Phantom
By Wolf Girl
Disclaimer: I do not have any sort of ownership over the characters or the premise of Gundam Wing. I do not make any sort of profit off of this story.
Warnings: AU, Sci-fi, Yaoi, minor Relena bastardization, slightly OOC Heero (as per series, but since this is AU I can do what I want with him.) 40's slang usage
AN Warning: Unfortunately, my grammar and punctuation usage is a weird mix of American and British styles... Enough said.
Pairings: 1+2, 1x2x1, 3x4, others...
Italics thought (unless obviously otherwise).
--+--
One
The alarm clock flashed red in the grey morning, once, twice, before it went off, sending strains of some heavy metal band crashing into the room. Heero rolled himself over and slammed his hand down onto the snooze button. He pulled his hand back under the covers, then looked at the clock again. There was a sticky-note stuck to his alarm.
Blearily Heero stared at it, cross-eyed with sleep. Don't tell anyone, it read. He peeled it off and flicked it over the edge of the bed. The alarm beeped again. Sighing, he got up, dragging the blanket part of the way across the room with him before abandoning it as he entered the bathroom.
His hand found the light-switch, and with it, another note. It'll be our secret. He yawned and turned to the sink, and finding, No one was supposed to find out, written on the bathroom mirror in red lipstick. Brushing his teeth, he contemplated it. Other than desecration of property, all he could think about was a shower.
Fifteen minutes later Heero emerged, stepping on the first note, then shaking it off his foot as he pulled on some pants. There was a note on the doorknob leading out of his room. It started out as fascination, then turned into something more. He crumpled it up and shoved it in his back pocket. "You're making me feel as though I'm talking to myself!" Heero growled at him, though he wasn't there anymore. His voice saying his name rang through Heero's mind.
He walked into the living room, his hair dripping cold, wet tracks down his back, pleasant in the already humid room. Heero threw his towel on the hat rack and flopped down onto the swivel chair as the monitor buzzed to life. On the screen there was a word document requesting a password to open. He was the only one who protected his documents. Heero stared at it for a long time.
Getting up with a grunt, he went to the kitchen to get some coffee. Someone had turned the coffee maker, and it was just finishing percolating. It was then he found another of those infuriating notes. When you read it, you'll understand, it read, in bold capital letters, taped to the door of the fridge.
He ripped it off the fridge and crumpled it up, throwing it in the trash can. He poured his coffee and set it down on the desk next to the keyboard. The notes ran through his mind. Don't tell anyone. It'll be our secret. No one was supposed to find out. It started out with fascination, then turned into something more. When you read it you'll understand.
He paused, his finger on the escape button of the keyboard. When you read it… He shakily typed in the only word which he knew could be the password. The document sprang up on the screen.
"By the time anyone reads this, I will have gone.
"My life wasn't like a fairy tale, dropping all the parts of the story into place at once to make a whole. It was more like a puzzle, with me having to search for each piece and its place.
"The first puzzle piece was found unexpectedly on the street. He looked me over and asked if I wanted a job. I was hungry enough to say yes.
"When he told me one could tell a person's personality by their shoes, I didn't believe him. We were standing in the rain waiting for some jackson to come by our corner that we could do over. He told me that the best way to pick which john to work was to look at his shoes.
"I didn't take that advice seriously until the second time my john with an expensive suit on, but feet clad in ratty flats, turned out to have nothing more in his wallet than a bus pass and some food stamps. I wasn't much appreciated back at the place that night. After that I didn't think of it for a long time, because by then I had discovered that my looks gave me a better set of skills than simple pickpocketing.
"If you were to ask me where I learned my manners, I would have to tell you that I was taught the high-class act from a drunken old man who squandered away his fortune gambling, then occasionally reformed. He sent me out for infiltration only a few years in, and he said I had a knack for it. It was the best move I ever made in my life, and the worst."
The cursor sat blinking on the page in front of him. He clicked the close button at the corner of the screen and quietly shut down the computer. Heero gulped the last of his coffee and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. Heero, he called to him silently. But he wouldn't be back.
--+--
Duo entered the room and recoiled slightly. The smell of death hung heavy in the air. He glanced around carefully. There was a dead body sitting on the floor in a puddle of blood and the safe was already open. He retched a little at the sight of the body's death wound; someone had sunk a hatchet into the man's head and left it there.
He crept over to the safe, but there wasn't anything left. He felt around in the corners, and checked the seams of the safe. Bingo. A catch tripped and the bottom of the safe popped up. He couldn't see down into the secret cache, but he could feel parcel lying at the bottom of the drawer.
Duo heard a noise and froze. Nothing was there. He quickly stowed the parcel in his bag, and slunk over to the door, gun raised. He peered out into the hallway. Nothing.
He stayed in the doorway and readjusted his gloved hands. He didn't think he was alone, so there was only one way to find out. Duo went back into the hall, stepping out. Still silence. He walked to the end of the hallway to the window he'd come in. The curtains flapped in and out of the window. He sighed in relief and leapt out of it, landing safely in a roll on the ground.
A light went on inside. He quickly ran over to the hedge, half-crouched down. His hole was still there. Well, the hole made by whomever had killed that man. He winced at what would happen when the other criminal found out he had the wrong package.
Duo hurried down the street, keeping himself in the shadows. An arm shot out from around a corner, catching him by the shoulders. "Relax, kid. Did you get it?" the deep, rumbling voice asked.
"Yeah. Where's the money?" He whispered.
"Let's go inside first. It's too dark out here." The arm tugged him into a building with a brightly lit hallway. Duo handed him the package, and the man quickly untied it. He pored over the papers for a moment before considering the object.
Duo shifted from foot to foot nervously. This transaction was taking too long for his tastes. Never know who's waiting. He fingered the communicator in his pocket.
The man grunted, then reached around behind himself. Duo took one glance, then shoved the man, grabbing the briefcase as well as the documents, and ran, dodging out of sight behind a large crate.
The man recovered and raced off in the direction he had gone, but Duo was well hidden in the gloomy dark and rain. Once the man ran past him, Duo sat crouched against a wall, clutching the documents. They were starting to get soggy.He glanced at them again apraisingly, then spun the dials on the briefcase so it popped open. He shoved the documents inside before shutting it.
He slowly stood and looked around himself carefully. Seeing no-one there, he quickly hurried out of sight.
--+--
End notes: Sorry, but my other story A Lesson to Be Learned is on hiatus for now. I don't have access to my files where I am.
However, this is the new Sci-fi fic I've been planning, so I can get this up and running in the meantime.
As always, R&R si vous plait!