Disclaimer: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon & Sailor V is property of Naoko Takeuchi
Meaningless Love
Chapter 12 - Hit the Floor
"What do you mean our hand prints are all over the van?!" Gurio asked, panicked.
"Yes!" Minako yelled through her phone. As the other students at the UNLV library began to look at her, she ducked under the computer desk. "I touched the handle," Minako whispered to him, "you touched the side of the van."
Remembering his puke session, Gurio turned pale white. "Oh god!" Gurio yelled, "we're going to jail!" He cried to her over the receiver, "I'm too beautiful to go to jail!"
"Gurio, get ahold of yourself!" Minako barked at him, "we just need to find a way into the DNA department and find our prints."
"Oh yeah!" Gurio cried, "because we can totally pick out our own finger prints at first glance."
"You have a better idea, smart ass?"
Whimpering, Gurio said, "fine. I'll see what I can do."
A few days had passed since Minako had talked with Gurio and neither had received a phone call from the police. They both took it as a good sign. "Tell me you love," Gurio told Minako, placing his hands on her sides.
"Ew!" Minako shoved him away, "it's been a week, have you found anything?"
Crossing his arms, Gurio frowned. "You have to at least tell me I'm the greatest."
"Fine," Minako nodded her head.
"Are you avaliable later tonight?" He asked.
"Yes...?" Minako raised a brow.
"Meet me at the crime lab," Gurio grinned, "it's off of Decatur-"
"Yes," Minako pushed him, "I know where it's located."
"Good, Gurio picked up his papers from his desk, "meet me around six."
Approaching the building, Minako glanced around, there was nothing but desert. Heading towards the front, Gurio leaped out from the side of the building. "Minako," Gurio tugged on her. Startling her, she punched him. "What the hell?" Gurio cried, rubbing his cheek.
"What are you doing, jumping out of the dark?" Minako hit his arm.
"I'm sorry," he rubbed his arm, "we can't go through the front." Leading her down the side of the building, they stopped by a side door. Gurio knocked a few times, after waiting a few minutes, a young man opened the door. "Greg!" Gurio smiled at him.
"If I get fired," he told Gurio, "I'm going to kill you."
Surprised, Minako asked, "you know someone from the CSI team?"
"Kind of," Gurio smiled at her, Greg is my ex's brother." Greg handed Gurio two files, then shut the door.
"And you needed me here for what?" Minako raised a brow, "you could have just given this to me at work."
"Here," he handed her a file, "look inside."
Opening the file, Minako gasped. "Who the hell is Mimi Ino?!" Turning the file towards Gurio, Minako was ready to punch him again. In the file was a picture of a older blonde woman, who just so happened to be a convicted murderer. Minako glared at him, "you get him back here and have him get my file."
"Okay, okay." Gurio shielded his body, waiting for Minako to punch him. When she didn't, he knocked on the door again. Waiting a few minutes, he knocked again, but no response.
"Gurio!" Minako shook him, "you said you were the greatest, what the hell!?"
"I'm sorry!" If she continued to shake him, Gurio was afraid she'd give him whiplash. "I'll find a way inside, okay, and then we can go find your file." Walking around the building, he scanned the area. "There," he pointed towards the top of the building, "a vent." He smiled, "they usually leave around seven, so we just need to wait it out for an hour."
"Okay," Minako eyed him, wondering how he would know this, she asked, "how are we supposed to get up there?"
"There are a few ledges," grabbing onto the first ledge, Gurio pulled himself up. "Come on," he told her, "start climbing up." Following his lead, Minako and Gurio began to climb up the side of the building. Breaking open the vent guard, Gurio gestured for Minako to climb in first. Waiting it out didn't sound so horrible, at first, but after a few minutes in a cramped space, Minako and Gurio bodies began to react. Without enough space to properly sit, they had no choice but to stay on all fours. When seven o'clock finally hit, Minako could have sworn she heard Gurio thank the lord.
"Where am I going?" she asked him.
"No idea," Gurio answered, "where ever these air ducts take us, I guess."
Hearing a creak in the metal, they both stopped crawling. "Gurio..." As he began to move again, the air duct unable to support both their weight, collapsed beneath them. Slamming hard against the cement flooring, they both gasped for air.
"Are you okay, Minako?" Gurio asked in between deep breaths, she nodded her head, placing her hand to her chest. Finally, the air returned to his lungs. Helping Minako up, he began to scan the area.
"Where are we?" Minako asked, the lights in the room were dim.
"Looks like one of their back rooms," extending his hands forward, Gurio began to feel around, hoping to feel a door knob. "Got it, come on!" Opening the door slightly, Gurio peaked out into the hall. 'Bingo!' He thought to himself. Gurio smiled back at Minako, "looks like we're in the right area."
"Really? How can you tell?" Minako peaked out.
"...research," he replied. The hallways were lined with windows; each one looked into the different departments of the CSI crime lab. Amazed, Minako began to peer through them, looking into different rooms. One room was lined with high tech computers, Minako smiled, thinking about her friend, Ami. She knew her friend would have a field day. Not realizing Gurio had stopped walking, Minako bumped into him. "We're here," he smiled at her. Tugging on the door, Gurio scowled, it was locked. "You wouldn't happen to know how to pick a lock?"
"What do you think I am?" Minako asked. Pulling out a hidden bobby pin in her hair, she began to mess with the key hole.
"What do you think I am?" Gurio mimicked her as she picked the lock. "Did you get it?"
"Surprisingly, yes…" with all their high tech equipment, Minako would have expected them to have better locks throughout the building. Opening the door, they began to rummage through the piles of papers and open files on the research tables. Finding nothing, they began to search through filing cabinets. Panicked, Minako told Gurio, "I'm not seeing anything."
"I don't see it either," he told her, "maybe it's in a different room."
"How many DNA testing room do they have?"
"A lot," Gurio told Minako, "this might take a while." Breaking into a few different rooms, they finally found Greg's space. "It has to be here," he told her, trying his best to reassure his colleague. Digging through his filing cabinets, Gurio shouted, "BINGO!"
But before Minako and Gurio could celebrate, they heard a loud slam. "Where is he?" A man yelled, "dammit!" Gurio quickly pulled Minako under Greg's desk, placing his finger to his lips, Minako felt her palms begin to perspire.
Hearing the footsteps pass the room, Gurio let out a sigh of relief. "Hey!" Another man called out, "this door is open."
'Shit!' Gurio and Minako glanced at each other. Pushing themselves as far back as they could under the desk, they tried their best to hide their bodies. "What are we going to do?" Minako finally asked.
As the two men entered the room, they began to scan the area. "Looks like someone was here," one of the men told the other, "the filing cabinet is open." Minako glanced around the corner of the desk, catching the glimpse of one of the men; she could only see the back of his head. He was tall with long blonde hair.
"Browse around," the blonde hair man told his companion, "see if you can find anything on Hawk's Eye."
'Hawk's Eye?' Hearing one of the men approach the desk, Minako and Gurio held their breath. One sound and they were done. "I'm telling you, Tiger's Eye," the man told his colleague, "someone has already been in here. What if there was information, but they took off with it?"
"Keep looking, Fisheye!" Tiger's Eye barked at the other man, "they couldn't have taken everything!" Walking towards the desk, he was now standing in front of Gurio and Minako. Their hearts began to pound, reaching over to him, Minako placed her hand over Gurio's. Rummaging through the papers on the desk, a few pieces floated to the floor.
Minako and Gurio stiffened as Tiger's Eye moved down towards the papers. Just then, they heard another male. "Well, well." The voice sounded familiar.
"Helios…" Tiger's Eye spat his name out, "what the hell are you doing here?"
'HELIOS?!' Minako fet her heart ease slightly, maybe they were safe after all. "Collecting some information on my boss's admirer," Helios entered the room, "what about you?"
"You know damn well what we're doing here," Fisheye glared at Helios, "and it's all thanks to you and your filthy boss, Kunzite."
"Filthy?" Helios placed his hand to his heart, acting appalled by the man's nasty comment. "Like I told your boss," he smiled, "I didn't touch your piece of shit henchman."
Ignoring Helios' comment, Tiger's Eye reached down for the fallen papers. Noticing a pair of shoes, he looked forward, his eyes widened in surprise. Minako and Gurio felt their hearts stop, their breath hitched. Looking at Gurio, then towards Minako, Tiger's Eye smiled. "Well, hello there."
Paralyzed by fear, Gurio felt his body begin to freeze. As Tiger's Eye reached towards Minako, she let out an ear-piercing scream before slamming the bottom of her foot against his face. Pulling on Gurio, she ran from under the desk.
"Minako?!" Helios called out to her, shocked to see her.
"Hi," she smiled at the two men, quickly running passed them. Noticing the file in Minako's hand, Fisheye quickly pulled out his gun.
"Stop!" Fisheye shot at her, "dammit!"
"Minako!" Pulling out his gun, Helios shot back at Fisheye, grazing his hand, Fisheye dropped his gun. Running after Minako, Helios had to find a way to catch her before the other men did. Choosing to go down a different hallway, if he was quick enough, he could catch up to her.
"Are they following us?" Minako asked, as they dashed down the long halls.
"No," Gurio glanced back behind him, "I don't see anyone." Just then, Helios leaped from the darkness and pulled them back.
Covering both their mouths, Helios warned them, "keep your mouth shut if you want to live." Both nodding their heads, Helios pulled them into a pitch black room.
"What the hell are you doing here, Helios?" Minako asked, her heart pounding against her chest.
"I should ask you the same question," Helios eyed her.
"Wait," Gurio looked at both of them, "you two know each other?"
"She's fucking my boss," Helios smiled.
"Helios!" Minako glared at him, "it was one time."
"Oh, now let's not start lying," Helios smirked, "I was told it was quite a few times, in one day."
"You're dating, Mr. Shitennou?!" Gurio could feel a migraine forming behind his eyes. "I don't understand," he glared at Minako, "if you were dating the fucking crime lord, why didn't you have him steal your prints!?"
"Prints?" Helios raised a brow, "finger prints?"
"This doesn't concern you, Helios." As Minako and Gurio began to argue, Helios quickly dragged them towards the floor.
"Both of you shut up," Helios told them, "they're coming." As their footsteps passed the room, Helios glanced up through the frosted windows, their shadows were gone. "To be safe," he looked up at the air ducts, their escape to salvation.
Feeling the cold air, Minako began to shiver. "What room is this?" She asked, looking around, she saw nothing but blackness. Pulling out her cell phone, she used it to see around. Noticing the dead body lying on the table, Minako and Gurio both jumped back.
"It's dead," Helios told them, "don't worry." Pulling himself up into the air ducts, he helped pull both of them up. "Follow me," he instructed them, "if either one of you tries to go a different direction, I will kill you myself." They both nodded their heads. Making it out of the building, Helios helped Minako to her feet. "Now," he crossed his arms, "what are these prints?"
"Oh," Minako glanced down at her file, "Gurio and I had gone to the crime scene before it was reported and…"
"And you touched everything," Helios sighed, "give it to me." Gesturing for her to hand him her prints, Minako hesitated, "I'm on your side, Minako." He tried to reassure her. Reluctantly, she handed him her file. "I'm going to take you home first," he pointed to Gurio, "and then I'll drop you off, Minako."
Sighing, they made their way to Helios' car.
"Hawk's Eye," Helios told Kunzite, "that's who they found by the abandoned casino."
Looking at the photos, Kunzite could have sworn he had seen these images before. "Do you know who reported it?"
"Two construction workers," Helios answered, "according to their statements, they were setting up to implode the building."
"Why would they leave his body in a van?" Kunzite thought out loud, "why not hide his body in the building?"
"It's possible that they wanted him to be found," Helios noted, "although the building is abandoned, they must have known about the demolition schedule." As Kunzite continued to analyze the photos, Helios smiled. "It seems you have an admirer," handing him another photo, he informed his boss, "I tried to find out if they found any finger prints, but unfortunately I couldn't find anything, at least not right now." Helios pointed out the 'y' incision on Hawk's Eyes chest, but it the culprit had one major flaw in their killing style.
"I see," Kunzite sighed, "what a waste of organs." Kunzite shook his head. "Does Nehelenia know?"
"Yes," he nodded his head, "I ran into Hawk's Eyes' two companions in crime."
"At the crime lab?" Kunzite glanced up at him, before looking back down at the pictures.
Smiling now, Helios placed a file in front of Kunzite. "They're not the only people I ran into at the crime lab..."
Kunzite looked up at Helios, raising a brow, the young man gestured for him to open the file. Kunzite's eyes widened, "...Minako?"
"It seems she was the one who had originally discovered the body before the construction workers," Helios told his boss, "she was trying to retrieve her prints before they made it any farther into the system."
Finally, Kunzite remembered where he had seen the images. They were on Minako's camera, stiffening, he looked to Helios. "Did the other two men see her?"
Helios nodded his head, "I don't believe Fisheye got a clear image of her, but Tiger's Eye saw her face. She was hiding under a desk with a young man named, Gurio." 'Gurio...' It was that man again.
"How do we know her prints haven't already been submitted into the system?" Kunzite asked. Taking out his cell phone, began to message all of his men out on patrol around the city.
"We don't," Helios told him, "I will get on it right away, if I find anything, I'll make sure to wipe it out of the system."
Kunzite nodded his head, "good." Calling another one of his men, Kunzite asked, "how close are you to Southeast Las Vegas?"
apigrabbit note: I ended up scrapping the original chapter and decided to completely rewrite it. I am definitely more happy with this version than the last two. I hope you all enjoy this chapter :)
