L2 had a traditional provisional government that had been set up after the wars, with a governor and house of representatives consisting of a representative from each sector of the colony. The problem was that the "provisional" government had been in place for twelve years; the politicians having bought their way into office and were now under the thumbs of crime bosses.

One of the most powerful was Louis Quinze. He specialized in everything: drugs, prostitution, weapons, smuggling... he ran a tight organization and controlled nearly half of the entire colony. The governor was in his pocket and he outright owned the police force. One did not cross Quinze and expect to get away with it.

How Barton... no, Maxwell, as the kid insisted he be called, had become involved with the man himself, Heero didn't know. So he asked.

Maxwell shrugged. "I'd been doing odd jobs for him, here and there, nothing big and nothing illegal," he emphasized, looking at Heero. "Then Vy got sick, and I needed money for a doctor and some medicine. I asked for an advance on any future jobs he might want me to do and he gave it to me." He sighed, leaning against the wall, looking tired. "Two weeks later, he called in the loan. Two weeks! He knew I'd never get that kind of money in that amount of time. Bastard."

"How much?" Heero asked, checking his knives and slipping a third into his boot.

"Twelve hundred," Maxwell muttered angrily. Heero looked at him in surprise. The kid simply shrugged again. "I know that may not sound like much, and once upon a time it wouldn't have been, for me, but now... every little bit I manage to earn is gone before I know it. In case you haven't noticed, L2 isn't the most economically prosperous colony in the system. Jobs aren't easy to come by here."

"And so you owe him money."

"Yeah. I avoided him for a while, but that only made him angry. I've got a little saved, but it's nowhere close to the total." He rubbed his forehead, a pained expression on his face. "I was hoping I could just hide out until I had some more saved. I don't know how his asshole of a son managed to find me." He looked at Heero, fear in his eyes. "God, we've got to get her out of there... Christ, I don't even know your name."

"Heero," he replied, not willing to volunteer any more information.

"Heero." He said it a couple of more times, as if trying the name out. "Alex is a psychotic nutcase with a thing for kids. He won't touch her until after the deadline, but we have to get her out of there before he gets a chance."

Heero bent to grab his pack, shouldering it quickly. He glanced out the window. The day cycle was just beginning and it had finally stopped raining. He turned back to Maxwell. "I want you to take me to where you're supposed to meet him tonight. Then we'll find some place to wait until dark."

"But…" Maxwell started to protest, but Heero cut him off.

"No. You said yourself he won't touch her until tonight. I need to scout the place, check the exits, get a feel for the layout. I'm not going in there blind and you're useless to me if you get killed."

Maxwell looked at him hard, before crossing his arms over his chest and huffing. "He won't kill me. I'm too 'valuable.'"

Heero took Maxwell's arm, escorting him to the door of the hotel room. The kid shook his hand off angrily. "I don't need to be led like a dog, man!"

Heero looked pointedly at Maxwell's braid. Maxwell's eyes narrowed and he muttered a "Fuck you" before following Heero out the door. They rode the elevator in silence, Heero holding off any more questions until they were out on the street.

Early morning on L2 was surprisingly busy. Even on an economically depressed colony Heero supposed the people still had to get to whatever jobs they had on time for fear of losing them. The air outside was stale and Heero wondered when the last time the filter system had been cleansed.

He stopped at a corner market and purchased two breakfast bars. He tossed one to Maxwell, who muttered a surprised thanks. Heero shrugged, tearing into his. Like the air, it too was stale, but food was food and he noticed the kid ate his with gusto.

He let Maxwell take the lead once they got into the crowds. He led Heero on a criss-cross path, down two alleyways to another street before coming to rest beside a bus stop. "We'll have to take a bus from here," the kid explained, hopping up to perch on the back of the bench next to the stop. "It's a higher class neighborhood. Wouldn't look right to just wander in on foot."

Heero nodded, digging in his pocket for enough credits. "So why does Quinze consider you too valuable?" he asked, counting out the correct amount for two fares.

Maxwell blushed slightly. "He knows I have a little talent for computer systems. He'd been after me for a while to do some work for him, hacking and such. But I wouldn't." He sighed and held his head in his hands. "I think he was just waiting to get me into a situation where I couldn't say no. Damn it!"

Heero shrugged. "Your kid was sick. What else were you supposed to do?"

"Go to someone else? I dunno… I was kinda desperate." He didn't sound too happy.

"We all get desperate sometime in our life," Heero replied softly. Maxwell looked at him, eyebrow raised in question, but Heero was saved from having to explain by the arrival of the bus.

The trip on the bus took close to half an hour. Maxwell sat near the window, while Heero stood so he could observe the other passengers. Neither spoke to the other; the bus was far too crowded. They left the slums pretty quickly. Heero wasn't too surprised to note how close the poorer areas of L2 were to the more affluent neighborhoods. No wonder crime was so rampant on this colony.

Maxwell stood as the bus pulled over to the side next to a fuel station. Heero followed him off the bus. The kid nodded down the street. "Around the corner is a dry cleaners. It's one of Quinze's, though Alex is in charge. He runs his… operations outta there."

"I take it clothing isn't all they're laundering?" Heero asked.

"You got that in one," Duo replied.

"Hn. Wait here," Heero said, shrugging off his jacket and handing his duffel to the kid.

"What are you going to do?"

He held up his jacket. "Kill two birds with one stone. Get a look at the place and get my coat cleaned."

"Let me come…"

"No," Heero interrupted vehemently. "You can't risk being seen, not yet."

"But…"

"Just wait here, or I call our deal off right now."

Maxwell looked at him for a long, hard moment. "Fine," he said grudgingly.

Heero left him sitting at the bus stop with his bag. The dry cleaners was just a step up from being the roach-infested dive he'd expected, but not by much. Then again, he supposed the colonists in this area of L2 were the some of the few who *could* afford to use a dry cleaners, so they probably wouldn't be too picky.

He entered through the front, noting the security cameras. Pretty high tech for a simple dry cleaners. A middle-aged woman took his coat. As she filled out his receipt, Heero craned his neck to see through the window into the back. He couldn't see much through the racks of clothing, but there seemed to be some office space at the far end of the building.

Taking his receipt, he thanked the woman and left. He did a quick recon of the outside of the building, taking in windows and exits. There were more security cameras in the back. Heero memorized the layout, then left, hurrying back to Maxwell.

The kid was surprisingly where he'd left him. Heero had half thought he'd try to run again. He must really care about the girl, Heero thought, to not only risk his own life, but to cooperate with the person sent to bring him in. His level of respect for the kid went up another notch.

"Find what you needed?" his companion asked, handing over Heero's bag.

"I saw enough. Now, we need someplace to wait until dark."

Maxwell nodded. "I know just the place. Follow me."

Heero followed the kid through the narrow streets once more, avoiding people where they could. He took them down a narrow passage, little more than a space between buildings, to the back of an Italian restaurant. Heero was instantly overwhelmed by the smell of garlic.

Maxwell wrinkled his nose. "Sorry about the smell, but it's warm back here, and dry, and I think they're going to let it rain again today."

Heero nodded. "I can deal with it."

"Good." The kid led him underneath a set of metal stairs that led to the roof of the building. There were some pieces of cardboard laying half underneath. Maxwell quickly tore off the damp parts, tossing them out, before arranging the dry bits so they'd have something to sit on. He plopped down and patted the space next to him. Heero suppressed a disgusted grunt before dropping his bag and joining the kid on the ground.

The shelter was surprisingly snug. Huddled underneath the steps, they were mostly hidden from view. A steam vent from the restaurant kept the chill of the morning air off them, for which Heero was grateful as the kid did not have a jacket and he'd left his at the cleaners. And a few minutes after they'd settled themselves, Maxwell's prediction of rain came true. Fortunately, it wasn't as heavy as it had been the past few days.

They sat in silence for a long while, Maxwell watching the rain while Heero watched Maxwell. The kid was an enigma. He didn't act like a thief, at least not the high corporate kind. And while his speech and mannerisms made him stick out on the streets of L2, they weren't the polished verbal skills of a young executive. There was definitely something more to the kid's story, but Heero didn't know if he should find out what it was.

"Can I ask you something?" the kid brought Heero's train of thought to a grinding halt.

"I believe you just did," he replied dryly.

"Ha ha."

Heero sighed. "Go ahead."

"Why are you helping me?"

Good question. Heero wasn't quite sure himself. "Guess I'm a sucker for hard-luck cases," he said, avoiding Maxwell's gaze.

The kid looked at him for a moment, then shook his head. "Gotta be more than that. I mean… okay, how much are you getting to bring me in?"

Heero let his eyes slide over to Maxwell before looking away. "A million." No need to mention the other million if he brought the cross back with him.

The kid stared at him, speechless for a moment. "Holy fuck… a *million*? Jesus…"

Heero shrugged.

"Now I gotta know. Why are you risking a fucking million to help me rescue some girl you've never even met. Hell, you barely know me. I'm your fucking *bounty*. And it's not that I'm not grateful for your help but… I don't understand."

Heero sighed again. "I'm helping you because I want this rundown to be easy. You promised to go without a fight. If I bring you in, this is the last one I'll ever have to do. I'll finally have enough money to keep an old promise and to start a new life." He snorted, looking at the kid. "Or did you really think I enjoyed this line of work?"

It was Maxwell's turn to shrug. "Some might. Thrill of the hunt and all that."

"Not me. Not since… well, not anymore."

"What happened?"

Heero didn't answer for a long time. "There was… a little girl. Older than yours, but sweet, innocent. She loved me and I… cared for her, a great deal."

"What happened?"

"I killed her parents." Shocked silence was his only reply. "I may not have pulled the trigger, but I was responsible all the same."

"Jesus…"

Heero gave a tired sigh and leaned against the back wall. "Despite everything, she forgave me, and in return, I made her a promise. As soon as I reached a certain monetary goal, I'd get out of this business and leave a peaceful life." He eyed Maxwell again. "You're my key to keeping that promise. And I'm sorry but… I have to keep it."

The kid looked at the ground. "Yeah. Tough shit for me, though, isn't it?"

Neither spoke for a while after that. Heero slipped into the restaurant a few hours later for some food and both ate in silence. Afterward he suggested they get some sleep, as neither had slept much the night before. The kid had been half asleep already and simply nodded and lay down on the cardboard, curling into a tight ball. Heero lay next to him, to keep his legs out of the rain and to be alerted if the kid tried to leave.

Surprisingly, they both slept until dark, Heero's internal clock waking him as the day cycle was beginning to dim. He woke Maxwell quickly.

"What time is it?" the kid asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Time to go," Heero replied, scowling out at the rain.

"Oh. Okay." Maxwell pulled himself up off the ground. "Listen, no matter what happens… Heero. Thanks."

Heero grunted. "Don't mention it. Just remember your promise."

"I won't. I always keep my promises."