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A Million Ways to Slay a Raven

Jessenia

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Chapter Six: Tossed Out of Paradise

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It had been a little over a month that had passed without incident. Une, the head of the Preventers unit, was proud that her two best agents seemed to have the situation under control. Duo was relieved from constantly reporting to the agency lest it destroy his cover, but was making good progress.

Wufei was maintaining surveillance and reported that everything seemed good.

But there was still no clear lead.

Surveillance on both Relena, who stubbornly remained near Heero, still pestering the boy and Zechs, who was on L1, turned-up nothing. This was making Une impatient. It wasn't until mid-January that things began to change.

Or, more precisely, get completely fucked-up.

Zechs disappeared.

Une assigned numerous agents to track him down, but the one person who found him was the one person who had not been looking.

____________________________________________________________________________

Heero laughed.

Quatre and Trowa both looked stunned and turned to Duo who shrugged. Heero had started laughing more often, and smiling as well, and by the reactions Trowa and Quatre always flashed at Duo, this was something new.

"Okay. Think long and skinny." Duo said.

"Trowa." Quatre said, and they laughed again.

"No. Uhm. Not animate. Uhm. Think, school-related. For writing... aw shit." Duo smacked his head. Heero flopped back against the chair he was sitting in.

"Okay, someone else replace Duo, that's the seventh time he's said one of the taboo words." Quatre frowned.

"But what is it?"

"Pencil." Trowa added calmly. Light dawned in the blond's eyes.

"Oh. I'll take over." Quatre said, grabbing the box. Trowa stopped him.

"It's getting pretty late." Quatre looked at the clock.

"Oh my. I didn't realize." Duo looked at his watch and felt a bit guilty.

"Sorry, guys! I hope you still make it to class on time tomorrow." Trowa rolled his eyes.

"We will." They stood and headed to the door. Heero followed them, hand resting on Shinigami's head. Quatre looked at his friend, a lost look of admiration in his eyes and he reached forward, hugging his friend.

"Bye Heero. Take care of him, Duo." Duo blushed, but Heero was standing still, looking stunned. He was still standing there when Trowa and Quatre had left.

He was still standing there when Duo turned off the kitchen light and asked him if he was planning on going to bed. So it seemed only natural that there should be a knock at the door. After all, there was a sentinel there waiting to answer it.

"Heero!" Duo recognized the squeal and turned around in time to see his boyfriend's older sister lunge at his boyfriend and pull him into an intense hug. "There's something really important I have to ..." She glowered at Duo when she saw him, and Duo felt his mouth go dry. "What are doing here?" She growled and the way she moved to stand between him and Heero, Duo knew that whatever was going to follow was going to be bad.

"He was visiting me." He said, completely calm, and Duo tried to calm himself.

"You should go." She said, not even listening to Heero.

"He'll go when he wants to." Relena turned and grabbed her brother's shoulders.

"Heero, there's something I have to tell you." Heero growled and Duo felt a shiver run-up his spine. Heero was getting angry, and it was creepy.

"Then tell me."

"You should sit down, I'll help ..." Duo was equally startled when Shinigami started to growl, and Relena back-off a bit.

"I'll stand." Flustered she tossed one dark look over her shoulder at Duo then turned back to her baby-brother.

"He's been lying to you, Heero. He's not who he says he is." Duo went cold. How the hell had she found out? How could she know? "He's working for Preventers. He's supposed to be tailing you. He's masquerading as your friend so he can gather evidence on you! It's all been a lie, Heero." Something happened that Duo couldn't see, but Relena suddenly stopped speaking and backed away a little, letting Duo see Heero's face. Shock and pain.

Duo felt horrible.

"Heero, I ..." Heero shook his head slowly and looked away. Duo didn't know what he was thinking, but there was a hollowness in him that stung Duo. "I'll go." Duo said, stopping once when he was close to Heero, whispering so only Heero could hear. "I never meant to hurt you." But Heero didn't turn to look at him, and he left the loft feeling horrible.

It was even worse when, as he exited the building, Wufei caught up to him. "I'm sorry." Wufei mumbled and Duo stopped and glared at him.

"For what?" He snarled. "Did you tell her? Where the fuck do you get off, Wufei? I can't believe you!" Wufei caught him as he moved to storm off, and snarled at him.

"Why the hell would you think I would willingly blow our cover? You know damn well that money can buy anything! She didn't exactly have to search high and low." Duo ripped away and continued walking. "Duo, come on. Get in the car." Duo shook his head. "Duo. I'll take you back to your home. Your real home." Duo snorted and Wufei was shocked. He had only seen his friend like this once before, and even then it wasn't this bad.

"I was home, Wufei. And it felt great. So I'm going to wait. And you're going to stay the fuck away from me. Got it?" He moved off and Wufei didn't chase him.

"Why are you mad at me? I didn't do anything!" Duo kept walking and Wufei sighed. "I've only ever tried to help you." He whispered, before he returned to the car.

Not long after Duo left the building, Wufei saw Relena leave. He picked-up the phone, knowing Une had to be notified of the new situation.

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"Heero?"

"No, it's me."

"Trowa?"

"What happened?" A frustrated sigh.

"I've only ever been trying to protect him."

"What happened?"

"Relena told him ... She found out that I ... It's just that ..."

"I heard about that. What I want to know is why the hell you would toy with Heero like that. How could you do that to him?"

"I didn't lie! I didn't expect to fall in love with him! But I couldn't help it! I couldn't stop it! ... I wanted to tell him the truth but I was so worried ..." Trowa paused, hearing the ragged breathing. Duo was going to start crying, if he wasn't already.

"Duo. He's a wreck."

"I'm so sorry."

"You've got to tell him."

"Tell him what?"

"That you weren't BULLSHITTING him! He thinks you lied when you told him how you felt!"

"He won't talk to me, or haven't you heard the numerous messages I've left on his machine." Another pause as if Trowa were trying to figure out what to do now.

"I'll talk to him, but you need to tell me the whole truth."

"Okay."

"What was your job with him?"

"I-I had to protect him. My partner has security on him, but my job was to protect him."

"Why."

"Someone may be trying to kill him. Him, and the rest of his family. That's why the plane went down. I'm trying to make sure that whoever it is doesn't succeed, and at the same time figure out who it is."

"They made you go undercover for that?"

"No ... I just wanted to get closer to him ..." A sigh.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, Trowa."

"Don't thank me. Friends watch-out for friends." Duo wondered if Trowa meant he was looking out for Heero, if he really meant he was looking out for Duo. Duo sighed and put the receiver down. He hoped to God that Heero would hear his friend.

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"Who is it?" Trowa frowned. The first word his friend had said in over a week and that was it.

"Who is what?" Heero huffed.

"Who's trying to kill me?" Trowa sighed.

"He didn't say." Heero sat back, curling into a ball and Trowa hated to see it. This was exactly how Heero was after the accident. Moody, depressed and edgy. "Heero, he really loves you." There was no response and Trowa gave-up for the moment, walking over to Quatre and whispering to him, careful of his friend's uncanny hearing sense. "How is he?"

"The usual." Quatre muttered darkly. Trowa wanted to curse. Heero looked awful. White as a sheet with dark circles under his eyes. And, as usual, he was refusing to eat. He watched as Shinigami crept over and put her front paws on the sofa, resting her head on Heero's hip. Heero didn't move. "Trowa? I don't know what to do. It's almost as bad as ..." Trowa nodded.

"I know. It'll be fine."

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Duo threw the vase against the wall.

It was satisfying when the damn thing broke into a million pieces that cluttered the floor. He stared at them, then sighed, turning to get a broom from the closet. He missed Heero.

/Why miss him, when you have me?/ A little voice, that had been blissfully silent for so long began to speak again.

/Because he is everything and you are nothing./ He retorted. "Now leave me alone." It felt good to be strong, to push back against the man who once pushed him. But here he was, torturing the one person he loved the same way as he himself had once been tortured. "Only he won't let me close enough to explain ..."

He swept the bits of glass into the dust pan and was just getting up to empty when there was a knock on the door. He waited and it came again, more urgent this time. "I'm coming!" He said and looked for a place to put the dustpan. The knocking returned and he put it on the side-table he had always reserved for bills, jumping over the laundry he had once again forgotten to do and opened the door.

His mouth fell open.

"Heero?" The boy looked terrible, like a ghost. But there was genuine fear on his face. "What's wrong?" Heero seemed as if he was trying to figure-out which way to go. As if he was suddenly unsure if he had made the right choice. Duo glanced at Shinigami who was looking at him expectantly, and he grabbed Heero and pulled him inside, slamming the door closed and locking it. "Heero?" The boy was shaking and this unnerved Duo. "Hey, shh. It's okay." Heero snapped out of it and took a step back, out of his embrace.

"You said you were trying to protect me." Duo nodded, then, realizing Heero couldn't see his reaction he added,

"Yes." Heero paused, the next coming out as a whisper.

"You said you l-loved me." Duo smiled.

"Yes." Heero seemed unsure for a moment.

"Did you really mean it?" Duo took a step forward.

"Yes." Heero sighed and swayed, as if suddenly he had said all that was necessary. Duo caught him before he slid to the floor. "What's wrong?" He asked, and Heero shuddered.

"He found me." He whispered before he passed-out. Duo frowned and started to pick Heero up, planning on putting him in the bedroom, but the phone rang.

"God damn." Duo muttered, only half mad. It was hard to be angry when Heero was back in his arms. He put Heero on the couch and raced to the phone. "Hello?" Quatre's panicked voice was on the end.

"Where is he?"

"Right here. He's resting."

"God, Duo. Please. Get someone down there. Back-up or something. Trowa and I did all we could but it wasn't ..."

"What?! What's going on!"

"He- he didn't tell you?"

"He said someone had found him. Then he passed-out!"

"Zechs. Duo, Zechs found him. It was getting really bad, but Trowa and I came over to visit. Shini-chan attacked Zechs and Heero got to the door. We could only stall him for so long. Duo, he might be coming straight for you."

"What does he want?" Duo said, suddenly very calm. He was in his element.

"I don't know. They've always had pretty brutal fights but this was ridiculous. Heero's blind! And Zechs was throwing punches as if Heero could still defend himself." Duo frowned. /Geez/ he thought /I wonder who was trying to kill Heero?/

"Okay. Are you okay Quatre?" There was a pause.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. And Trowa just has a few minor bruises. Just make sure he doesn't get Heero. Please, just do that."

"Sure thing. And not just because it's my job." There was a sigh of relief.

"Thank-you, Duo."

As soon as he put the phone down Duo picked it up again. He knew Wufei was probably on his way, knowing he would have followed Heero, but regardless, he and Heero needed a better place to hide.

"Sally?"

"Duo, what they hell? Heero's rogue! We don't know ..."

"He's here, Sal. Look, Zechs has apparently come down. He was attacking Heero. I think it's pretty clear who our assassin is. But we need to get Heero out of here. I don't think he'll be safe for very long."

"Okay. Wufei should be on his way, just hold on a bit. I'll send you coordinates for another safe-house. Then I'll arrange something for you both. Stay on guard." There was a pause then Sally added, "If you find any hard evidence of Zech's guilt, do pass it on." Duo snorted.

"Of course. Make sure you tell Fei to step-on it."

"Okay."

Duo sat by the bed where he had moved Heero, holding a damp cloth against Heero's forehead and his gun with the other. There was a soft knock on the door, and Duo startled a bit. He put the cloth down and picked-up his gun, shutting the bedroom door and heading cautiously over to the front door. "Who is it?" He called, but there was silence, then the knock again. /You must think I'm a moron./ Duo smirked. He sat on the sofa, gun pointing at the door, resting on his other arm. "Alright, you son of bitch. Let's see what you think of me now." The knock came again and he waited.

Then the soft knock became a pounding that shook the door. Whoever this guy was, he was strong. The banging increased, and Duo cursed. The door was ready to give. He sat and waited, one more kick and the entire door fell inwards. Duo saw Zechs, longing blond hair hanging past his shoulders, steel blue eyes glaring simply and the man smiled. "Hello." He said. "Where's my brother?" Duo was stunned, the man was acting as if he had just been invited in normally.

Then the tall man lunged, just as Duo got his bearings back and fired a shot. It clipped the man in the side, but it didn't stop him, he was on Duo in a second and they were desperately trying to aim the gun at each other. Duo was soon losing the battle. He was strong, but Zechs was stronger.

He squirmed and kicked Zechs in the side but the taller man smiled sinisterly and tossed the gun away, clamping his hands around Duo's throat. He could hear Shinigami in the other room, barking and snarling, thrashing her claws against the door, and vaguely wondered when the hell she had become a guard-dog. He wanted to laugh because it was his need to protect Heero that had made him lock the bedroom door, but he had blocked a valuable ally.

His vision started to blur and Duo was pretty sure this was going to be it when there was a thunk and Zechs keeled over. "You okay?" Duo looked dazedly up and Wufei and smiled.

"Yes." he croaked and Wufei smiled a little, offering a hand.

"Where's Heero?" Duo tossed his head towards the bedroom door, not trusting his voice. Wufei tossed a pair of handcuffs and nodded towards Zechs. "We aren't allowed to arrest him, but I see no harm in delaying the bastard." Duo nodded and quickly secured Zechs while Wufei opened the bedroom door. When the snarling didn't cease, Duo ran over and waved at Shinigami.

"It's okay, he's a friend. He's not going to hurt Heero." She looked doubtful and Wufei rolled his eyes.

"You help him, then." Duo nodded and carefully tried to shake Heero awake. The boy was being uncooperative. "Just carry him, Duo. We're in a rush. The car's parked out front." Wufei covered them as Duo carefully carried Heero out of the apartment building, letting Shinigami jump into the back seat before settling Heero back there. He caught Wufei's eye and the Chinese boy nodded. Duo gratefully slid into the backseat. Propping Heero's head on his lap, and brushing the soft brown hair out of his face.

"You okay?" Wufei asked again when they had gotten the co-ordinates and were well away from the apartment. Duo nodded.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you." Wufei nodded,

"It's fine. I understand." Duo nodded and sighed. Wufei glanced again in the rearview and smiled at his friend who was staring longingly at the boy who was stubbornly asleep. "You're right, you know." Duo looked up, a little startled. "He is different." A slow smile spread across Duo's face.

"Thank-you." he said again. And Wufei nodded, refocusing on the road.


TBC

Hello! This is really important so please bear with me.

1. Does anyone have any interest in being my beta reader? I'm not picky about deadlines or anything, but I want you to be thorough and no cutting-up my work as you edit! ^_^ If so, email me at little_shaman29@yahoo.ca

2. This fic, (As you well know) has been on hiatus for a long while. In fact. All my fics have been. I'm really sorry but there has been a lot of stuff going on that's made it impossible to write. I'm trying to polish everything and ease back into it but it will likely be a while before anything really starts progressing. So, I apologize and try to understand, life has just been playing hardball with me for a while.

3. Please review. This is unbelievable incentive to get me working again and I would really appreciate hearing from anyone/everyone. Thanks to those who have reviewed thus far and have found their way back here. Your patience is unbelievable.