Barton's Legacy
By West Wind
Rating: PG
Summary: Two Preventer agents show up to inform Catherine that Trowa was injured in an accident during a training outing, but there is more to it than a mere accident.
Disclaimer: Don't own the world of Gundam Wing just like to visit.
~ Chapter 4 ~
Catherine tidied up the kitchen from their afternoon meal. She scraped the remains into the sink, turned on the water, and flipped the switch to the garbage disposal. She pushed the refuse toward the opening.
"Gurgle, Gurgle, Ka-thunk!"
The garbage disposal sounded no more.
Catherine let out a sigh and flipped the switch off.
"Duo, the garbage disposal died again," she called into the garage through the open doorway.
A grunt came from under the car and Duo rolled out. His grave expression caused her to wonder what was wrong.
"I'll be in momentarily," Duo said as he stood.
Catherine nodded and returned to the kitchen. She hated being kept in the dark. Other than Duo's admission that the "accident" was no accident, they had told her no more about it. She knew they had to keep many of the details secret, but she wanted a scrap here or there. If Trowa was in danger, she wanted to help.
Duo's entrance pulled her from her thoughts.
"See you in a bit," Duo finished before pocketing his cell phone.
Duo set down his toolbox and grinned at Catherine.
"So what did you try to put down it this time? An elephant?" he teased before crawling under the sink.
Catherine handed him the wrench he needed and watched from her stool.
"Duo, what's going on?" she asked.
"I'm fixing the disposal," he answered as he pulled on the wrench.
"I mean with the investigation on Trowa's accident," she softly corrected.
Duo lost his hold on the wrench. It missed hitting him in the chest while he tried to catch the falling drain. Water sloshed out and drenched his shirt and splattered the floor. Duo let out a few choice words as he continued with his task.
"Well?" Catherine demanded.
"We don't know much," he offered.
"You don't know much!" she indignantly repeated. "You are Preventer agents, how can you not know much!"
Catherine was winding up to let Duo have it with all her pent frustration at not knowing and not being able to help.
Duo freed himself from the confines of the sink and swiftly pulled Catherine off her stool so she was looking him in the eye. The sudden change caused Catherine's anger to ebb.
Hard serious indigo eyes seemed to see into her soul and kept Catherine from saying anything.
"We are doing our best," Duo somberly voiced. "We are doing all we know to find out what is going on, who is behind it, and keep Trowa and you safe. Leads are sparse, and the ones we have left take a while to follow." Duo's eyes softened and his hold on her hands lessened. "Trust us. Trust me. We will find the creep," he said softly.
Catherine did not doubt Duo's sincerity. She searched his eyes and decided not to push the topic further at this time.
"Let's get the disposal fixed," he said as he released her hands.
Catherine momentarily struggled for balance on the slightly damp floor, plopped down between Duo's legs and started laughing. Her laughter was contagious, and Duo joined in.
Quatre entered the kitchen moments later to find the two entangled on the floor in hysterical mirth.
"Glad you are enjoying yourselves," Quatre gently said.
Duo turned more serious at seeing Quatre.
"Hey, Quatre," he responded. "That package is in the garage."
Duo and Catherine manage to extract themselves and stand. Duo and Quatre headed to the garage and Catherine followed.
"You don't want to go in there, Catherine," Duo said. "I left it a mess."
Her weeks hanging out with Duo were enough to know he was trying to get rid of her.
"I am sure that won't bother me," Catherine insisted. "Unless, there is some secret you are hiding in there."
There was a quick grimace that crossed Duo's face.
"He is hiding something!" she thought.
Duo took a breath and let it out slowly to carefully weigh what he would say.
"Someone broke into the garage," Duo explained. "We are going to check it out."
Catherine locked a steely glare on the two.
"What else?" she asked.
"We think it might be the same person who tried to kill Trowa," Quatre inserted.
Catherine gasped at the news.
"You will tell me what you find," she ordered.
The two men nodded and she turned and walked back into the house to check on Trowa.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Duo and Quatre entered the garage. Heero was already examining the door while Wufei checked outside. Duo handed Quatre the device he had liberated from Trowa's car.
"Have your friend check it out," said Duo. "I bet it will be similar to the ones from before."
Quatre nodded.
"How about your car?" asked Quatre looking at the vehicle.
"Didn't find anything on it," Duo said.
"Any idea of when the intruder was here?" asked Heero as he joined them.
"I shut the door when I left this morning," said Quatre.
"Sometime after mid morning," answered Duo. "I had to get something out of my car. I tripped over a boot that was barley in the walkway and caught myself against the door. I would have known then that it had been open."
Heero looked briefly at the door.
"What else happened today?" Heero asked sounding like an investigator.
Duo started through his days activities.
"Then Will showed up."
Heero held up a hand to halt Duo.
"Will?" asked Wufei who had shown up during Duo's rambling.
"He's one of Trowa's cadets," Duo said. "He brought a card for Trowa.
"Where was everyone when Will showed up?" Heero asked.
"Trowa was napping, I was talking to Rex, and Catherine was someplace in the house. She answered the door, I came to see who it was, and Trowa eventually wandered out of the living room."
"So you were all at the door," stated Wufei.
Duo nodded.
"How long?" asked Heero.
"Not long. We had a brief conversation with Will before he had to get back to base.
"Did he say what prompted him to come?" asked Quatre.
"He said that a few of them were wondering how Trowa was doing," answered Catherine from the doorway into the house.
All four men instantly looked up at her in surprise.
"He didn't have anything to do with it," continued Catherine, "but he could have been played like a pawn."
"How do you know?" Heero cautiously asked.
"When your livelihood relies on people, you get a knack for knowing things about them. Will was either very good at pulling the wool over people's eyes, or he was just an easy malleable stooge."
"If what you are saying is true," pondered Wufei, "then the person we are after could be working from within the agency."
"And maybe even one of Trowa's cadets," added a wide-eyed Quatre.
"It would explain some things," pointed out Heero as he ran an anxious hand through his hair. "One of us should discreetly talk to Will."
Three sets of eyes focus on Quatre.
"It's already added to my list of things to do," he agreed.
Out of the five of them, Quatre always got the most information out of people in a casual conversation, and Quatre willingly let them used it to their advantage.
"Are any of you going to tell Trowa?" Catherine interrupted once more.
"We should do that," mused Duo with the others agreement.
With that decision made they made their way into the house and into the living room where Trowa sat with a book. Trowa looked over the top of his book as they entered and arched one questioning eyebrow. They dispersed around the room, and Catherine plopped into the couch daring anyone to tell her she could not be here. None did.
Trowa put the book in his lap and patiently waited for the group to speak.
"There has been another attempt on your life," Duo informed.
"Really," Trowa said.
Duo recounted the events since their lunch and their suspicions.
"Is there any of your squad that you might suspect in this matter?" Wufei asked solemnly. "Any that act suspicious?"
Trowa momentarily looked thoughtful before replying.
"What would you consider suspicious?" Trowa asked. "There are those that are loners and have trouble associating with their teammates." Trowa's eyes landed on Heero briefly almost laughing. "Then you have those who seem too outgoing and anxious to please, or those that just seem uptight and jumpy."
The others did not have a good answer for Trowa.
"Those in this group are no more suspicious or less suspicious than any other group. I can be a paranoid man and find fault with each and every one of them," Trowa added as he steepled his fingers before him waiting for their response.
"Why don't we start with you jotting down notes on each one for us," offered Quatre. "I have a list in my briefcase."
Trowa nodded and Quatre went out to get the item.
"In the mean time, what are we going to do to keep Trowa safe?" asked Catherine. "Whoever is after him, knows where he lives. What is to keep him from coming back?"
"We have to move Trowa," Heero said.
"Maxwell, you said you talked to Rex," said Wufei.
"Yeah?" questioningly responded Duo.
"Then you have some leads you have to check out. Probably not around here," Wufei continued.
"I do, and was hoping to start on it tomorrow," Duo answered wrinkling his brow in confused.
"Trowa can go with you," stated Heero.
"What?" sputtered Duo.
"And you should probably leave tonight," added Quatre having returned for the end of the conversation.
"If Trowa goes, I go," said Catherine.
"Wait a …" Duo started to say.
"Probably best if she does," interrupted Quatre.
The others agreed, and Duo looked depressed as the others dictated his fate.
"How am I supposed to work with them in tow?" Duo asked flailing on arm in Trowa and Catherine's direction. "Some of the places I have to go a lady should not be in."
"You will find Catherine quite independent, resourceful and often helpful," said Trowa.
"That's the plan, Duo," Heero firmly said. "You three head out late tonight to wherever you need to go. I'll arrange for a car for you to use, and stay out and moving until we feel it is safe for you to come back in."
With that decided the others got up to leave.
"Pack and get some rest while you can," offered Quatre before heading back to the office.
~~~~~~~~~
Duo pulled the zipper on his bag closed after putting the last item in. He had to force himself to stop mulling over the Trowa problem because he was just running into dead ends. From past experience he had found if he walked away, worked on something else, he would see what he had missed before.
He turned his mind to the self-appointed puzzle. He had not yet had a chance to start working on it, but if he was to find answers, he would have to recruit some help.
Quatre knocked on the doorframe before entering.
"Are you ready?" Quatre asked.
"Yeah," answered Duo as he swung the bag strap over his shoulder and hoisted the second one with his hand. "Quatre, I need a favor," he added as he juggled his bags while he scribbled something on a slip of paper on his desk. He pulled the paper from the pad, folded it, and handed it to Quatre. "Have Heero see what he can find on this person. And, can you ask your friend in the lab if he could do some DNA testing for me and what he would need for that?"
"Sure, Duo," Quatre said taking the paper, "but what is this about?"
There was a twinkle in his eye and said, "Trying to help a friend."
Quatre let Duo go with that answer.
"Hey, Tro are you ready to go?" Duo called into Trowa's room.
"We are," said a smiling Catherine as she appeared in the doorway with their bags in tow.
Trowa was right behind her. They said their farewells to Quatre before heading down the stairs and out the back door. They crossed their yard and their neighbors to get to the car parked on the street.
"He could have at least got us a good car," whined Duo to himself as he opened the trunk to throw their things in.
Duo took up the position behind the wheel of the tan car. The other two were already seated. Duo turned the key and the engine roared with life. Checking to make sure his passengers were secured, Duo threw the car in gear and headed down the road.
~
Duo drove till the eastern sky lightened with tinges of pink. Yawning, Duo pulled the car into the parking lot of a 24-hour restaurant. As he put the car into park, his passengers stirred.
"Where are we?" asked Catherine as she extended her arms over the back of the reclined seat and twisted and arched her body in a stretch.
With a click she set her seat upright and blinked confusingly at Duo.
"What time is it?" she asked next before Duo answered the first question.
In the backseat Trowa sat up and looked around.
"Looks like time for breakfast," answered Trowa.
The three got out, stretched, and wandered into the small diner. Two gruff men, who looked like they had been up all night, looked up from their coffee cups and momentarily assessed the new arrivals. Duo gave them a polite nod as they passed by on their way to a yellow, vinyl clad booth.
"Morning," cheerfully said a dishwater blond waitress in the pink skirt and blouse uniform. "I'm Flo. Can I start you off with something to drink?"
"Coffee," said Duo.
The order was repeated by Trowa.
"Orange juice," said Catherine.
"OK, I'll be back in a moment with your drinks and give you a chance to look over the menu," she said before walking away.
The three silently evaluated the plastic covered menus.
Trowa shifted his shoulders trying to get a kink out of his back.
"Everything alright?" Catherine asked more of general curiosity rather than over anxious mother.
"Yeah, just a kink in my back from sleeping in the car," he answered.
"Here you go," the waitress said as she passed out the beverages. "Ready to order?" she asked sweeping the trio with her eyes.
"I am," answered Duo glancing at his companions for conformation.
They nodded readiness.
"Well you start, sugar," she grinned at Duo.
"I'll have the pancakes with scrambled eggs and sausage.
"You want toast or biscuit with that?"
"Toast," Duo said.
"And what can I get for you, pet?" she asked Catherine.
"I'll have the garden omelet with hash browns and toast," Catherine ordered and handed the menu to the waitress.
"And you, cutie?" Flo clucked.
"Two eggs over easy and a bowl of oatmeal," he answered hid behind his bangs.
"Is that everything?"
They indicated that it was.
Flo went to the window to the kitchen and placed the slips with the order on the wheel.
"I'll be back," said Catherine as she got up and went to the restroom.
Duo stifled a yawn and took a sip of his coffee. Duo's eyes drifted shut as they sat in silence. He was tired enough that he did not even notice Catherine slip into her seat across from him on her return. They did open as a gruff voice called from the kitchen.
"Orders up!"
Duo noticed their waitress talking with another pink clad woman that had just entered.
"Hey, Flo, get over here and get your order," growled the cook. "I'm tired of your slacking."
Flo said a few more words before strolling to the window. She loaded the food onto a tray.
"Mel," she called through the window, "kiss my grits," she said indignantly in her twangy voice before turning and walking to their table. *
"Here you go, dears" she pleasantly said as she passed out the food. "Anything else?"
"I think we're fine," Duo assured.
~
By the time they emerged from the restaurant, the sun dangled over the distant trees and flooded the world with light.
Duo handed the keys to Catherine.
"You drive. I need some sleep," he said before creeping into the backseat.
Catherine got behind the wheel.
"Are we headed anyplace specific?" she asked the full and fatigued Duo.
With half closed eyes, he leaned between the seats and pulled out a map.
"We are here," he pointed to the small black dot along one of the red hi-way lines, "and we are going there," he pointed to one of the larger cities before tossing the map in Trowa's lap.
"When we get there, we find a place to stay," he added with a wave of his hand before he gratefully impacted the seat with his head.
~
Quatre entered his office and slid into the chair. He pulled the list from his briefcase and looked over Trowa's notes on each cadet. He had talked to most of them earlier about the event and had his own notes. He spread the other sheets out on his desk to compare. He leaned back and stared at them thoughtfully.
"Have they told you the identity of our would be assassin?" Wufei asked entering the office and walking to his desk.
"Unfortunately, no," Quatre sighed. "I keep going back to the lists I compiled earlier of who was where when the explosion occurred. There were three who have no one who can vouch for their whereabouts, and five that are questionable. They were with a group, but not in sight contact at the time.
"I plotted out the locations of each person, and none were close to that ridge," Quatre tiredly sighed.
Wufei walked over to look at Quatre's map. Numbers and clumps of numbers dotted the map of the camp site and an X on the ridge where they had found prints.
"Which one is our friend Will?" Wufei asked.
"He was one of these," Quatre said pointing to a clump of numbers farthest from the ridge. He pulled out another paper and scanned it. "He is number 23," Quatre added and he and his partner were on patrol."
"So all the ones around the edge are patrols," Wufei stated.
"Mostly," said Quatre. "There were a few who just wandered out of camp."
"They are not supposed to do that," Wufei indignantly remarked, "but, there are always some that do not follow orders."
Wufei continued to look at the distribution. The three solo people were scattered around the camp.
"How soon were each of these seen after the incident?" Wufei indicated the three unverified cadets.
"Here," said Quatre handing Wufei another stack of papers with time flow charts and maps explaining where everyone was at a series of given moments in the evening. "I scrutinized it all again last night once we thought the assassin was in Trowa's group," Quatre informed pinching the bridge of his nose with thumb and finger and momentarily closing his eyes. "I can't find a person that was missing for the appropriate length of time."
"Maybe there is more than one involved," Wufei pointed out.
"I thought of that too," sighed Quatre. "The answer is in there if I only had one more key piece of info," Quatre said tapping the papers with his index finger.
"Like the assailant's name?" dryly said Wufei.
Quatre chuckled, "That would be the key to unlock the entire mystery."
Quatre's phone rang interrupting their conversation.
"Winner," answered Quatre. "Sure Mark, I'll be down. Bye."
Quatre placed the receiver back in its cradle.
"Mark has some info. Want to come?"
Wufei said yes and the two went to forensics.
~
"Duo was correct," said Mark to the two agents. "It is just the same as before. It was put there by the same person."
"Can't tell us who?" hopefully asked Quatre.
"No, I can't," Mark answered. "There were no print nor DNA on it."
"Oh, yeah, Duo wants to know what you would need to do a DNA test," Quatre remembered.
"I just need a sample from the person – hair, blood, skin. A few strands of hair are the easiest to get," Mark answered.
"What can you tell us about the detonator?" Wufei asked pulling the conversation back to the important topic.
"Here is my report on it," Mark said handing it to Wufei.
"Thanks. We will see if it leads us anyplace," said Quatre.
"I hope it does," Mark answered.
~
Quatre and Wufei returned to their office to look over the report.
"This is SO frustrating!" Quatre let out as he threw himself into the back of his chair.
Wufei arched an eyebrow at his normally even-tempered office mate.
"Wufei, how are we going to find who is behind this when we know so little?" Quatre asked as he propelled himself from the chair and started pacing the room with hands clasped behind his back.
"Have you talked to Will yet?" Wufei asked.
"No," Quatre crisply said as he turned to face Wufei. "I thought I would try to find a way that would not appear to be suspicious and tip the culprit off that we suspect."
"Do you know where he is now? Who…" Wufei paused as the office door opened and Heero entered closing it behind him. "Who is taking over Barton's group?"
"I am," Heero said. "I just finished talking to Lady Une, and she agreed. If the enemy is in his group, then I want the group monitored ~ preferably by one of us."
The other two did not find fault with Heero's reasoning.
"We got the report from Mark," Quatre informed Heero.
"And?" Heero prodded.
The three were soon reviewing every bit of info they had since the day of the explosion.
~
Duo stirred as the rhythm of the car changed from interstate driving to town driving. He sat up, blinked a few times, and focused on what was outside the car.
"Welcome back," Catherine chimed.
"Thanks," Duo murmured. "Where are we?" he asked
Duo started soundlessly working his mouth trying to get the foul morning taste out.
"We're here. Did you have anyplace in mind to hold up?" Catherine asked.
"Maybe we should get lunch first," pointed out Trowa.
Duo and Catherine noted the time and agreed.
~
After eating they checked into an average motel. The first thing Trowa noticed on entering the room was the distinct smell of stagnant air found in all motel rooms. Catherine deposited her bags on the foot of one double bed while Duo turned on the AC unit to cool the room to a bearable temperature.
Trowa sat on the bed Cathy had dropped her things on and rested the cane beside him. He watched the two move around the room settling in and a feeling of exhaustion washed over him. Since the accident, he tired easily, but he was getting better. The strength was returning and his leg was not as stiff.
The doctors did a wonderful job on fixing his leg. Dr. Peterson explained how bad it had been damaged, what they did to it, and told him there was a good chance that he would still limp slightly after it was fully healed. Until he got full strength back in his leg, the doctor told him to use a cane and do the therapy exercises.
Trowa looked at Quatre's welcome home gift. He ran his ran his thumb over its carved wooden handle.
"You feeling alright, Trowa?" Catherine asked as she pushed a clump of curls away from her face.
Trowa stopped fingering the wooden cane head and looked into her tender face.
"Just tired," he answered.
"Well, maybe you can take a rest," she smiled. "Duo, what is the game plan?"
"We rest now," he said before stretching out on the other bed with hand tucked under his head and elbows level with his ears. "It has been a long drive with little sleep," Duo yawned. "After that, I do what we came here to do."
Trowa followed Duo's example and lay down on the bed.
Catherine removed their belongings from the foot of the bed before pulling back the covers and slipping under them beside Trowa. She pulled them snuggly around her as she curled up on her side.
Trowa stared up at the ceiling with his mind flitting from one topic to another until it landed on Cathy. He glanced beside him at her back. Her auburn curls sprawled across the pillow and over the blanket.
He had not realized how he missed her presence in his daily life until she had returned. From his first days at the circus, she set down roots in his life and slowly weaved her vines into his soul. She had clamed a part of him and filled the void of family Trowa had not missed at the time. A smile tugged at the corners of his face at the since of belonging and family.
He knew of Catherine's own loss and felt fortunate that she adopted him, despite his loner attitude when he first joined the circus.
"Hey, you are supposed to be sleeping," Catherine said after rolling over and seeing his eyes open.
"Yes, Mom," Trowa tonelessly said and received a light slug before he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
~
Duo parked the car along the road in the run down part of town and started to get out.
"I'll go with you," Trowa offered.
"No, you won't!" Catherine said. "You might be well enough to get around, but not fighting. You stay with the car, and I will go with Duo."
"I would have to agree with her there, buddy. I am sure you could hold your own, but I would rather you didn't end up back in the hospital," Duo said. "And, you," he added pointing at Catherine, "can stay too."
"I'm going," she said obstinately.
"No," Duo insisted.
~
Duo and Catherine entered a crumbling building into the front office. Through the glass window, men working on equipment and moving things around could be seen in the warehouse like room beyond.
"May I help you?" asked a man.
Duo sashayed to the desk the man was sitting at while Catherine innocently admired the rest of the small rundown office.
"A friend of mine said you might have a certain piece of hardware I was looking for," Duo answered.
"I might," the man said wearily. "I deal in a variety of items. What are you looking for?"
"I am interested in a stealth suit," Duo grinned.
"Those are hard to come by. What make you think I might have one?"
"Friend in the scrap parts business gave me your name as a possibility," Duo coolly said studying the dirt under his nails.
"Yeah, your friend have a name?" the man asked.
"Yeah, but you probably don't know him. He got your name through his network."
"Well, I think your friend is misinformed," the man determinedly said.
"So you have never had a stealth suit or the parts to repair or build one?" Duo asked.
The man seemed agitated at the question.
"No! I don't deal in that sort of stuff," he insisted. "I think it is time for you to go!"
"Alright," said Duo raising his arms in surrender and tilting his head slightly to the man. "If you don't have what I'm looking for, then we will leave. Come on babe," Duo said snaking an arm around Catherine's waist as he directed her out the door.
~
Trowa was leaning against the side of the car slowly rolling his cane about eye level in one hand as they returned.
"What happened here?" asked Duo motioning to the two boys out cold on the sidewalk.
"They thought a car with one individual would be easy to take for a joy ride," answered Trowa looking up at them. "I will have to tell Quatre his gift has many uses," Trowa said with a hint of amusement.
"They wanted this old thing?" Duo said in surprise at the news. "Boy, they must be really hard up."
Duo walked around to the driver's door while Catherine carefully stepped over the fallen teens and into the car.
"What now?" asked Catherine from the backseat.
"I set up for a stake out for a few days before breaking in," Duo answered as he started the car.