Disclaimers: Yeah, yeah. It's not mine.
The Usual Suspects: Chapter FourPresent Day
Preventers Station
"And that was it. They then locked all five of us in a room, a cell for the night, really. It was barren. A few benches on a concrete floor, three concrete walls and a wall of bars. You think they'd have had more sense. Locking up the five of us together was the biggest mistake of their lives." Duo smiled widely.
Zechs shook his head, "Duo, I know all that. It was in your testimony. What happened afterwards?"
Playing with the end of his braid, Duo tapped his foot on the floor and started to hum. He looked up at find Noin ready to kill him. Grinning like a madman, he flung his braid over his shoulder and pointed a finger at the object of his attention. "You know," he said, "you seem awfully uptight, Noin. Got the world's largest stick shoved up your ass or somethin?" Ignoring the protests from the Lieutenant, Duo looked to Zechs, asking with his eyes if Noin could leave. Zechs got the hint, and politely asked Noin to leave them to a one-on-one talk.
"So," Zechs began, "what happened after the lineup?"
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6 Weeks Ago
Sanq Kingdom Capitol City Police Department
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They couldn't hold us long on account that they had nothing to charge us with. We stayed in the station for most of the night, Barton informing us of this job he had heard of. But he couldn't get into the details while in the station, and Heero had made it clear that he did not want to get involved. He said we were shit and he had a good life -- that he didn't want to do anything illegal. About midnight we were all back on the streets, someone had pulled strings and we were home free, so to speak. All four of us -- that is the four that wanted the job, lingered around the station to see if Heero would join us. He just went home. The only problem was, that the job needed five men to carry it out. The four of us were down with it. Heero would take some convincing.
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Heero shoved Duo up against a wall, glaring at full force. "Omae o korosu," he whispered into the braided boy's ear before shoving him harder against the wall. Their faces mere inches apart, they stood, or in Duo's case, hung in a staring contest of wills for a few moments. Each of them breathing on the other, feeling the temperature rise from suppressed anger, or maybe something else. Heero's eyes flashed as he leaned closer to Duo, nose to nose, their bodies in close proximity of each other, and then swiftly pulled away, dropping Duo to the floor in the process.
Duo landed with a thump on the hardwood floor of Heero's apartment. He looked up at the dark haired man, eyes showing not anger, but rejection. Now those eyes began to plead, "Heero." Duo slowly got up and walked over to his friend, swallowing a lump in his throat. "Please take this job. We need another good man, and you're the best there is." He paused for a moment, "believe me, I know you're good."
Met with a trademark icy and haunting stare, Duo kept quiet. Heero went on to tell him what he knew the other already gathered. "I told you, I'm not interested."
Duo's face seemed to darken at the news, and he began to slowly show himself around Heero's large and highly sophisticated apartment. He could feel Heero's stare boring into his back, but he kept wandering. "This is a nice place you got here. I can see why you don't want to go back to the exciting life." He turned to face Heero. "So what legit scam are you up to, again? Computer programming, am I right?" Duo eased over to Heero, who seemed to be holding his tongue at the moment. He stood not three feet away now, and so he continued, throwing his hands up in the air for emphasis. "Hah! Heero Yuy making security programs for large corporations! You know when they hear about your past they'll never hire you again. Your career will be over." Now Heero was furious, but even Heero couldn't deny the truth – Duo saw the acceptance in his eyes. "No one wants to hire a criminal to do their security, even if they are the best."
Heero put one hand up to his head, slowly rubbing his temple in deep thought. He knew if he did the job, it would change everything. He looked at Duo through his bangs, blowing a gust of his breath through them in defeat. "What's the job?"
"Sanq Kingdom's finest taxi service."
"Aw, shit!" Heero mumbled as brought the second hand to his head. He ran his hands through his thick hair. "That can't be done. Besides, they no longer operate."
"But they do, Heero. We've got it confirmed. They're just a lot more secure now. Trowa got the tip that they'll be operating a few days from now." Duo's face now glowed with the confidence of being right and the satisfaction of seeing Heero wrong. "And," he continued, "I've got a way to do it without killing anyone. We're meeting today, right now, in fact, to plan this. But they won't take me on without you. You -- " he colored a little. "You know me. They don't."
Heero took one last look around his apartment. "Count me in."
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