"Ok, by revenge you mean personally stomping on the maggots that kidnapped you?" Heero asked as they sat around a table, trays of food in front of all five men.
"Well~ I was thinking of something a little more devious than just a direct battle." Duo said, stuffing half a bread roll into his mouth. "Was their boss Mouchalini ever convicted?"
"Well, they had enough to hold him for years, but the information you possessed and hid was never recovered so he was never given the life sentences he deserves for the murders he committed." Quatre answered. He remembered how hard it was for the Preventers to capture this mob boss. It was virtually impossible to get any proof that he was behind the murders of all six members of the Costello family. Until the day he slipped up, and while his Hench men were on their way to 'get' another family, the preventers hidden voice recorders caught Mouchalini reminiscing about the Costello's and others he had killed before he had hench men to do his dirty work.
Alright, well since most of them were able to escape when you guys showed up the where they were holding me, I know they will be out looking for me, if they don't already presume me dead. We need to get the information from Switzerland, and safely back into the D.A.'s hands. We should inform them that we are coming so they can arrange a court date."
"But- if we do that, Mouchalini's goons will know where we are." Wufei pointed out.
"Exactly." Duo smiled.
A few days later, the plan went into effect.
Quatre had called the New York D.A.'s office and informed them of the new developments with his business-like voice. They excitedly told him that they could have a court date ready in three days.
"That sounds perfect. See you then. We'll call when we have the documents."
Although he was mentally normal again, Duo was getting constant migraines. With the migraines came the occasional flash back. Fortunately, Duo was using the flash backs to try remembering more about the men.
Quatre and Wufei were sitting with him in Quatre's office, and they talked about everything going on. Wufei and Quatre started talking about some minute details, and Duo kind of zoned out…a migraine throbbed in his head.
Water Torture. It was a crude yet effective way to get your victims to talk. For everyone except Duo Maxwell that is.
Duo reflected back on his time in that cold cell, and things that had previously been wiped from his mind began to float back.
The torture method was not anything high tech, like they had in some governments. It was just a tank. Filled with dirty old water, they would submerge him, and keep him there until the brink of death. It was awful, the water would fill his lungs and he felt pain like he never felt before. But they always brought him back.
"Where did you put the tapes?" They would scream at him repeatedly. It didn't matter, the lack of oxygen to his brain gave him severe migraines, and he couldn't hear them anyway. The dirty water would spill from his lips as he coughed it out of his lungs.
Duo shook his head, clearing his mind of those thoughts. It made his queasy to think about the ordeals he went through. Sometimes he wasn't sure he was completely okay after all that. He was going to make those people pay for what they took from him.
Heero was walking down the hallway towards Quatre's office, when Trowa came up behind him.
"Heero, I think that its time we tell Duo that I know what the men look like. I mean, they did try to kidnap me too. Duo says he doesn't quite remember their faces…but I do."
Heero, who knew this conversation would eventually come up, turned around unsurprised. "Sure. I think if we are about to launch this mission…for it to go right we need you to identify the right guys. To help Duo out, if he can't take it."
Together they went into Quatre's office, where Duo and Wufei were already sitting and began to tell Trowa's story. About a year after Duo went missing, Trowa and Heero were investigating a lead. So far the pickings were slim. Every time they had a suspect, that person would die suddenly. They had split up as they investigated an abandoned factory. It was one of the holdings of Mouchalini, the criminal that started this whole mess.
When he was first arrested, it was on a fraud charge. They did not realize then, that he had the same power as the God Father himself. A snap of his fingers and people died. He was sentenced 3 years for the fraud, but the Preventers had uncovered valuable proof that would give him the death sentence. They had a voice recorder planted in a phone at his estate, and when he called from jail, it recorded a conversation he had…that put his head on a platter. That's where Duo came in. And that's how he disappeared.
Trowa was searching the bottom floor for clues, while Heero took the top. With his gun out in front of him, he checked every room. He went into, what he assumed use to be the managers office. When he entered, he was actually surprised that there was someone sitting on the desk. He was a thick burly man, with wispy blonde hair and a goatee.
"Hello there Mr. Preventer." He said with an evil smile. Still holding his gun out, Trowa spun around as the door slammed shut behind him. There were two more gigantic men standing at the door, they looked like bullets would just bounce off their skin. "Don't fight us, it's pretty futile."
"Says you." Trowa challenged, and he discreetly pushed the emergency button on his belt, that would tell Heero that he was in trouble. Tweedle dumb on the left took a swing at Trowa, but being so agile, he easily evaded the punch, and jabbed at the mans Adam Apple. He was already turning purple, as he gasped for air, his friend went for Trowa, but he was also too slow. Trowa took the butt of his gun, slammed it into his sternum, making the man double over in pain as it cracked. A shot rang out in the room, and Trowa felt the sting as a bullet ripped through his shoulder. His gun clacked as it hit the ground.
The blonde man walked over to him as Trowa grasped his shoulder and turned around to face him. The man's little blue eyes twinkled as he smiled. "Your friend is just as stupid as you are. Are all of you Gundam Pilots this idiotic? You think you're courageous, but truthfully, it's sadistic since cooperation is where you get the rewards. You're just asking for the pain."
"Where is Duo, you bastard!" Trowa gritted through his teeth. Blood was oozing between his fingers, and his shoulder throbbed.
"You will never find him. And I assure you, he is in a lot of pain right now. A lot. I'm taking personal care to make sure he has nightmares for the rest of his life, or what's left of it. I was hoping to take you to him, so you could persuade him to talk. He's being 'brave' too, he's all clammed up. But I might just kill you now, since you don't want to play the game." The Blonde man had his back to the main door and was about to raise his gun again, when Trowa saw a glimmer of metal from the door in front of him. Another shot echoed in the room and the man grasped his hand that the bullet had just grazed. His gun fell, but he didn't even turn, he just cursed, and darted to the left.
Heero rushed into the room, just to see a gray suit rushing out another door, to a runway behind the factory. Heero rushed after him, but the man was already climbing into a helicopter, that must have landed in the last five minutes. Heero took a few shots, but they just ricocheted off. Trowa followed Heero to the door and watched the helicopter take off.
"God Dammit!" Heero cursed, throwing his gun at the ground in anger. When they went back into the room, there was one dead man, and the other one must have crawled off. All they had was a gun with prints on it. But even that lead nowhere, since the prints matched to man who died 20 years ago.
Duo listened to the story in amazement. He felt that he knew the man Trowa was describing, but he couldn't even remember that much. He didn't know he was blonde, let alone had a goatee. When Duo was planning their mission, he hoped to get as many of the bastards as he could, but in the back of his mind he always thought that the leader, the one calling the shots would evade them. Now, maybe he won't…
"What do you think Duo, do you know this guy?" Wufei asked, reading Duo's face.
"I think so. Like I said, their faces are pretty blurred…mostly they worked in shadows. I gathered a few names when they slipped up. There was a Joe, a Henry, Terry….Mike…Jim…It could be any of them."
"Sorry we didn't tell you sooner, but it wasn't exactly necessary to tell you." Heero said," I didn't even see the guy, but everything we got from that trip ended up in dead ends."
"Except, I have a face… Two actually, but I don't think the guy with broken sternum was allowed to live after he let me get away." Trowa added.
"This is great…"Duo muttered, still thinking this new information. "We can do so much with this. You should have told me earlier." He said with a little smile. "Ok, Im going to go make more plans." He said, got up and left the office.
The four exchanged glances.
"He took that better than I expected." Quatre said first.
"He's doing better in general." Heero said, and they nodded in unison.
"Well I guess we just wait till he finishes his plans? We told the DA, we'd have it in three days…I hope he works quick." Quatre concluded, and they left the office.
