Disclaimer: I don't own a thing (as sad as that realization is), except for the words I've written.
Warnings: Rated for adult language (Duo's got quite a surly mouth and mind), some violence, and mild adult themes.
A/N: Thank you for your reviews! As you'll notice the story is definitely deviating, at this point, from my inspiration, Bad Luck and Trouble. It will be going in and out with that storyline, just FYI for those Lee Child fans. As usual, your input and comments are always appreciated.
Maxwell
Chapter 13: Drop A Heart, Break A Name
Sugar We're Going Down - Fall Out Boy
Moments after her confession, Une had been pulled away to answer an 'important phone call.' Duo wanted to follow her and maybe get in a couple of good curses in her direction at the idea that anything else was more 'important' than the fact that she had all but admitted to using the Gundam pilots as some sort of twisted fucking 'bait' in her latest Preventer investigation of God knows what. But he didn't. And he had a sickening feeling it had to do with the surprisingly calming hand of Heero that still clung to his shoulder.
Sean Davis, unlike his superior officer, stayed in the small hospital room, appraising the three men with an arrogance that made their skin crawl. He'd clearly gotten his aggression out with the impulsive and poorly thought out attack on Heero's upturned palm and was moving on past the idea of vengeance. But his new attitude was even less appealing than a discomposed one. So, since he wasn't going to be allowed to go after Une, Duo decided to channel his anger in the rookie's direction.
"What the fuck is Preventer playing at?" Duo spit out.
"Easy Maxwell." Wufei's voice was strong and defensive, even coming from his bandaged and bed ridden form. Duo looked at him out of the corner of his indigo eyes and wondered vaguely again who's side the man was truly on.
But Sean Davis did not seem to take offense to the braided man's harsh words. Instead he took a seat in a chair next to Wufei's hospital bed and put his elbows on his knees, his eyes never leaving Duo's own.
"Let's get a few things straight," he began. "This is Preventer you're dealing with. We're not idiots, as you should know..." His eyes drifted to Wufei only to be met with a stone-faced glare of unsureness. "We're smart and proactive and usually one or two steps ahead of everyone else. That includes ex-Gundam pilots like yourselves."
Heero and Duo's vision flicked to Wufei to see if he was going to interject, argue, say anything to the man, but he kept his lips in a firm line, simply listening.
Davis smiled half-heartedly and continued his one-sided conversation. "Within forty-eight hours of finding a dead body outside of the Sanc Kingdom we'd briefed Chang, found Maxwell, and had a pretty good idea that Heero Yuy was, in fact, very much alive," he explained. "Which begs the question: just how elite are the Gundam pilots? One, a Preventer who doesn't seem to be well informed of his own organization's investigations. A once 'perfect soldier' now a lap-dog for Relena Darlian's security staff. Another running a corporation that is developing and researching new projects right under his ignorant nose. A man hiding behind a mask with a traveling circus. The last, running from motel to motel looking for an easy way out of life."
Sean Davis' words hit the men like a ton of bricks that none of them were expecting or prepared for. Duo felt as though he should be angry, should have some scathing wise-crack lined up for the man, but all he could do was stand there, slack jawed like his other two companions.
Davis' eyes glimmered with the knowledge that his words had had the acute impact he was looking for. "So low and behold, here we are, five ex-pilots together again. And now, as my commanding officer has so blatantly explained, you know your position in this investigation."
Wufei was the first to finally speak, his tone even. "We are not pawns, Davis."
The other Preventer was quick on the response, like he'd predicted Wufei's move before he'd even opened his mouth. "You didn't seem to have a problem with the idea of 'pawns' when we requested your help. You were the one that originated the idea of finding Maxwell. We weren't the one who suggested his usefulness and knowledge regarding Mr. Yuy." He smiled once again, still fucking insincere. "Thank you, by the way, for making my job that much easier."
Duo growled, his fists clenching. "He wasn't using me. I agreed to help with the investigation because I fucking thought Heero was dead."
Shrugging, Davis replied, "It doesn't really matter to me how you think we came to this point. We are here and that's what's important."
Heero removed his hand from Duo's shoulder and the braided man tensed for a moment, wondering if his companion had finally snapped under the frustrating proceedings. But his words were soft and imploring. "Preventer's theory is that someone is hunting the five of us down?"
"I don't know what our theory is, per se. But that's certainly what the evidence is pointing to. But really, flushing the five of you out is a win-win for me. If you don't show up, maybe they've already got you, which adds pieces to the puzzle. If you do show up, then you're bait, and maybe I can use you to flush them out."
The idea of just who 'they' and 'them' were hung in the air between the four. This conversation was beginning to irritate the hell out of Duo, but he bit his lip to hold back the sarcastic remarks bubbling up in his mouth.
"Preventer's been sending the photographs?" Heero asked, his tone still very neutral.
Davis shook his head. "At first we really thought you might be dead. The autopsy was pretty clean, what with your fingerprints and all. But, when we intercepted an encrypted message to the Vice Foreign Minister, our thoughts began to change. That's where you two came in." He gestured to Duo and Wufei blandly. "We didn't know about the other photographs until Chang sent some in for analysis. That's when the case went from being just the murder of someone posing as Heero Yuy, to something much bigger, involving all five of you it seems."
"And why the fuck does Preventer care so much about us?" Duo bit out, interrupting the irritating, long-winded answer. "You said yourself we're ignorant, hiding, looking for 'an easy way out.'" He brought his fingers up to create air quotes around the last several words.
"You think Preventer wants the five heroes of the universe to die at the hands of some common stalker?" Davis asked. Duo wasn't sure if the man was being sarcastic or serious, but either way he had the undying urge to break his nose again.
"Cut the bullshit," Wufei grit out, sitting up more as if he wanted to attempt the same thing Duo was imagining in his head.
"He's telling the truth." Une's voice filtered back into the hospital room from her position back at the now open doorway. "Though there are some holes that need to be filled in."
Duo flicked a hand in her direction. "Care to enlighten us then?"
"I don't believe your stalker is quite so common after all," she said, her words almost heavy sounding as if it were truly unwelcome news. All four men stared at her intently, waiting for her to continue. Even for Davis it seemed to be new information. "Chang managed to retrieve some interesting intel from his visit to Winner Corp on L4. Some of it was damaged in the attack, but what we can glean from the recovered information has just altered this investigation drastically."
Heero's eyes shifted to Wufei. "You didn't mention that."
Wufei visibly tensed, though wincing slightly as his muscles were still tender. "I was kind of dealing with a car bomb at the time. So I apologize if I didn't have the means to recount every detail of my trip," he spit out through clenched teeth.
Duo ignored the exchange, his eyes still glued to the woman in front of them. He laughed out harshly. "So you don't need us as bait anymore?"
Une gave him a hard look from under thick lashes. "An ex-employee of Winner Corp has managed to sustain the use of some of their facilities with inside help. The research that has been blatantly broadcast throughout the news the past couple of days is much more than a simple grant proposal for some new energy resources." She paused almost for dramatic effect and Duo thought he might combust at the forced suspense.
"The research is for DNA replication," she furrowed her brows tensely. "Possibly for human cloning."
Heero was having a very strained conversation with Quatre on the phone while Duo stared at a now stale cup of coffee resting atop the white table of the hospital's cafeteria. The news of Winner Corp's possible involvement in some sort of cloning operation was beyond anything the five pilots had been expecting.
Shit, DNA replication was something straight out of a science fiction movie. Though, Duo did realize he shouldn't be shocked by anything anymore these days. It hadn't taken long for him to be reminded that Quatre's sisters and friends had all been born of a test tube.
"...we will probably be going back to the hotel shortly to gather our belongings. I've reserved a new room still close to Sanc, but at a less conspicuous location." Duo listened to the tail end of the conversation and thought amusedly that they might finally be bunkering down in a place more suited to his post-war life.
Heero nodded a few more times and then hung up the phone. He gave Duo a soft look. "Trowa and Quatre are going to stay at a Maganac base, lay low for a couple of days. He said they had reason to believe they were being tailed."
Duo frowned. "At least we know it can't be Davis this time. But I guess that's not really good news, huh?"
Heero shook his head. "It's hard to say. We were correct in assuming that Preventer is involved, but there are apparently more parties still unaccounted for."
"Shit, I thought these names were going to make our lives easier," Duo mumbled.
Heero, for some unknown reason, placed fingers atop Duo's hand. Maybe it was to grab his attention, maybe it was to reassure him, but it was a kind touch and it almost made the braided man flinch. "Since when are our lives easy?" he asked, a near hint of faraway humor in his deep, blue eyes.
Duo smirked. "Yeah, how could I forget?"
A presence at the side of their table caused both men to look up and Heero's hand to abruptly leave Duo's. Sally Po looked down at them, her red lips forming a knowing smile, but she did not act on that knowledge presently, which allowed Duo's suddenly tense muscles to slacken.
"Wufei insists upon meeting with you two, but I insist upon him getting the rest he needs in order to recover," she explained in the neutral voice they were both accustomed to.
"Tell him we will come back tomorrow and that we'll call him if anymore progress is made," Heero answered her efficiently.
Sally nodded. "Thank you." She then turned to leave, but before she went she turned to speak over her shoulder with genuine concern in her eyes. "Take care of yourselves."
Duo gave her a mock solute and a roguish grin. "As always, Sally."
Shaking her head, she left the two men again to stare at the table top in silence. Heero was the first to speak. "She's good for him."
Every muscle in Duo's body stiffened. "What's that supposed to mean?" He hadn't meant for the words to sound so harsh and defensive, but he couldn't take them back now.
Heero gazed at him with an odd curiosity, like he was trying to translate the outburst. "I just mean Chang needs to recover and she'll make sure that he does."
With a sigh Duo slackened again. His muscles were going to be sore from all of the tensing. "You're right, 'Ro. He does need her, otherwise he'd probably already be unhooked from those machines and halfway out the front door."
Heero actually let out a soft chuckle at that and Duo considered whether it was due to the amusing image of Wufei Chang sneaking out of the hospital all bandaged up or because of Duo's sudden jumping to conclusions regarding Heero's initial statement.
Instead of waiting around to find out just what Heero finally found humor in, Duo spoke again, changing the subject. "So does this new hotel of ours have a king sized bed?"
Heero's eyes narrowed. "No, but the price and surroundings might be more to your liking."
Duo was unsure whether he should be offended by the statement or not. He decided to brush it off as one of Heero's miscalculated bouts of sarcasm. "Damn, and here I was getting used to the idea of sharing such a big bed."
Duo was trying to mask any residual concern from the day with his own well-placed sarcasm. But the response he received was nothing short of staggering.
"I didn't say we still wouldn't be sharing a bed, Duo." The words left Heero's mouth so quickly and smoothly that it took several seconds for the braided man to register just what had been said to him. And by that time Heero was halfway across the cafeteria.
When they got back to the Sanc Grand Central, trying their hardest to assess their surroundings, searching and hoping fairly mildly that they might catch a glimpse of their stalker, both men were not even remotely surprised to find yet another envelope waiting for them.
"Fuck, it's becoming a routine thing, huh?" Duo said as he watched Heero reach down to pick up the envelope left for them inside the doorway just as his had been back in that seedy hotel room in New Jersey.
He was turning away, trying not to show his concern for the newest pack of soon to be evidence, but Heero's disquieted voice pulled his vision back around to face those dark blue eyes. "It's addressed to you."
Duo snatched the envelope from Heero's hand with slightly trembling fingers. Maybe they were trembling out of fear or else it was a sudden rush of adrenaline due to how much more fucked the situation was becoming by the minute.
His eyes raked over the hastily scrawled words written in dark, black ink in all capital letters; it made sense, that sort of writing wouldn't be easily traced, but the sight of it so frequently now was making Duo's normally strong stomach horribly weak.
The only God in this world is the God of Death. -M.R.
It wasn't technically addressed to him. Hell, but it might as well have been. His name could have been written in giant red letters and it still wouldn't have made him as sick as those words did. Duo's fingers curled around the envelope in an almost angry way.
"What the hell is going on, Heero?" his voice was rough and lower than usual. Duo could feel himself being instantly bogged down by emotions. He decided not to wait for an answer to his mildly rhetorical question and ripped open the envelope and pouring a stack of three photographs out onto their previously shared bed.
The images stared up into the two sets of eyes now suddenly blinded with confusion. There was Wufei, pre-car bomb, walking into a Winner Corp building on the L4 colony. Quatre and Trowa speaking with some unknown Preventer officers, presumably regarding the death of Matthew Rook based on the sympathetic look on the petite blond's face and Trowa's competing expression of frustration. And finally Heero and Duo, walking close but not too close as to attract unnecessary attention, in the parking lot of Star Security Systems, walking towards their car in the moment that Michael Richardson was probably staring down the barrel of an unknown gun.
They were so simple and yet almost the most complicated photographs they'd received thus far.
Heero's hand found Duo's forearm and the braided man flinched at the contact. Heero furrowed his brows. "Duo-"
"No. Don't you fucking say it. This was not addressed to me. It's for all of us." Duo could hear his voice pouring out of his mouth but didn't seem to have much control over it as it shook uncontrollably with every word.
Heero was clearly unconvinced. He shook his head. "Quatre and Trowa are under Maganac protection, Wufei under Preventer supervision. Even if it's not addressed to you, you need some sort of security."
Duo turned to him with fire in his indigo eyes. "Stop disengaging yourself from all this shit, Heero!" He hadn't intended to yell, but his internal monologue was getting louder and louder and fuck if he was going to let Heero act as though they weren't a 'we,' because they'd shared a fucking bed for God's sake. This was not just about him anymore, it was about them, all five of them including goddamn invincible, supposed-to-be-dead Heero Yuy.
Staring at him with those dark, unreadable eyes, Heero didn't speak. Duo didn't know if he was calculating the correct response in that robotic mind of his or else he really was at a loss for words at the outburst. At this point, either one was a damn possibility.
It took Duo another moment of dead silence for him to contemplate the fact that what he'd said might have had more than just one implication. Yes, he'd intended the meaning to be relevant to Heero's previous statement. They both needed some sort of security if they were going to head down that path, which Duo seriously did not want to do. But then he started to realize that in an overcompensating, literal mind like Heero's his words might have dug deeper. Stop disengaging yourself.Had he inadvertently described their entire relationship in a matter of three words?
Sure Duo ran away, but what had Heero done to stop him? To keep him there by his side? He was disengaged and Duo knew that he was just as fucked up in his own way and that disengaging was a way to cope with the war and the killing, but shit wasn't he the one always rambling on about acting on your emotions? So why had he never acted on the emotions that seemed to be so palpable, so obvious when they were together in bed, fucking.
And maybe running was Duo's way of coping and disengaging, Heero's. But shit, if making love to one another wasn't the best coping mechanism either of them had ever discovered.
"What are we doing, 'Ro?" It was Duo's way of trying to make up for his recent impulsive words. These were less harsh, but still relevant and a question that had been playing on his tongue for a while now.
"We're checking out of this hotel."
Duo wanted to smack him for taking the question so literally, but he supposed he should have seen that coming. He folded his arms across his chest almost childlike. "Heero, seriously." He paused, realizing he might actually have to say something he had only said to a handful of people in his life. It terrified him to no end, but it was the truth and he sure as shit wasn't going to tell a lie. "I care about you."
He watched as Heero's mind seemed to mull over the question before responding. "You care about Wufei."
There was no 'too' added to the end of the statement almost as if Heero was denying what had been said in regards to him. Why couldn't the man just accept the fucking sentiment? Duo shook his head in frustration. "I care about Tro and Quatre too, but I don't see you getting all fucking jealous over that."
"I'm not jealous."
"Oh, really? You seem to be pretty damn preoccupied with the idea of me and 'Fei-"
"And this makes you angry? Me being jealous?" Heero wasn't usually one to interrupt.
Duo backpedalled, taken off guard by the interjection. He hadn't thought of it that way. "Well, I guess...maybe."
There was an actual smirk playing at Heero's lips. An actual fucking smirk. Duo turned red; he didn't like the fact that Heero was suddenly able to get the upper hand in a verbal argument. Shit, that was his department. Heero could have fist fights and war battles, but hell if he was going to let him think he could win anymore arguments.
Turning, Duo wanted more than anything to storm off, though it would have been fairly under-dramatic what with the small size of their hotel room and the remote possibility of making it out the front door without Heero stopping him first.
But before he could even turn his entire body away in order to shut out the still smirking man, Heero had grabbed his wrist and pulled him close in order to scrutinize him with those blue eyes that Duo hated and yet loved all at the same damn time. Oh, now he was so fucked.
Those eyes bored into his own and his muscles relaxed for a moment as Heero studied him, reading his emotions. Perhaps he was still contemplating the meaning of his 'disengaging' comment or else he was just trying to understand Duo wholly and completely for once in their odd and skewed relationship. Good fucking luck.
It took only a brief swipe of fingers through chestnut bangs before Duo was pressing his lips forward, those eyes drawing him in. They kissed briefly, nothing sexual, yet almost more passionate than the kisses they'd shared after their initial discovery of the king sized bed. After a few seconds Heero pulled back, not out of compulsion, but necessity. He spoke in a whisper, his eyes still not leaving Duo's own. "We need to get out of here."
Duo nodded softly and let out a small sigh as the idea of anything more than those light kisses began to filter from his mind. "You're right." He stepped back to distance himself and attempt to bring his mind back to the situation at hand. "And dinner. Maybe we can go somewhere that suits this new hotel of ours."
Heero stared at him like he was crazy for thinking about food at a time like this, but hell even the Perfect Soldier had to eat too, right?
It only took another couple of kisses to convince Heero. Someway or another, Shinigami always got his way.