Pairings: Duo/Heero, Quatre/Trowa

Warnings: violence, supernatural stuff, kinky moments, guns...um...gundams, implied sex, men in drag, etc...

Author's comment: Wow x.x I had no idea it's been this long since this was last updated. DX Very sorry for the long delay.

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Operation Blank Conspiracy 48

Wufei's brows furrowed as he continued staring down at his phone. He'd only received a single text from Treize stating that Duo was gone. And that was it. No explanation, no details into what he meant by gone which literally had Wufei on edge at the moment. Did he mean gone as in he'd left or gone as in…? He frowned. No matter how many times he'd texted Treize back, he hadn't gotten a response. He'd tried texting Heero, he'd tried texting Duo. He'd even tried just calling all three of them and he hadn't gotten in touch with any one of them. What the hell was happening on Treize's ships?

He couldn't even focus on his current mission with his mind so wracked with worry. This was unlike him. He could usually stay focused on the task at hand. But not knowing if Duo was ok, if he was dead or missing, if the others were even still alive did nothing to help his overactive brain. Dare he say it but he was worried about Treize too.

He sighed in frustration throwing the phone onto the bed before he flopped back staring up at the ceiling. He didn't want to admit that he felt like some lovesick teenage girl starving to see the man she loved. He didn't even want to admit that he possible had feelings of love. Not for that man especially. But there was no denying there was something there. Something was making him want to see Treize again, even if just to see if he was ok. He, dare he say it, missed him. As annoying as the man was, he missed his presence.

Maybe he'd just gotten too used to being around the man. After all, he'd been playing as his personal guard for…lord how long had it been? Long enough, he felt.

He sat up staring towards the door. Right. He'd told Quatre that he'd have a talk with Colonel Po. Right now, Trowa was probably working on disguising Relena to make it look like she'd disappeared. Quatre was probably talking to Colonel Une if he hadn't already done so. The only one not doing their part was Wufei.

"Ugh…damn it, Wufei. Get it together. You're better than this!" He slapped his hands against his cheeks to make himself focus before he stood up. He had a job to do and he wasn't going to get it done if he was letting himself get distracted by unnecessary things.

So he needed to talk to Colonel Po. He frowned thinking about it. Could she really be considered under suspicion for working in cahoots with Milliardo? The most likely person would still have to be Colonel Noin. The two of them had always been close and it had been obvious that she'd been completely infatuated with him. If he told her he wanted her to bring Relena to him, wouldn't she have done it? Wouldn't she have taken Duo, a person with unique abilities, to the very man that wanted him?

If Treize had asked it of him, would he have taken Duo to him? He wanted to say no because he knew Duo was important to him. But if he didn't really get close to him, didn't get to know him…would he have done it? And let's say he did know him and they were on really good terms. If Treize said he wanted to do it to protect him, would he still do it?

He shook his head. There was no way he'd be able to do it. To go against his friends? His comrades? That was crazy! He was sure he'd go crazy with having to be stuck between two loyalties. Regardless of what he did, he'd never be able to feel right about it. And he was sure something like that would show. But Noin wasn't showing any of that, she wasn't showing any regrets, any guilt. She didn't even look tired like she'd been thinking about it all night. Unless she was just that good at hiding it, she didn't show the signs of a person splitting between two loyalties.

However, she had been to talk to Colonel Une a lot lately. And usually whenever she left from there she looked frustrated. Maybe Quatre would be able to figure something out from that. He wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that Heero was considered missing right now as well. That was two of their agents out there with only a few close contacts knowing exactly where they were. No…change that…knowing exactly where one of them was. The other was MIA now that he'd gotten that bit of information from Treize. He'd have to see how things went once they thought Relena was missing as well.

So, first on his list he'd talk to Colonel Po. Then he'd talk with Colonel Noin. And finally, after he conversed with Quatre he'd have a talk with Colonel Une. One of the three of them was the culprit…and if his suspicions were right, he was close to finding out who it was.

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He'd been searching for Duo for two weeks now with barely a clue to where he might have gone. It felt like the first time he'd had to find Duo except this time with no ideas as to where Duo could have gone. It was like looking for a lost needle in space. By now he'd probably effectively changed his looks to better feed his need to hide. After all, Duo was a master when it came to running and hiding. If he didn't want to be found, then he wasn't going to be found.

That's why Heero was now standing in front of what was now known as the current Maxwell Church. Ok, so it wasn't really a church but instead a medium sized building that housed all the members of the original Maxwell Church. Granted it was a lot smaller, maybe too small for the amount of people living inside, it was at the least warm and sturdy and lacking in broken floor boards and shattered windows.

He stood in front of the building, eyes glancing over at the two guys standing by the front door before he walked over. They'd been watching him since he got there and he was sure they had their fingers on their guns no doubt hidden in their jackets. Preventer agents set on guard duty to protect the ones important to Duo Maxwell, aka 02.

By the casual outfits they wore, they should have been undercover and yet it was obvious they were guarding something. He was going to have to talk to whoever was in change about them being more discreet. As he approached he could see the subtle tensing of their bodies. It was still too obvious to him. They needed work.

"I need to speak to Father Maxwell," he said stopping in front of them. The two guards glanced at each other before one of the guys cleared his throat, suspicion filling his voice.

"Why do you need to see him?" Definitely needed some work in discreetness. Why not just let the world know they were holding something important inside. A common crook might even try to get in just because it looked like something valuable was inside. They'd never know that the valuable thing was actually Duo's family. No, the guards would be better off inside and out of sight.

Heero shook his head in frustration as he reached past them to open the door. The man who spoke grabbed his arm and it was like a trigger went off in Heero's body as he snapped reaching out and grabbing the man's arm pulling it off him before flipping the man over his shoulder slamming him into the floor. The other guard moved into action but Heero already had his gun pointed at the man's head stopping him in his tracks instantly.

"He gets like a grumpy bear when he's irritated," a gruff voice said as the door opened. Heero looked up before his eyes widened in surprise seeing the old man standing there.

"Dr. J?"

"In the flesh," Dr. J said grinning before he held his clawed hand up. "Well for the most part." He gestured to the man held at gun point in front of him. "And I'd like it if you wouldn't manhandle the hired guards." Heero turned his glaring blue eyes on the guard trembling in front of him before he slowly lowered his gun tucking it behind his back again.

"You should be grateful that Heero here didn't kill you," the old man said chuckling. "He must have a lot more patience than I thought."

"Heero?" The guard previously held at gunpoint asked before he swallowed staring at Heero in bewilderment, his partner just standing to his feet. "You mean THE Heero Yuy?" He continued to stare in awe as Heero grunted and pushed past him walking into the building. He wasn't in the mood for all this. He was a little crunched for time. For every minute he wasted, Duo was getting further and further away from him.

"I need to talk to Father Maxwell," he said following behind Dr. J and his weird gait.

"And what would an elitist like you need to spend time talking to a man running an orphanage for?"

"…For Duo," Heero said seeing Dr. J turn and glance at him.

"Duo?"

"I need to find Duo. I think Father Maxwell might be the only person who might know where he is."

Dr. J stared at him through his goggles as if he was expecting a specimen he'd never seen before. "You really have changed." He pointed to a room down the hall. "From the sound of things, you aren't here under orders like the others."

"Others?" Heero frowned trying to look past those wacky goggles into the old man's eyes. "What orders?"

"The order to find and detain the dangerous weapon, Duo Maxell." He turned walking again, Heero following behind him as they moved closer to the room down the hall. "I'm surprised you hadn't heard of it." He grinned at him as he lifted his claw snapping it open and closed a few times. "Then again, HQ is the only one that doesn't know about the order to restrain him, for the most part anyway. This goes a little higher than just the Preventers, after all." Much higher? Heero didn't know of anything higher than HQ. Did the colonels know something about all of this?

"Is that the reason why you're here?" He hated to think of what they planned on making Dr. J do if that was the case.

"Though I am interested in Duo's condition, I am here strictly for personal reasons to visit an old friend." An old friend?

Heero frowned glancing back at him before he walked over and opened the door. Father Maxwell was sitting at the desk of the little office, his head bowed over the papers in front of him. He didn't look up as the door opened. "Did you find out what the commotion was?" He looked up before his eyes grew wide in shock at the sight of the unexpected visitor. "You…"

"…I need to know where Duo is hiding."

The initial surprise left his face before he turned his attention back to his paperwork writing earnestly. "I don't know what you're talking about. Shouldn't he be with you? You were supposed to be protecting him."

Heero didn't say anything as he walked over pulling Duo's note from his back pocket before laying it on the table. He didn't want to admit how much Father Maxwell's words hit him. He should have protected Duo. But he didn't. And that's why Duo was in the state he was in now. So he couldn't really blame Duo for running away.

Father Maxwell's pen stopped moving as he glanced at the paper, his jaw clicking as he clenched his teeth. "That's Duo's handwriting."

"…I couldn't protect him," Heero said clearing his throat as it cracked. He felt his eyes blink rapidly. Strange…his chest felt tight. It felt like that time when he'd learned about his lovesick condition except this time the tightness in his chest wasn't welcoming at all. "No, I didn't protect him. I was too weak to do anything. I couldn't stop them." A drop fell onto the desk wetting the paper as he stared at it in shock before he reached up touching his cheeks. Why were they wet? He rubbed them quickly with his arm.

"…You really do care for him." Heero looked up hearing Father Maxwell as the old man stared at him before smiling. He looked away as he reached into the desk drawer pulling out a card that he gave to Heero. "I can't guarantee he's here. But it is a start."

"…Howard's Junkyard?"

"Old Howard, hm? Haven't seen that batty old man in years." Heero turned at the voice as Dr. J walked into the room clicking his claw in the air.

"You know him?"

"Of course. He's the creator of the Fly-Z after all." Heero felt like he'd just been sucker punched in the face. This Howard guy was the creator of Fly-Z?

"Why would Duo go see him if he's the one that created that horrible stuff?"

"Because he's the one that found Duo the day he escaped from OZ," Father Maxwell said pushing to his feet. "He's the one who brought Duo to me."

A bunch of questions were running through Heero's head but the only word that came out his mouth was, "Why?"

Father Maxwell walked over to him resting a hand on his shoulder. "Perhaps you should talk to the man himself." He followed Dr. J out of the room leaving Heero behind to stare at the card in his hand. Howard. He thought he remembered hearing the name before.

It'd been back in the old terminal where he and Duo hid while they watched Father Maxwell and the others leave in the airships. Duo had asked about the Howard guy on the phone…with a sort of fondness on his face. That was bothersome. Just was kind of person was this Howard guy? He'd have to go and find out.

TBC...