Chapter 3: A little birdie told me
To say police chief Sean O'Neil was nervous about recent events in his area of L2 would be a gross understatement. Not only had The Quatre Raberba Winner-Barton been kidnapped practically under the noses of his bodyguards, but he now had said billionaire's husband and best friends/heads of security standing before him glaring at him from across his desk. Why couldn't the colony ever open up and suck you out into space when you wanted it too? Being glared at by three very angry ex-Gundam pilots was far from the top of his 'Fun things to do' list, right below juggling flaming chainsaws blindfolded.
"I can assure you gentlemen that my department and I are doing everything in our power to find Mr. Winner, but there hasn't been any ransom made yet and no clues as to who took him." He said, trying not to let his anxiety show as Trowa Barton-Winner placed both hands on his desk and leaned forward, his glare deepening.
"You and your department have one hour. If you can't find him by then, we will." He said quietly, not a threat, just a fact.
That very thing was what the chief had been afraid of since Mr. Winner had gone missing, having these three tearing apart the colony looking for their friend definitely wasn't a good idea. Their track record at leaving places unscathed wasn't exactly the best.
"Please bear with us a while longer." O'Neil asked, raising his hands in entreaty. "There is one route that we haven't tried yet. We usually save it as a last resort."
His claim was met by three raised eyebrows. Taking this as the sign to continue that it was he wiped his slightly sweaty palms on his uniform pants legs.
"There are some people that we can contact and get their help. If anyone can find Mr. Winner it will be them. They know every nook and cranny of L2 and everything that goes on in the streets."
"Why haven't you contacted them before now?" Wufei demanded, increasing the intensity of his steely glare and the Chief heaved a huge sigh and hid his wince.
"Because, Mr. Chang, the group that I'm talking about aren't exactly on the same side of the law that we are."
"You mean they are criminals." It wasn't a question.
"Aye. But we have a deal, their leader and I, they help when we need them too, we look the other way when the members of their gang do minor crimes. As long as no one gets hurt. The worst they do is pick pocketing and shoplifting unless a gang war breaks out, then they do all they can to keep innocents out of it. That's more than I can say for the majority of the other gangs." The chief was almost nonchalant as he explained all this to the stunned pilots.
"It is completely unjust that you would look the other way in any crime, no matter how small." Wufei said, looking stunned that the man would freely admit to such dirty dealings.
"That's L2." The chief said with a shrug. "We've learned to get by however we can."
"And you would trust this gang's leader enough for this? How do you know he won't just keep Quatre for whatever ransom he can get?" This was the first time the chief had heard Heero speak up.
"I would only trust this gang. They never lie, it's a matter of honor with them, and they don't tolerate kidnappings, especially their boss. That's one of the reasons we use their help with kidnappings, he hates them."
"Who are these people that could gain this much trust from you? What is the leaders name?" Heero figured that if they were well enough known he would be able to hack into the L2 police records and find out anything else he needed to know.
"The leaders name is" He was abruptly cut off by a sharp knock on the window behind the desk causing the chief to jump a little in startlement. The three pilots could only stare as the chief walked to the window and opened the blinds with one thought running through all three minds at once.
'We're on the third floor…'
The answer to how there was a knock on the window three stories high came when the chief pulled up the blinds to reveal the upside down face of a little red haired boy wearing a twisty head band that was a mix of blue, black and purple. It clashed horribly with his red hair.
"Hiya Chiefy!" The little imp chirped. "Got some news for you from the boss."
"Damnit Pup! What have I told you about hanging down from the roof like that? One of these days your sister's gonna lose her grip." The chief scowled while at the same time inwardly amused at the shocked faces of the three ex-pilots.
"So, what's the news? And get in here before all the blood runs to that empty head of yours."
"Nope. I think I'll stay out here for right now if you don't mind." The afor-named Pup was staring at the three strangers in the chief's office warily. He recognized them from Shinigami's descriptions and there was no way in Hell that he'd be caught in a room with people that even Shinigami was worried about. He waved the chief forward so that he could whisper his news to the chief alone.
The three watched as the little redhead, still hanging upside down outside the window, whispered to the chief for a minute, leaned back to give them all a grin and a wave, and then he was gone. Presumably pulled back up to the roof by his sister. The chief gave a heavy sigh, though whether from aggravation or from relief they couldn't tell.
"Well, that would be AllyPup. He's a member of the gang I was just telling you about actually and he had some good news. It seems that they already have Mr. Winner in their possession and are bringing him back to you as we speak." The chief watched as a look of relief and happiness flooded all three faces for a moment before continuing. "Shadow, their second in command is bringing him to the meeting place, a place where we always go to exchange information, and sometimes captives called Dealers Alley. It's neutral territory, we stay on our end and they stay on theirs, that way no one feels threatened by the other side. It's a good system. According to AlleyPup they should be there in about an hour or so. It'll take us twenty minutes to get there so we should probably leave soon, that bunch is usually early for these meetings."
"Wait." Heero said as the chief stood and started for the door. "You never told us the leaders' name or the name of the gang." He was itching to start researching this group who, apparently, were even better than the chief claimed they were.
"I know. Part of AlleyPup's message was for me not to. Apparently he doesn't want you to know who he is, I don't know why but I'm not one to go against his requests."
"You mean to tell us that just because a little boy told you not to, you refuse to let us know who has our friend?" Wufei growled.
"Yes. If he wants it kept a secret, for whatever reason, I'm not going to tell."
Wufei growled at the finality in his tone of voice but was unable to do anything about it as they walked through the police station to the car parked just outside that was waiting for them.
The cops on duty turned to stare as three of the infamous Gundam Pilots stalked through their department, making sure to have a clear path before them. Nobody wanted to get in their way when they looked as intimidating as they did.
Rashid had wanted to be with them when they talked to the police about finding Quatre but had relented to staying in the car, waiting by the cell phone for any sort of contact from Quatre's kidnappers. As soon as he saw the three men and the police chief approaching the limo he started the engine. Now, maybe they would finally be able to do something.
With Rashid driving it only took around fifteen minutes to arrive at the appointed spot. With a good forty-five minutes left before Quatre was supposed to arrive, there was nothing left to do but wait…and comb over every square inch of the alley looking for any possible place that could be used to ambush them. Hey, they might be older but they were still somewhat paranoid.
End Chapter 3
AN/ Sorry for this being so short, I wanted to get back to Shadow and writingthis chapter was like pulling teeth. Don't worry, Wufei isn't going to be a justice freak or anything I just couldn't help myself.
And I know this is belated but I would really like to thank the following for reviewing. You guys have no idea how squee-ish that made me. Well, Fei and Erin know, they had to listen to me gush every time I got a new review.
Thank you – Niharana, Makurayami Ookami, Whoever does the moremoremore (I laugh and grin like an idiot when you review, thanks), Pink Feline, camillian, April Aries (the ages will be reviled pretty soon.) Tatsu Satsuki (Thank you for pointing out the headache thing, I kinda spaced out on that), and YamiEmmy.