Author's note

Hi again.

Well, second chapter's here already, figured I may as well post. Thank you to my four kind reviewers Snowdragonct, Chirichi916, Yilun and Katerina Shinigami.

Please everyone continue to leave feedback…I'm a little out of my comfort zone here and would appreciate the comments on my work. Thank you.

Foreseeable Future, by Hikishi

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing does not belong to me. This displeases me but hey, what can I do? So please, save your breath and don't sue.

Pairings: ?

Warnings: Blood, Violence, Swearing (of course), Death (though anyone important)

Genres: Angst, Drama, Action, Hurt/Comfort.

Foreseeable Future

Chapter Two

Seeing Double

Heero Yuy yawned into his cup of coffee ad he stood watching the C.S.I. team work. It was five a.m. Saturday morning and the serial killer had struck again. Wufei stood beside him, stamping his feet to ward of the chill. They'd both been called out by Une and assigned as the chief investigators on this case. From now on, their only job would be to track down the depraved lunatic behind the grisly scenes that kept popping up all over the city. This was the fourth in three weeks. The current crime scene was dense parkland that ran across the three central districts.

"Where's Winner?" Wufei asked as he glanced around.

"I called him." Heero grunted, tossing a look at his Chinese partner. "He should be here soon."

"Don't know why he bothers." The other man muttered more to himself than his partner, straightening his dark, silky tail of hair. "Why work when you don't have to?"

He was, of course, referring to the young Profiler's vast wealth. As a Winner heir, Quatre had access to a near endless amount of funds and assets, yet for some reason, chose to work, not only with the Sanq police force, but also in a job that was a mostly dangerous one and highly emotional in capacity. He worked for free, his wages paid directly into a charity's account. Rumour had it that he was doing it because his father made him, or that he was doing it because the orphanage the money went to actually held some of his illegitimate children. Heero was sure it was neither. He found himself shrugging in answer.

"No idea."

As he spoke, the blond jumped out of the car that had just approached. One of the crime scene investigators on the case came over to speak with them. Heero tried to remember his name, but couldn't.

"So what have we got, Barton?" Wufei asked for them both, unknowingly saving his partner from a tense moment, they'd both worked with this particular C.S.I. team often enough to be familiar by now. Barton shook his head, green eyes and white jumpsuit sparkling in the light of the floodlights. Quatre had already ducked under the boundary tape and stood beside them.

"Hi Quatre." The tall man greeted, making the other man blush.

"T-Trowa." He stammered, before turning to them. "Sorry I'm late."

Barton didn't give them time to answer, diving straight in to his findings.

"Victim is five five, brown hair, blue eyes, no I.D. Time of death, around three a.m. Evidence suggests that the killer committed rape before pulling off all finger and toenails. Killer then raped the vic again. There are strangulation marks on the neck and he's left another tape and photo."

"The pose?" Wufei asked and Trowa nodded.

"You wanna look?"

They followed him, Quatre hanging back instead and waiting. Une had all but barred him from going anywhere near the dead bodies, claiming that he was just 'too sensitive' for that. This fuelled more rumours that the Winner heir had ulterior motives for his job, considering that every other Profiler in the country saw dead bodies up close and personal. Heero knew there was another, more disturbing reason for his commander's order. On their last murder case together, Quatre had seemed to feel things very strongly from the killer by getting close to the victims' bodies, almost as if the women's emotions were his own. It had agitated the young Profiler greatly, as well as the two cops. However, he was damned good at his job and had helped to catch the perpetrator with an impressive character build up, laying rest to any fraudulent claims and allowing Une to sanction his continued use to her best employees, providing he didn't get too close to the bodies. Quatre was difficult to work with, but the three of them had come to a mutual agreement that satisfied them all.

As he and Wufei drew near to the body, Quatre, who had been watching from the sidelines, let off a choked cry and started forward on horror.

"Duo!"

Heero thought for a moment that they were going to have to remove him to a safer distance when Trowa called out in reassurance.

"It's not him Quatre, don't worry, it's not him. The victim's female"

The blond sagged against the officer who had sprung to their aid before and was holding him back, uttering a "Thank the Gods."

Heero and Wufei spent some time perusing the evidence and discussing it, before coming to the conclusion that it had to be the same perpetrator. Trowa and his primary partner, a red haired man by the name of Treize, were busy bagging the rest of the evidence when Heero saw movement between the trees. He moved over to investigate, thinking that it was probably a greedy reporter. They had been all over this case like a bad rash and it had been making it increasingly difficult for the authorities - namely him and Chang - do their jobs properly. A dishevelled figure stumbled onto the crime scene, tumbling to a stop at Heero's feet and clutching desperately at his leg, wide eyed and shaking.

"Hey!" He glared down at the homeless man clinging to his jeans, taking in the mussed and knotted hair with bits of undergrowth and twigs tangled in it. His clothes were ripped and dirty, and he was lacking shoes, feet muddy and scratched. As the man glanced up, Heero noticed that his pupils were blown, the size of saucers. Drugs, he snorted to himself in disdain. Where did bums get the money to feed their habit? Begging would never earn them enough.

"This is a crime scene!" He barked. "Get out of here!"

"Don't…don't…" The beggar whispered, eyes darting to gaze fearfully at the dark tree line. Don't what? Heero thought even as he tried to pry dirty fingers from his pant leg. The hobo must have really been on a bad trip.

"Yuy, get him off the crime scene!" Wufei growled. Heero stopped to look up, finding that people were beginning to stare.

"Please!" Came the plaintive whimper. The druggie began to show Heero his hair for some inane reason. "I was next! I was next, but I got away! Look…" Suddenly the officer was also being shown his foot. "I'm…I'm next!

"For the love of God Yuy!" It appeared that Wufei had taken all he could of the floor show, because he stalked over and grabbed the junkie's arm roughly, dragging him away from his partner. "You're under arrest for disturbing a crime scene-"

"DUO!" all at once Quatre was running to their aid. No, not to help them, he was yelling at Chang angrily, whilst pulling the bum out of his grip gently. "What the hell are you doing! Let him go at once!" He knelt by the beggar, pushing the unkempt locks back from his face and checking him over carefully. "Are you okay Duo? What are you doing out here, you're all filthy. What's happened?"

Heero's partner continued to rant in the background as the blond ignored him completely. Heero himself was stymied. Just what in the hell was going on here?

"He's on the scene of a murder! And he's high!"

"Of course he's not!" Quatre snapped back without ceasing his actions. "Duo would never touch drugs, now get away from him!" The blond pushed the Preventer away and returned his attention to his…friend. Heero squatted beside him. "Duo," Winner continued softly, trying to get the young man to focus. "What happened to you? You're a mess. And where are your shoes…"

Quatre went still and his face drained of all colour as he looked in horror at the interloper's foot, before speaking in a hushed, almost heartbroken whisper.

"We need an ambulance."

Heero leaned closer to look and his heart skipped a beat once he saw what the Profiler had spotted, freezing in his tracks and instantly understanding what the strange young man had been trying to tell him.

"Holy…shit." He murmured, gazing in morbid fascination at the bloody, nail-less toe. "He told me…he told me he was the next victim." Terrified indigo eyes peeked up at him from under a fall of burnished hair. "What's your name kid?"

"He's Duo Maxwell, a friend of mine who works in a bar not far from here." Quatre answered for him, before returning his attention to the potential eye witness. "He's supposed to be home right now, his shift finished over three hours ago.

"Quat' he…he…"

"Yes Duo, I'm here, I'm here, it's okay, you're safe." The profiler stroked another fallen lock of hair out of the young man's face.

"I'm next." His friend hiccoughed. Trowa joined them, checking the bar tender over. C.S.I.s had E.M.T. training as a mandatory part of their job.

"Can you tell me what you've taken?" He asked, slowly and calmly, but was unsuccessful in gaining any response from the frightened creature curled in the Profiler's arms. "Quatre?"

"I don't know."

"What's his name"

"Duo." the blond supplied with a worried frown.

"Duo, my name is Trowa. I need to know what you've taken, can you tell me?"

"I don't know. Don't know." The young man chanted as his eyes darted about wildly. "Don't know. Quatre, I was next, he said I was next!"

"I know Duo, just calm down hmm?" He soothed. "You're safe okay, let us help you."

"Duo, look at me." Trowa took his chin gently an made him focus. "That's good. Take slow, deep breaths." He smiled when his patient obeyed the instruction. "Hey there, I'm gonna check you over okay?" Duo stayed, docile, clutching at Quatre as the investigator palpated through his hair, looking for any head wounds. Trowa frowned, then held up his hand. "Now, how many fingers do you see?"

"Three…Quat'…"

"I'm right here. Let Trowa help you."

"Are you dizzy? Feel sick? Are you numb anywhere."

"N-no…no." Duo answered his questions with difficulty, shaking his head.

"Barton." Heero said softly, not wanting to upset the obviously scared young man. "Look. He's got something in his hand."

"Can you open your left hand for me Duo? That's it." He encouraged as his patient slowly uncurled his clenched fist. Even drugged half out of his mind and running only on adrenaline, this kid clearly had his wits about him. Trowa picked up the syringe with his gloved hands and bagged it, before passing it over to an officer. "Get this to Treize, and have him find out what was in it." He ordered, not taking his eyes off Duo.

"Do you know what it is?" Quatre asked in concern.

Trowa checked Duo's blood pressure and reactions, before settling back on his haunches.

"Not sure, but looks to me like it's a powerful date-rape drug. Treize'll have to test it though to confirm my suspicions."

The ambulance had arrived and Heero, feeling responsible for the young man, carried Duo into the waiting van.

"Thanks, Heero." Quatre said gratefully.

"A live one?" Sally Po greeted in disbelief as Duo was set down on the gurney. She immediately snapped into action. "What's your name sweetie?"

The Profiler's friend began to calm down as Sally bustled about, performing more checks and setting up an I.V., quickly assessing and tending to his various wounds. He'd broken two toes and cracked his ankle, along with a concussion on his head, a nasty graze on his arm and a heavily bruised cheek.

"Duo?" Quatre was suddenly, very hesitant, and Heero was shocked at the question that came next. None of them had even entertained the thought. "Did he - did he…rape you?"

"N-no." The young man shook like a leaf in the wind. "I got away."

"You're a very lucky man." Heero managed to say seriously.

"I…lost my keys." Came the numb, shocked admission. "And my wallet….gone."

"We'll find them." The Preventer reassured him firmly. Sally stood.

"Right, who's coming with?"

"I am." Quatre volunteered immediately. No one was surprised.

Heero himself was about to go and rejoin his partner when shock weakened fingers caught his sleeve and fearful indigo orbs stared up at him pleadingly.

"Don't…I'm scared."

"It's alright Yuy." Chang supplied, having already reached the ambulance. "I'll finish up here. You escort Duo to the hospital, and try and get a statement, I'll let Une know and join you shortly."

"Okay."