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This chapter is much longer than the first two...and we get to meet our lovely ABVH characters!
Enjoy!
Chapter 3
It had taken them a long time to read through the entire report, but Qautre and Trowa had come to the same conclusion as Wufei had. Now they realized some of the animal attacks had truly been animal after what had happened to Duo, who had decided not to repeat that he thought the animals –were- the people, not trained pets as the others wanted to believe. The supposed bloodless deaths were probably just to throw the authorities off their trail.
Duo was dutifully ignoring everyone again as they discussed if they could track the murders through illegal animal trade routes, or missing circus or zoo animals. He had pulled out all the weapons from his and Wufei's closet cache and was cleaning them with exceptional care.
That was how Heero found them when he arrived at the crack of dawn, as promised, with Duo ignoring the others while they were debating East Asian laws on animal exports. His attention went from the first immediate threat, an angry trained soldier with equally dangerous weapons, to the rest, who were at least unarmed from what his professional view could assess. Old habits die hard.
"You seem all right for someone who was bleeding to death thirty-six hours ago," he remarked, eyeing Duo strangely. "I had Sally send me everything to analyze during the flight. Supposedly, I should be feeling jealous about your suddenly miraculous healing rate."
Duo laughed, though it wasn't a particularly friendly one, as he lifted his shirt to reveal old looking scars. "Yeah, this, and be concerned about my sanity."
"If you believe you saw the perpetrator change shape, then that's what happened," Heero replied seriously. "I don't doubt what you saw. I trust your ability to assess a situation properly under duress."
Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei had the decency to look embarrassed. When pointed out like that, it did seem pretty rotten of them to dismiss Duo's beliefs like they had. Duo felt a lot better.
"Well, whatever happened, at least we'll be fully arms," Duo said, putting down the gun he had been cleaning.
"Somehow, I don't think being fully armed is going to help," Trowa said, still slightly chagrined. "The tone of the message implies that you will go to them willingly, like an obedient dog." He handed Heero the card that had been sitting on the table amidst other notes and polished weapons.
"When is the full moon?" Heero asked, frowning at the card.
Wufei got up and went into the kitchen, returning with a calendar. "A week from now, why?"
"We have to know our time table. So one week to neutralize the situation," he replied. Leave it to Heero to act like they were discussing the time limit of a bomb detonation. "One week before Duo will go find them like some sort of odedient dog, to use Trowa's expression."
"It's more like obedient cat," Duo said thoughtfully. "Since everything they've sent our way has been big black cats. And I don't think we'll be searching too hard."
Heero nodded. "I agree that we need to look into the background of the private investor. In fact, when reading over the other reports, it was a common trend that the scenes of the attacks were all in the same general vicinity of a certain building, or area." He went to the computer and started typing away furiously without another word.
Duo was pissed again, though for different reasons. 'Who in the fuck do these assholes think they are?' he thought, but at the same time, it started to scare him. By now, everyone in the Earth Sphere knew who and what they were, what they were capable of. For someone to make threats like this, they were either incredibly unstable mentally, or they knew they had the power to back the threats. Or both, which was never a good thing. What did they want with just him? Unless they needed someone stealthy enough to steal something important, he was useless without a mobile suit to pilot.
Strip them of their Gundam pilot status and see what was left. Quatre was a rich, politically powerful heir to the Winner resource satellite corporation. As his significant other, Trowa also received some of those benefits, but for the most part, he held his own sort of power in the popularity he had with the circus and that deep affinity with the animals he worked with. Heero would always be the Perfect Soldier, and being permanently attached to Relena's shadow made most authority turn a blind eye to anything he did. Wufei came from one of the most powerful families in China, and was now their sole representative after the exiled clan had self destructed their colony to keep it from OZ control. Couple that with an intelligence and martial arts skills that would make Albert Einstein and Bruce Lee envious, and he had it made.
Duo could... steal. Survive. All he had to fall back on was a nonexistence as a street urchin and a little dumb luck. Sure, he could fix and fly just about anything, but without mobile suits in the picture, there were plenty of other mechanics and pilots that made it so he wasn't needed. All that left him as was a sneaky son of a bitch who had great survival skills. So why him?
Wufei seemed to sense Duo's abysmal train of thought and went to sit by him, wrapping his arms around Duo's shoulders. He didn't crawl up into Wufei's lap, but the line of their bodies were pressed close enough together that it probably would have been more comfortable. He was not going to act completely pathetic, he had stopped feeling sorry about himself a long time ago, but occasionally it came up and bit him in the ass, just like now. Though he did let himself wriggle in close enough to lay his cheek in the warm hollow of Wufei's shoulder, where collarbone met the curve of smooth neck. Nothing made him more content than the scent of Wufei's aftershave, a warm, spicy musk that could be potentially overwhelming if used too liberally. Duo preferred edible scents, especially vanilla, which somehow went hand-in-hand with the spicy aftershave like a dessert.
Duo nuzzled in closer to the curve of his throat, starting to inhale deeply, but then he stopped. There was the aftershave, a hint of his own vanilla, but underneath was something new. It was something sweet, like candy. His eyes followed the line up Wufei's throat until they found the almost unnoticeable pulse of his jugular vein. There. Like a big piece of candy begging to be taken in his mouth and sucked on, bit down on until the fleshy covering over it was torn away and it spilled its sweet juices. It sounded like such a good idea, and he was so, so hungry for it...
His stomach growled loudly.
Wufei laughed. "Leave it to you to be hungry at a time like this," he glanced down at Duo, then jerked back with a startled, wide-eyed stare.
"What's wrong, 'Fei?" Duo asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.
He shook his head as if trying to clear it. "Your eyes looked a different color. It must have been the light or something." He shook his head again.
"I've got a name," Heero said, effectively ending their conversation. He turned in the chair enough to give the others a full view of the computer screen. No picture, just a document. Heero's expression would have been amusing if it weren't so scary. He was really angry about something.
"This is the contract they signed to purchase the warehouse. The investor's name is Jean-Claude. No last name. And that's all I can find. No location, age, picture, background, nothing." Heero's voice was flat, but the frustration was evident. "It's like he appeared out of thin air."
"That's not good," Quatre frowned, mirroring the concern that they all felt. If Heero couldn't find it, then they had a very big problem.
"And you tried every way you know to get the information?" Trowa asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"Yes. I tried every hacking trick I know and then some," Heero replied with the same flat, angry tone.
"Then we don't have time to wait until the end of the full moon deadline, we must take action immediately," Quatre said firmly. "If we're going in blind, we have to go now. I'm sure you all agree with me that we don't want another victim turning up while we're sitting here twiddling our thumbs and waiting to see what Duo's note means."
The authority he spoke with would leave no one with doubts on who the leader of their group was. People commonly assumed it was Heero, so it was always amusing to see the shocked reactions when soft spoken little Quatre with into leader mode. Especially new Preventers who come on assignments and felt the need to protect Quatre because of his gentle appearance, then found out quite rudely the power underneath all that sweet talk and smiles.
"Would anyone be out in that... area on a Sunday night?" Wufei asked.
Duo gave another hollow, bitter sort of laugh that had nothing to do with humor. "You wouldn't believe what a lot of people do on Sundays. I wouldn't be surprised if we found the place just as packed as it was on Friday."
"Besides, even if it weren't, wouldn't –you- like having the element of surprise over them?" Trowa remarked, as if it explained everything.
"You're right, I'm sorry. I'm letting my personal discomforts distract me," Wufei sighed.
"You don't seem to mind the stripping if I'm the one doing it," Duo teased, giving him a remarkably cat-like purr. Wufei turned a delicate shade of red and mumbled something incomprehensible.
Quatre stared at Duo with an odd expression, but it cleared before anyone noticed and he was back to business again.
"So tonight it is, then."
With the five of them together, things couldn't have been better. One person covered every side of the warehouse, with Trowa taking the precarious rooftop. The sensation Duo so aptly called the 'heebie jeebies' stole over them all as soon as they had turned off the main road to the dark one that led to the building. Tension ran high as they covered their different positions, their guard on maximum alert.
It was almost anticlimactic when they were able to get in through their respective doors, or skylight in Trowa's case, and into the warehouse without a problem. There were no lights on, only the soft illumination of moonlight through the windows.
"Looks like they've already started renovations on the place before Une gave them clearance," Trowa said softly over the radio set. "Carpeted floors, tables, and I nearly killed myself repelling through the window. I almost landed right onto their stage lighting units."
"I've spotted a few stages, I'm at the main one in the center of the room," Heero replied.
"Here's a bar," Wufei added noncommittally.
"I'm with Heero," Quatre said, breathing a little too heavily into the earpiece. "I feel like I'm suffocating under a sea of energy."
"Duo?"
Silence.
"Duo, how's your side?" Heero asked.
Nothing.
Suddenly, a violent eruption of obscenities and gunfire answered the constricted quiet. Duo came rushing out of the darkness onto the center of the main stage, his body half turned as he shot behind him into the shadows he had just emerged from. He came to an abrupt stop to keep from toppling off the stage onto Heero and Quatre. Wufei and Trowa hurried out to join them as more than a handful of people emerged fro the spot Duo was shooting at.
Click. Duo's gun was empty.
The pilots stared in horror as the leader, a tall blonde man, laughed and looked down at the gunshot wound in his leg. It was healing before their very eyes, as if someone had hit a fast forward button.
"You came a little sooner than expected," he smirked, enjoying their dumbfounded expressions as he moved closer.
"Stay the fuck away from me!" Duo yelled, edging back until his heels were at the edge of the stage. His hands fumbled as he dropped the empty clip and stuffed a fresh one in, even though it seemed obvious that shooting him was pointless.
"Oh, come on now, is that how you're supposed to treat your friend?" The blonde stepped forward again and was met with a bullet in his stomach.
"Fuck you," Duo hissed.
He looked furious. "Fine, have it your way." He flicked his hands palm outward and long, razor sharp claws snapped out of his fingertips like switchblades. Gunshots exploded from behind Duo as the others shot at the blonde, but they were too slow. Just like before, Duo flew off the stage, tackled to the ground in a movement faster than the blink of an eye. The man was on top of him, claws poised to strike, but before he could, the front doors of the warehouse burst open with a loud bang. The air in the room was positively drowning with energy, so much so that Quatre dropped his gun and clutched his chest, collapsing to his knees next to Trowa.
"Zander, just what the fuck do you think you're doing?" A woman's voice slashed through the thick air like a knife.
The lights over the stage flickered to life, momentarily blinding everybody. Wufei glanced over at Heero. Trowa was on his knees, holding Quatre to him as the smaller pilot shivered, still clutching his chest. A glance behind him showed the five others that had been with the blonde man had thrown themselves down to the ground in a groveling, abased position. The man himself was stock still, straddling Duo on the floor with clawed hands prepared to strike, but his face was a frozen mask of fear.
They could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed the approaching woman and the entourage of men with her. Wufei's first impression was wondering why he felt so afraid of such a tiny woman. She was at most five foot three, petite looking with her pale white skin and long, curly ink black hair. But the power that emanated from her and the men with her made them seem like a giants. It was as if all she had to do was pin that dark gaze on Wufei and he would shatter into a million pieces.
He certainly did not want to be feeling whatever Quatre was, he was sure it was tenfold worse than what he was experiencing, having it all super enhanced with his empathetic abilities.
As if he had read Wufei's mind, one of the men behind her moved up and placed a pale hand on her shoulder. He was beautiful, yet completely masculine at the same time. He looked like he had just stepped out of an old oil painting with all his black velvet and lace spilling out everywhere. "Ma petite, I do believe you are hurting their petit ange," he spoke gently, his French-accentuated tone smooth as silk. Her eyes met Quatre's pained ones and her entire countenance softened visibly, the energy sucking away as if her eyes were straws drinking it all back inside. Then she went back to glaring at Zander as if she could set him on fire with her gaze alone.
"Get off him, now."
The blonde slid sideways off of Duo, holding himself down in a fashion similar to those on the stage as his claws retracted. "I apologize, Nimir-Ra." He shook perceptibly, as if he were waiting for a blow.
Duo climbed slowly to his feet, turning towards the newcomers stiffly. Something was definitely hurt pretty badly for him to move like he was. Wufei went over to him, touching his arm gingerly.
"Are you all right, Duo?"
"Eh, I've been better," he winced, massaging his back.
"You see why I had to do it?" Zander said, his tone pleading.
"We haven't been gone more than a couple of days and already you've fucked up," the woman replied harshly, turning away and coming closer to Wufei and Duo. "Who..." She stopped suddenly, staring at Duo in utter shock.
"Nathaniel?"
"What's wrong, Anita?" It was one of the other men than had come in with her. Wufei's attention was drawn to him as he walked into the stage light towards them and he understood perfectly why the woman was so stunned. Quatre let out an audible gasp behind them.
If Duo had a twin, then this Nathaniel would be him. They had to be about the same height, the same lithe, toned build, the same color of hair. Those same, startling violet eyes. The only differences were Nathaniel's braid length, his thick hair trailed down almost to the floor instead of hitting mid-thigh like Duo's, and he was dressed in painted on black leather pants with a lavender silk shirt compared to Duo's plain black street clothes. Even their facial features were so similar that Wufei had to look in his arms to make sure he was still holding his partner.
Duo and Nathaniel stared at each other, confusion evident.
"You said you needed something to help persuade them, so I did it, I thought you wouldn't mind," Zander started babbling again, piercing the stifling silence.
The expression of dawning horror on Anita and Nathaniel's faces made Wufei more afraid than the woman's ire had moments before. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who felt that way.
"Which one of you is Jean-Claude?" Heero barked irritably, glaring at the other men. Oh yeah, he was not a happy camper. He pointed his gun at Zander. "This man is wanted for the deaths of five people in this city, along with the attempted murder of a high priority Preventers agent. Duo, this is the man who attacked you, right?"
"Yeah," Duo nodded vaguely, too caught up in staring at his doppelganger to pay much attention.
"And the abuse of exotic animals," Trowa supplemented. "Most specifically a large black panther."
The French man who had spoken before gave a vexing shrug that meant everything and nothing at the same time. "I am afraid there was been a very big misunderstanding," he said, his voice flowing like fur over the Gundam pilots. "I am Jean-Claude, and there has been no murder here. In fact, I believe the victims you are searching for sit there on the stage."
Heero scowled. "Mind games won't work with us."
"No, he's telling the truth, I brought them here," Zander said, still sounding panicky.
"And as for claim of abusing exotic animals, I feel that, too, is another very unjust accusation. Ma petite?"
Anita held her hand out towards Zander, who was shaking his head jerkily, then let out a loud scream. He writhed on the ground with the sounds of ripping flesh and popping bones, his body vanishing into the form of a giant black panther before he finally stopped thrashing. It cowered like a scolded kitten at Anita's feet.
Duo felt a vicious pain flare through his body, bringing a ragged gasp out of his throat and him onto his knees, gripping his arms tightly around himself. Suddenly, all of his senses were enhanced a million times over. He could see the other men hanging back in the shadows crystal clear. One was a tall, muscled man with tan skin and honey brown, curly hair. Next to him was an angel, or what looked like an angel, radiant with pale alabaster skin and long golden hair that fell over one side of his perfectly sculpted face. Beside him was another tall, built man with flowing blood red hair and bright green eyes that glittered in the darkness like living emeralds. Duo could smell everything, perfumes, colognes, what shampoo and soap they used, stale sex and blood, animals...wolf and leopard. Taste fear like candy on his tongue... It reminded him of Wufei's pulse... His skin was too tight, bone structure not right, he needed to shed his human shell and feed on the fear from Wufei and the other pilots.
"Shit! Nathaniel, quick, you need to take his beast."
Warm, almost hot lips pressed against Duo's, the taste of lipstick overwhelming the taste of fear. Some animal instinct that had been fueling his sensory nerves recognized her taste, her power, and gave itself over like a vassal to a queen's command. It poured out of Duo's mouth and into the one kissing him, and he gradually came back to his own senses.
He blinked slowly, staring at Anita's face so close to his, her red lipstick smeared slightly. She had one hand cupping the side of his face tenderly, the other holding the furry, clawed hand of Nathaniel. It took a second for it click that it was him under all the fur and cat-like changes, but he still looked partially human. It took even longer for Duo to realize that he was trembling violently and the only thing keeping him on his knees was Anita's gentle grip on his jaw.
"I believe we have some explaining to do," Jean-Claude sighed.
"Oh, I think there's a hell of a lot more than 'some' explaining," Wufei retorted angrily, using every ounce of will power he possessed to take his gaze off of Duo and Anita to glare balefully at Jean-Claude.
The three men in the shadows came forward to join the show as the tan, honey haired one spoke. "Anita took... Duo's beast and gave it to Nathaniel so he wouldn't change," he said calmly. His deep, expressive brown gaze took in all the pilots.
"So you're implying that if she hadn't done what she did, Duo would look like that?" Quatre asked, indicating Nathaniel. His voice was pained, but otherwise, he had managed to pull his empathetic reins back into his control.
"No... Well, maybe. It depends on his power level," he shrugged.
"I think he would," Nathaniel replied, his voice a purr coming out of his kitty-cat mouth. At Quatre's confused expression, he elaborated, "What I received was only a portion of power, just enough to stop the change. But that small piece I got was powerful enough to make the assumption."
"Jesus, you're going to be a hellcat at full moon," Anita remarked, standing up. "He's going to need to stay with us until the full moon's passed."
"Like hell he is," Wufei fired up instantly, helping his lover to his feet.
"You don't understand what's going to happen," Anita replied, her expression sympathetic.
"We should listen to what they have to say, 'Fei," Duo said quietly, shivering again. "Please."
Wufei's outrage wilted in a heartbeat as he wrapped Duo's shaking body in his arms like they were a warm blanket to keep out the cold. It was a testament of their loyalty to each other that Heero and Trowa put away their guns without a word, trusting Duo and Quatre's judgment on the situation.
"If you would like, we have much more accommodating rooms belong," Jean-Claude said, his voice doing that same trick of gliding against their skin like silk, oozing into intimate places inside them where no one could possibly touch and promising things even more intimate. "We can relax and you can have any question of yours answered to the best of our abilities."
"That sounds a hell of a lot like 'we'll tell you what we think you need to know,'" Duo remarked, beginning to regain his composure.
"No, we won't withhold information," Anita replied forcibly, her irritation turned in Jean-Claude's direction. "You've already suffered enough metaphysical bullshit without knowing what's going on. What Jean-Claude meant is that there are some things even we still don't know the answer to, so then we can't tell you if we don't know."
Quatre shared glances with the others before nodding in agreement. They headed off around the main stage back towards the other end of the warehouse where Duo had so rudely encountered Zander. Even though they promised only to give information, it didn't stop Duo from thinking.
'Out of the pan and into the fire...'
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