Warning: Spoilers for Gundam Wing. This goes for both the prologue and the rest of the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Chapter Thirteen: Streets of L2

"Where do you think he is hiding?" Noin questioned her partner as she walked down the streets of L2.

"I have no idea, woman," Wufei replied, eyes trained ahead.

Despite the Eve Wars being over for over five years, Wufei did not get along with Lucrieza Noin. They had first met when he had bombed the Lake Victoria Base in the first war, and the other meetings after that hadn't gone on too well. Now, Director Une had assigned them both to locate the missing Duo Maxwell.

The first place they had visited was the scrap yard where Duo had taken up residence. They found Howard, the owner of the ship Peacemillion instead. He hadn't been informative but he had told them all he knew.

What they had learned was that Duo had contacted him out of the blue, asking him to look after the business. It was an offer Howard couldn't refuse as he owed the pilot a couple favors. He had also told them that the girl he had been living with, Hilde Schbeiker, had been killed in an accident just outside the yard. The accident in itself was highly unusual as the other vehicle had been transporting illegal arms.

If their timeline was right, Duo had disappeared after the accident and after contacting Howard but before the old man had arrived. Where could he have gone to?

All Noin knew, beside the previous, was that she wanted to get off this Colony at all costs. How could Duo stand to live here? She could feel the desperation around her and she didn't like it one bit. She was definitely going to get Une and the Legislature on this when she got back to Earth.

The people here…one could tell instinctively that they were suffering and would continue to suffer until the day they died. Death was a friend here, a blessing. Was that why Duo named himself after the God of Death, Shinigami? It was an interesting theory but it did nothing to advance their case on the Maxwell disappearance.

Currently, the two were heading for the warehouse district. According to Howard, the authorities were all over there. Something had happened and both Noin and Wufei agreed that Duo may have been involved.

"Would ya look at dis?" a grimy voice scrawled. "We's got us a coupla tourists."

Wufei's eyes darted side to side, taking into account how many street thugs there were. The small group had been tracking them, choosing this time to move in for the kill. They must have been stupid because none of them seemed to recognize the Preventer Jackets that they wore.

"Get lost," Wufei said, his voice containing an edge.

"Now dun be like dat," the lead thug said, trying to sound soothing though unsuccessful.

"You heard the man," Noin continued. "Get lost."

"Ooh! Wat's a preety lady like yaself doin' wit a guy like dat?" a second thug spoke up, eyeing Noin.

Wufei's fists clenched. Now while he didn't necessarily like Noin, he didn't like how that insect was looking at her. It was disrespectful.

"Leave before I have to do something you'll regret," Wufei commanded, body tensing, preparing for a fight.

"Why dun'cha shut yer mouth, ya little shit," a third thug barked out.

That was the last straw. Before any of the thugs saw it, he had rammed a foot into that particular thug's mouth. He could easily hear the jaw breaking under the force of the blow but he was only getting started. Using the broken jaw as a launch pad, he ricocheted to the next thug, elbowing him in the face.

Slamming a knee into the thug's gut, he reacted quickly as one thug tried to grab him from behind. He flipped his legs up and wrapped his knees around the offender's neck. Pulling and flipping his body, he slammed the thug's head into the Colony concrete.

A few more punches here, a few kicks there, and some broken bones later, Wufei stood among the defeated thugs, smoothing off what little dirt that had gotten on his jacket.

"Bravo, Wufei," Noin applauded, clapping her hands.

"These weaklings weren't worth my time," Wufei replied as he started walking forward. Sighing, Noin followed after.

---

Without further incident, the two Preventers arrived at the warehouse district, immediately heading for the reported scene of the crime.

Approaching one of the investigators from behind, Noin called out, "So what seems to be the problem?"

The man jumped and whipped around, relaxing upon seeing the Preventer insignia on Noin's jacket. "Arms deal gone bad," the man answered, getting straight to the point.

Wufei had left Noin's side, inspecting the area himself. Seeing the tell-tell black mark, accompanied by several red spots, on the ground, he raised an eyebrow. An arms deal going bad was an understatement. What had happened here?

"We recovered some bodies," the man continued to explain. "They're all at the morgue, if ya want to take a look at um. They're shot up and burned. But there was something weird about it though."

"'Weird?'" Noin questioned.

"From what we figured, there's too much blood, not enough bodies," the man answered. "There were blood splatters in places where there were no bodies. Plus, they were facing all directions, as if they were being attacked from everywhere at once."

Glancing around, Noin noted that there were quite a lot of places to hide. This place was ideal for an ambush. "What about the arms?"

"There's something weird about that as well. A few of them were used and matched the stuff stored here. But there wasn't enough of them scattered around that a lot of people could use."

"What about a small group?"

"Maybe."

As Noin continued speaking, Wufei continued with his examination. From certain marks on the floor, he could tell that some large objects had been moved, most likely by the L2 authorities when they removed the weapon crates. Then something caught his eye.

Stopping, he stared hard at a small opening between two unmoved crates, which, according to the authorities, were not full of weapons or ammunition. There was something there…

Taking out a handkerchief, he moved to the small gap and reached his hand out, grabbing a solid object with the handkerchief. Pulling it out, he looked in mild surprise at the object.

It was a gun.

How'd this get there. And why did it look familiar? Eyeing the gun speculatively, some scratches on the handle caught his eye. Examining them, he was able to determine that the scratches formed something. Studying it longer, he managed to make out a D…and…was that an N? No…more like an M.

Wait. D and M?

His eyes widened. "Noin!" he yelled out, tucking his handkerchief back into his jacket, holding the gun with his bare hand.

Hearing her partner, Noin excused herself and hurried over to the Chinese man.

"What is it?" she asked and Wufei showed her his find. She frowned. "Why are you holding a gun, Wufei?"

"Take a look at this," Wufei instructed, pointing out the initials on the gun handle.

"What are they suppose to mean?"

"I recognize this gun," Wufei explained. "It's Maxwell's. He was here when the deal went bad."

"He was here? Do you know where he might have gone?"

"Of course not. I am just saying that Maxwell was here. Who knows where he may have gone afterwards."

"But if he was here, why didn't he alert one of us? Or at least called the police?"

Frowning, Wufei only answered, "I don't know."