Title: Exercising an Option
Author: Gina Lin Genre: Romance, Action, Suspense Pairings: 13+6, 1+2, 5+S, 3+4 Warnings: Yaoi, AU, Language, Violence Rating: R Archived: S_E Updates, GWFF, SDQB, FF.net
Chapter 25
"I think our next move is to try to negotiate," said Morris, as Layton and Hastings looked over some of the statements that Wufei had given them.
"We'd need a way to communicate to do that," argued Hastings. "Aside from the fact that they've threatened to kill the hostages if there is any involvement from the authorities."
"I didn't say it had to be one of us," said Morris. "I gather from what Mr. Chang has said that Quatre Winner is trying a little negotiation of his own, and it seems to be working. If they'd killed the hostages, they'd have left by now, don't you think?"
"Let's hope so," said Hastings, slurping the last of his cooling coffee.
"Headquarters has word from Laylah Winner that they've demanded 20 million dollars for the return of Quatre Winner and his companion, Mr. Barton," said Morris, looking at the laptop she had open on Sally's kitchen table.
"Can they pay it?" asked Hastings.
"Yes," said Morris, "But you know as well as I do that doesn't mean we're going to get our hostages back intact, nor does it accomplish anything toward getting the other hostages released."
"If they're even still alive," said Layton, gloomily. "Lord only knows what's goin' on up there."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, Monsieur Winner, it seems that your dear sister has most reasonably agreed to pay your ransom," said Marron, handing the satellite phone back to Une.
"And how much of that will be yours?" asked Quatre. "You don't strike me as a man who is overly fond of sharing."
"I will be well payed, I assure you," said Marron, frowning. "As my men will as well."
"With the Cuban out of the picture, that's just more for the rest of us," said Slim thoughtfully, still chewing on his wad of tobacco.
"It just seems that for a man who does not share Mr. Fox's ideals, you seem rather eager to finance them," remarked Quatre coolly.
Marron leaned over and whispered to Une. She shook her head.
"May we get some water?" asked Treize suddenly. "It's for him," he said indicating Zechs prone form on the leather sofa.
"Slim, go get them some water," said Marron indifferently.
"There are bottles of water in the refrigerator," said Treize helpfully.
"Geez, I guess I get to do all the shit work," complained Slim, sauntering off into the kitchen with a flashlight.
"Why tonight?" asked Trowa suddenly, as though he'd been deep in thought.
"Excuse me?" asked Marron, looking up.
"Why tonight?" repeated Trowa.
"If you must know, all of the other guests had checked out this morning," said Marron irritably. "Our targets were only Peacecraft and his sister, originally."
"I see," said Trowa.
"Yes, finding Mr. Winner and your other companions here was pure chance," said Marron. "Although I can not say I am disappointed seeing as how it has made me 20 million U.S. dollars." He grinned wolfishly.
"You mean Les Noire and Mr. Fox have gotten Winner Enterprises 20 million," corrected Quatre.
"Whatever," said Marron, tightly. "I'm sure I will be amply rewarded for my part."
"Why?" pressed Quatre, shifting on the sofa, his hands still bound behind him.
"Yes, Marron," said Une suddenly. "What gives you the idea that Reynaud will give us a single penny of that 20 million?"
"What?" said Slim. He was coming back in from the kitchen, his arms loaded with bottles of water.
"There's nothing in my dealings with Reynaud that would indicate that he'd give any of us a dime of Winner's money." Une faced Marron, folding her arms and gazing steadily at him.
"We shouldn't be discussing this now," hissed Marron.
"Why the hell not?" asked McGuire from the doorway, "You aren't thinking of keeping anything more from the rest of us, are you?" He narrowed his eyes at Marron.
"Yeah, we seem to be getting' cut out of few deals around here, said Slim, placing his load of bottles on a nearby table.
"No one's cutting you out of anything," said Une sharply.
"Could you untie me so that I might give Mil some water?" asked Treize, breaking the thick silence that had fallen upon the room.
"Free all their hands one at a time so they can drink," ordered Marron, nodding to Slim.
"Try anything and I'll slit yer gizzard," said Slim, reaching down to release Treize's hands and handing him a bottle of water.
Treize rubbed his wrists briefly. He leaned over Zechs and gently rubbed his face. "Mil, are you awake?" he asked softly. "You need to take some water."
"Treize?" said the injured man, his eyes fluttering open. "Are we still..?" He asked, his voice dry and hoarse.
"We're still alive," said Treize firmly. "Now I need you to take a drink," he said in a soothing but commanding tone.
Cradling Zechs head in his hand and gently pulling him up, he helped him take a few sips of water.
"Still in pain?" whispered Treize close to his ear.
"I've had worse," breathed Zechs. "Remember when that horse threw me and broke my leg?" he smiled raggedly.
"Stay with me, love," said Treize, swallowing hard and taking his hand. "We'll be out of this before you know it."
"Liar," said Zechs weakly, squeezing his hand.
"I hate to break up this little love fest," drawled Slim, "But I gotta tie ya back up."
"One more second," said Treize. He leaned over and brushed his lips against Zechs. "I love you, Mil," he said quietly.
Zechs bit his lip but tears of pain and sadness leaked from the corners of his eyes. "Forever," he whispered. Treize reached up and gently wiped his face with the corner of his shirttail. "Forever, love," he repeated.
"Oh, Jeezus," said Slim, shifting the tobacco in his cheek. "Y'all are making me wanna hurl."
Treize averted his face and held out his hands, saying nothing. Slim hastily retied his hands. "I suppose I'll be takin' y'all for a piss before long," he sighed, standing up and stretching his lanky frame afterwards. "I feel like a friggin' kindergarten teacher here."
He went to untie Relena's hands and handed her some water, which she drank gratefully. He then re-bound her hands.
"Yer turn," said Slim in a bored tone, untying Trowa's hands and giving him a bottle of water.
"I need to use the bathroom," said Trowa, not drinking and setting down the bottle of water.
"Hey, boss, can I take this guy to the can?" asked Slim, holding a gun on Trowa.
"Go ahead, but watch him carefully," said Marron, who was quietly conversing with Une in the corner.
"Try anythin' funny and I'll off yer little friend there," said Slim, shining his flashlight around to find a bathroom.
"He's not little," said Trowa calmly. "And if you 'off' him, no 20 million, because Winner Enterprises won't pay a nickel for me. Oh, I forgot, you're not getting any of that anyway."
"Jes shut up," said Slim as he tried a door and found the bathroom.
"I hope you can aim in the dark, buddy," he smirked.
"I'm a man of many talents," said Trowa, smirking back at him.
"Jes get in there and drain yer lizard," said Slim pushing him through the door.
Trowa shut the door behind him. "No peeking," he said cheerily.
"Christ, a comedian," said Slim, shifting his wad of tobacco as he leaned against the door.
Once inside the bathroom, Trowa hastily began to feel around in the dim light for something he might use to escape later, thankful that the bathroom had a window that let some moonlight in.
Carefully and quietly opening the medicine cabinet, he smiled as he found a package of razor blades and slid them inside the waistband of his jeans.
He shrugged, went to the toilet and relieved himself, and flushed, then washed his hands and opened the door.
"All spiffy now?" asked Slim sarcastically.
Trowa gave the man a faint smile. "Just spiffy," he repeated.
Slim marched him back to the sofa and sat him down next to Quatre.
"Can I have my water now?" asked Trowa.
"Yeah, go ahead," said Slim, untying Quatre and handing him a bottle too.
They both drank quietly and finally sat the bottles down.
"Ready to get tied up again?" smirked Slim.
"Could you leave us untied for just a moment," asked Quatre, assuming his best pleading expression. "My arms are getting really sore."
"Sure, you don't look too scary," said Slim. "I'll give ya a few minutes. After all, I don't want them folks of yers with the dough thinkin it was me that was treatin ya bad."
"Thank you," said Quatre sincerely.
"Jest don't try nuthin," warned Slim.
"I just want to give my boyfriend a hug," said Quatre in a quavering voice. "I'm scared."
"Oh, jeez, go ahead," said Slim, averting his eyes and stepping back a few paces. "As long as I don't haveta watch. Buncha perverts."
He wrapped his arms around Trowa. "Nice acting," whispered Trowa in his ear. "Not that I mind the hug."
He felt Quatre smile against his neck. "I know you're up to something, but hold off until we have the advantage," Quatre whispered.
"You got it Kimosabe," said Trowa, kissing him on the neck.
"Keep kissing me, I hope it makes Slim lose his cookies," hissed Quatre.
"You got it, lover," said Trowa audibly, pulling him close and kissing him thoroughly on the mouth.
"All right, enough of that," said Slim, wrinkling his nose. "I'm about to upchuck."
Quatre smiled at Trowa and then bit his lip and assumed a sad face.
"Thanks for letting me say good-bye," he sniffed, allowing a few tears to leak down his face.
"Aw, shut up," said Slim retying his arms.
"You're a nice man, Slim," said Quatre, laying it on. "I'll tell my sister that you treated me well."
"Really?" said Slim, now tying Trowa's hands.
"Oh, sure," said Quatre, still giving him a wide-eyed tearful look. "She might even want to make sure you're given a little something on the side."
"Sounds good to me," said Slim. He leaned over in a confidential manner, and Quatre got a good look at tobacco stained teeth and dirty, stringy blond hair.
"I'm only doin' this for the dough-ra-mi, ya know," he said quietly, blowing his foul breath in Quatre's face. "I'm not such a bad guy."
Quatre held his breath. "I'm sure you are," he said, trying not to gasp.
Slim grinned at him and walked off a few paces, assuming his "guard" stance.
"Whew," said Quatre under his breath.
Trowa looked at him, eyes crinkling. "I think Slim's breath is our torture," he whispered.
Quatre rolled his eyes. "You said it!" he hissed through his teeth.
Slim chewed his tobacco obliviously a few paces behind them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heero's voice was the first thing that Duo heard as he regained consciousness.
"He can hear you, keep talking," said another voice, and then he heard Hilde.
"Duo, Heero and I are right here," she said, and he felt someone stroke his good arm.
"Can you open your eyes, Mr. Maxwell?" another female voice said near his head. "You won't be able to see much, but I want to check your pupils."
He opened his eyes and a bright light was flashed in them, making him wince. He closed them quickly.
"Everything looks good," the voice said. "I'll leave you to visit with him."
"Heero?" he asked in a voice that sounded like he'd been gargling with sand.
"I'm here," he heard and felt a strong hand take his good one and squeeze it. He squeezed back weakly.
"Hilde?" he asked next. "Right here," he heard her voice say.
"Wanna go back to sleep," he rasped. "I'm cold, sleepy."
He felt the weight of a warm blanket wrapped around him then oblivion again.
Heero brushed the strands of long bangs out of Duo's face. "They'll pay for hurting you," he whispered. "We'll put them where they can't hurt anyone else."
Hilde looked at him for a moment and then reached over and placed her hand over Heero's.
"You do that," she said.
"Tell Duo when he wakes up that I went to Sally's," said Heero, gently disengaging his hand. "The agents are there waiting to take my statement and as soone I'm done, I'll come back. Can I borrow your car?"
"Godspeed," said Hilde, releasing his hand after squeezing it. He nodded at her and she handed him her car keys.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wufei looked at the clock in Sally's kitchen. It was 4:46 am.
"Almost dawn," he whispered to himself, drinking another cup of coffee. He'd lost track of how many he'd consumed since his short nap earlier.
Sally had given up and gone to bed to try to get some sleep a few hours ago.
Wufei looked at the two FBI agents as they huddled over their laptop. He was getting impatient, and between a lack of sleep, adrenaline and caffeine, he could feel himself getting ready to explode from lack of activity.
"Come up with anything new?" he finally asked.
"We're really not at liberty to say," said Morris, looking apologetic. "You are a civilian after all."
Wufei scowled at her. "I'm a retired Army officer," he said. "To be precise about it."
"Sorry," said Morris. "I didn't know that." She flashed Hastings a look and he shrugged.
"So is Mr. Yuy, and he's also a licensed private investigator and an attorney," said Wufei, "My attorney."
"Please try to cooperate with us, Mr. Chang," said Hastings. Layton had left a few hours ago to check in with his office and had promised to send one of his deputies in his stead.
"You don't seem to be doing anything," said Wufei. "If you don't mind me saying so."
"We can't just go in there with guns blazing," said Hastings. "As much as we might like to, that rarely resolves these situations. I assure you, we do have agents in place surrounding the inn, and if they see anything that leads them to believe they should take action, they'll contact us."
"How many?" asked Wufei.
"I'm not at liberty to say," said Hastings, looking away.
Wufei scowled at him. "Great," he said sarcastically, clenching his teeth.
He heard a car pull up in the driveway and excused himself and went to the door. He watched a very weary Heero walk up the drive.
"Heero Yuy is here," he said to the two agents at the table.
Heero came inside and looked around. "Got any coffee?" he asked Wufei. He was wearing a scrub top he'd been given at the hospital to replace his blood soaked shirt. Lines of exhaustion were etched around his eyes and mouth, bruises starting to become livid under his skin, and a dark stubble was appearing on his jawline.
"You look like shit warmed over," said Wufei, embracing him.
"Thanks, you're no raving beauty yourself," said Heero quietly.
"Did you get any sleep?" asked Wufei.
"A bit in the waiting room," said Heero. "Duo's okay, he just got out of surgery and he's going to be fine."
"Good news," said Wufei. "Want something to eat with that coffee?" he asked.
"Sure," said Heero. "Something light, please," he said.
Wufei nodded and led him to a seat in the kitchen across from the two agents.
"We need to ask you a few questions," said Hastings, introducing himself and Morris quickly.
"Go ahead," said Heero, accepting a cup of hot coffee and a few pieces of toast from Wufei and nodding his thanks.
"Can you tell us anything about the condition of the hostages?" asked Morris.
"Zechs Merquise was wounded," said Heero, "A gunshot wound to the shoulder, I think, but I don't know how badly. They'd bandaged him to stop the bleeding and he seemed to be holding his own when Duo and I left the apartment," said Heero, taking a deep breath.
"No one else injured?" asked Morris. Heero shook his head. "Just Duo and Merquise."
"What kind of weapons did they have?" asked Hastings. "Any explosives, automatic weapons?"
"Just automatic weapons as far as I could tell," said Heero. "I got the idea it was pretty much going to be a straightforward execution or kidnapping to start with, but they hadn't counted on the rest of us interfering."
"And why did you go to the inn, Mr. Yuy?" asked Morris.
Heero gazed at for a moment through bloodshot eyes. "My friends needed me and I came," he said simply.
Morris raised her eyebrows. "I see," she said.
"Is that all?" asked Heero abruptly, pushing back his chair and eating a piece of toast.
"Yeah, for now, but hang around, okay?" said Hastings.
"Wufei, I'm gonna sack out on the couch for a bit, okay?" asked Heero, taking a swallow of coffee.
"Sure, go ahead," said Wufei. "I'm going to do the same," he said. "There's a comforter on the back of the sofa."
"Thanks," said Heero. "If I don't get some sleep, I'm gonna pass out on my feet. See you in a few," he said to Wufei. He went off into the living room.
"We're gonna pack up and go to our motel," said Hastings. "The number is here on the table to contact us."
Wufei nodded. "Let us know whatever you can," he said.
Hastings and Morris packed up a few items and left.
Wufei went into the living room and nudged Heero on the shoulder.
Heero opened one bloodshot eye. "What?" he said.
"What are you planning, Heero?" asked Wufei, regarding him speculatively.
"After I get a little sleep," said Heero, "I'm gonna sneak back over to the inn and take out a few nutcases commando style," he said seriously.
"And just how to you propose to do that?" asked Wufei.
"As soon as I get my hands on a weapon, I'll show you," said Heero. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need my beauty sleep."
"Yuy, you aren't going anywhere without me," said Wufei.
Heero opened his eyes. "If you come with me," he said, "Just know that I'm taking no prisoners."
"I understand," said Wufei, regarding him. "I have some clean clothes you can borrow when you wake up, and I know Sally can arm both of us."
"Good," said Heero. He yawned. "Now go get some sleep or neither of us will be worth a damn," he said.
TBC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author: Gina Lin Genre: Romance, Action, Suspense Pairings: 13+6, 1+2, 5+S, 3+4 Warnings: Yaoi, AU, Language, Violence Rating: R Archived: S_E Updates, GWFF, SDQB, FF.net
Chapter 25
"I think our next move is to try to negotiate," said Morris, as Layton and Hastings looked over some of the statements that Wufei had given them.
"We'd need a way to communicate to do that," argued Hastings. "Aside from the fact that they've threatened to kill the hostages if there is any involvement from the authorities."
"I didn't say it had to be one of us," said Morris. "I gather from what Mr. Chang has said that Quatre Winner is trying a little negotiation of his own, and it seems to be working. If they'd killed the hostages, they'd have left by now, don't you think?"
"Let's hope so," said Hastings, slurping the last of his cooling coffee.
"Headquarters has word from Laylah Winner that they've demanded 20 million dollars for the return of Quatre Winner and his companion, Mr. Barton," said Morris, looking at the laptop she had open on Sally's kitchen table.
"Can they pay it?" asked Hastings.
"Yes," said Morris, "But you know as well as I do that doesn't mean we're going to get our hostages back intact, nor does it accomplish anything toward getting the other hostages released."
"If they're even still alive," said Layton, gloomily. "Lord only knows what's goin' on up there."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, Monsieur Winner, it seems that your dear sister has most reasonably agreed to pay your ransom," said Marron, handing the satellite phone back to Une.
"And how much of that will be yours?" asked Quatre. "You don't strike me as a man who is overly fond of sharing."
"I will be well payed, I assure you," said Marron, frowning. "As my men will as well."
"With the Cuban out of the picture, that's just more for the rest of us," said Slim thoughtfully, still chewing on his wad of tobacco.
"It just seems that for a man who does not share Mr. Fox's ideals, you seem rather eager to finance them," remarked Quatre coolly.
Marron leaned over and whispered to Une. She shook her head.
"May we get some water?" asked Treize suddenly. "It's for him," he said indicating Zechs prone form on the leather sofa.
"Slim, go get them some water," said Marron indifferently.
"There are bottles of water in the refrigerator," said Treize helpfully.
"Geez, I guess I get to do all the shit work," complained Slim, sauntering off into the kitchen with a flashlight.
"Why tonight?" asked Trowa suddenly, as though he'd been deep in thought.
"Excuse me?" asked Marron, looking up.
"Why tonight?" repeated Trowa.
"If you must know, all of the other guests had checked out this morning," said Marron irritably. "Our targets were only Peacecraft and his sister, originally."
"I see," said Trowa.
"Yes, finding Mr. Winner and your other companions here was pure chance," said Marron. "Although I can not say I am disappointed seeing as how it has made me 20 million U.S. dollars." He grinned wolfishly.
"You mean Les Noire and Mr. Fox have gotten Winner Enterprises 20 million," corrected Quatre.
"Whatever," said Marron, tightly. "I'm sure I will be amply rewarded for my part."
"Why?" pressed Quatre, shifting on the sofa, his hands still bound behind him.
"Yes, Marron," said Une suddenly. "What gives you the idea that Reynaud will give us a single penny of that 20 million?"
"What?" said Slim. He was coming back in from the kitchen, his arms loaded with bottles of water.
"There's nothing in my dealings with Reynaud that would indicate that he'd give any of us a dime of Winner's money." Une faced Marron, folding her arms and gazing steadily at him.
"We shouldn't be discussing this now," hissed Marron.
"Why the hell not?" asked McGuire from the doorway, "You aren't thinking of keeping anything more from the rest of us, are you?" He narrowed his eyes at Marron.
"Yeah, we seem to be getting' cut out of few deals around here, said Slim, placing his load of bottles on a nearby table.
"No one's cutting you out of anything," said Une sharply.
"Could you untie me so that I might give Mil some water?" asked Treize, breaking the thick silence that had fallen upon the room.
"Free all their hands one at a time so they can drink," ordered Marron, nodding to Slim.
"Try anything and I'll slit yer gizzard," said Slim, reaching down to release Treize's hands and handing him a bottle of water.
Treize rubbed his wrists briefly. He leaned over Zechs and gently rubbed his face. "Mil, are you awake?" he asked softly. "You need to take some water."
"Treize?" said the injured man, his eyes fluttering open. "Are we still..?" He asked, his voice dry and hoarse.
"We're still alive," said Treize firmly. "Now I need you to take a drink," he said in a soothing but commanding tone.
Cradling Zechs head in his hand and gently pulling him up, he helped him take a few sips of water.
"Still in pain?" whispered Treize close to his ear.
"I've had worse," breathed Zechs. "Remember when that horse threw me and broke my leg?" he smiled raggedly.
"Stay with me, love," said Treize, swallowing hard and taking his hand. "We'll be out of this before you know it."
"Liar," said Zechs weakly, squeezing his hand.
"I hate to break up this little love fest," drawled Slim, "But I gotta tie ya back up."
"One more second," said Treize. He leaned over and brushed his lips against Zechs. "I love you, Mil," he said quietly.
Zechs bit his lip but tears of pain and sadness leaked from the corners of his eyes. "Forever," he whispered. Treize reached up and gently wiped his face with the corner of his shirttail. "Forever, love," he repeated.
"Oh, Jeezus," said Slim, shifting the tobacco in his cheek. "Y'all are making me wanna hurl."
Treize averted his face and held out his hands, saying nothing. Slim hastily retied his hands. "I suppose I'll be takin' y'all for a piss before long," he sighed, standing up and stretching his lanky frame afterwards. "I feel like a friggin' kindergarten teacher here."
He went to untie Relena's hands and handed her some water, which she drank gratefully. He then re-bound her hands.
"Yer turn," said Slim in a bored tone, untying Trowa's hands and giving him a bottle of water.
"I need to use the bathroom," said Trowa, not drinking and setting down the bottle of water.
"Hey, boss, can I take this guy to the can?" asked Slim, holding a gun on Trowa.
"Go ahead, but watch him carefully," said Marron, who was quietly conversing with Une in the corner.
"Try anythin' funny and I'll off yer little friend there," said Slim, shining his flashlight around to find a bathroom.
"He's not little," said Trowa calmly. "And if you 'off' him, no 20 million, because Winner Enterprises won't pay a nickel for me. Oh, I forgot, you're not getting any of that anyway."
"Jes shut up," said Slim as he tried a door and found the bathroom.
"I hope you can aim in the dark, buddy," he smirked.
"I'm a man of many talents," said Trowa, smirking back at him.
"Jes get in there and drain yer lizard," said Slim pushing him through the door.
Trowa shut the door behind him. "No peeking," he said cheerily.
"Christ, a comedian," said Slim, shifting his wad of tobacco as he leaned against the door.
Once inside the bathroom, Trowa hastily began to feel around in the dim light for something he might use to escape later, thankful that the bathroom had a window that let some moonlight in.
Carefully and quietly opening the medicine cabinet, he smiled as he found a package of razor blades and slid them inside the waistband of his jeans.
He shrugged, went to the toilet and relieved himself, and flushed, then washed his hands and opened the door.
"All spiffy now?" asked Slim sarcastically.
Trowa gave the man a faint smile. "Just spiffy," he repeated.
Slim marched him back to the sofa and sat him down next to Quatre.
"Can I have my water now?" asked Trowa.
"Yeah, go ahead," said Slim, untying Quatre and handing him a bottle too.
They both drank quietly and finally sat the bottles down.
"Ready to get tied up again?" smirked Slim.
"Could you leave us untied for just a moment," asked Quatre, assuming his best pleading expression. "My arms are getting really sore."
"Sure, you don't look too scary," said Slim. "I'll give ya a few minutes. After all, I don't want them folks of yers with the dough thinkin it was me that was treatin ya bad."
"Thank you," said Quatre sincerely.
"Jest don't try nuthin," warned Slim.
"I just want to give my boyfriend a hug," said Quatre in a quavering voice. "I'm scared."
"Oh, jeez, go ahead," said Slim, averting his eyes and stepping back a few paces. "As long as I don't haveta watch. Buncha perverts."
He wrapped his arms around Trowa. "Nice acting," whispered Trowa in his ear. "Not that I mind the hug."
He felt Quatre smile against his neck. "I know you're up to something, but hold off until we have the advantage," Quatre whispered.
"You got it Kimosabe," said Trowa, kissing him on the neck.
"Keep kissing me, I hope it makes Slim lose his cookies," hissed Quatre.
"You got it, lover," said Trowa audibly, pulling him close and kissing him thoroughly on the mouth.
"All right, enough of that," said Slim, wrinkling his nose. "I'm about to upchuck."
Quatre smiled at Trowa and then bit his lip and assumed a sad face.
"Thanks for letting me say good-bye," he sniffed, allowing a few tears to leak down his face.
"Aw, shut up," said Slim retying his arms.
"You're a nice man, Slim," said Quatre, laying it on. "I'll tell my sister that you treated me well."
"Really?" said Slim, now tying Trowa's hands.
"Oh, sure," said Quatre, still giving him a wide-eyed tearful look. "She might even want to make sure you're given a little something on the side."
"Sounds good to me," said Slim. He leaned over in a confidential manner, and Quatre got a good look at tobacco stained teeth and dirty, stringy blond hair.
"I'm only doin' this for the dough-ra-mi, ya know," he said quietly, blowing his foul breath in Quatre's face. "I'm not such a bad guy."
Quatre held his breath. "I'm sure you are," he said, trying not to gasp.
Slim grinned at him and walked off a few paces, assuming his "guard" stance.
"Whew," said Quatre under his breath.
Trowa looked at him, eyes crinkling. "I think Slim's breath is our torture," he whispered.
Quatre rolled his eyes. "You said it!" he hissed through his teeth.
Slim chewed his tobacco obliviously a few paces behind them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heero's voice was the first thing that Duo heard as he regained consciousness.
"He can hear you, keep talking," said another voice, and then he heard Hilde.
"Duo, Heero and I are right here," she said, and he felt someone stroke his good arm.
"Can you open your eyes, Mr. Maxwell?" another female voice said near his head. "You won't be able to see much, but I want to check your pupils."
He opened his eyes and a bright light was flashed in them, making him wince. He closed them quickly.
"Everything looks good," the voice said. "I'll leave you to visit with him."
"Heero?" he asked in a voice that sounded like he'd been gargling with sand.
"I'm here," he heard and felt a strong hand take his good one and squeeze it. He squeezed back weakly.
"Hilde?" he asked next. "Right here," he heard her voice say.
"Wanna go back to sleep," he rasped. "I'm cold, sleepy."
He felt the weight of a warm blanket wrapped around him then oblivion again.
Heero brushed the strands of long bangs out of Duo's face. "They'll pay for hurting you," he whispered. "We'll put them where they can't hurt anyone else."
Hilde looked at him for a moment and then reached over and placed her hand over Heero's.
"You do that," she said.
"Tell Duo when he wakes up that I went to Sally's," said Heero, gently disengaging his hand. "The agents are there waiting to take my statement and as soone I'm done, I'll come back. Can I borrow your car?"
"Godspeed," said Hilde, releasing his hand after squeezing it. He nodded at her and she handed him her car keys.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wufei looked at the clock in Sally's kitchen. It was 4:46 am.
"Almost dawn," he whispered to himself, drinking another cup of coffee. He'd lost track of how many he'd consumed since his short nap earlier.
Sally had given up and gone to bed to try to get some sleep a few hours ago.
Wufei looked at the two FBI agents as they huddled over their laptop. He was getting impatient, and between a lack of sleep, adrenaline and caffeine, he could feel himself getting ready to explode from lack of activity.
"Come up with anything new?" he finally asked.
"We're really not at liberty to say," said Morris, looking apologetic. "You are a civilian after all."
Wufei scowled at her. "I'm a retired Army officer," he said. "To be precise about it."
"Sorry," said Morris. "I didn't know that." She flashed Hastings a look and he shrugged.
"So is Mr. Yuy, and he's also a licensed private investigator and an attorney," said Wufei, "My attorney."
"Please try to cooperate with us, Mr. Chang," said Hastings. Layton had left a few hours ago to check in with his office and had promised to send one of his deputies in his stead.
"You don't seem to be doing anything," said Wufei. "If you don't mind me saying so."
"We can't just go in there with guns blazing," said Hastings. "As much as we might like to, that rarely resolves these situations. I assure you, we do have agents in place surrounding the inn, and if they see anything that leads them to believe they should take action, they'll contact us."
"How many?" asked Wufei.
"I'm not at liberty to say," said Hastings, looking away.
Wufei scowled at him. "Great," he said sarcastically, clenching his teeth.
He heard a car pull up in the driveway and excused himself and went to the door. He watched a very weary Heero walk up the drive.
"Heero Yuy is here," he said to the two agents at the table.
Heero came inside and looked around. "Got any coffee?" he asked Wufei. He was wearing a scrub top he'd been given at the hospital to replace his blood soaked shirt. Lines of exhaustion were etched around his eyes and mouth, bruises starting to become livid under his skin, and a dark stubble was appearing on his jawline.
"You look like shit warmed over," said Wufei, embracing him.
"Thanks, you're no raving beauty yourself," said Heero quietly.
"Did you get any sleep?" asked Wufei.
"A bit in the waiting room," said Heero. "Duo's okay, he just got out of surgery and he's going to be fine."
"Good news," said Wufei. "Want something to eat with that coffee?" he asked.
"Sure," said Heero. "Something light, please," he said.
Wufei nodded and led him to a seat in the kitchen across from the two agents.
"We need to ask you a few questions," said Hastings, introducing himself and Morris quickly.
"Go ahead," said Heero, accepting a cup of hot coffee and a few pieces of toast from Wufei and nodding his thanks.
"Can you tell us anything about the condition of the hostages?" asked Morris.
"Zechs Merquise was wounded," said Heero, "A gunshot wound to the shoulder, I think, but I don't know how badly. They'd bandaged him to stop the bleeding and he seemed to be holding his own when Duo and I left the apartment," said Heero, taking a deep breath.
"No one else injured?" asked Morris. Heero shook his head. "Just Duo and Merquise."
"What kind of weapons did they have?" asked Hastings. "Any explosives, automatic weapons?"
"Just automatic weapons as far as I could tell," said Heero. "I got the idea it was pretty much going to be a straightforward execution or kidnapping to start with, but they hadn't counted on the rest of us interfering."
"And why did you go to the inn, Mr. Yuy?" asked Morris.
Heero gazed at for a moment through bloodshot eyes. "My friends needed me and I came," he said simply.
Morris raised her eyebrows. "I see," she said.
"Is that all?" asked Heero abruptly, pushing back his chair and eating a piece of toast.
"Yeah, for now, but hang around, okay?" said Hastings.
"Wufei, I'm gonna sack out on the couch for a bit, okay?" asked Heero, taking a swallow of coffee.
"Sure, go ahead," said Wufei. "I'm going to do the same," he said. "There's a comforter on the back of the sofa."
"Thanks," said Heero. "If I don't get some sleep, I'm gonna pass out on my feet. See you in a few," he said to Wufei. He went off into the living room.
"We're gonna pack up and go to our motel," said Hastings. "The number is here on the table to contact us."
Wufei nodded. "Let us know whatever you can," he said.
Hastings and Morris packed up a few items and left.
Wufei went into the living room and nudged Heero on the shoulder.
Heero opened one bloodshot eye. "What?" he said.
"What are you planning, Heero?" asked Wufei, regarding him speculatively.
"After I get a little sleep," said Heero, "I'm gonna sneak back over to the inn and take out a few nutcases commando style," he said seriously.
"And just how to you propose to do that?" asked Wufei.
"As soon as I get my hands on a weapon, I'll show you," said Heero. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need my beauty sleep."
"Yuy, you aren't going anywhere without me," said Wufei.
Heero opened his eyes. "If you come with me," he said, "Just know that I'm taking no prisoners."
"I understand," said Wufei, regarding him. "I have some clean clothes you can borrow when you wake up, and I know Sally can arm both of us."
"Good," said Heero. He yawned. "Now go get some sleep or neither of us will be worth a damn," he said.
TBC
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