Welcome back to the story that has officially become the bane of my existence. I mean, I really do love the plot and all, but the story itself is annoying me to no ends. It just refused to come out as fast as I want it to. My muses are being no help either. All they do lately is sit around and read other people's stories and lot and lots of fanfiction review. They've been reading so much of it lately that it's making me paranoid about my own writing. I want to go back and fix all of my other stories now. . Extreme frustration a happy Vixen does not make. But I'm working on it.

And I know that I promised this chapter would be longer, and technically it is, but not by much. However, the coming chapters are really going to be heating up, so they should come out easier. Anyway, enough with my ramblings and on to the story!

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"Wufei! WUFEI!"

The shouting could be heard throughout the office building, followed by long periods of nothing but curse words. People all over the office tensed, knowing that whoever was raising the ruckus would be dealt with by Colonel Une. She was not partial to loud and disruptive behavior in the office.

Sitting at his desk in his own office, Wufei could hear the ranting going on outside. Shaking his head, he stood up and was just about to make his way to the door when Duo burst in, visibly shaking with anger.

Taking in his appearance, Wufei sat back in his chair, knowing this was going to be an unusual story. In one hand, he had a bouquet of a dozen red roses and in the other was a white envelope with a blood stain on it. His hand had several bandages on it and Wufei guessed that was where the blood was from. His tie hung untied around his neck and his hair was in the worst braid he'd ever seen.

"Did you bring me flowers, Maxwell?" Wufei asked dryly as Duo came all the way into the office and closed the door.

"Yeah, I went out and bought you a card too," Duo said as he threw the envelope on his friend's desk. "Take a look at what's in there."

Wondering what in the world could have gotten is usually energetic friend so upset, Wufei picked up the seemingly harmless white envelope and emptied its contents onto his desk. The pictures fell out followed by the note and suddenly Wufei felt a chill go up his spine.

"Tell me everything, Duo." Wufei said, onyx eyes meeting violet.

Duo retraced the night for the Chinese man, starting with going to Quatre's house, to the different clubs they visited, to calling it a night around 3:00 in the morning. He then told Wufei about the events of that morning, with Jinx's barking causing him to go out to his door and find the flowers and the note.

Sighing, Wufei thought about everything Duo had told him. He knew one thing for sure. The situation was not good. "Do you think that it's him? Do you think that it's the serial killer you're chasing?"

Duo sat quietly for a moment. Reaching back, undid the tie on the end of his hair and allowed it to unravel before he began braiding it again, making sure it was neat and tight. Finally, once his hair was taken care of, Duo sighed and looked Wufei in the eyes.

"I don't know Wu. I mean, something about it just feels wrong. None of the other victim's family or friends reported any sort of events that could be equal to this. This guy isn't a stalker. But then again, we were out looking for him last night. He could just be playing with me because he knows I'm on the case."

Duo had a look in his eyes that Wufei could honestly say he had never seen before. Duo Maxwell, the self proclaimed God of Death looked afraid. And Wufei did not blame him one bit. He was getting a little scared himself. He thought of Duo as a brother, and didn't ever want to see anything happening to him.

"So we have a serial killer on the loose, who seems to have some a morbid fascination with you, the person who is trying to capture him." Wufei said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Duo let out a rye chuckle, shaking his head as he set about fixing his tie. "You always did have a way with words, Wu."

Knowing that his next statement was going to upset Duo even further, Wufei chose is words carefully. "I believe that the best course of action would be for us to take this evidence to Colonel Une. She will find out where this came from and deal with the person responsible. In the mean time, I think you should let the local police handle things, at least till we know if it's the same guy."

The anger from earlier flared back onto Duo's face, only this time it was directed at Wufei, not the mystery stalker. "What do you mean, "let the local police handle it?" They couldn't find their way out of a paper bag, let alone find this killer that has managed to elude even us Preventers for so long. You cannot be serious. If you take me off this case because you think it's "too dangerous," more innocent people are going to die. And it will be my fault."

"Now look Duo," Wufei said, trying to calm his friend. "I'm not saying this because I don't think you can handle yourself. I just don't want to see anything happen to you. Mainly because if anything did happened, and Yuy found out I knew about this, there wouldn't be enough of me left to fill a plastic sandwich bag."

Duo let some of his anger melt away, knowing that there was some truth to the words. "But I can't just let this case go all together. I've gotten to know this guy. I'm almost in his head. If I can figure out what his next move will be, we've got him."

Wufei thought about his options. On the one hand, he knew that Duo was a capable fighter and a good officer. He had already thrown himself whole heartedly into this case, and even if he was officially taken off, he would not stop his own personal investigation. Something like that could be even more dangerous than allowing him to stay on. At least if he was on the case legitimately, he could call for backup and not worry about getting censured.

"Okay. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to tell Une about this, but we're going to tell her that you're staying on the case. Since Sally was delayed in the colonies and won't be back for several more days, I'll stick with you till Yuy gets back. How does that sound?" Wufei met his friend's eyes, hoping his suggestion would be satisfactory.

A little bit more tension seeped from Duo. He wasn't going to be alone on this one anymore. "Sounds like a plan to me Wu-man. Let's go give it to the boss lady." And with that, Duo snatched the card and pictures from Wufei's desk, inserting them back into the blood spotted envelope. He still clutched the flowers in his bandaged hand and stood patiently by the door, waiting for Wufei.

Sighing, the Chinese man grabbed his coat from the hook on the wall. "This is going to be an interesting conversation, to say the least."

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The whir of the elevator as it carried him up the twelve stories to his apartment did nothing to help soothe the headache that Duo was developing. The day had been anything but easy, starting with the "present" that was left for him, followed by the conversations he'd had with both Wufei and Colonel Une. Although not entirely comfortable with the thought of keeping Duo on the case, the Colonel had agreed to allow Wufei and Duo to work together until Heero returned from his trip to the L2 colonies.

The elevator doors whooshed open as he reached his floor and the light from the hallway flooded in. As he made his was off, the muscles in his shoulders jumped and ached with pain. He had been stuck at his desk all day. First he'd been working on paperwork for a case he and Heero had been working on, and then he and Wufei had gotten together to go over more crime scene photos to bring him up to speed. While it had been a good refresher to look back over the first few victims, neither he nor Wufei had been able to come to any new conclusions. They were right back at a dead end.

Pulling his key out of his jacket pocket, he reached down to open the door, only to find it already unlocked. He knew for a fact that he had locked the door when he'd left this morning.

Duo quietly set his brief case down outside of his door. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He punched in the number five speed dial and waited through the rings until he heard a voice on the other line.

"I saw you no more than twenty minutes ago. Don't tell me you're already lonely."

When the American man didn't even chuckle, a sliver of worry crept into Wufei's mind. "Nah, Wu, I'm not lonely at all. In fact, I think I've got company right now." The edge in Duo's voice told Wufei that this was serious.

"Someone's in your apartment?"

"Someone was, if they're not anymore. Just thought I'd let you know so that you could get your Chinese ass over here and back me up."

"Stay outside in the hall and don't let anyone leave. I'll be over in ten minutes tops." With that, Wufei hung up the phone.

Duo put his phone back in his pocket, knowing that Wu was going to kill him for what he was about to do.

Gently easing open the door, Duo entered into his apartment, gun drawn. His feet padded silently on the plush carpet of the hallway as he made his way to the first set of rooms.

Slinking through the living room, Duo inspected everything. There were no signs of anything suspicious right away, but he made sure not to touch incase the room needed to be dusted for prints. The shades were opened, revealing the large picture window that took up most of one wall and looked out onto the streets of Tokyo. Duo had always loved the window, but now it left him feeling exposed. He kicked the curtains a couple of times, making sure there were no intruders hiding amongst their folds. He checked behind the sofa that was backed into a corner of the room and was then satisfied that there was no one in that room.

Exiting the living room, he made is way into the connected kitchen, once again finding himself facing an identical picture window by the table. Checking the blinds once again until he was satisfied, he checked the pantry closet and under the table before he made his way back through the living room to the hallway.

Moving up the hall slightly, he turned to the left and went into the office room that Heero and he shared. Inspection of the closet and under both desks left him feeling secure in the safety of the room and he went back into the hall.

Walking towards the bedroom at the end, he stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted a patch of a familiar looking substance on the carpet. The dried drop of blood flaked at his touch and sent a chill down Duo's spine as he stood back up and quickened his pace to his bedroom.

The drops of blood increased as he neared the door at the end of the hall. When he reached the door, Duo slammed it open, using such force he embedded the door knob into the opposite wall. He slowly made his way to the side of the bed he shared with Heero, his gun falling from his fingers as he stared at the wall above the head board.

There were three things nailed to the wall, all bloody and disheveled. He quickly recognized them as three of the missing scalps from some of the killer's victims. All of the hair was braided and the ends of the braids hung over the headboard, brushing the pillows on the bed. In something that looked like more blood, a word was written above the display of hair, sending chills up and down Duo's spine.

WAIT.

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Okay, so I know that I've now ended like this twice in a row, but I PROMISE that the next chapter will end differently. This story is just giving me serious problems. I think that I need to watch the series again, just for a little pick me up in motivation and inspiration. Maybe I'll go do that now while you go review. And don't forget, constructive criticism is always welcome! I know there are plenty of people out there who are better writers than I am, and if any of them happen to read my story and want to tell me how to make it better, please do! Thanks again for reading!