The Journal, Chapter 6
Side story – The Drive
By: BadMomma
Notes at the bottom.
… thoughts
Trowa and Duo sat quietly as they pulled out of the Peacecraft Estate. They had just spent an hour and a half with Relena, talking and watching. What they saw had left them both in a mild state of shock. It would be a while before either of them would be ready to discuss it. But that was all right, it would be almost two hours before they reached their destination, the Preventers Headquarters. They weren't scheduled to meet with Lady Une until the next morning and the night was still relatively young.
They had arrived at the estate earlier that evening with Helena in tow. Duo practically had to drag Trowa from the jeep that HQ delivered to them at the space port, and it had been awkward when Relena first met them at the door. Neither Relena nor Trowa were uncivil but it was plain to see that both were uncomfortable in each other's presence, and Duo knew all too well why. If only Trowa had had taken his advice at any point in time in the last 13 years and made peace with Relena, they could have been friends. Instead, Trowa's guilt had steadfastly kept them apart. Duo knew it would have helped to heal the old wounds they both bore; but as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.
Duo was lost in thoughts of regret and wasted time when he realized that Trowa was trying to get his attention, he glanced quickly at the clock on the dashboard and realized that they had been driving for almost half an hour. "Huh, what? I'm sorry I didn't catch that."
"I said what did you make of it?" Trowa replied, still staring out the passenger's side, not even seeming to mind that Duo had not been paying attention.
Duo shook his head minutely, "I don't know T, I just don't know. What do you think he was thinking? I mean, it's pretty harmless, he seemed sincere, he even said that if Relena didn't think it was wise that he would understand if she didn't show Helena. But… why now? After all this time?" Duo seemed to loose sight of the road, visions of an earlier scene flashing briefly before his eyes. Visions of his 'once' best friend, someone he hadn't seen in years.
Heero steps away from the recoding device and sits himself in view of the lens, placing something on the floor beside him.
"Relena. Hello." He shifts nervously in his chair, as if he can't seem to find a comfortable position.
"I know this must come as a great shock to you and I'm sorry. Sorry for forcing this upon you now, and sorry for leaving you the way I did then. I will never be worthy of your forgiveness though, knowing you, I probably don't even have to ask for it. I know you have forgiven me, you probably did long ago but I still feel that I don't deserve your kindness."
"I will make this as quick and as painless as I can. The reason I am sending this recording is that I have a favor to ask of you. I have been watching you and Helena for many years now and I must say that I am impressed. Not that I ever doubted your ability to raise her well, but you have done an outstanding job on your own. I am so proud – and envious - of you, and of the wonderful gift that is our daughter. I know her fifteenth birthday was just yesterday and as it is considered by many cultures the beginning of adulthood, and it was such a significant age for us, I wanted to share a bit of it."
"I know this is an extremely selfish thing for me to ask and if you don't want to do it then I fully understand. Also, if you don't think she could handle it, though I doubt that, then I would respect your decision to withhold this from her. What I want is for you to show her the second half of this recording. It is addressed to her. I expect you to watch it in its entirety and determine what to do."
"Please, do not feel obligated to play it for her if you think it will cause her grief. That is not my intent, I just . . ." He hesitated, shifting again in his seat, seemingly trying to find the right words. ". . . just wanted to tell her that I love her. Just once – if that's OK – once, that she could actually remember. I can't imagine she remembers much about me at all, but . . . Well, you decide, either way I respect your decision and I appreciate that you're listening to me at all. If you don't want to make the decision on your own, ask Duo what he thinks, I know he'll help and he'll do what's best for both of you. Just like he always has. I couldn't have asked for a better friend and I'm glad that you two remained close. Please tell him that for me, it would mean a lot, to me at least."
He leaned over to reach for what was on the floor next to him then he stooped. "And Relena, thank you. For everything, for loving and nurturing her, for teaching her to be strong and for loving me, the more I think about it the more I realize I didn't deserve you. I do still love you and I am very sorry for what I've done."
As if walking out of a fog, Duo suddenly realized that they had driven on in silence again. He turned briefly to look at Trowa who was still looking out the window. "What about you? What are you thinking?"
He replied calmly, at first not even turning from what held his interested gaze. "A lot of things, actually. A lot of things." It appeared that he would say nothing more and then he began again.
"There's a lot that has me curious. Like you, I'm wondering why. Why now? OK, I can accept the whole, she's 15 thing but still, it's kind of weak, as far as timing is concerned. He obviously didn't have a problem getting the disk to her, he just sent it with a messenger service so he could have done it at any time. Oh, you did remember to bring the pouch and the shipping slip right?"
"Yes mom!" Duo replied with a roll of the eyes.
"Good, that'll help."
"Help?"
The green-eyed man continued, ignoring his friend's obvious question. "Here's the obvious stuff: he's been keeping tabs on them, and you apparently, so he's able to move around with out too much difficulty. He's got a place to live – or at least he has somewhere to touch down occasionally. He's still got great toys, the video camera with remote control, the laptop, and who knows what else he's got in the way of surveillance."
"Trowa, Heero's always loved electronics, that wouldn't change? What are you getting at anyway?"
"What I'm getting at is money. He must have some sort of income to keep him going. That laptop is not the same one he used to have and if I'm not mistaken it's pretty new. Did you notice the leather jacket on the back of the chair, looked pretty new and pretty snazzy, too. I mean, he couldn't have had enough money when he left to support himself all this time could he? The Preventers pay pretty well, but not that well, right?"
"Not likely." Duo thought about it for a moment, "I know he had some money stashed from the war, OZ wasn't careful about their accounts and we all pilfered some to make repairs on the Gundams and get by, but not that much. As for his expenses, he never was much of a big eater, he didn't buy much stuff when he lived on his own and what he did buy wasn't all that expensive. Except for his clothes, but even that he didn't have too much of, when he moved in with me and Hilde he only had a couple of bags. I guess he could have stashed what he made working but that was only what, like 3 or 4 years, can't keep a guy going for as long as he's been gone."
"Right, so where'd he get the money?"
"Maybe he invested whatever he had saved and has been living off the interest ever since. He and Relena didn't buy a house cause they were living on the estate and he used one of the Preventers vehicles when he was working or one from the estate when he wasn't. So its not like he had to spend much."
"So," Trowa did some quick math, " let's say he's been living on – what – 25K a year, that's kind of small but he could probably make it work. He's been gone 13 years, 325K for the duration; take away what he had on hand, say 100K – if we're generous. He'd have needed about 225. That's just over 17 and a quarter a year. You think he could have had enough to invest to make that happen."
Silence ensued as both men considered the implications. If Heero hadn't been living off the interest of his investments then he would have had a job, which means somehow they should be able to trace him.
"By the way T, why did you ask Relena for a copy of the disk. You think the disk is somehow related to your messages from him?"
Trowa was now turned slightly in his seat, facing Duo and watching him. "No, I don't think they're related, but . . . well I'm not sure. And if you don't interrupt me again, I'll get to the reason I asked for the copy."
"Well, excuuuuse me. I won't speak again until his highness grants me permission." An exaggerated wiggle of the head and he was practically laughing at himself. "But, before you go on, call up HQ and make sure they got us our quarters, I want to take a shower and get settled in quick, it's been a long day!"
Trowa attempted to do as he was instructed, however he was not getting very far with the lieutenant on the other end of the phone. After repeatedly trying to make the young man understand who they were and what they wanted Duo took the phone from him and proceeded to throw his weight around. He spent the next ten minutes making the very nervous young man on the other end of the line even more nervous, but eventually got what they wanted. Two rooms, across the hall from each other in the West dormitory, just two buildings down from where his visiting office was, and where they would be meeting with Une the next day.
Once that was settled, Trowa spoke up again, however he didn't seem to be returning to the previous line of conversation. "Duo, do you know anybody in the graphics and imaging department here?"
Caught off guard by the question, Duo started, "uh maybe, I'd have to see who's still around, I haven't really been over there in a while, why? Does the circus need new posters or something? You know the budget folks don't take too kindly to personal projects being funded by company dollars."
Trowa wondered if Duo would ever grow up enough to take things seriously? "No, you moron, I just need to have some work done on the disk and our laptops wouldn't have anything nearly sophisticated enough to do what I want."
"Oi! Watch it buddy", Duo feigned offense "talk like that will definitely get you NOT invited for tea and crumpets tomorrow!"
At that Trowa chuckled, "Oh yes baka, like you've ever eaten crumpets! Do you even know what crumpets are?"
"Look 'sweetie' those pet names are OK here in private, but don't go using them in public tomorrow, I have an image to uphold!" He stopped mid rant to wonder where this was going. "So what do you need them to do anyway?" Trowa's reply left him wondering if any of their conversations would actually end in him knowing what they were talking about.
"Duo, do you remember that time you and I spent at Heero's apartment here on earth right after he left you and Hilde to try to get on Relena's security team?"
Duo thought back, "You mean the time we helped him paint or the time we almost got arrested?"
"Almost got arrested, what are you talking about?"
"Yeah, you remember that time Catherine broke her arm and you flew over from your tour of the Americas cause I was already here." He waited for Trowa to show a sign of recognition and continued when he didn't get any. "You know, we went to that bar I had heard about. . . and some guy kept hitting on me cause he thought I was a chick. . . but when I convinced him otherwise we got into that little fight and they threw us out of the bar 'cause we left six rather large guys writhing on the floor in pain . . . one with Heero's shoe print on his bloody nose . . . Ring any bells?"
Realization had finally hit, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that part of the evening, you know Duo, grabbing a guy's hand and placing it on your crotch is not exactly what I would usually call 'convincing him otherwise' of your gender. It's no wonder we got into that brawl."
"Well excuse me! I was really tired of TELLING him I wasn't a chick, I clearly had no boobs, my voice is way lower than any girl I'VE ever met, and his hands refused to stay away from my ass! My tactic worked didn't it? He got the picture right quick, man, the look on his face was priceless!"
Trowa had to laugh, he was right, the guy's face had been priceless. "You know, that night must have broken a record for the most priceless looks in one evening. I don't think the bouncers fully believed that the three of us had actually done all that damage on our own. Oh and remember the look on the face of the old man at the liquor store when he asked us for ID and we all pulled out our Preventors' badges. I thought his dentures were going to fall right out of his mouth."
Duo couldn't control the laughter that came out or the flood of memories that followed. "Yeah that was great, I think he thought we weren't old enough to be buying the stuff."
"We weren't, you know. Not nearly. It's a good thing that those badges didn't have our ages on them." Trowa continued, but his tone turned slightly more serious, "Do you remember what else we did that night?"
Duo thought about it for a moment, not noticing the look he was getting from his passenger. "Do you mean before or after we downed two bottles of tequila and three six packs of beer?"
Both the driver's and passenger's bodies shuddered briefly at the thought of the vile liquid, "Ugh, just thinking about tequila makes me sick. You know, never I've never been able to even smell it again without the distinct desire to empty the contents of my stomach.[1] But no, I mean after that. When we were getting ready to go to sleep." Now it was his turn to wait for a sign of recognition. "Heero went to the bathroom and you and I decided to do a little redecorating? I was going to sleep in the hammock by the WINDOW and you were going to . . ."
"Yes, yes, I was going to sleep on the floor, in a sleeping bag. I thought I'd never have to do that again after the war! And thank YOU very much for reminding me."
"Jeez Duo, you're not still bitching about that after all these years. I won that coin toss fair and square, and we alternated nights on the hammock! Furthermore, might I point out that unlike me, your two skinny asses would have fit just fine on Heero's futon. He offered. You declined. We are NOT discussing this again!"
Duo huffed, yes after all those years it still bothered him – well, not really – actually he was having a good time reminiscing and he and Trowa hadn't shared this much banter in way too long. "Fine we'll drop it, but you didn't have to share a bed or cramped floor space with him during the war. Do you know how annoying it is to have someone wake you up with an elbow or knee every time you move in your sleep. Just 'cause he lays down in one position and sleeps like a corpse until it's time to get up doesn't mean it's normal. And don't bring up the whole 'I took care of him after he self destructed' crap, cause Cathy told me long ago that you had a small pull out sofa in your trailer. So no sympathy for you!!!!"
"It wasn't a pull-out SOFA it was more like a reclining chair!" the other protested. None the less, both men broke into laughter, it had been too long since they had thought about those days, their friendships and the follies of youth. Those first few years after the war, when everyone was trying to find a place for themselves, they had all had a moments like these. Moments when they could finally act their age and those moments were priceless. But there had been a reason to go down this particular line of thought and Trowa meant to bring them back into focus. "So? Do you remember what we did then and why?"
Duo was a little confused. "Come again? What we did and why? We just moved Heero's mysterious trunk in front of the window and put that nice Japanese screen he bought on top of it. I thought he was going to kill me when I almost drop the screen."
"Good, and do you remember why?"
"Why? 'Cause that screen was one of the few things that he'd paid a lot of money for!"
"Not why he was going to kill you, why we moved it", keeping his friend on track was trying work.
"Well, 'cause Mr. Anal had yet to discover the beauty of window treatments! No curtains, no shutters, no blinds. You don't remember getting up with the sun that same morning because you hadn't arrived yet. Let me tell you, it wasn't pleasant to have first-morning light bouncing off those stark white walls of his at 6am. Normal people don't like to get up at the crack of dawn!"
"Yes, Count Duo-acula, morning light is bad, but it wasn't that late in the morning when we did that, it was only about 3am. Why did we move the screen, Duo?" Trowa waited.
No response, time to jog his memory.
"Duo, the hammock was next to the window. The one with no curtain, that faced those two tall buildings next to Heero's, the second one over had a huge red and…"
That did it. "Oh yeah, the red and blue neon sign! Yeah, I remember, you were complaining that it was making your headache worse than it already was. But what has that got to do with anything?"
"Yes, well, this may just be wishful thinking but I think Mr. Anal may have returned to his old haunts."
"Come again?" He knew he sounded like a broken record but Duo really wasn't sure where his friend was going with this.
"I think I saw the reflection of that sign on the screen of Heero's laptop while I was watching the recording. It's been a while and it doesn't seem likely that it would be the same sign, but maybe if the folks in imaging can peel some of the layers off the disk we might be able to figure out what the sign says and track down where the recording took place. There was just something that seemed so familiar about the flashing reflection and it only occurred to me after we had left the estate. And to answer your earlier question, that's one reason why I asked for a copy of the disk, so we could check it out."
Duo was dumfounded, could he be right? It was almost unreal, could they finally track Heero down after all these years so easily. It didn't seem possible, unless of course - "You think he's become that careless?" The question stumbled out of him, he wasn't sure where his thoughts were taking him.
"Maybe not, but there were a few things that seemed odd or contrived about the set up." Trowa paused, he wasn't sure that he fully believed what he was going to say next. "I think he… he might want us to find him. There are a couple of little things like the reflection on the laptop. He was too good at not being found when he didn't want to. Don't you think it would have occurred to him that the sign would reflect off the laptop. Yet there it was, the screen was facing the camera lens at just the right angle. " Duo couldn't believe his ears, and he didn't want to let himself believe what Trowa was saying.
Trowa continued, replaying in his mind the oddities he remembered. "Did you notice all the other stuff on the desk behind him, it appeared to be piles of clothes and not the kind of clothes he used to wear, it looked like uniforms or something. There were several shirts of the same color and slacks too. I'd have to watch it again to be sure, but… and I think a pair of shoes – the black patton leather kind – but those were sort of behind the clothes so it was hard to tell."
Here the braided man interrupted, "what if he just reverted to his old habits and he's decided that shirts and slacks are the right thing to wear now that he's too old to be sporting spandex and tank tops?"
"Nope, don't think so. Didn't you see what he was wearing in the recording. If I'm not mistaken that was a linen shirt, just like he used to wear – post spandex of course – and a pair of jeans. And why, if he had a remote for the camera was he moving to sit down after he started the recording, at first I thought he had been turning it on, but when he went to stop it between Relena and Helena's messages he just reached for the remote. If he could stop it with the remote then he could have started it with the remote. Which means he was probably adjusting it to include something in the view of the lens. I can't think of what it could be so I'll need to watch it again. That's the main reason I asked for a copy, I wanted to see it again and I didn't have the heart to her ask to play it again. Oh, and either he went back to his old neighborhood or at least he's living in another industrial area because I'm almost positive that he made that recording in a converted warehouse – just like his old place."
Duo considered his friend's observations for a few moments, "You know, now that you mention it, why would he have left all that stuff on the desk behind him. It's not like him to give away any information that he doesn't consider necessary, and he was too neat for it just to have been laying around cause it was laundry day. If there was something reflecting off the laptop, he'd have noticed it and closed it up. I think you might be right, I think he wants us to look for him. We should watch it again when we get to the dorms, and make notes of what we might have missed the first time around. To be honest I was just so shocked to see him that I didn't give anything else much thought. Man I'm hungry, what time is it?" He checked the clock on the dashboard again, making note that they should be arriving at the base in just over 15 minutes. "Well, looks like shower and sleep will have to wait."
"I'm hungry too, Duo, you think the cafeteria's still open, we could swing by and get some sandwiches then head over to the dorms. There's a few things I'd like to check out on the 'net, too. Do the dorms have network connections in them."
The grin that crossed the braided man's face was reminiscent of his days as Shinigami. "Been a while since you've come to the base, hasn't it? Nowadays it's deluxe accommodation suites all the way. We can order pizza and sandwiches from the rooms, my friend, 24 by 7 and if it were earlier you could have a nice meal delivered from one of four restaurants on the base. Full fledged docking stations with big screen monitors and plenty of auxiliary toys. Multiple network connection points throughout the suite. Decent sized conference table with four chairs AND full sized desk, each with a vid-phone. And as for creature comforts: Queen sized beds with goose down pillows. Spare pillows, comforters, linens and towels for unexpected guests. Full sized convertible sofa bed. Shower massage spa and double sink vanity in the bathroom. Spacious walk-in closet with a full length mirror on the door. Multiple climate controls for your working and sleeping comfort. Fully stocked snack bar and refreshments, code key accessed and billable to your division, of course. But hey! We're from off-planet, so we get a little leeway. So what's the plan?"
Trowa had to admit he was impressed. The last time he'd stayed at the base on official business had been about 10 years ago and the set up had been almost primitive, more like the dorm rooms they had frequented during the war. Small, cramped and musty. This sounded better than some of Quatre's small country houses! "Well I think we need to watch the video again first. I might have missed a few things and a second pair of eyes will help with that. I'd also like to check out that messenger service that brought Relena the disk, see if they're owned by a parent company, check out their local branches and figure out which one was likely to have made the delivery. Unfortunately that's about it for tonight."
"Alright, I'll order us some dinner and you start on the disk first. Once we've got that set up, I'll look into the messenger service. But we're also going to have to come up with an explanation and a mission plan for Une."
Now it was Trowa's turn to be confused. "A mission plan, what do you mean? We're just meeting with her to discuss the data Heero sent me and how I know it's from him. There's not much else to that, it's not likely you or I are going to be assigned to do the infiltration of the group or security for the people who are on the hit list."
"Trowa, do you really think that Une would pass up the opportunity to find Heero again. Thirteen years or not, he was the best agent she had! If there's any chance that we can find him she'll want to and if we have her blessing, then we'll have unlimited access to Preventer resources… like the imaging department. And we'll need some help from the database people to track down that flashing neon sign, if it is a sign. And since we won't be doing the security or infiltration, it'll only make sense for us to lead the investigation. Things are pretty quiet in L2 right now so I can dedicate some time to this without compromising my directorial duties and officially you're a consultant. Let's plot out a course of action and present it to her after we cover the data tomorrow. Plus, she'll probably want to see the recording before we go ahead with any of this and I don't think Relena would mind."
"You're right I hadn't thought of that. I think it'll probably be best if I stay on the base tomorrow and work with the imaging people and you track down the delivery service. After all, you're more familiar with the area than I am. If we get any breaks, we'll contact each other and go from there. D'you bring a spare uniform? I think it'll expedite any investigating you do out on the street tomorrow."
"Yeah, yeah. Did I mention that we have a 1-hr dry cleaning service on the base, too?"
By now the two men were pulling into the base. They flashed their IDs, were waved in and headed for the West quadrant and some semblance of home. Feeling a little better with themselves than they had at the beginning of this trip, the conversation turned to less pressing matters.
"So T, do you know exactly how many kids Quatre has, you know I can't seem to remember and I think one of them has a birthday coming up?"
"Jeez Duo, that's easy, just remember the year he got married and then subtract one. Eight, they're on number eight." He answered rather smugly.
"Tell me something, have you been talking to Wu lately? He said the same thing the other day! How the hell am I supposed to remember the year Quatre got married? I have to stop and think about mine."
"Oh the year is easy, Quatre and a half."
A look of utter confusion took up residence on Duo's face. "Say what?"
"Forgetting your French, Duo? Heero would be mortified!" Trowa couldn't help but chuckle at his friend's dilemma. "Quatre as in four, and a half, as in two; four plus two is six. He got married in 206. That's how I remember. And as for Wufei, who do you think gave him that idea?"
It was a good thing they had arrived at the dorm. Duo didn't think he could take much more on an empty stomach. "You know, I think I'll take that shower after I order dinner. I'm gonna need all the energy I can get just to survive the rest of this night. What do you say we meet in my room in about 30 minutes? Pizza OK?"
"Sure Duo, just no anchovies or pineapple, OK? And leave the door open if you decide to wash your hair, I don't want to be standing in the hall for an hour." They grabbed their bags from the back of the jeep and set off on their new mission.
Operation: Find a friend.
~~ to be continued ~~
[1] I speak from personal experience!
AN: Whew, that one took a while to get started, and then I couldn't make it stop! Had a hard time with how to handle that little conversation but now it's done and, well, we're another step closer to the end.
Just a personal note here, as I reread it I wondered if maybe I had made Trowa too talkative? But then I thought back to a few episodes, rewatched a couple of my favorites and decided, NO! Trowa talks, maybe not as much as Quatre or Duo (and nowhere near as much as Treize!), but he talks plenty when he needs to, so he's not really OOC. I am trying very hard to keep everyone w/in character. Anyhow… moving on. Thanks to all those who've sent notes of encouragement, it means A LOT to me. I'd also like to know what you think of this one – it's a little different; hopefully you're still enjoying the read. Thanks again to LooneGirl for proofing. As for the rest of you reading this (if you're out there): Comments and criticism are not only welcomed but desired, please write to let me know what you think about it: BadMomma64@aol.com I'm a big girl, I can take it. J
Disclaimer: Alas, I don't own them.
