case Quatre turned back to the letters he written down earlier and started to write something else, crossing letters off as he went.

Medical Research and Development.

The pen stopped as Quatre looked down at the words. It was right there in front of him, the killer's location. Another thought caught in Quatre's head as he pulled the laptop away from Heero to skim through the cases. How had he missed it earlier he would never know, but everyone had come from a test tube. There was a small breeze as Heero suddenly got out of his chair and located their hidden arsenal.

"Heero, what are you doing?" Quatre asked, urgently standing up, his chair tipping over.

"I'm going after this bastard. I can't let him come to us, it's too risky."

"You can't go." He pleaded knowing what might happen. "I'll go with you." He rushed over to the bed to retrieve a gun.

"No!" Heero barked it out as an order and had Quatre stopped in stunned silence. "No," he said a little softer, "you need to stay here. I'm not going to risk your life to go after this psycho."

"But…"Quatre was silenced when he was suddenly pulled into Heero's chest, lips crushed firmly upon his own. He froze, wide eyed and confused, then, when Heero deepened his kiss did he understand what was going on. His lips parted giving Heero the invitation he was seeking. Heero's tongue expertly slid into his mouth exploring the recesses of his mouth. Quatre softened to his intrusion and returned the gesture and when Heero pulled, his mask in place, he suddenly felt cold. Heero had locked him out again, soldier mode overriding all else.

He stood in stunned silence as Heero hid several more weapons on his person before turning back to him. There was sadness in his eyes and Quatre briefly wondered if it was because of the kiss, but then Heero was kissing him again, a short fleeting kiss.

"You can't come with me." His voice was barely above a whisper as he held Quatre. "Please, stay here."

Quatre thought he heard a pleading tone in Heero's voice but dismissed the notion. Heero didn't plead with anyone. An instant later Heero was gone leaving Quatre alone by the bed. With nothing to do and a desperate need to occupy his time, Quatre went back to look at the files. Heero would come back, he always did.

(o)(o)(o)

Ok, this chapter was originally a lot longer, but I decided to cut it in half. It was just way to long, but the following chapter is really good! Please R&R and thanks for all the reviews!