Chapter 6

"What. . .the. . .ASUKA!" Chang ran through the bullet riddled hallways of his home, searching everywhere for signs of life. Bodies of housekeepers and various unknown people lay in many of the rooms and in the hall, all silent tales of what Hell brought loose in the building. His heart pounding, Chang pushed himself to run faster as he made for Asuka's office. He came to a sudden stop in the doorway of his wife's office, exclaiming, "ASUKA!" The room was a disaster, papers scattered everywhere, furniture ripped to shreds by bladed weapons and bullets, blood staining the fine blue wallpaper. Panting for air, his focus centered on the form sitting in the middle of the ruin, transfixed on a parchment in her hands. He ran over to her and grabbed her shoulders, saying, "Stacy, what happened! Where's my wife!" Her eyes snapped up to him and she said with tear-filled eyes, "M-Mr. Wufei. . .they. . .they came in and. . .so loud, bullets everywhere. . ."

"Get a hold of yourself, woman! What happened to Asuka! Tell me!" Chang demanded desperately.

"She fought them off but they. . .they shot her! They took her, Mr. Wufei! She's gone!" Stacy began to sob fearfully, shaking as she touched her hand to her lips.

"Who took her? What did they look like?" Stacy looked down at the paper she was still clutching and Chang snatched it from her hand, reading it over. His eyes widened by the sentence, letting a gasped no breach his clenched teeth as the last words stuck in his mind.

Treize lives. . .

"Have a good day, Trowa. . ." Rachel said goodbye to her friend.

"You too." Trowa responded quietly, stepping out and closing the door. Rachel sighed and walked out into the living room, wandering to the sliding glass doors leading to their second floor balcony and staring out at the city in the distance. She slid the door open and stepped out, feeling a cool breeze rush up to greet her and play through her hair. Slowly, she leaned against the railing round the overhang and gazed off in deep thought, vaguely watching a flock of birds fly past. A soft thump disturbed her and she quickly turned, staring into the face of a man dressed head to toe in black apparel. He swiftly stepped up to her, grabbing her arms and pinning her against the railing. Her eyes widened as the instinct to scream evaded her, his piercing green eyes sucking the voice out of her.

So. . .dark. . .there's such a void in his eyes. . .Rachel thought as her knees lightly shook. Suddenly, a weak feeling swept through her body and she felt her whole form begin to give beneath her.

"Who. . .are. . ." Rachel whispered, unable to finish as her vision hazed over and she passed out.

"Rachel, I'm heading out! Rachel?" Duo walked into the living room and looked around, finding himself alone. He walked over to the open sliding door and stared out at the empty balcony, saying to himself, "Where'd she go?"

"Maxwell, you're late! Where have you been?" Hilde exclaimed, her arms crossed over her chest, foot tapping expectantly. Duo headed for the check in desk as he said, "Sorry, my girlfriend disappeared this morning without saying where she was going. I was a little worried. . ."

"What, think she's cheating on you? Don't blame her if she is, you're lazy and you let your paperwork pile up so high it takes over the desk to the point I don't know if one exists anymore!"

"Okay, I get your point, I won't be late again. . ." Duo said, mumbling, ". . .this week."

"I heard that! If we weren't partners in this business, I'd fire you! Now, are you going to sort out those orders or am I gonna have to do them myself!"

"I'm moving, alright! Geez!" Duo complained, quickly walking to his office and entering, shutting the door behind him. He plopped down in his chair and let out a sigh, looking at the small stack on his desk.

"So much she couldn't see the desk, pftt, I could sort this in ten minutes. . ." Duo mocked, beginning to look through and approve the papers. He finished exactly 10 minutes later and got up, strolling over to his door with the finished work and stepping out just as a man ran into him. His papers went flying in the air and he groaned, catching the ones still floating down.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Duo!" The man apologized, stooping to help pick up the mess.

"No problem, José. So what's the big hurry?" Duo said with a sigh.

"I gotta run in to see if anyone else is free for the big job, I can't believe they want this all today! It's insane!" José exclaimed, handing Duo a stack of the papers.

"Big job?" Duo queried as he settled the papers.

"Yeah, 73000 metric tons of Titanium Alloy! I don't know if there's that much out there but we're scrounging all we can! They're paying us 5 million for it, just for all the overtime work. This is great but it's a pain to do with so much of staff out today of all days."

"Do you still have the order form for this?" Duo asked as he stood.

"Yeah, it should be in the main office, filed under 'M' for Mariemaia." José said before walking away to find more workers. Duo frowned and headed for the main office. He walked in and smiled to the secretary who was busily talking on the phone.

"Danielle, how are-" Duo leaned against her desk. She raised her finger to him and gave him a look, pointing to the phone. He rolled his eyes and waited as she said, "I'll have to call you back, Laurel, bye. Whatcha want, boss?"

"Could you get me the file for 'Mariemaia', I need to look over the order to check something. Oh, and file these." Duo said, plopping the pile of papers down. Danielle rolled over to the filing wall and pulled out the drawer marked "M". Fingering through, she finally pulled out a file and said, "Here ya go, I hear this one's gonna make us rich and do wonders for business."

"Yeah, so I've heard. . ." Duo muttered as he opened the folder and looked the order over. At the bottom, he noticed his signature on the approval line and frowned.

"Something wrong?" Danielle looked concerned by his expression.

"I forgot, when did this come in?" Duo asked.

"Well I don't know. . .I assume today. . .why?"

"Nothing. . .thanks. Mind if I keep this for a bit? I'll bring them back, don't worry. . ." Duo winked. She rolled her eyes and said, "Just go, I have work to do and your flirting is cutting into my time."

"No prob, babe. . .later." Duo saluted with the file and strolled out, his face sinking into a dead serious frown the second he was out the door.

I have to get this to Relena and the others as soon as possible. . .Rachel might know about this Mariemaia but I don't know where she went to. . .I guess I'll give her a call later.

"Relena." Heero stood in her office doorway, a solemner than usual look on his face. She looked up and said, "Yes, Heero? What is it?"

"Chang just called me. . .Asuka's been kidnapped."

"What? How, when!" Relena stood straight up, looking supremely startled by this news.

"Apparently it happened just today, he says the bodies are still warm. . ."

"Why is all of this happening, of all times when it really looked like peace was real for everyone. . ."

"Some people live to battle, they can't stand the silence. Relena, we need to take some action before anyone else disappears. . ." They heard a coded knock at the door and Relena said, "What's Duo doing here?" Pagan let him in and they all met up in the hallway.

"Duo, what is it?" Relena asked, noting the stern look on his face.

"You said to keep an eye out for anything strange. . .is this close enough?" Duo handed her the file with the order inside. She looked the paper over, a growing concern showing on her face.

"Why did you sign it? This is obviously from who we're looking for." Relena said, looking up.

"I didn't, someone forged my signature. . .did a darn good job too, it's exactly like mine."

"And that's no easy feat to do, your handwriting's horrid. . ." Heero glanced at Duo.

"This is no time to joke, Heero. . .hey, has Rachel stopped by or called you guys?"

"No, we haven't seen her since the meeting this morning. Why?"

"Well, she was in the apartment when I went upstairs to get ready for work. I wasn't gone but maybe 5 minutes when I came down and found the place empty. The balcony door was open though. . .that was a little odd. But if she was kidnapped she would have stopped them or screamed, done something to warn me." Duo looked worried.

"I think we really need to take this a step further, I'm calling Milliardo." Heero said, walking back to his office. Relena and Duo were about to follow when they heard another knock at the door.

"I'll get it, you go ahead and do whatever you need to." Duo said. Relena nodded and walked back to her husband's office to join his conversation with Milliardo. Duo walked over and opened the heavy oak door, staring out at a man dressed in a brown shirt and shorts, the initials "U.P.S." embroidered on his shirt sleeve and pocket. He looked a little awkward, holding a large package and signature board.

"Package for Mrs. Peacecraft Yu-AH!" The box began to slip out of his hand and he frantically grabbed at it, managing to send the board flying and ending up hunched over, his arms wrapped around the box. Duo cocked his eyebrow and said, "Yuy?"

"Uh yeah. . ." the man sighed. Duo motioned for him to bring it in and he did, tripping over the carpet as he walked toward a table to set the package down. Duo caught the box and the man sprawled out over the floor.

"Man. . .hey wait, do I know you? You seem. . .strangely familiar. . .like we've bumped into each other once. . ." Duo said, watching him stand up and dust himself off.

"Well, with my luck I probably did bump into you. . .literally." He responded dismally.

"I know you now! Chris, right? You helped us out during the war, joined forces with that Otto guy?" Duo said, sounding excited.

"Yeah, who are you? Sorry, I forget things sometimes. . ." Duo pointed to his braid and said, "Come on, how could you forget this thing?"

"Duo?"

"Yep! Hey man. . .doing deliveries now?"

"Yeah, I actually like the job. . .it's just not really my day today. . .had a dog chase me across a yard and I tripped over a water hose and flipped over a fence right into a kiddy pool."

"That would explain the. . .slightly damp look." Duo looked him over, just now noticing the wet appearance to his uniform.

"Uh huh. . ."

"You got some luck there, man. Hey, maybe someday your clumsiness will save the day."

"Yeah right, I wish. . .hey, uh, can I get someone to sign for this? Er. . .where'd my board go. . ." He ran back outside and saw it laying in the lawn just past the porch steps, which he proceeded to trip down and fall onto the hard concrete sidewalk. Duo cringed and watched to see what he'd do next. Chris tripped back up the stairs and stumbled into the house, saying, "Whew, would hate to get caught falling up stairs!"

"That'd be embarrassing. . .hey, I'll just sign for it." Duo said. Chris took the box while Duo signed, holding it between his arm and cheek, his ear pressed against it. He frowned while Duo was finishing his signature and Duo glanced up, saying, "I know, I have horrible handwriting. . ."

"No, this box is. . .making strange noises. . ." Chris said. Duo put his ear to the box too and his eyes widened as he yelled, "It's a bomb! Get it out of here!"

"AAAHH!" Chris began running in circles wildly as Duo tried to get him out of the building. They both raced down the sidewalk with the box toward the lake nearby, chucking it in as hard as they could. Chris put too much effort into the toss and fell headfirst into the water. Quickly, Duo grabbed him by the back of his pants and dragged him away from the lake, falling to the ground just as a fountain of water erupted from the lake with a rumble. Duo looked back and said, "That was close. . .you okay, man?"

"Sure. . .all in a day's. . .who am I kidding, that scared the crud out of me!" Chris exclaimed, close to tears. Duo patted his back and stood up, helping him to his feet.

Trying to take out the foreign minister and her husband. . .they're getting serious. . .so should we. No more playing around, this time. . .we're gonna end this before it starts!

"I understand, I'll get my finest men on the job. Right, bye." Milliardo hung up the phone and turned to Noin who had been listening.

"Gonna call in your 'finest' men, huh? You're not talking about those five dorks that sit around playing card games all day, are you?" Noin asked, looking a little worried.

"Who better? I'll be back in a couple hours." Milliardo smiled and gave Noin a kiss before he went out the door. An hour later, he arrived at a warehouse in the middle of the industrial district. He walked up to a side door and opened it, stepping into a large, half empty room with a table in the middle, a single light glowing over a group of four guys playing some form of cards.

"Hey look, it's the boss man!" one of the men said, tipping down his black shades as he watched Milliardo approach them.

"Mike, Mike, Mike. . .Chris. . ." Milliardo went around the table, addressing each of them as they nodded a hello.

"Yardo, what's up?" Chris said with a smile, shaking hands with his friend then throwing a card down in the middle of the table on one of the various piles scattered here and there.

"Playing Peanuts again? Is that all you play?" Milliardo watched them for a moment. Chris had his favorite deck in hand as he said, "Yep, got all my ducks in a row. . ." He motioned to the cards in front of him with a duck design on the backs. Milliardo shook his head and said, "I have a job for you guys, if you're up to it."

"Dude, we've been ready for. . .how long have we been in here?" Mike asked. Mike shrugged. Mike didn't speak, as usual.

"Well, I think I missed my grandma's birthday, that was in August. . ." Chris commented casually, slapping down his last card and yelling, "PEANUTS!"

"You always win. . ." Mike said quietly, counting his remaining cards.

"Yeah, you stink. . ." Mike commented grudgingly.

"Then why do I always win?" Chris over dramatically said, staring at Mike.

"Guys? Can I have a moment of your attention?" Milliardo asked, sighing as he crossed his arms.

"Oh sure, go ahead, boss." Chris waved his hand as he sorted the cards laying in the center of the table.

"There's been some trouble brewing in the past two days, serious stuff. The Sanc United Bank was robbed and 10 million dollars in stock was stolen and sold. Also, Chang Wufei's wife, Asuka has been kidnapped and Rachel's missing."

"Sounds like fun! Was anyone hurt?" Mike asked, pushing his shades back up onto his face.

"Yes. . ."

"Can we hurt people now?" Mike asked, glancing at Mike who had a glint in his eyes at the mention of violence.

"Maybe. Look, we need you to get in and find out who's behind all of this. Right now the only leads we have are an athletic woman with long legs-"

"I'll sacrifice myself to the task of taking her down and pumping her for information." Chris said, his voice very serious.

"Yeah, I bet you'd enjoy that. . ." Mike said, smiling with his eyes behind the glasses. Chris sarcastically laughed and chucked some cards at him.

"Where's Dexter? I need to talk to someone who isn't an immature idiot. . ." Milliardo said, walking away.

"Hey, you hired us! You knew from the start we were idiots and yet. . .still we work for you." Chris pointed out.

"It was written in your résumé, wasn't it?" Mike commented.

"Yeah, right next to my modeling experience. . ." Chris cocked an eyebrow as he grinned.

"That's right. . .hey, you were a model too? Weren't you a model, Mike?" Mike looked over to Mike who just shrugged.

"Dexter, where are you?" Milliardo called out as he walked across the room. Suddenly, he heard some loud noises and an explosion from behind a door by him.

"Uh oh, sounds like another messed up experiment in Dexter's Lab. . ." Chris winked.

"HA, good one!" Mike slapped Chris' hand.

"I thought so. . ." Chris grinned.

"Ugh. . .maybe Noin's right. . ." Milliardo grumbled as he opened the noisy door and let out a cloud of smoke. Coughing, he said, "Dexter?"

"Mr. Peacecraft! Hello! coughcough Sorry about the mess, I would have held off on my work and cleaned up a bit if I knew you were coming by! How's the family?" a tall, brown haired man stepped out of the room, his fair skin covered in ash and other mysterious substances. As he dusted himself off, Milliardo said, "They're fine for the moment. We've been having some problems and I knew you guys could handle it. . .if you felt up to the job. . ."

"Come on, boss, it would be an insult if you didn't ask! We'll find out whatever you want, right guys?" Chris stood up with a grin, walking over to join the conversation.

"My brother's confident in our success, and so am I. We may not seem like much but. . ." Dexter said, putting his arm around Chris who pushed it away, complaining about his Armani suit.

"I know. . .I've seen you in action, that's all I need to know to trust you. Get to work as soon as you can, Chris will fill you in on your objectives."

"Yes, sir!" Dexter saluted.

"Alright, sounds like the "The Fainéant Five" are back in action! YeeeeESSS!" Mike high fived Mike.

"The Fainéant Five?" Milliardo cocked his eyebrow at the name.

"Means lazy. . .it was Mike's idea. . ." Chris motioned to the quiet Mike half hiding behind him.

"Ah. . .well, get to work. I have to check back with Relena to make sure no one else has turned up missing. . ." Milliardo walked toward the door and the shaded Mike yelled, "We won't let you down, boss!"

Yeah, and that name really makes me feel much better. . .Milliardo thought as he sighed, walking out the door.