The Taki and Wufei Story

Chapter 2: Freefall

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            "So, what's your plan, Wufei?"

            Wufei looks up from folding his laundry at the young man leaning in his hotel room doorway.  "What makes you think I'll tell you, Maxwell?"

            Duo sighs.  "Come on, man.  Don't be an ass.  It's been a shitty week."

            "That's quite the understatement," Wufei observes.

            Running a hand through his bangs and into his braid, Duo smiles wryly.  "And here I was starting to think you didn't get my jokes."

            Wufei offers a grunt in response.

            After a moment of silence, during which Wufei places his precisely folded clothes in a dresser drawer, Duo continues with a frown, "You're staying here?"

            Wufei nods.  "I've asked to be temporarily assigned to the L1 office."

            "What for?"

            Brow arced, he replies, "There's a lot about this explosion that we don't know."

            "Jesus, Wu.  You're one cold bastard."

            Wufei scowls at Duo.  "Mind explaining that, Maxwell?"

            "Yokaze came here to destroy the organization that trained her and Heero.  She knew he'd have to do it himself before he could even think about being his own person, being free of the past.  She sacrificed her life so that Heero could have a future.  What the hell more do you need to know?"

            Ignoring Wufei's piercing stare, Duo sinks down into one of the room's scarred chairs and gazes at the floor for a moment, just breathing.  "I... I guess it's... admirable.  Your tenacity.  But turning this colony inside out isn't going to bring Yokaze back.  I mean, what kind of answers do you expect to get?  Don't you think Heero just deserves to move on?"

            Turning his back on his uninvited guest, Wufei mutters, "You don't know me very well if you think I'm doing this to prolong anyone's pain."

            "Then why?"

            He briefly meets Duo's gaze and notes the sincere confusion.  "I'm a Preventer agent, Duo.  As the name suggests, I work to prevent disasters like this from occurring."  With a breath and a glare at his own reflection above the dresser, Wufei speculates, "Maybe I'm doing this for me, Maxwell.  Have you thought of that?  Maybe I need to know how this place could have continued to exist after peace was established.  Maybe I need to know why I didn't find out about the organization before now."

            Duo blinks up at Wufei's scowling profile.  "You can't possibly blame yourself for this."

            Wufei sends Duo a wry look out of the corner of his eye.  "Why not?"

            "Well..."  Duo casts about for an obvious reason.  "Because you didn't know, for one thing."

            "Exactly.  Why didn't I know?  It's my job to know."

            Duo sighs, expression softening.  "Wufei..."

            "When does your shuttle leave?"

            Duo blinks at his friend then snorts softly at the blatant refusal to accept sympathy.  "Tomorrow morning.  Eight o'clock."

            Wufei glances at the clock.  "You'll want to get an early night."

            With a shrug, Duo stands.  Obviously, he's outstayed his welcome here.  "Yeah, I guess you're right," he admits.  But as he wraps his fingers around the door knob, Duo hesitates.  "You know my number if you ever want to... you know...  Right?"

            Surprised by the offer, Wufei looks up and their gazes lock.  "Yes, I know."

            With a nod, Duo pulls the door open and steps out into the hall.

            "Thank you... Duo."

            The young man in the hall offers Wufei a smile.  "Anytime, Wufei.  Anytime."

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            "Duo!  It's me!  Look, I have really got to talk to you.  Please call me as soon as you can!"

            That's eight messages, total, he muses as the machine beeps loudly, signaling the end of the message playback.  He shakes his head.  Eight messages from Hilde.  He reaches for the phone, hoping everything is all right, but hesitates.  How is he supposed to tell her about Bisho?  How is he supposed to back out of their salvage business fairly?  He'd promised her he'd stay on and help... but he can't work sixteen-hour days anymore.  Not with Bisho around.  He's got to find something that will support the two of them but won't force him to sell his soul in the process.

            "Is that your girlfriend?"

            Duo jumps.  "Bisho!  Dammit, do not sneak up on me like that."

            Bisho stares at him, the duffle bag containing all of her worldly goods slung over her shoulder.  "Is it?"

            "No," Duo replies.  "She's my business partner."

            "Oh."  With a nod, Bisho transfers her attention to her brother's apartment.

            Duo follows her roving gaze and feels not a little bit embarrassed.  "I know it's not much.  We'll get a better place as soon as I can swing it."

            Bisho makes a face.  "I didn't mean...  This is fine, Duo.  You don't have to move because of me..."

            Duo laughs.  "Naw, I've been getting tired of living in this shoebox.  Besides, all of the good bars are on the other side of town."

            She smiles for him.  And then:  "So, are you going to call her back?"

            He rolls his eyes.  "Yes, mother."

            Bisho snorts and carefully stows her duffle under the apartment's only coffee table.  "Got anything I can munch on?"

            Duo starts to nod, then hesitates.  "Um, I'm not sure."  He glances over his shoulder at the kitchenette.  "Maybe I should scope it out before I send you in there."

            "Why?  What's the worst I could find?"

            "Um...  A highly evolved form of intelligent life that began its existence as Chinese take-out?"

            She snorts.  "I'll take my chances."

            "Fine.  You lose an arm or something, it's not my fault."

            Bisho shoots him a wry look before heading for the fridge.  Duo picks up the phone, takes a breath, and dials Hilde's number.  Better just get this over with, he thinks and forces a smile into his voice when she picks up.

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            Hilde glances at the young woman strolling through the scrap yard.  Without turning back to Duo, she tells him, "You two really do look a lot alike."

            "I hope you're not trying to tell me I look like a pubescent girl," Duo mock growls.

            Hilde turns back around and grins at him.  "You'd still love me if I did," she accuses.

            Duo sighs.  She's right.

            "So, you found her on Earth?"

            He hesitates, unsure of how much to tell her.  "Not exactly.  It's... a really long story..."  And it doesn't really have a happy ending.  He meets her gaze.  "But, hey, your messages made it sound like the apocalypse was coming.  So what's up?"

            Hilde grins widely and holds up her left hand, palm facing her and waits for Duo to see it.

            His jaw drops.  "Hilde!  Holy shit, girl!  I've been gone less than a month and you got yourself engaged?"

            She rolls her eyes.  "Gee, don't act so surprised, Duo.  You'll bruise my feminine ego."

            "Now I surely wouldn't want to do that seeing as how you're so fragile and all..."

            She snorts.  "Jerk."

            "So how'd it happen?"

            She smiles.  "We were best friends growing up.  Then he ran off and joined OZ and we sort of lost touch.  I thought maybe... he was dead, but then he stopped in on Christmas Eve and surprised me.  It was like old times and I..."  She pauses and fidgets.  "We're getting married as soon as I can make arrangements to move in with him..."

            Duo waits.

            Hilde takes a fortifying breath.  "...on Earth."

            "Ah," Duo says.  "So you want to know what we're going to do about the salvage yard, right, Hil?"

            She nods.  "Yeah.  Do you still...  I mean, are you...?"

            The corner of Duo's mouth kicks up in a half grin.  He shakes his head.  "I can't.  I was trying to figure out how to tell you..."  He glances in Bisho's direction.  "I've got to find something that takes less of my time.  We've got a lot of catching up to do."  He shrugs and looks at Hilde again.  "If it were you and me and some hired help, maybe.  But... I can't handle this place by myself.  Especially now that I've got her to look after."

            Hilde tells him, "Then no worries, Duo.  If you don't care what I do with the yard, I'll put it up for sale."

            Duo agrees.  "You need any help?"

            "Nah, don't worry about it, Duo."

            He sighs happily.  "Okay, I won't."

            She rolls her eyes.  "You're impossible."

            He chuckles and opens his mouth to deliver a smart reply but another voice cuts across the exchange.

            Bisho stands a few feet away, grinning, as she tells Hilde, "Tell me something I don't already know."

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            Taki stuffs her hand in her pocket and slides a finger over the very thin wad of bills.  Almost out of cash, she thinks dispassionately.  In fact, if her math is correct, she's got just enough for one hell of a party.  She considers the idea.  Aren't there cultures where, instead of moping about and all that, they go out and party in the name of their deceased love one?

            Well, I've tried everything else, she thinks, heart heavy.  Why not?  Heero's gone.  I've got to get used to the idea sooner or later.

            She slides onto a bench that serves as a waiting spot for bus-goers.  But as she sits, something in her back pocket draws her attention.  With a frown, she reaches behind her a pulls out a small diskette.  The only markings on it are two scribbled words: Taki Daemon.

            Taki stares at the object.  A bus pulls in.  People get off and other people climb on.  Taki doesn't look up.  This is the only tangible thing Heero—Yokaze, she reminds herself—had given her.  Taki feels her limbs begin to tremble as she remembers why Yokaze had given this to her: as a 'thank you,' as a 'good-bye.'

            She knew, Taki thinks with sudden insight.  She knew that mission on L1 was going to kill her.

            So why had she stopped at L2 and gotten a job with the circus?  Taki mulls this over for a while then shakes her head and sighs with frustration.  It's beyond her to understand why Yokaze had done everything the way she had.  She doesn't suppose it really matters why Yokaze took a brief detour to L2.  The end result is the same, regardless.

            Taki frowns at the disk, a thought suddenly occurring to her.  If she keeps this—Yokaze's 'good-bye'—then it's like admitting that she's gone, that Taki will never talk to her again or hack security systems or pick up hot men...  Wait, Taki had been the only one to do that last activity.  She'd always hoped that her friend had just been a late-bloomer in that department.  Now she'll never know.

            She gets to her feet and strides over to a public trash bin.  For a minute, she considers the disk.  Her last link to her friend...  If her friend is dead, that is.

            "I don't believe it," she says fiercely.  "You'll come back.  Someday, you'll come back."  And to prove it to herself, Taki allows the disk to slide from her fingers.  Then, before she can change her mind, she turns and crosses the street.

            It's almost dark and she's got one last party to get ready for.

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~End of Chapter 2~