~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mischief:
Part Five
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trowa shrugged into his oversized green army jacket, looking like every other disenfranchised old man this colony had ever known. The man he was watching wouldn't think twice about him.
He and Ben had taken turns watching the "gangster" for the better part of the morning, and could tell that he'd picked his next victim by the way he was shadowing a lanky young boy. The kid had no family on the colony, but was in the care of one of the larger groups still squatting in the warehouse district.
As the kidnapper moved in on the boy during a lull in the activity outside the Clinic, Trowa went for him, intending on disabling him.
It didn't go according to plan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Viktor took one look at the furious green eye of the man coming at him, and went for his gun. Cops be damned, Satan himself couldn't be scarier. He didn't get the chance to fire as his wrist was caught in an unbelievable grip and his knee gave out under one foot's assault.
He did manage to land a fist in the guy's gut, and heard the satisfyingly startled exhale of breath. The guy's grip didn't falter, but his stance did, and Viktor used the brief lapse to try yanking the guy off of his feet.
It didn't work, and the other hand came at him in a fist, and stars were all that followed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You're getting old 03." Only the laughter in Une's eyes saved her from fierce retribution for that statement, Trowa mused as he glared at her from behind Ben's stethoscope. The hit to his diaphragm had winded him, and now his abdomen ached, so he was getting a thorough look-over by his son.
The kidnapper, Viktor Stutt according to his – probably fake – ID papers, was unconscious and restrained in the next room. Duo was currently managing to simultaneously hover over Trowa and find every evil-looking, rusty surgical tool on the colony. It would have made Trowa laugh if he had been able to breathe properly.
"I guess I'm out of the interrogation then." It was never really a question. Une and Duo had always been scarier than he was one-on-one. Two-on-one, and stronger men then Viktor had crumbled in a matter of minutes. Trowa had no doubt that they would be on their way to get Gina within the hour.
"You can watch." Duo suggested slyly, a red-orange colored hook in his hand and what looked like knitting needles on wire trailing from the crook of his elbow. Duo glanced at the needles and then back at Trowa. "I know you've seen Undercover Blues. I've been using their methods for years!" And Trowa smiled because it was impossible not to.
"You're missing the car battery."
"Une's getting it rigged up. Hey, d' you think you could record this for posterity?"
"No. Zechs really doesn't want proof that he should be arresting the lot of us."
"Point." Duo sighed and walked into the room for a quick kiss. "Pack and we'll be ready to go as soon as the pig squeals." Trowa winced at the metaphor, but nodded at the instructions. He watched the silver and gold braid swing as Duo walked away before slowly pulling his shirt on and leaving as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Viktor woke to a face he recognized instantly. Every criminal, from mastermind to the two-bit hoodlum, knew Lady Une's face. They also knew never to be anywhere near it, unless they wanted to disappear into the bowels of the United Justice System. He started praying under his breath, words coming to him easily despite not having been used since childhood.
Une turned to look at someone behind him and off to the side, a malicious glint in her eye. "This is why I don't retire. Old-Ladyhood wouldn't have nearly this many perks."
"And that is why we tried so damn hard not to get caught. We knew we'd end up one of your 'perks' despite ourselves." The voice was deep, and amused, but Viktor sensed darkness and history in it. A chuckle soon followed the words as Une glared at the speaker. That chuckle promised all sorts of painful things.
Her eyes turned back to him, and Viktor fought not to shrink back from her gaze. "Well Mr. Stutt, shall we begin?" The chuckle behind him was louder this time, and came closer, circling in front of him until he saw the man.
He saw the eyes first. There was really no way to avoid them. They were a cold dark blue, like the night sky during deep winter when he was a child. In them Viktor saw the merciless calculation of a wolf just this side of starving, or the ice that slid from the rooftops, crushing all life in its path. He would not be leaving this one's presence until the man had what he wanted.
While he was staring at the man, Une spoke again. "Tell us where you send the children, and this can all end without ... incident." The pause was just long enough for him to grasp that "incident" could cover quite a lot of ground.
"We carry them to the shuttle port and hand them off to a woman. There's this whole theatrical scene that we're supposed to do where I'm wishing my wife and kid a nice trip an' all. She carries the kid off, and my money's in my coat pocket where she put it when she hugs me good-bye. Don' know which shuttle they're on, just the number to call when I got another kid for them."
He wasn't paid enough to get tortured for these people, and especially not for Decasco.
Une and the guy looked at each other and left the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"That was way too easy!" Duo worried at his thumbnail while looking at Une. She frowned and then began looking through the contents of Viktor's pockets more closely. There were a number of business cards, mostly with notes written on them.
"Looks like he owes whoever 'D' is a great deal of money." She mused, and then pulled out a card without notes on it, looking very well-worn.
"Way, way too easy." Duo breathed, looking at it.
"He said 'we', didn't he?"
"Yeah?"
"I think I'll explore that. Would you please run this number?"
"You don't want my help scaring the snot out of that guy?"
"Snot is not what I'm aiming for. And no, I think I'd better leave you out of this. If he is the one who took Gina, having her adopted father beating up the suspect won't go over well in court. Check on Trowa and the kids. Find where that number leads. I'll call you when he's finished talking."
Duo spent a moment in contemplation - again - of how glad he was that she was on his side. Then he nodded and walked away, leaving Viktor to his fate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to get back to this. Hopefully it will now be finished in a timely manner. Thanks, those of you who have stuck with me this far, and those of you just now finding this story. I promise, no more frustration over long breaks between chapters!
