Notes: Thanks to a review I got, I realised that I really needed to put a SQUICK WARNING on this fic. This fic will contain much creepiness, blood, angst, and general darkness. Please, if you do not like that kind of stuff, do not read any further. That said, anyone who does enjoy that stuff, read on.

Chapter Six

None of us had wanted to touch the roses any more than we had to, but we all agreed that the techies at forensics would need to see them if they were to catch the bastards, so I ended up holding them in the car while Wufei drove.

Heero's temperature had dropped a few degrees, and he'd progressed to oatmeal with his dried toast, but neither Fei nor I wanted him at work. After much arguing, we agreed that Heero would stay at home and rest, but Wufei would return to work.

The blood had dried overnight, so the car wasn't filled with the sweet coppery scent of it, but I still didn't like to look at the roses. I tried not to, but it's hard when they were right in my face.

We got a couple of odd looks along the way, but we managed to reach Une's office without anyone asking questions. Having a reputation does help occasionally. Une looked up when we entered, and raised an eyebrow as I plunked the roses on her desk.

"I trust there's an explanation for this?" she asked coolly, and I showed her the note, which I'd put in a little plastic baggie. She looked at it, and frowned.

"These appeared on our doorstep yesterday," I explained flatly. "We want to find out who did it and put them in jail."

"Maxwell, while this is upsetting, this is not the first time someone has left things like this. I'm sure that given time, they will-"

"I don't give a shit about that! I want this bastard to rot in hell!"

She blinked at my outburst, and then sighed. "Very well. I'll have someone give the note to Agent Kent, see if he can get a fingerprint, and give the roses to forensics. I assume this was why you ran out of here yesterday?"

"Oh… yeah. Sorry."

She brushed it aside with a wave of her hand and we took that as a dismissal. We were at the door when she spoke again. "Oh and, Maxwell? Agent Shavers leaves for L2 tonight."

Wufei shoot me a questioning look and I blushed as I hurried out of the office. I'd kinda forgotten about that little incident, and so had also forgotten to tell Heero and Wufei about it. They are just as touchy about secrets as I am, and I knew they'd not like the fact that I'd kept it from them, even unintentionally.

"I've still got that case to work on, so I'll see you at lunch," I mumbled, not looking at 'Fei. I turned towards the elevator, but he grabbed my wrist and forced my to turn back to face him.

"What happened, Duo?"

I sighed and looked at my shoes. "Shavers was being a dickhead and kept making all these comments, and I was really not in the mood to deal with him what with Heero being sick and all and he really needed to be brought down a peg or seven, so I kinda… went Shinigami on him."

Wufei sighed and let go of my wrist. "Oh, Duo…"

"He was being an asshole!" I said defensively. "Besides, I didn't kill him, that's something isn't it?"

"We are not supposed to beat up other Agents, Duo. You know how long it took for everyone to get off our backs, how long it took for people to accept us. They do not like reminders that we are better than them, and younger as well. If they keep getting reminded that we were Gundam pilots, we will not be able to stay. Do you want to get sacked?"

"Of course I don't! But… he deserved it. Besides," I added, looking up to half-glare at him. "Would you have just walked away?"

He didn't answer, but he didn't have to, I could see the answer in his eyes. He would have done exactly what I did, and we both knew it. Our relationship, formed in such a risky situation, with me half-insane and Wufei and Heero not knowing just how they felt about each other, was as solid as rock now, and we would all defend it from any attackers. We had lost so much in our lives, sacrificed everything, and we were tired of it. We would keep this one thing, we would hold onto it and fight for it.

Wufei smiled and brushed my cheek with his fingertips. "You were miles away," he murmured, and I blushed.

"Thinking," I murmured, my breath hitching as he ran his thumb across my lips. He leaned forward to kiss me softly, his fingers trailing down my throat until they met my collar.

I broke away and took a step back, forcing myself to behave. We were at work, we did not get intimate at work. I kept repeating it to myself like a mantra, and after a moment I felt confident enough that I could speak and not get sappy.

"We both have work to do," I said. "So let's go do it. I'll see you at lunch."

He sighed and nodded, turning towards the stairs. I'd half-hoped that he'd take the elevator with me, our offices were just two doors apart, but understood why he hadn't.

There was a package waiting for me on my desk, and I froze in the doorway. I realised distantly that it was safe, otherwise Security wouldn't have let it come into the building, but just because it wasn't a bomb didn't mean I would like what it contained. I thought about calling Fei, but realised it would be cowardly, so I walked forward and ripped it open.

There was a bundle of black cloth inside the brown paper, and I frowned at it, before poking it cautiously. When nothing popped out and I didn't smell anything funky, I gingerly removed the cloth and unfolded it. A piece of paper fluttered to the desk and I picked it up.

Next time you visit, remember to take all your clothes with you

I recognised Hilde's rough scrawl and relaxed immediately, now recognising the black cloth as one of my favourite tee shirts that had been missing for a week. I turned it around to look at the faded half-skull on the front, and breathed a small sigh of relief. Ya know, having someone stalking Heero was doing nothing for my paranoia.

I blinked and wondered where I'd come up with that word. Stalking. Did two gifts qualify as stalking? I was kinda hoping it did, we had some very strict laws about stalking nowadays. Still, that Heero had a bona fide stalker was a bit creepy. Sure, some people had sent us some weird shit, sometimes meant as genuine presents and sometimes not, but none of us had ever had a real stalker.

"You know, if you ignore me again I'm gonna start to get a complex," Alex said, and I belatedly realised that she was sitting at her desk watching me.

"Oh, sorry, Alex, I was… um, well, nevermind, just sorry."

"Wanna tell me why you ran out of here like a bat out of hell yesterday?"

"Trouble at home," I muttered, flopping down into my chair.

"Okay."

I frowned, having expected a grilling, but she just shrugged and went back to whatever she was doing on her computer. I sighed and reached across to the vid-phone to dial home. I rubbed my eyes and flicked my bangs out of my eyes as I listened to it ring. I was tired, not physically but mentally. I wanted to go home, and curl up in bed with my lovers, and just not have to think about stalkers and bloody roses for a long, long time.

My frown deepened when Heero failed to pick up after the eighth ring. He always answered the phone before the fifth, unless he was in the shower, and then it was always before the seventh, he was too edgy to let a phone keep on ringing. Where was he?