Title: A Minor Justice
Author: Scriptophobic
Pairing: This part, none
Warnings: Language, violence
Note: Edited but not beta'd
Disclaimer: I don't own stuff.
Chapter 1
Heero Yuy's apartment was really not much more than a studio even though it had been listed as a "charming one bedroom with a view". In reality, the "view" was of a bunch of buildings which didn't matter anyway since he almost never opened the blinds and the "bedroom" was the size of a pantry and was now being used as a storage closet for computer hardware and various other pieces of electronics. His bed was the only real piece of furniture in the apartment aside from his desk and a small entertainment center with his TV and various video game consoles.
He had two computers (a PC and a laptop. the PC was used for storage purposes) and no telephone. The only people who contacted him were potential clients and all correspondence was done through e-mail, so having a phone bill was unnecessary when he had wireless internet access.
Heero stretched out on his bed and popped a chip into his mouth as he stared at his laptop intently. Techno music blasted through his ear phones as he casually went about ruining his rival's livelihood. Well perhaps "rival" was too strong of a word. Heero's programming skills were far superior and Clarence Dayborn didn't even have an inkling of hacking experience outside of bullshit proggies that he downloaded off of script kiddy websites. Unfortunately both of them were freelance web developers and for the past couple of months all of Heero's clients had been switching over to Clarence because they apparently decided that being thrifty was more important than getting quality work.
Heero hadn't really batted an eyelash at first because there were always other corporate giants willing to spend obscene amounts of money to outsource the creation of a website but that was before Clarence had foolishly decided to gloat. If it was one thing Heero hated, it was a third rate programmer with an ego the size of Quatre Winner's bank account.
There were two things that really went hand in hand with being a hacker and those were ego and the irresistible urge to play with fire even after you've already been burned. Heero's ego wasn't as inflated as it could have been but he definitely didn't tolerate being talked down to by someone who didn't even understand the concept of PHP. Despite his past brushes with the law, he didn't stop himself from effectively destroying every project Clarence had ever worked on and reconfiguring the net access on his computer so that he wasn't able to log on at all. He may have dropped a virus or two as well.
He was in the process of successively turning another one of Clarence's projects to shit (a website he'd done for the Church of Christ Scientist that Heero was now turning into a porn site that focused on scat and golden showers) when the timer on his watch went off. He made a face and took off the headphones as he slid out of bed; leaving the laptop running so that he could continue uploading the appropriate files into the website's server. He'd set the timer because he actually had to leave the house today and if there wasn't something around to remind him, he'd completely lose track of the time like he usually did and not get to the bank on time; which had been the case for the past three days. He would have preferred to never leave the house or see the light of day but unfortunately he couldn't magically make money appear out of thin air and there was no ATM anywhere near his building so he had to make the journey to Lendholm Trust and Save.
Heero pulled on a pair of black cargo pants and his black binary t-shirt before putting the headphones back on as he glanced in the mirror. His hair was a mess, he had dark circles under his eyes and he was pale as all hell due to lack of sun. "You look like shit," he told his reflection with a snort. Strangely his reflection had no reply. He shook his head and grabbed his wallet before heading out the door.
-------
"You're looking lovely as usual, Relena. Is something different?" Quatre Raberba Winner watched as his long time friend settled herself down in the limo and crossed her legs at the knee.
"Oh so something has to be different in order for me to look lovely?" She teased as she gave him a peck on the cheek. He opened his mouth to protest but she waved it off and brushed at material of her dress. "I let my sister-in-law talk me into wearing something more 'lady like' for our little lunch date," She replied with a sniff of disdain. "I don't see how anyone wears silk. It wrinkles ridiculously easy."
Quatre laughed and glanced out the window as his driver pulled away from house and headed towards the gates of the Peacecraft estate. "Since when does Lucrezia care about you looking lady like?"
"Since my brother started teasing me about how I would never find a 'young man' if I kept on with my pant suits and turtle necks. Lucrezia has apparently decided to make it her business to find me a husband while Milliardo is doing business in the colonies." She studied her nails and wrinkled her nose. "They seem to think you are quite a catch."
"Yes but do they know that I'm a homosexual catch?" Quatre asked with barely contained laughter.
"I think they're mentally blocking that part out," she replied dryly. "Anyway, I'm starving. What do you say we go to Ivy's for a steak? I'm feeling a little anemic today."
"Actually I was thinking we'd go to Tea Box unless of course you want me to go to Ivy's and eat soup and a salad like I'm on some diet."
"Ugh, remind me why I even go out to eat with you? You can't eat anything from anywhere I like to go," She complained.
"Well blame the restaurant bureaucrats who refuse to attach a Halal side menu even though there are Kosher dishes in every single eatery in this damned country," Quatre retorted. "All I ever get to eat is seafood and salads."
"Well you're a bureaucrat; do something about it." Relena frowned at her stockings and scratched her thigh irritably; they made her itch.
"Winner Enterprises doesn't really deal with the restaurant business," He replied dryly.
"Well maybe you ought to then. Make the world a better place for Muslims everywhere!"
Quatre rolled his eyes and waved off her comment. "That reminds me..." He leaned forward and rolled down the partition window. "We're making a stop at Lendholm Trust and Save and then to Tea Box," He told the driver.
"Short on cash?"
"Oh, please. I want to make a deposit before I do anything else today. If I don't do it now I'll forget and the check will sit in my pocket until Miranda finds it when she takes it out to the dry cleaners. It seems like I can't do anything without my assistant reminding me anymore."
"It's probably stress," Relena said sympathetically. "You need a vacation, Quatre. Between my schedule and yours it's amazing that we even found time to have lunch today. Just promise me that starting now you're going to take it easy. No more running on three hours of sleep and skipping meals. I worry about you, you know."
"It's hard to worry about sleeping and eating with my father being sick and all of his executive duties being left up to me." Quatre rubbed his forehead and sighed. "I wish my sisters would take a hand in helping out but he seems totally against the idea and they don't want to go against his wishes when it seems like he's on his deathbed."
Relena tsked and shook her head. "He's an old chauvinist, is what he is."
"No... he's just old fashioned." Quatre shrugged.
"Well whatever the case may be, we all know that he isn't going anywhere anytime soon and that soon some of the weight will be lifted off your shoulders and when that happens I want you to take a vacation."
"But--"
"Don't argue with me! I'm a politician. You won't win."
Quatre grinned and sat back in the seat. "What would I do without you here to boss me around?"
"You'd wait for one of your sisters to do it," She replied dryly.
"You know, it's sad but you're probably right," Quatre admitted sheepishly. He squeezed Relena's hand and gave her a genuine smile. Sometimes he wished things had turned out differently because if he had been born heterosexual... Well, he and Relena would have made a perfect match.
-----
"We're screwed."
"No, no we're not. I don't want to hear that defeatist attitude from you," Duo chastised as he sucked on his cigarette and peeked out the loft's window.
"Should I say it in a more cheerful tone?" Trowa asked dryly as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the television. "Apparently we're serial killers now," He said with a snort. "You and your artistic butchery."
"It's not like they minded," Duo replied as he turned away from the window. "They were already dead. And don't go trying to blame me for any of this shit. If you hadn't acted like a pansy and made me hesitate, I would have shot her before she had the chance to get all clever with her camera phone." He shook his head and tucked his braid under his jacket. "As long as we get back to space, we should be cool. We can get lost on L2--" He snapped his fingers. "--Like that."
"He's going to be pissed."
"Fuck him, okay? He's lucky we're even doing his fucking dirty work." Duo put out his cigarette and pulled a black baseball cap low over his eyes. "We're gonna need money if we're gonna get off this stupid rock. You know those Spacers won't turn the other cheek unless the price is right."
Trowa grunted and stared at the blurry image of Duo's face on the television screen. "It's not a good idea for you to be going out."
"Fuck a good idea, we need some cash or we WILL be screwed. I know a guy downtown who can hook me up with a few Gs. If I´m not back in a few hours, get the cruiser and get the hell out of dodge."
Trowa looked over his shoulder at Duo for a long moment before sighing and offering a one shouldered shrug. "Be careful, Maxwell. No fireworks and no killing anyone, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Duo muttered and hurried out the door before his partner could shoot off anymore orders. He and Trowa had a good thing going and he didn't want to screw it up by going against him too often, but at the same time he felt like Trowa was cramping his style. He liked fireworks, damn it. He grumbled under his breath and hopped in "their" van; starting it up and roaring down the street.
His plan was simple; get in, get out and cause as little damage as possible because there was no way in hell he was getting out of there with a bunch of cops on his tail. Duo's gloved hands clenched on the steering wheel and he grit his teeth. He didn't admit it in front of Trowa but he knew that they were screwed. They'd only had two things going for them up until now: the fact that no one knew who they were and that no one knew where they were, but now one of those things was gone and only him pulling this plan off successfully was going to get them out of it. Getting off Earth was easy enough but bypassing the security check to get into L2 could only be done by paying off the Spacers in charge at the station and this was going to get them the money for it.
Going alone was dicey but he knew Trowa would have never agreed. It was an unnecessary risk in his eyes and he would have taken his chances with the Spacers before possibly getting in trouble on Earth. Duo lit another cigarette and inhaled deeply; he wanted to enjoy it just in case it was the last one he would ever get to have.
He got to his destination fairly quickly and Duo patted himself down to make sure he had everything that he needed before cutting the engine and getting out of the van. It was one of the smaller branches of Lendholm Trust and Save and he knew from previous visits that there were only two guards on duty during the day and that one of them took an hour lunch break right about now. He pulled up the hood of his black jacket and grinned to himself before looking up and down the street. The only things on the block were a few apartment buildings, a dance studio and restaurant that didn't open until six in the evening. Everyone was either at work or at school so it was pretty deserted. Perfect.
The first guard was standing near the ATMs between the front entrance and the inner entrance. The inner entrance led to the tellers and there was another side door that probably led to a storage closet. Duo entered casually and nodded at the guy as he situated himself in front of an ATM. "Catch the game last night?" Duo asked casually as he slid his tranq-gun out of his sleeve.
"Yeah I caught it and it was such a disgrace that I don't even want to talk about it," The guy grumbled good naturedly. He turned towards the main entrance and started to say more but Duo was behind him and pricking him with the tranq-gun before he could finish. "Yeah, I don't really want to talk about it either," Duo said cheerfully and slid the gun back in his sleeve before quickly dragging the guy towards the storage closet. He took his jammer out of his pocket and slid it into the keyhole. The lock clicked after a few experimental twists and Duo shoved the guard inside and locked it behind him. So far, so good but Duo knew from experience that this type of thing was rarely ever this easy.
There were two tellers, both female, and a pissed off looking, grungy, Asian guy who was standing in the front. "Listen-- I know I have more than that in my account and I don't know what all of these fees are for, so--"
"I'll explain them to you, Mr. Yuy if you just give me a moment--"
The Asian kid cut her off again and Duo turned away as he checked out the other teller. She was older and looked a lot more likely to do something stupid so Duo approached her first. She looked him up and down and her eyes immediately turned suspicious. "Can I help you?"
Duo nodded earnestly and leaned on the desk as he slid his tranq-gun out again. "Yes if you could just pass out really fast---" He leaned forward and stabbed her neck with it, hitting the plunger as a panicked scream escaped her throat. "--that would be great. Thanks!" He grinned when she hit the floor and pulled his Glock out, leveling it at the Asian guy who had frozen in place.
"Oh my God, Oh my--"
"Oh shut the hell up before I get really annoyed and shoot you," Duo complained mildly at the other teller. "I promised I wouldn't kill anyone today so that would be really unfortunate. So if you could just be a dear and give me all the money you have in that little drawer right ther--yes, that one! Good girl! --that would be GREAT!" Duo beamed and watched the frightened teller scramble around out of the corner of his eye, even as he kept his gun trained on the Asian guy.
"H-here it is. Please! Please don't shoot me! I have a family and--" She broke off and began crying.
Duo rolled his eyes and grabbed the guy by the hair. "Take a seat, buddy. No funny stuff unless you want me to put a bullet between those pretty blue eyes." He backed towards the teller and grabbed the plastic bag she was shoving across the desk before pricking her with the tranquilizer gun. The Asian guy didn't seem particularly interested in playing hero so Duo started to dash out the door when it swung open and three people entered. A blonde couple and an older guy in uniform.
"Fuckin' A!" Duo dodged behind one of the teller booths as the second guard pulled out his gun. Duo bit down on his lower lip to swallow the scream of pain that tried to get out when he took a shot in the arm.
"Drop your gun!" The guard bellowed.
Duo rolled his eyes. Yeah. That was definitely going to happen. He ignored the searing pain in his arm and rolled to the side as he aimed and shot the guard in the kneecap. There was an explosion of blood and two screams. One from the guard and another from the blonde girl who was backing towards the door. "Kick the gun across the room or I'll blow your cute girlfriend's head off," Duo snarled at the blonde man and aimed his gun at the girl's head. "NOW." The man quickly kicked the gun away.
"Please, we're not involved in this in any way--"
"Shut the HELL up," Duo yelled. He knew any moment that there were going to be sirens and there was no way in hell he was getting out of this with the money when one of his arms was useless and the other one was holding the gun. He licked his lips and glanced at the annoyingly calm Asian guy. "Pick up the bag of money and go towards the door."
The Asian guy didn't move.
Duo sneered and grabbed the blonde man, pressing his gun to the side of his head. The blonde girl screamed again and lunged forward, but Duo kicked her away from him and she went slamming into the wall. "Do it or I'll blow his fucking brains out."
The Asian guy hesitated for a long, tense moment before getting up and grabbing the bag. "Now what?"
Duo licked his lips again and swung the blonde guy around as he backed out the door. "Follow me to the black van in front. Do anything stupid and I swear to God, this guy's brains is gonna be splattered all over his Armani suit."
The blonde guy tensed but allowed himself to be pulled out of the bank. "Everything will be fine, Relena! Just--just stay there and everything will be fine!" The man called to the blonde girl in a shaky voice.
...Relena!? Duo's eyes snapped to the girl again and recognition sparked almost immediately. Shit. Good thing he hadn't shot her like he'd originally wanted to. He'd be fucked all the way around.
They got outside and surprisingly the street was still deserted although faint sirens could be heard coming closer. Someone had probably heard the gunshots and called the police. Duo gripped the guy's shoulder and looked around quickly. There was an older man leaning against a black limo, reading a magazine. The man looked up and his eyes widened but before he could say anything, the blonde man held up his hands. "Just get in the limo and I'll be fine, Hazier!"
Duo smirked as the old man scurried inside and edged towards the back of the truck. "Open the door and get inside; drop the bag and get in the driver's seat. Do anything stupid and I swear to God--"
"I got it," The Asian guy snarled and did as he was told.
Duo smirked at the driver through the limo's windshield and used his bad arm to prick the blonde man with the tranq-gun. The blonde went slack immediately and Duo awkwardly shoved him inside of the van before jumping in and slamming the doors shut. "Now fucking drive like your life depends on it!" Duo yelled and leaned against the side of the van as he aimed the gun at the unconscious man.
"I kind of think it is right now," The Asian guy snapped and took off down the street.
Duo slid down to the van's floor and panted harshly as he kept the gun trained on the blonde. "If you even think of flagging anyone down--"
"Yeah, you'll blow his fucking head off. I got it the first time."
For a moment, Duo had the urge to laugh hysterically and after another moment... he gave in.
Well that plan had been completely shot to hell.
Trowa was going to flip.
TBC