Not a whole lot to say. Just wanted to say sorry for the long time between updates! It's all explained at the end of the chapter. Now go read!
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Teetering precariously on the edge of the bed, the already loaded suitcase was topped with one more thing, a nice, clean hand gun, before the lid was shut and the luggage was locked securely. Heero picked up the bag, setting it on its wheels before taking it out into the hall. He passed the pouting Duo and deposited the bag in front of the main door, before returning to the bedroom for a few more necessities.
"Don't look at me like that," Heero told the boy as he passed by him again. Duo's bottom lip protruded a little bit more, as his face began to take on the look of a very sullen child.
"You know I can't help this," Heero said again, hoping to comfort his lover before leaving. He being away from Duo and he knew he'd hate it even more if he left with them fighting. "Sally wouldn't have asked unless it was a dire emergency. And from the sound of the circumstances, it really is."
Duo just frowned, staring intently at the wall across the hall. "I understand why you have to go. I just don't understand why I can't go with you." Duo glared at his shoes as he hugged his arms to his chest, a sign that he was in one of his most disagreeable moods.
Heero sighed as he rubbed his left temple. He and Duo had been arguing about his upcoming mission on and off for the past three days, and nothing had been solved. "You know exactly why you have to stay behind," Heero said, his voice sounding tired and irritable, sick of having this same conversation. "The informant that contacted Sally asked specifically for me, and that I come alone. That means you have to stay here. We can't have our chances at information jeopardized. Besides," Heero said, trying pathetically to get through Duo's thick head, "you have to stay here to work on that case you're on. That guy has been at large for over a month now, and he's getting too damn cocky for his own good. He's bound to slip up soon, and you need to be here for when he does."
Duo dropped his arms to his side in submission. He knew Heero was right, but he just couldn't shake the uneasy feeling he got whenever he thought of him going on an assignment by himself. Since they had become partners in the Preventer's organization 6 months ago, their friendship had graduated to something neither of them had ever expected to find in someone else: love. Duo didn't want anything to happen to Heero and was worried about him going on a mission without him there as backup.
"That case would have been solved weeks ago if the Tokyo police department had gotten their act together enough to stop this guy from the beginning. He's gotten too much practice in now, and they're still just sitting around, dumbfounded at the idea that someone could commit crimes with this level of ferocity."
The new case Duo was on involved a serial killer from America who had skipped countries to avoid arrest in the states, but had been unable to drop his old habits. He enjoyed finding young men or women and then kidnapping them for up to 3 days, just to torture them before scalping them and removing their hands and feet. He had a particular attraction to young men and women with extremely long hair, and the case had been plaguing local authority figures for weeks. They had finally gotten up the balls to call in the Preventers to help them stop such a horrific killer.
Heero was a bit nervous at the thought of his lover working on such a case. After the war, the pilots had been in the news quite a bit, and the fact that they worked for the Preventer's was quite well known. He didn't want the psycho to get the idea of adding a nice long braid to his collection of scalps, but Duo would here nothing of it. Sally had assigned him to the case and he had it in his mind to see it through.
Duo's comment about the Tokyo police, while being rather harsh, rang true in this case. They were effective enough in handling minor cases, but when it came to stuff like murder, they were way out of their league. Murders, in Tokyo, were few and far between. Lack of practice in handling such things had made the cops pathetically dependent on the local Preventers, and when they did try to help out, they did nothing but get in the way.
Heero glanced around the bedroom he and Duo shared, making sure he hadn't forgotten anything. He was supposed to meet the informant in a colony in the L2 system and if he left anything he needed at home, he wouldn't have the time to come back for it. Spying an extra gun sticking out from under his night stand, Heero reached for it, pulling it out and brushing off the gathering dust bunnies. Old habits die hard and both he and Duo had been known to keep random weapons around the house and always within reach. He knew for a fact that Duo still often kept his lock picks stashed in his hair. It was always fun trying to explain that one when they went through metal detectors.
Tucking the gun into the back of his jeans for the time being, Heero exited the room, coming face to face with a still very stubborn Duo.
"If I can't come with you, I at least want you to have a part of me," Duo said, his eyes daring Heero to object. He swiftly reached around his neck and unclasped the cross that he still wore every day. Grabbing Heero's hand, he placed the necklace in it and closed his fingers around the cold metal.
"Duo," Heero said, looking at his love, "I can't take this. What if something happens to it? Besides, you need this. It's your good luck charm."
Duo nodded at the remark. "That's right. And while you're gone, it's going to be your good luck charm. It's always protected me, and now it's going to protect you."
While he never really believed in good luck charms, Heero was never going to tell Duo that, so he dutifully clasped the cross around his neck, tucking it into his shirt. He leaned in, kissing Duo soundly on the lips and then broke off, heading toward the door. Duo followed him, opening the front door as Heero grabbed his bags and headed out into the hallway of their apartment building.
Since they lived on the 12th floor, they opted to take the elevator and, while standing outside of the doors, held each other's hands, knowing this would be the last contact they would have with each other for at least a week.
The dinging of the elevator bell signaling its arrival broke through their silence, Heero picking up his suitcase, while Duo grabbed his carry on and they stepped inside. They rode down, alone in the car, and exited on the ground floor, making their way toward the front of their building.
Heero's cab was waiting out front, right on time, and Duo helped him load his luggage in the trunk. Handing him his laptop to keep with him in the back, Duo grabbed Heero's hand, holding it firmly between his.
"Be careful," Duo said, his eyes full of worry. "The L2 colonies aren't exactly the nicest places. Trust me." His face had a rye smile on it, remembering the time he spent in the system growing up.
"I'll be as careful as ever, if not more," Heero said, reassuring his partner. He kissed Duo one last time before sliding into the back seat of the cab and closing the door.
"Where to, buddy?" the cab driver asked, glancing at Heero in his review mirror.
"The shuttle port," Heero answered, never taking his eyes off of his lover outside.
The car slowly pulled away, merging with the traffic, and as Duo watched it go, he saw Heero growing smaller and smaller. Finally, all he could see of his love was a bright yellow spot mixed with the other cars on the street, and he decided he should probably go back inside.
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"So where exactly did your boys find her?" Duo asked the cop for the umpteenth time. He wiped his brow as little beads of sweat slowly worked their way down his skin. His office air conditioning had been broken for almost a week now, and the mid afternoon heat of the city was starting to get to Duo.
"And why wasn't I notified immediately?" Duo said, his anger boiling through to the surface. "I am the head authority on this case, despite what your boss may say, and I should have been told of this development the minute it was discovered, not three hours later." He slammed his hand on the desk for emphasis, causing papers to scatter everywhere.
The chief of the Tokyo police was beginning to irk Duo. He was one of those people who thought that the Preventers were nothing but mindless soldiers in need of jobs who couldn't find their way out of a paper bag. He was constantly withholding evidence from Duo, slowing him up in the manhunt even more. The only thing that kept him in the case was those ex-soldiers who had joined the police force who felt an obligation to the Preventers for their help during the Eve War. They still kept Duo in the loop, calling him whenever a new body was found and getting him access to the evidence.
"Okay," Duo said, grabbing a notepad from his top desk drawer. "At the corner of Onikisha and Karakisu, in the dumpster behind the club. Thank you." He slammed the phone into its cradle before grabbing his car keys out of his coat pocket. Gathering up the things he'd need into his briefcase, he heard a light tap at his door.
"Mind if I tag along? All of this paperwork is making my head spin."
Duo glanced up to see who was talking and was pleasantly surprised. "Wu-man! Hey, long time no see! Of course you can come. Is the desk job getting to you?" Duo grinned as Wufei made a slight noise of annoyance at being stuck behind the desk pushing paper.
"The case Sally and I just finished had so many forms to go with the report. And now she's out of the country making some press release about the continued disarmament, so I get stuck with it all." Throwing his hands in the air, he let out a very controlled sigh, giving Duo one of those "what can you do?" looks.
Duo chuckled, understanding the troubles that could come with having a partner. Someone has to get stuck with the paperwork, and as Duo knew from experience, Heero had trouble sitting still long enough to fill out all the necessary forms.
"Sure, Wu, grab your briefcase." Duo nodded to the parking garage that was visible just outside of the window opposite the door. "I'll drive." Winking as he walked out of the office and turned around he pulled the door shut. "My car has better air conditioning."
The chuckling was heard down the hall of the office as the two men left the building.
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With the sun reaching its zenith in the sky, the two Preventers lazily exited the black car that was parked along the curb of the road. Donning a pair of sunglasses, Duo lead the way, briefcase in hand, and slowly approached the crime scene that he was supposed to be in charge of.
"Well, well, well, gentlemen, what have we here?" he inquired as he flashed the guard his badge.
Whipping around, the chief of police stared at Duo with his mouth slightly agape for a few seconds before regaining composer. "Mr. Maxwell," he spat out, making the name sound more like a swear word. "We were just about to call you. There has been another body found and it looks like the same MO as the Clubber case."
Duo grinned politely at the man. "So I've heard. Let's see here," Duo bent over the body, pulling his glasses off in order to get a better look at the corpse sweltering in the summer sun.
"The hair has been cut off, and the left foot and right hand have been removed, severed at the ankle and wrist respectively." He set his briefcase on the ground and opened it, pulling out a pair of gloves. He snapped the powdery latex over his skin and reached down to the victim. He placed his hand on the body's shoulder, flipping it over to get a look at the face.
This one was a young girl, in her early to mid twenties, and of Asian descent, most likely Japanese. The hand and foot had been removed with almost surgical like precision. There were no signs of excess bleeding at the scene that would normally accompany the removal of such an appendage.
"Looks like our boy's getting better, Mr. Chang," Duo said, addressing Wufei formally in front of the other officers. "Take a look at the skill he used in removing the hand and foot."
Duo stood, moving away from the body to allow Wufei to get a better look. Seeing a moment of opportunity, he approached the chief of police, donning his sunglasses once again.
"Mr. Takewada, a moment please?" Duo asked the man, who looked as if his head was going to explode.
Takewada gave Duo reproachful glare. He was still sore at the fact that a boy younger than half his age was over his head in this investigation. He didn't care if the boy had piloted all five Gundams at once with his pinkie finger; he was not fit for the position.
"As a matter of fact, Mr. Maxwell, I was just about to head over to headquarters. I'll speak with you later." He turned to leave, chuckling to his assistant as they walked towards his car.
"Takewada!" Duo shouted, his blood boiling. The insolence of this man! "I am the commanding official of this investigation, and as such, I will tell you when it is time to leave!" Shinigami flared to life in the young boy, anger emanating from him in waves.
Wufei's head jerked up from his investigation, curious to see who had invoked the rage of the God of Death. Seeing Duo storming over to the chief of police, Wufei groaned. This was going to be bad.
"How dare you even attempt at leaving me and my department uninformed of this newest victim. The Tokyo police does not have jurisdiction over this case, the Preventers do. We are kind enough to allow you to help, because this is your territory, but if you continue to interfere, I'm going to have to file charges against your department! Now get out of my sight before I do something I'd regret in the morning." Duo's eyes blazed as he stared the man down, putting every inch of his 5'7" frame behind the look.
The chief stood still in his tracks, realizing now why the small pilot had been one of the most feared during the wars. The pure malice and contempt for the young man was squelched beneath his desire to remain alive, as the man gave a little bow to Duo.
"As you wish…..sir," the chief said before turning to his assistant. He gave a curt nod towards the car and both men headed off to their vehicle and sped away down the busy Tokyo road.
Duo watched the men leave before turning back to the crime scene. "What are you all gawking at? Get back to work!" he shouted at the other cops, noticing that all eyes were fixed on him.
"That was quite a show you put on there, Maxwell," Wufei approached his friend, pulling off his latex gloves and putting them in a plastic bag. "That man is smarter than I thought. Most people in his position would have blown up at you right back."
"Yeah," Duo growled, "and then they would have lost a limb." Seeing the look Wufei shot him, he grinned sheepishly. "I know. I lost my temper. But I hate it when people treat me like a kid!"
"All right, Maxwell," the Chinese boy said, patting Duo on the back. "Let's get these reports back to headquarters. I'm already having the body sent to our guys downtown. We'll finish up there."
Slipping his sunglasses on, Wufei led the way to the car, Duo following him and barking orders all the way.
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"Damn it, Wufei!" Duo shouted from his pile of papers. The case reports of the seven most recent victims were splayed over his desk, yellow highlighter marks crisscrossing the pages.
Wufei raised an eyebrow at his partner from across the desk. Since Sally still wasn't back from the conference that was being held on one of the colonies in the L3 system, he had decided to bring his work into Duo and Heero's office and borrow the unoccupied desk.
"For your sake, I hope that paper is named Wufei and you did not just needlessly yell at me, Duo" Wufei said to his friend with mock anger in his voice.
"Sorry, Wu, it's just that this case is getting more and more infuriating by the minute. There's no logical connection between the victims besides the fact that they all go to bars. The bars aren't even close in distance. It's like the guy randomly picked bars out of the yellow pages. There are never any witnesses either. He's never seen leaving with the girls and he's never spied by a friend or passerby. He's too good to make mistakes. He hasn't left a fingerprint or even a damned strand of hair. We got nothing on this guy. I don't know how we're going to catch him." Duo allowed his head to fall onto the desk with a resounding thud.
Wufei just sighed. He was used to this sort of reaction from Duo. The only thing was, Duo always got his man, be it bad guy or otherwise. That was the reason he and Heero were always given the hardest cases. With Heero's tenacity and Duo's keen intuition and ability to feel out a case, they never failed.
There amazing record never seemed to stop Duo from getting discouraged though. Almost every case, Duo would wonder into Wufei's office, a grim look on his face, as he begrudgingly explained that this latest case was going to be the end of both their record and their jobs. Despite the fact that their record was better than even Wufei and Sally's, Duo always thought that if they messed up on one case that was it. He was terrified of losing his job, because he always thought that only he would be fired, never Heero.
Sighing, Wufei glared at the boy across the desk. "Duo, look," he began. "You and I both know that you're not going to let this guy get away. You have never lost a case, whether you were with Yuy or alone. The two of you are the perfect agents. Besides, even if a case did run cold, they wouldn't fire you over one mistake. You're the best they have. Une would have had to have gone mental to do something like that. Someone would have had to of hit her over the head with a club or something…" Wufei trailed off, the image of Une getting clubbed provoking laughter from his lips when he was suddenly startled.
"That's it Wufei!" Duo yelled, bounding up.
Looking very perturbed, Wufei just looked at the boy. "What's it, Duo? You're going to club Une?"
Duo just shrugged off the remark with a roll of his eyes. "Of course not. But I can visit some clubs. Since the guy has yet to use the same club twice and he appears to be choosing them completely at random, there's a chance that, if I looked long enough, I might end up at the same club he is. And them bam! He's mine!" The glint in Duo's eyes scared Wufei a bit.
"Now Duo, look, you can't just go out looking for the guy in any club in Tokyo. You'll never find him."
"That's why I'm going to go to a lot of clubs. Tonight. And with they way I'll be looking, this guy will be hard pressed to stay away." Duo brushed his bangs out of his eyes and did his best sexy face for Wufei.
"You can't go out there as bait for a serial killer you moron. I told Yuy that I wouldn't let you do anything stupid while he was away and this appears to be falling into that category."
"Then why don't you come with me?" Duo asked as he began to gather the cluttered papers over his desk.
"I can't," Wufei said, shaking his head. "Sally gets in tonight and I have to pick her up at the shuttle port. Then we're going to finish this paperwork so we can have it in to Une by tomorrow morning. But you can't go alone." Wufei finished, giving Duo an evil "do-as-I-say-or-die" look.
"Fine. Then I'll call Quatre. He'd probably love to go with me." Duo grabbed the phone, punching in the numbers to Quatre's private extension that only the former pilots knew.
"Quatre? It's Duo….. Yeah, I'm doing great. Listen, I have a favor to ask you. Would you want to come clubbing with me tonight? ……Well, not technically. We're going to be working on a case of mine….. Yeah, the clubber guy. I wanted to go, but because Heero's away, Wufei says I can't go alone, and since he can't go, I thought you might like to…… Great! I'll pick you up at 8:00? ……. Okay. See you then!" Duo hung up the phone, looking mighty pleased with himself.
Realizing he'd lost the fight, Wufei just hung his head. "Fine, go with Quatre. But if anything happens to you and Yuy comes and kills me, I'm going to find you in what ever afterlife your spirit goes to and make it hell for eternity."
Duo just laughed as he packed up the rest of the files into his brief case, closing it before grabbing his coat and heading out the door. He had to go home to get dressed to his utmost sexiest if he was going to nab a serial killer tonight.
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From somewhere in the shadows, laughter sliced maniacally through the silence of the night. So he was going out for a night of fun. Watching him leave, followed by the fierce Chinese boy he knew to be called Chang Wufei, he felt a surge of hatred surge forward.
Swaying his hips seductively to music that wasn't playing, Duo joked with Wufei on the way to the car, totally unaware of the second pair of eyes that watched him, filled with nothing but the desire of wiping that smile off of his face forever.
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So? What'd you think? Good for the first chapter after a teaser? Sorry for the long time it took me to get this up, but I've been so busy over the last couple of months. What with AP tests and then finals and everything, I've been swamped. But I am very proud to announce that as of today, June 11, 2004, I am officially a high school graduate!!! Yay graduation! I'd also like to congratulate my friends for surviving 13 years of public education! Yay Libby Kino, Roselyn, Nymph, Mouse, Spiky, and Jenny! We made it!
Anyway, as for the rest of you, I think you should go review to the chapter, since I worked so hard to get it up for you on my GRADUATION day! Now go! And wish us all the best of luck in our future endeavors!
Queen Vixen