It's been a bit of a struggle to write the final chapters, as this was the part of the story that needed to be rewritten almost completely. The old version had many gaps in the plot that didn't make any sense. LOL.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.
For the heart I once had
Chapter 11
Trowa very much wanted to drive his fist through a wall. Punch the living daylights out of someone. The need for violence was near overwhelming, thrumming in his blood until his skin was vibrating with it.
Duo and Wufei dragged him to the gym for a work out, and they were pretty soon joined by Heero. Blowing off some steam in the company of his friends worked some. He felt a bit more clearheaded afterwards, more like himself.
But the rage and helplessness didn't subside.
He'd lost Aalia.
The knowledge was bitter, a nasty taste in his mouth. He rarely lost control of his temper, but he was damn close to snapping know. How could such a mistake have been made? Quatre had been livid when the news had reached him, and Trowa knew he would sue the ESUN for this. And knowing Quatre, he would go to great lengths to get his message across.
Heero had promised to dive into Aalia's case in an attempt to locate her, and Trowa could do nothing more but prowl up and down his apartment restlessly, while Heero worked at the dining table. Duo and Wufei were busy in the kitchen, preparing dinner.
In an attempt to calm himself down, Trowa sat down in the arm chair and buried his face in his hands, taking a deep breath.
"As long as we don't know where she is," he said, more to calm himself. "Razouli doesn't know either."
"True," Heero agreed, sounding distracted.
"Should have gone after that bastard. Then we wouldn't have had this situation."
Heero smirked. "But that would have ended with you in prison."
They both looked up when they heard the doorbell ring.
Trowa got up and went to open the door, and blinked up at Rashid. The giant gave him a jovial greeting and barged into his apartment. Trowa had always thought his place was spacious, but the place seemed to shrink in size, until it was dwarfed by Rashid's presence.
"I'm here to help you," he said in his deep voice.
"We can use any help we can get," Duo quipped as he emerged from the kitchen, steaming plates in his hands.
"Is that edible?" Heero inquired.
"Fuck you, Heero," Duo said with a grin, while putting a plate down in front of him.
"I made sure of it," Wufei supplied with a smirk as he handed Trowa a plate. "There's plenty more."
Rashid nodded in gratitude and accepted the other plate that Wufei was holding.
"Master Quatre doesn't know that I'm here," he said while taking a seat at the dining table as well. "I want to know everything."
It took some time explaining the whole situation and Rashid sat listening in silence, looking deep in thought. When silence fell, he gave a single nod and got up.
"I'll see what I can do," he said, and promptly left the apartment.
Duo sat staring after him with wide eyes. "Was that weird?"
Heero gave a shrug. "Could be that he is not telling us because his idea might be incriminating."
"You think?" Wufei sounded skeptical.
"We all know the Maganac go to great lengths for Quatre and his family."
"True," Trowa said.
They had no choice but to sit back and wait.
-x-x-x-
Weeks passed, and the court date approached. They had hit a dead end in their search for Aalia. The ESUN attorney was confident that Aalia statements provided in their records would be enough, and that they could win the case without her testifying in person. There was enough evidence of Razouli's criminal activities, his involvement with the Barton Foundation, and his connection to the assassin sent after Aalia.
The hours in court were long and tiring, but Trowa was there for every session, months on end. Razouli had the nerve to be smug about the fact that Aalia wasn't there. The ESUN's little mistake had not gone unnoticed. But Trowa looked back, just as smugly, because as the sessions dragged on, there was no denying that Razouli was guilty of all charges. It was damn satisfying to hear the final sentence. Razouli would spend the rest of his days in the maximum security prison in Vught, without any chance of parole.
But none of that satisfaction remained when Trowa returned to his empty apartment. Aalia should have been there, and their child as well. He sighed to himself as he fished the baby sock from the pocket of his slacks. Their child should have been born by now and Trowa was dying to know if it was a boy or a girl.
He had let go of the house he had tried to secure. There was no use in buying it if he didn't have his family to share it with.
They had done all they could in trying to locate Aalia's whereabouts, but she was well hidden. The ESUN's witness protection program was top notch, and they hadn't only the Earth to look at. Aalia could just as well be in the colonies. The biggest problem was that they had to be subtle about their search. Razouli was behind bars and secured, but they were still careful. They had no way to warn Aalia if word got out that they were looking for her. She wouldn't know if danger came her way.
It was maddening.
Relena had brought the situation to light in some of the ESUN debates, and Agent Hauff had been brought into the senate to explain how such mistakes had been made. She had profusely apologized, but that didn't change the fact that Aalia was missing.
The apologies were empty.
Trowa retrieved a beer from the fridge and plopped down on the couch unceremoniously. He toasted to the air and took a swig from his bottle. He sighed when his cellphone started ringing and fished it out of his pocket.
It was Catherine. He needed to hear her voice, her quiet support, so he picked up.
"Hey," he said, while leaning his head back against the couch.
"Hey, how did it go?"
"As expected," he said. "Sentenced to life in prison."
"Good. I wish I could say congratulations, but it doesn't feel right." Her voice filled with concern and empathy.
"No," he agreed quietly. "It doesn't."
"How is the search going?"
He grimaced. "Still at a dead end."
"Oh, Trowa…" She sounded as if she was on the verge of tears. "I wish there was anything I could do to help you."
"It helps that you're listening," he assured her.
"It doesn't feel like it's enough."
"It's more than enough."
"Why don't you come over? We're in Berlin right now, so it's not that far."
He contemplated it for a moment. "Sure, why not."
It was a distraction, and although Catherine would probably meddle and balk at the way he way he was handling the situation, he needed her company. He'd arrange everything at work and drive there. It sounded perfect. Well, not perfect, but it would uplift his spirits a little.
"I'll let you know when I can come over," he promised her.
"It'll be good to see you." He could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke. "Everyone misses you."
He felt a tiny smile tug at his lips. There were times when he missed his life at the circus. After the war he had worked there for a couple of years, but then Duo and Heero had joined Preventer when new terrorist activities had risen to light. It had only felt natural for Trowa to join as well. But sometime, and now more often than not, he missed the flurry of activity, the camaraderie within the circus crew, the laughter and banter.
Yeah, it would be a good distraction.
-x-x-x-
It was a few weeks later that Comander Une called Trowa into her office. When he arrived, he found Wufei, Duo, and Heero already seated at the long table that she used for meetings. Une directed him towards the table as well, and as Trowa sat down, he felt the tension in the room mount. What was going on?
Une closed the door and approached the table, placing her hands on the smooth mahogany surface, while looking each of them in the eye. She kept her lips pressed together in a thin line, telling Trowa that she was displeased with them in some way.
Trowa didn't have an inkling of what this could be about.
Duo was the first to break the tense silence. "Any reason why you called us in here, Ma'am?"
Une inhaled sharply through her nose, her expression stern. "Mehmet Razouli has been found dead in his cell."
In the silence that followed, Trowa, Wufei, Heero, and Duo all looked at each other.
"Dead?" Trowa questioned. "How?"
"We don't know yet," Une said. "I'm waiting for the forensics report."
"And we're here because?" Wufei inquired.
"Considering you four were the agents working on his case, and Agent Barton's involvement with Aalia Winner, naturally suspicion falls upon you."
"Upon us?" Wufei asked, his tone cool. "Why?"
"We have nothing to do with it," Duo muttered.
"I'm not saying you have," Une snapped coolly. "But I have already received inquiries from the ESUN senate about the possibility of your involvement."
There was a knock on the door and Une broke away from the table to open it. All four of them shot to their feet when Quatre stepped into the room, followed by a tall blonde woman that Trowa recognized as Aamira Winner, the family lawyer.
"You called Ma'am?" Quatre asked politely, but his eyes pinned her in place with steely resolve.
"Yes," Une made a gesture towards the table. "Have a seat."
Quatre and Aamira took their seats at the table, and the tall woman spoke up as she opened her laptop. "I will represent all five of these men in this."
"There's not even a case yet," Une bristled.
"No, but you implied that suspicions of these men's involvement has already risen." Aamira gave her a cool look. "I'd like to be prepared well."
"Fine." Une took her seat at the head of the table. "Let's go through this and make sure that all of you have a water tight alibi."
Three hours later, the five men left the office, Aamira in their company. Each off them was feeling various degrees of frustration, but Aamira and Une were both confident that neither of them was in trouble or had anything to do with Razouli's death.
But now the question had arisen: who was responsible?
"This just gets weirder and weirder," Duo grumbled. "But… Now that he is dead, we can really kick up the search for Aalia."
Quatre smiled at Trowa. "I have already arranged for a team of private investigators to help us."
"Thanks," Trowa said, and felt tension slide off his shoulders.
Duo was right. The danger that Razouli posed to Aalia, was gone. They could openly start searching for her. And they would find her.
Trowa wouldn't rest until they did.
- End Chapter 11 -