A Gundam Wing/AC Fanfiction – der Modul (The Modulus)
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies.
Character(s): Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Relena Darlian
Pairing(s): Will update as the story progresses.
Genre(s): Drama, Adventure, Suspense
A/N: Please note that English is not my native language, so please pardon me for any possible grammar and vocabulary mistakes.
0. der Anfang
- The Beginning
November 4th, AC 205
Brussels, Belgium, sometime around 0800 hours
Heero Yuy woke up that morning with a sore throat and a nasty headache.
His eyes felt hot and he knew he was welcoming an abominable case of flu. The symptoms had been showing for a few days. It was rare of him to get sick, but really, he wasn't invincible to sickness. Let people think about what they wanted to believe about him, a 'Perfect Soldier' as he was, he could get sick, too.
The ruthless cold weather of November certainly didn't help.
He had been working with the Preventers for almost 7 years now, and 2 years a half leading the organisation's CIA[1] division. He had first served as a special ops agent along with Chang Wufei, but then Director Une felt that they needed him more in the intelligence department. Director Une trusted him to build, oversee and do constant improvements on the Preventers' cyber intelligence and security system, and he was in charge of supervising the organisation's whole engineering system. As such, he was eventually promoted as an HCA[2] with a division to lead.
In all aspects, Heero Yuy had come to terms with peaceful civilian life and a job behind the desk. He was good in life.
The few people who thought they knew him were surprised when he took Une's offer for a desk job.
Heero still occasionally took high-risk and classified field assignments, together with Chang Wufei, though. Chang was still active as a senior special ops HCA. Whenever Une and Chang felt that his special skills would benefit them most, especially together with a fellow ex-Gundam pilot, Heero never denied it. He got paid handsomely in return, too. And it was a good way for training for him to keep his skill sets in shape.
But these two jobs also came at a high price; he was in constant danger, direct and indirect. His access, knowledge and meddling to many high-importance classified cases made him a great threat to those in the illegal business.
Heero himself was quite impressed that there weren't any attempts on his life so far. Yet.
So an incoming nasty flu didn't seem to be potentially dangerous for him.
Heero being himself, of course, had intended to go to work, disregarding the flu altogether. But after a quick shower, Heero had to admit that the flu wasn't going to let him leave his flat that day. The dizziness had rendered him almost immobile, and he was shivering from a raging fever. His all four limbs were heavy and mucus blocked his airway, making breathing difficult.
His throat was becoming sorer as hell, too.
Feeling absolutely humiliated to go down with flu, he finally gave in and submitted his absence notice to his direct superior, Director Une herself. He also had texted Chang that he would call in later in the early afternoon regarding their previously scheduled meeting that day. He sent a list of a handover of his work to Agent Kendrick, his second-in-command. With work had been settled, Heero set to a meal and medicine, and then straight to bed; intending to get rest as much as possible to get rid of the sickness.
Chang Wufei scowled when his fourth attempt at calling Heero Yuy went unanswered. It was already past the time of Heero's promised phone call.
As sick as he could get, there was no way Heero would neglect a work appointment. It was either the flu was no ordinary flu or something had happened to him.
Wufei tried again, but it still went to the voicemail.
Now Wufei was worried.
Wufei left his office to Une's. Without even knocking and greeting first, he quickly said, "I want to have my team and a backup ready to go to Yuy's, pronto."
Une blinked, confused. "What? Why? Don't bother him, Wufei, Heero needs his deserved day off—"
Wufei growled. "It's not that. Yuy's supposed to have an appointment call with me 15 minutes ago but he never came in. All my calls went unanswered. I... have a bad feeling, I don't like this. Let me go check on him."
Une straightened right away. "What? Oh, God. Yes, Wufei, go ahead. Take Sally and a medic team with you too just in case. I'll have the clearance for you. You can go now."
Wufei nodded and exited the office while Une called for Sally. He quickly gathered his team and had them ready in a few minutes, dressed in full gear. Sally Po and the medics appeared in no time, and they immediately departed. All the way, Wufei kept trying to get in touch with Heero, which came to no avail.
"This can't be good," Wufei said rigidly, anxious. "Yuy never did this, would never. Could you go through?" He turned to Sally, who shook her head as she pressed her phone again to the ears.
"All of his lines are the same. No response," Sally muttered. "Thank God he lives not far. Come on, faster!" She barked to Wufei's agent who was driving.
"I am fast, Ma'am," the driver, Agent Kowalski, replied dejectedly. "Just keep tryin', we're close."
When they arrived at Heero's flat complex, Wufei immediately led them to the first level. Wufei didn't bother to knock as he shot the door lock and kicked it open with brute force, rushing inside through the narrow passage leading to an open, wide space of the bare kitchen and living room: "Yuy! Are you alright? Yuy!"
There was no answer. Wufei's heart dropped to his stomach when he smelled blood. The pungent smell radiated through the whole flat, and he and Sally broke into a run to the closed door across the kitchen area.
"Come on, damn it! Yuy!" Wufei shouted, yanking the doorknob. The door opened easily and he and Sally stopped abruptly, completely taken aback.
Heero was tucked neatly in the bed on his back, seemed to be still sleeping soundly. Sally blinked, "But the blood smell… what…?"
Wufei was brought back from his daze at the word 'blood smell'. Only then he noticed the alarmingly pale complexion of his colleague and he quickly approached the bed and yanked the blanket. He immediately shouted, "Over here, quick! He's been shot!"
"Oh my God!" Sally cried, immediately joined Wufei. Ignoring the pool of dark blood around the body, Sally reached for a hand to check for a pulse, shouting to the medics, "Get your asses over here! Transfusion and IV, now!"
"Fuck," Wufei breathed, his trembling hands reached the Japanese man's neck for a pulse. All Wufei saw was dark crimson blood, pouring in a steady flow from the abdomen which looked like an open knife wound. He then saw the bullet wound on the right ribcage. "Shit…" Wufei ran a quick assessment over the body, "Sally?"
"His pulse is very erratic, he's bleeding internally. Help me turn him on his side, we need to confirm an exit wound," Sally said, voice tight and strained. The other medics had started IV and blood transfusion and put an oxygen mask over Heero's dead-pale complexion. "Gently, Wufei… on my count… one, two, three…"
There was no exit wound: the bullet was still inside. Wufei frowned, realising something amiss.
"No exit wound and blood spurting from his back, Sally," Wufei said aloud. "From his position, he fell backwards. The wound was on the chest, so it was from in front of him. He was shot in the bed. He saw the shooter," Wufei muttered. "And this knife wound…" It was out of place.
Something was off.
"We need to get him to the hospital, now," Sally gestured to her colleagues and the medics, with quick efficiency, already propping Heero to the gurney. "He's losing a lot of blood from this knife wound, he's going into shock. We're losing him. Wufei, he depended on you, knowing you would come in time. He fell backwards on his consciousness. Right now the bullet's on the chest is the cork in a bottle. The bullet itself was blocking most of the blood flow. But any pressure or impact on the entrance wound could dislodge it, so he fell backwards…"
"He's fading fast!" One of the medics exclaimed, already started moving to the door. "We have to leave now, doctor!"
"Go, Sally, my team and I will stay behind to check over this place," Wufei waved a hand. "Just make sure to keep me updated on Yuy. Go, now."
Sally nodded, "I will," and turned to follow the medics. Wufei watched them leave and only until he heard the front door closed, then he averted his attention around the room. His agents had started taping yellow lines and placing alphabet boards around where the body was discovered, and he strode to the window facing the flat complex's garden. It was clean and with no traces of being tinkered in any way. So was the whole room's flooring.
"Chang," Kowalski called from the door, frowning. "No blood traces except on the bed. No sign of enforced entrance, either. It's all clear."
"So he was shot in the bed and no enforced entrance," Wufei repeated slowly, once again looking around the room; putting on his gloves. "We saw that too from the front door. He certainly saw the shooter. There was no sign of him fighting back. Everything's in order… he knew his shooter."
"This could be deeper than it seems," another agent, Morissette, suggested. "Is it safe to assume that the assailant did not come in uninvited? And that knife wound, boss. Don't you think it's weird? I suggest we call it 'assailants'."
"Most likely," Wufei checked again on the door, now thoroughly. "Go get the CCTV recording, Morissette. Try asking around the next doors if they heard something, anything." Morissette immediately left for his task. "Hamilton, do we have the UV light?"
Agent Hamilton, a young woman with red hair and green eyes, nodded an affirmative as she radioed the backup team waiting outside, "Bring up the UV light here."
"You check all of these surfaces and door handles, every one of them, for handprints, or maybe blood, and take the sample," Wufei ordered Hamilton. "We might get something from it. Get Clayton to check with the security for visitors logs and look at the front door lock registry."
"Will do," Hamilton replied, and Wufei exited the bedroom to the tidy living room. Everything was in order, so was the kitchen, but otherwise, he told Hamilton to also check both areas. He reached his pocket for his phone, dialling a number.
"01 is down," Wufei quickly supplied, not bothering for a greeting. "I would need every resource available. It's 2 of 10 when we found him, but Sally's got him. Will update when I've got more information. I'll send over what I have so far, please backup for a preliminary investigation."
He hung up and started taking photos of every possible could-be evidence object from detailed angles. Wufei roamed around the kitchen; noticed an empty glass was on the countertop, with prescripted—not generic, which in Wufei's opinion was unusual even for Yuy's standard—flu medicines beside it. He stared at the glass for a moment and abruptly snatched the transparent object.
Wufei sniffed around the tip of the glass, and his eyes narrowed as he smelled something. Yuy's usually sharp senses must have been rendered dull by the flu—he knew Yuy had been having the symptoms since a few days ago. He reached for his phone again and took a close-up picture of the tip, quickly sending it. Wufei fished his Preventers jacket pocket for an evidence bag, carefully putting the glass and the medicines inside. Then he turned to the kitchen cupboard above the sink, revealing a modest amount of glasses, cups, and bowls and plates. He randomly took out one glass and cup, smelling the same, almost odourless scent from both objects.
Wufei felt anger and paranoia rose within him as he also put the glass and cup into separate evidence bags. He was really worried now. All clues told him that it was most probably an inner breach. Now all he had to do was to wait for Clayton's results to confirm his suspicion.
Wufei frowned again as he suddenly remembered something and swore at himself for so foolishly forgotten it. Blithering idiot, Yuy's phone!
"Kowalski!" Wufei quickly went back to the bedroom. "Yuy's phone, goodness, how could we forget—"
Kowalski raised his hand, a black and sleek phone in his palm. "Just noticed this, but of course I couldn't break-in. 'Tis Agent Yuy's, after all. Same thing with the computer, so we better have these checked by IT pronto."
"I'll have a look," said Wufei rigidly, tense with anticipation. Kowalski shrugged and handed the phone to his CO. Wufei swiped up on the screen and was met with a string of jumbled code he couldn't identify. He growled in annoyance, but he tried anyway. The device wouldn't bug, and Wufei realised the Cyrillic alphabets on the screen probably meant him to fuck off and not try.
Right. Russian was his childhood's language...
"Looks like a new program, heard 'em cyber was developing some new securities software," Kowalski said, peeking over from Wufei's shoulder. "I've tried everything I know, but I've never seen encryptions like that before. I don't know that he speaks Russian though..."
"Yuy's half-Russian," said Wufei dryly, simultaneously cursing and thanking Yuy's constant development on their security part in his mind. "Then have the phone and the damn computer checked. I want to see his call and message logs, ASAP. Probably best to get to Kendrick, he's Yuy's direct subordinate. Then identify all contacts in the last 24 hours."
"Aye, sir," Kowalski took back the phone and grabbed the computer on the desk.
"Also," Wufei reached for the evidence bags with the glasses and cup, protruding it to Kowalski, "get this checked at the lab. I'm almost sure that Yuy's been drugged by something. Medical would need this. So this first, then the electronics. Go, now."
Kowalski visibly paled as he looked at the evidence bags, but he nodded and also left quickly.
The young Chinese man was about to check the working desk when his phone vibrated, notifying him for an incoming call. He quickly accepted the call when saw the name flashing on the screen, "How is he, Sally?"
"He's flatlined twice on the way here and we have just managed to bring him back again," Sally informed, her voice quivering. "It's not looking good, I figure you should tell Relena and the others. I—I'll do my best, I promise. I just think I should let you know that his chances are slim now—"
"Was it because of the gunshot itself solely, or are there other contributing factors?" Wufei bit his lip.
"Well, he's—how do you know? Yes, we found some complications due to external factors, but—"
"Because we found that his kitchenware was drugged," said Wufei flatly, feeling something unpleasant whirling in his stomach. "Kowalski's on his way with the evidence for the lab to check."
"Oh my God," Sally inhaled sharply. "What do you find?"
"I don't know what it is, but it was odourless. Invisible."
There were sudden distant and indistinct shouts and exclamations and Sally gasped. "Wufei, I need to go. I'll have someone to update you. Pray for him." And the call was abruptly disconnected. Wufei stood numbly with the phone still on his ear, feeling the twist in his stomach and the pressure on his chest heightened.
He was brought to his senses a while later by the vibration from his phone. It was a text message from an unknown Preventers issued mobile number registry. Wufei quickly opened the message saying,
From: 114 096xxxx
Subject: Stabilised
Agent Yuy's been stabilised, but hasn't passed through the critical condition. Under strict and close monitor. If he pulled through the next 36 hours, he would live. Would update otherwise.
Wufei released a relieved breath, noticing that his hand was trembling. Closing his eyes and inhaling a deep breath, Wufei calmed his nerves and forwarded the message to the others. Fuck the investigation, the kids got this!
"Hamilton," Wufei said to the agent who was hovering over the bed, "come here."
Hamilton approached his superior. "Yes?"
"I'm leaving you in charge of this investigation," said Wufei, voice low. "I… I need to go. Yuy's… they're not sure he'd make it through."
Hamilton practically choked and struggled to regain his bearing. "No shit! He's Agent Yuy, boss!"
Wufei only stared back, silent. Hamilton slumped, murmuring, "Damn it…"
"I need to be there. He's my partner," said Wufei quietly. "And that's why I want you to be especially thorough for this. Please… report to me immediately when Clayton's results come in. And when you have any updates, but only, only to me. No one else."
Hamilton blinked at this. HCA veteran Chang Wufei had never, and would never say 'please'.
"Yeah, I got it, boss. I'll do that, you have my word," Hamilton said finally. He squeezed Wufei's shoulder. "He's gonna pull through, Chang. I know it. Yuy's a fighter."
Wufei chuckled darkly. "Yeah, he's survived a self-destruct once, why would he not now…"
"He what?" Hamilton said, baffled. "What self-destruct?"
"Never mind," Wufei murmured, sighing. "Remember, let me know Clayton's results immediately."
With that, Wufei quickly turned away with Hamilton's eyes on his back, perplexed.
"Hamilton!" an agent approached with hurried steps. "Look what we found."
Hamilton stared as the agent showed him a bloodied, small blade. He carefully took the object, feeling excited and nervous at the same time. "Bloody Nora! Where did you find this?"
"Under the bed," the agent answered. Hamilton said, "Let's get this examined, Witherton, and see what we could get from it."
November 4th, AC 205
Preventers HQ Medical Floor, Brussels, 2100 hours
Trowa jerked awake suddenly at the light touch on his shoulder. Yawning, he opened his eyes and was immediately met by Noin's concerned face.
"Noin." Trowa calmly acknowledged, sitting straight up. "Any news?"
"Heero's stats just dropped again," Noin said quietly. "The infections were worse than they had thought because it was left untreated for quite a long time. Something his weakened immune system couldn't really fight."
Trowa nodded at this. "I see. There's really nothing we can do now except hope for the best. If the worst happened…"
An awkward silence lapsed between them, each falling to their respective thoughts.
"Have you heard more from Wufei?" Noin asked after a while.
"He's still unreachable. He's still with Une. It's…" Trowa paused, then shook his head. "Relena is now officially on their list. No one could get in contact with her until now. It doesn't look good for her."
"I do not believe it," Noin whispered. "Relena, of all people? She wouldn't do something like this. Why would she dothat to Heero? It doesn't make any sense, you know it, Trowa!"
"No, it doesn't," Trowa was quick and smooth to agree. "But with all the evidence the investigation team have found, Une's got her hands tied. And where's Zechs, too? He went all missing suddenly like this doesn't help at all."
"I don't know." Noin ran a hand through her hair, frustrated. "I still spoke to him this morning!"
"Currently they both are the main suspects. You sure there wasn't something different with Zechs lately?"
"I just noticed that he has been in intense contact with Relena, but I never… I have never heard something out of the ordinary," Noin sighed. "I just assumed it was because of Relena's mother's health condition. I know Relena is stressed, I often heard her complain about work. But…"
Trowa's face was passive. "You have told this to them, right?"
"Yes, of course, Trowa. God, yes, I have…" before Noin could say more, frantic footsteps echoed through the empty hallway and they saw Quatre approaching them, panting heavily.
"Trowa? Miss Noin? How is he? Tell me, how is he?" Quatre soon bombarded them, looking at them and grabbed Trowa's shoulder—tightly.
"Doesn't look good. His stats have dropped twice in the last 6 hours," said Trowa calmly, gently leading Quatre to sit down.
"Any updates? Have they found what—what was on his kitchenwares?"
"Sulfadiazine. Various statins."
"What?"
"Yes, DILE [3]."
"Yaa Allah," Quatre whispered, weak. "So the dose adjustment had to be excessive, right? He had been extensively trained to resist all kinds of drugs…"
"Quatre, it's all looking bleak. Surely you know what this could mean." Noin spoke hesitantly. "Sally's name is compromised."
"No," now all colours drained completely off Quatre's face. "No, it can't be. They can't do that!"
"Sally is Heero's assigned physician," Trowa shook his head. "Investigations are on-going now. They're tracking the distribution of the medications based on what the lab has found. Wufei thinks this has been staged for a long time."
"But she's still inside treating him, right?" Quatre asked, his hands rubbing each other anxiously. "Can we see him? Oh, God, can't we see him?"
"She's still in charge of Heero," Noin put a comforting hand on Quatre's arm, "but we're still not allowed to see him. If he pulled the next 36 hours, he would survive."
"Astaghfirullah…" Quatre whispered, tears started in his eyes. He trembled as suppressed sobs rocked his body, blinking away the threatening tears. "I can feel it, the pain. He's hurting so much..."
The double door of the ICU suddenly opened and an exhausted-looking Sally walked out. The three instantly rose on their feet, rushing to the doctor.
"Sally, are you alright?" Noin gathered the doctor into her embrace. "You should rest, let another doctor take a turn to stay with Heero."
"I'm alright, don't worry about it," Sally soothed blearily, turning to Trowa and Quatre with a serious expression. "He's awake and asks for one of you. I tried to keep him under for he really needs to rest, but he was fighting the staff. The sooner the better, I want him to rest as much as possible."
"I'll go," Trowa quickly said, nodding to Quatre. "You wait here, Quatre, maybe try to reach Duo again, find out what he's got so far." And with that, Trowa followed Sally into the ICU.
Heero was on the furthest bed, in the corner of the room. The Japanese man looked ashen; Trowa could see the pale face under the dim light. Heero's eyes were open, his face muscles were taut with pain. A nasal cannula was attached to his nostrils. Trowa was relieved that at least Heero was breathing on his own, but he knew the internal damage had been great. And the bad flu contributed to his weakened body; Trowa understood the 36 hours mark wasn't just mere numbers.
"Heero," Trowa said, smirking a little (the whole ordeal seemed to be a regular reoccurrence to Trowa), "you shouldn't be awake, you stubborn fool. Sleep, your body needs that. It's alright, we got this." Heero's skin glistened with sweat, his hair plastered on the damp skin. Trowa glanced at the morphine bags, seeing it was set to maximum—and still, Heero was in great pain.
Damn.
"Trowa," Heero rasped, voice thin and tired. "Relena's innocent."
Trowa blinked. "Innocent?"
"It's not her fault," Heero was now struggling, his breath hitched in the throat. "Don't let them take her. You have to trust her. She's innocent… it's not her fault…"
Trowa paid his full attention. "I'm listening. But all leads are on her now, and she's missing, along with Zechs. No one knows where she is and we couldn't reach her. But we're trying our best to track her," Trowa quickly assured, certain that he shouldn't aggravate Heero's condition by worrying the Japanese man further. "I reckon Duo's in the hot trail for her. We've lost contact with him too since he got all the updates from Wufei, but you know him."
Heero visibly tensed when Duo's name was mentioned. "Zechs could be a carrier," Heero tried again, but then suddenly he convulsed painfully. Trowa immediately rose to his feet to call Sally, but Heero's tight grip restrained him. "Duo, he's… zolotokopatel'..."
"What's with Duo?" Trowa was confused, failing to understand the last word Heero was saying. "Carrier? What carrier?"
Before Heero could regain the strength to respond, Sally and a nurse had gotten back in and approached them. Sally gently pulled Trowa away, "I'm sorry, Trowa, but you really have to go. His stats are still dropping, I'm afraid we really have to keep him under. Please go for now, Trowa. I'll try to inform you soon."
Trowa nodded to Heero and squeezed his arm briefly before turning to Sally. "How is he, really? Would he make it?"
"I really don't know," Sally said quietly, glancing sideways to the bed worriedly. "That bullet was fatal, Trowa. It was a pure miracle that we managed to bring him back. I'm trying to adjust the medications due to the DILE, but..."
"Remember what we said earlier," said Trowa firmly, "be careful. Make sure you check everything before you administered anything to Heero. We don't want you to be on the list, too. It's too risky. If they take you off as his attending physician and doctor now, then what the enemy wanted is accomplished. You're off, it's Heero's death sentence. We can't trust anyone else now, even the medical staffs. I don't mean to add more burden on you, but I do think it's best to tend to him all by yourself at the moment." Trowa jerked his head to the nurse currently checking Heero's vitals, lowering his voice, "Even she could be the enemy."
"I know," Sally sighed heavily. "Wufei and Une are currently arranging another helping hand for me. They're ruling out people as of now…"
"Correct decision," Trowa nodded. "Right. I'll leave now. Hang on a little more, Sally. I'm sure Wufei would come out with something soon. And with Quatre here, the process could be easier."
Sally smiled again, thinly. "I know. And that's why I'm not worried. You lads got my six; Heero's got mine. Just… you all be careful, okay?" With that Sally turned around, leaving Trowa to his own devices.
November 4th, AC 205
Preventers HQ, Brussels, 2130 hours
Wufei was in an absolutely foul mood.
Both Clayton's and the lab results had left them in quite a stupor. They found that the last identified person in Heero's flat was Relena Darlian, the ESUN's Vice Foreign Minister, and that her personal number was also the last identified caller on Heero's call logs. The last text messages listed (aside from Wufei's angry spams) were also from her; saying that she would drop by (there was no recorded reply from Yuy to the message, though). For what reasons—for it was relatively uncommon for Darlian to pay a personal visit to the Japanese man—remained unknown.
The fingerprints Hamilton managed to recover from the site were also Darlian's.
Bollocks.
Wufei didn't understand. Once Darlian's name came out as their prime suspect, he had contacted Une and his former fellow pilots immediately. Wufei didn't really know much about the young politician, but he knew that she would be the last person to be able to do such a thing.
The most important questions were: for what purposes? If all of it was true, then what motives were there to drove her to such an extent?
With the help of Barton who was currently the closest to Brussels (the circus was having a tour in Austria), they both had implemented the tightest security measures they could think of within the Preventers. Maxwell had seemed to go into manic spree as soon as 3 hours after the news; the American man had followed the act of disappearing without a trace and wasn't answering all their calls. Wufei assumed the braided man had gone slipping to the underground to make use of his extensive, yet illegal connections to track the missing vice foreign minister and to collect information. He kept an eye over the Preventers' database and found that a foreign, yet dynamic connection pattern regularly accessed it. Wufei knew it was Maxwell.
Now, the main question was on the highlight: what was happening?
Director Une was still in the middle of (another yet) phone call when a text message came in Wufei's phone. It was from Barton:
From: T. Barton (+43 64xxx-xxx)
Subject: N/A
He was awake a bit and mentioned Duo's name and the word 'Zolotokopatel'. I suppose we should assume it's Russian?
Wufei looked up at Une and moved his fingers in the precise movement of ASL [5]; Yuy woke up shortly. Barton has information. Une visibly tensed and spoke quickly, ending the call. She then turned to Wufei, agitated.
"Should he even be awake?" Une said edgily. "Have Trowa meet us in the A25 conference room, Wufei."
Wufei nodded, typing a reply on his phone to Barton. "I reckon he shouldn't, last I heard Yuy's stats still keep dropping." Together they made their way out of Une's office, voices dripping low. "The drugs did their job..."
"How come we weren't aware of Relena's frequent visits to Heero's place?" Une was angry with herself. "How could this slip out from our supervisions? How could we let her security details tampered reports? I'm thinking we really should initiate complete lockdown in here!"
"Pointing fingers now won't change what's happened," Wufei warned as they stepped into the lift. "We've gotten far too comfortable. So do we have Darlian's security details in custody?"
"We have two of them, but Hudson, who has just become her head security a few months ago, has gone MIA too," said Une grimly.
"God damn," Wufei cursed quietly. "Alright, so in summary; we've been breached since when only the God knows, our internal security is compromised, the Vice Foreign Minister and her security head are missing, Merquise who's currently the Mars Terraforming Project's lead is also missing, and Yuy's still in critical condition. All shreds of evidence are pointing the Vice Minister as our prime suspect upon Yuy's assassination attempt. We're screwed. I don't know who to trust. And Kendrick is still struggling with Yuy's damn computer."
"Heero's phone?" Une inquired as they passed the dim, empty corridor to the door by the end of the hallway. "They haven't been able to decrypt his notes and email?"
"No," Wufei confirmed, leading first into the dark conference room. "We need to ring the lab again, see what they could get from that blade Hamilton found…"
As Wufei turned on the lamp and the big monitor on the wall, the door opened and Trowa stepped in, followed by Quatre shortly. Wufei's expression softened at Quatre, who looked haggard and exhausted. He must have been tired from the long journey from L4 to Earth in such short notice.
"Winner. It's good to see you," Wufei nodded to the blonde, and Quatre returned with a smile as he wrapped his arms around Wufei's shoulder. Wufei gently patted Quatre's back, sympathetic. "We won't keep you long. Just a bit of brief, then we all should dismiss for the day. Yuy's in capable hands."
"It's really good to see you too, Wufei," Quatre said, honest. "I miss you all a lot. I just wish that our reunion would be in a nicer situation, not like this."
"Why here?" Trowa asked, looking around the room. Nothing out of ordinary about the room, but Trowa assumed there must be something.
"No one and nothing could infiltrate this particular room," Une elaborated, smiling softly at Quatre as her greeting. "What is said in here, stays here. Heero's doing, of course."
"I see." Quatre nodded. "Trowa has told me the general situation on our way here, and I have seen it to myself that the Maganacs would assist you in every way possible. Only my most trusted men are in this. I imagine Rashid should be in contact with you sometime tomorrow morning, Wufei. But I'm afraid they would only be able to touch Earth in two days top, maximum. I have also selected a few my family's medical personnel for Sally's assistance, Rashid has updated me that they would be touching down here tomorrow morning. I shall update you their details tonight, then I believe you could arrange the necessary official administration, Director." Quatre grinned at this.
Une chuckled. These five young men never ceased to amuse her with their antics and extensive resources, especially at Quatre's disposal. "Yes, he has sent us an email, we've been in touch. Thank you, Winner, we do really appreciate it. Now, Trowa, Wufei said you've got information? What is it?"
"Yes. I spoke to Heero briefly, he was awake a bit and wanted to talk. He was lucid," Trowa assured when Une frowned at this, "so I would take what he said. That Relena's innocent, and we have to trust her. Zechs is a carrier, I didn't understand what he meant with that. Though…" Trowa glanced at Wufei and Quatre, "when I said Duo's name, Heero was somehow… restless. He was tense. This is what he said in particular: Duo, he is… zolokotopatel'. Then I was kicked out before he could say more."
The three other people stared at Trowa, focused. Quatre shifted uncomfortably.
"Well… I don't really know what to expect with that. So Heero's assured that Miss Relena is innocent, this could be a start for us. Zechs is a carrier... we have to dig further into that. About Duo…" Quatre exchanged uneasy looks with his former fellow pilots, "well, he's been… rather extraordinary the past couple of years. Just… not really himself. He did go MIA too a few times, right? Hilde mentioned that to Miss Noin. She was worried about Duo."
"I don't like this, but we have to find Maxwell, then," said Wufei, rigid. "I'll have Kendrick to track him. Where is Noin?"
"Still trying to reach Zechs," said Trowa. "She's in the intelligence office, I've confirmed Kendrick is with her. We should check in with her about Hilde's concern."
"Alright, so to summarise, here's our agenda: Relena's innocent, Zechs is a carrier for something, find Duo, talk with Noin and Miss Schbeiker, and have Kendrick to trace Duo's whereabout," Director Une concluded. "I'd like to discuss what we have gathered so far, but it's getting late and we all are exhausted after this long day. So gentlemen, go home for the day, catch some rest and sleep, and for you, Wufei, fill up your stomach, for God's sake. You haven't eaten all day, I noticed."
"I say let's grab some take-out, then we can crash for the night," Wufei suggested, turning to Quatre and Trowa, "You both got accommodation?"
Trowa shrugged. "Plenty of decent and nice motels around here. There's one that looks quite homey."
"Then I can tag along," Quatre announced.
"Stay at my place," said Wufei simply. "At least tonight. You're exhausted. I've got a spare room with a twin bed. If you wish to look for another place, do it tomorrow. My flat is also near. Efficient."
"I was about to offer them a room in the training dorm, but I think this adjustment is a lot better," Director Une nodded in approval. "I'll keep watch on Heero for a little while, speak to Sally. I would inform you if something came up. Now, go home."
"Thank you, Lady Une," Quatre said softly. "Please do get yourself a good rest, too. In this difficult time, we can't trust anyone else but you at the helm of the Preventers."
Une smiled. "Thank you, Mr Winner. Now, please stay alert and be careful on your way, lads. I'd like all of us to be on high alert, we don't know what are we facing. I wouldn't say that it is safe for the remaining of us; not until we get hold of more information about all this foul play."
"Understood," Wufei nodded stiffly, started walking to the door, "especially Sally in the meantime. I suggest having one from the Maganacs to be Sally's guard, twenty-four-seven. Yuy, too, best to have from the Maganacs. I really don't want anyone else to be in charge of Yuy."
"No we don't," Une muttered, "either way, it's still a gamble. I'll arrange with Rashid then for Sally and Heero? Quatre?"
"Of course, Lady Une. Please, do whatever is necessary for the safety of us all. All in your commands—I do not hold the authority in here."
"Oh, I'll have you know of how I wish I am not in the position of authority here," Une told Quatre, pushing the three young men to the door, "now go home you lot, rest, and we could talk and then really start the action tomorrow. Good night, thank you for your help."
Quatre returned with a 'good night' too; a scoff was what Wufei gave as a response, and the three men soon were out of the room. Une stared at the door for a little while, before smashing her fist on the wooden desk, "Damn it, Relena! Where the hell are you?! What have you done…?"
AC 205
Date, time and location unknown
The room was dark and narrow. The air was humid, hot; and Duo hated the sense of being trapped despite he wasn't held captive. The dim light illuminated from his laptop screen showed his agitated features; his posture was erect against the wall, in contradiction of his facial expression. His long and thin fingers, usually fast and firm against the keyboard, were now feeble. Sweat began to form on his forehead and neck. He was so full of nervous energy.
Duo's fingers stopped running across the keyboard as a voice resonated from the computer.
"Are you hesitating?" the voice, deep but light, asked in an amused tone. "Two million quid is all it takes. Not that much, right? They give him 36 hours, Maxwell. I believe there's only about… 16 left."
"Shut up!" Duo shouted angrily, slamming his fist against the cold concrete floor. "Shut the fuck up! What do you want?! Who are you?! This ain't a ransom, you fucking sicko! Leave him alone! Leave him alone—he's got nothing to do with this! Leave them alone!"
"It's exactly because they have nothing to do with this that we should let them participate," the voice replied cheerily. "Twice the fun, isn't it? Ouch, time's ticking, Maxwell… remember, 16 hours."
"You fucking bastard!" Duo screamed, body trembling from the sheer fury coursing through his whole being. "Leave them alone!"
"Sixteen hours." The voice turned suddenly cold. "After that, we will move to our second person of interest. I believe you have an arrangement to settle with the vice foreign minister, Maxwell."
Duo smashed the lid closed, fuming. The storm of energy suddenly left his system, leaving him slumped forward as he covered his face with his hands. Suppressed sobs jerked his body, and then he cried, feeling completely powerless.
"Fuck… I'm so sorry, Heero… Relena… God… please… don't do this… don't do this… they're my only family… I can't… I swear I can't… God! Please! Please leave them alone!"
Duo howled into the empty room, screeching as he pounded the wall repeatedly. Tears freely pouring, he screamed and screamed, until he was completely drained, and crumpled to the floor in a fetal position; sobbing his anguish into the night.