Chapter 5 -Consequences
19th of June, ac197. The Breaks, L1. 10:51pm L1 Time.
All of a sudden, a laser beam shot through the Nightshadow's left arm. Not being one to waste an opportunity, Heero through his last remaining tranq dart into her. She collapsed immediately. Duo looked up to see who their benefactor was. Devil was standing on the roof, smirking, and Angel was kneeling, next to him, holding a gun, presumably the one that had injured the Nightshadow. He waved, and grinned.
'thanks.' Signed Heero
'noproblem' Signed back Angel The two glided down.
"I wondered where you two had gotten to."
"We were coming over here," Said Devil "And they turned on the rain."
"Ah." Heero picked up the Nightshadow, and nodded to Angel.
"Nice shot." Angel grinned, and held up the gun.
"With her own weapon, too." Duo gaped. Wufei looked surprised. Even Heero looked mildly astonished. Devil, naturally, smirked.
"How the hell did you get that?" This was Duo, of course.
"We, quite by chance, came across her quarters. We have Devil's incriminator, and a broken knife, I don't know if that helps."
"Yes it does, thanks." Said Heero. The five of them made their was back to the police HQ.
19th of June, ac197. Suburbia, L1. 11:11pm L1 Time.
"Hey Duo," Said Angel, on their way back. By this time, they were in the better part of town, which Devil and Angel had fortunately not landed on, drifting through the shadows.
"Yeah?"
"I was thinking,"
"Yeah…."
"About that job at Preventers…. I think I would like it, at least for a while. I don't know about Devil, but, for me, at least, yes. I accept, gratefully."
"Really?" Duo's smile was so purely happy, Angel couldn't help smiling back.
"Yes, Duo. Really."
"Wow! That's great!" He turned to Devil. "How about you?" Devil shook his head.
"I dunno…. Saving the world really isn't my style. Unlike you people."
"I dunno…. you can't get much more antisocial than Wuffie here, and he's a Preventer." Wufei whacked Duo - hard.
"My name is Wufei, baka." Duo gave him the puppy-dog eyes.
"Why do you have to be so mean to me?"
"Maybe it's because you're an annoying, stupid, coffee-and-sugar-crazed thing."
"Awww….." He turned to the brothers. "See how mean he is to me?"
"What about Dart?" Duo pouted.
"He's too stupid to join Preventers. I need a friend. Whatddya say?" Devil sighed.
"I suppose it couldn't hurt. Us brothers need to stick together, right?"
"Right!" Smiled Angel.
"Great!" Duo bounced around, spontaneously hugging Devil, who recoiled in shock. Duo looked at him sadly.
"Sorry. I didn't know you didn't like to be hugged."
"What's a 'hug'?" Duo looked shocked.
"You don't know? That's…. weird. I mean, even soldier-boy over there knows what a hug is."
"Sorry to disappoint you."
"It's alright!"
"Maxwell."
"Yeah?"
"Shouldn't you call Une? She'd probably like to know about her newest recruits - particularly because as she's going to have to bring up a shuttle."
"Oh yeah…. I'll do that now."
"Who's Une?" Inquired Angel
"Lady Une. She's the boss lady. If I were you, I'd be really nice to her. I mean it. She's scary." He dialed a number on his phone. Lady Une's secretary came on.
"Hello, this is Preventers. How may I help you?" Duo grinned.
"I'd like to speak to Lady Une please."
"May I have your name?"
"Duo Maxwell, reporting from L1."
"Ah, Agent Maxwell. She's been waiting for your report." Bizarrely, the theme from Mission: Impossible started to play in the background.
"Would you not call me 'agent'?! It makes me feel like some sort of spy or something. My name is Duo, please use it." The music suddenly died.
"Oh. I'll put you through."
"Thanks." Lady Une's face appeared on screen.
"Have you finished yet?"
"Not quite…."
"Then why are you calling me?"
"We have two new peoples!"
"What, you finally convinced Yuy to join?"
"No."
"Then why did you call? I don't want any rookies, you know that."
"They're not rookies."
"Oh?" An eyebrow raised.
"No." Said Angel, peering down at the screen. "We're genetically-modified master assassins. I'm Angel. Pleased to meet you." Une's eyes widened.
"Oh." Angel smiled.
"Anyway, can you please send up a shuttle?" Asks Duo.
"Why?" Duo moves the phone until it shows a full picture of Angel and Devil, who glares at him.
"That's why."
"Ah. When will you be finished?"
"I dunno."
"Less than 48 hours." Said Heero. "Unless we keep stopping."
"I'll have one ready."
"Thanks!" The connection broke. "Ok then, let's get going."
19th of June, ac197. L1 Police Hq, L1. 11:29pm L1 Time.
They made it back to the police Hq by 11:30. Devil and Angel had gone undercover, having no papers, and as the trio came up to the gate, it seemed that something was kicking up a frenzy. The gate, unusually, was barred, and the guards were different. As Duo moved to enter, one of the guards came forward.
"I'm sorry, but the tour does not run at this time. No unauthorized personnel are allowed on the premises." Duo felt like shooting the man. He was tired, cranky, had just been in a fight AND talked to Lady Une. He also knew this would not solve things, so he kept his feelings to himself, for once in his life. He showed his papers.
"Preventers. We've got your assassin." He points to the Nightshadow.
"I'm sorry. Only L1 Police personnel are allowed on the premises."
"Why?"
"Lockdown."
"Why?"
"None of your business."
"We're Preventers. Of course it's our business. And besides, we're going to know anyway."
"I suppose…. Head of Forensic is in jail. We want to know why."
"In possession of a beam weapon without a license." The guard lifted an eyebrow. "We put her in there."
"Ah."
"So will you let us in now?" The guard looked at him. "Please?" He sighed.
"I suppose. But I'll have to come with you." He radioed for another guy to come and take his post. He escorted the trio to the building, and confirmed that they were allowed to be there. They then dumped the Nightshadow in a cell, and went up to their temporary office. Devil and Angel were waiting for them.
"What's with the extra security? Near-impossible to get in."
"They discovered Julia. Lockdown."
"Ah."
"Hey, how long until that girl wakes up?" Asks Duo.
"Why?"
"I'm tired."
"About four hours."
"Four hours!!"
"Yes."
"Maaaaaaan! …. Hey, is there a Tv in here anywhere?"
"I think there's one in the foyer, Maxwell. Now go away and shut up." Growled Wufei, who was reading again.
"Fine! I will then!"
"Reruns, reruns, reruns! Nothing but reruns! And they're not even good reruns! Man, I boooooored!" Duo was lying on a couch in the foyer, flicking through Tv channels. "Bored, bored, bored!" Duo Maxwell was, not for the first time in his life, bored. 3 hours, 49 minutes to go.
"1 2 3,
4 5 6,
7 8 9,
10 11 12,
Ladybugs.
At the ladybug picnic!" Sang Duo "1 2 3,
4 5 6,
7 8 9,
10 11 12,
Ladybugs.
At the ladybu-"
"BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!!!" Duo's watch went off. Duo's phone went off. In fact, nearly everything in the room went off. Duo grinned. The four, long, tedious hours were up. He jumped off the couch, and bounced up to the office. The few people he passed on the way skirted clear of him, freaked out.
20th of June, ac197. L1 Police Hq, L1. 3:52am L1 Time.
The door suddenly burst open. Devil, Angel and Heero all had weapons aimed at the figure walking in the door within a millisecond. Wufei didn't even look up.
"What, Maxwell?" He asked. "Things were beginning to get peaceful." Duo stuck his tongue out at Wufei.
"Heero said the girl would be waking up about now." Heero nodded. "Can we go interrogate her? Please?"
"Alright." Four of them went out. Angel stuck his head back in.
"Coming?"
"Yes. I'll just finish this bit."
"See you there."
"Yeah." Angel left. Wufei continued reading.
The Nightshadow was indeed awake. Sometime while she was sleeping, someone had chained her to a chair in an interrogation room. She glared at the quartet as they entered, and when she saw Angel, who still had her gun, she started swearing violently. Everyone ignored her - even Duo. They each found a chair and sat facing her, except Devil, who leaned against the wall and smirked.
"I assume you know what we want?" Said Duo.
"Of course. Who hired me to kill the delegate. I'm surprised you got this far."
"When you have quality people working for you, anything is possible."
"I wouldn't know." She turned to Heero. "You're Dart, of course. I though you'd cleared out long ago."
"I did."
"And…." Heero stonewalled. "Fine!" She sighed, exasperated. "I just wanted to make conversation. You men never seem to talk."
"And you women talk too much." Said Wufei, timing impeccable as usual. She swore at him. He smirked.
"All right." She growled. "I'll tell you - if this chauvinistic pig can beat me in a fight. A honorable fight." Wufei blinked, then smirked.
"Get her a sword. We'll see how tough this so-called assassin is." Everyone blinked.
"But Wufei…."
"Now, Maxwell."
"Alright, Alright! I'm going!" Duo walked out the door, hands in the air.
20th of June, ac197. L1 Police Hq, L1. 4:29am L1 Time.
Half an hour later, the match was about to start. Wufei had his katana, and Duo had managed to scrounge up an ancient double-edged broadsword for the Nightshadow. They had moved to a large, abandoned cell. If the Nightshadow won, the world would be minus one Gundam pilot. If Wufei won, the world would know who ordered Delegate Jackson killed.
"This'll be interesting." Commented Devil. "A master swordsman vs a master assassin. Any bets?"
"Ready to die, pig?" asked the Nightshadow.
"What makes you think you'd win, woman?" He smirked.
"Life, the Universe and Everything." Growled the Nightshadow, and charged, sword healed high. Wufei easily dodged.
"Foolish, getting emotional." She growled and charged again, aiming the sword at his stomach. He didn't move until the last moment, throwing her off, and he moved his sword in a particular way, sending hers flying to the other side of the room. She ran to get it, but he slashed her side, and kicked her in the head, smashing her to the ground. He had the tip of his blade at her throat before she could even move a muscle. She stared at him, shocked.
"I….I"
"You lost. Fulfill your side of the bargain."
"I…." He increased the pressure on her throat. She sighed, truly defeated.
"I don't know her name, but she was about 30, with blue-black hair, green eyes…. Pretty, I guess. She had power, and she knew how to use it."
"How much?"
"10 million, she said…. I never got it though, which is the only reason I'm talking."
"Of course."
"She…. She said I had to make sure that it looked like it wasn't me. She took care of the cameras, guards, everything. All I had to do was kill the Delegate himself." Heero came in.
"You heard that?"
"Yes." He turned to the Nightshadow and held up a picture.
"This her?" Her eyes widened.
"Yeah, that's her."
"Good." He picked up the sword, and left. Wufei followed, leaving her to the mercy of the L1 people.
"Do we know who it is now?" Asked Duo, who was, understandably, tired. He had been awake for over 22 hours, after all. Heero showed them the picture. It was Julia.
20th of June, ac197. L1 Police Hq, L1. 4:50am L1 Time.
They opened the door to Julia's cell. She looked up at them, and smiled a bit.
"Yes? Can I go now?"
"Why did you order Carl Jackson killed?" Asked Duo.
"Who? Me? What gives you that idea?"
"We have evidence. Your assassin has been caught. There's no point denying it."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Heero?" Said Assassin entered the cell, and pointed his gun straight between her eyes.
"Err…." He clicked the safety catch.
"Um…." He squeezed the trigger.
"Alright!!! I did it! I ordered the assassination!" Duo smirked
"Why?"
"He supported the Breaks!"
"So?"
"The Breaks are the cesspool of the colony! They shouldn't exist!"
"But they do."
"So they must be destroyed! Any who are sympathetic will eventually be pulled in!! They must go!!" She started to rant, and they left her alone in her cell.
"Fanatical." Commented Angel.
"Very. Did you get it on tape?" Asked Duo.
"Of course. There's enough evidence to condemn her for life."
"Her life won't be very long after the courts are through with her."
"Death-penalty?"
"Yes."
"I'd say she deserves it."
"It's not our place to judge."
"Does it matter?"
"Let's go home."