Note: Crushing this no buffer deal!

A reminder that there will occasionally be phrases used by characters that are not spoken in English. I've written it to flow with context, and recommend waiting until the end to get those translations if you need them.

This chapter includes events that may be difficult for some readers. Take care.

Note to Sake, who comments every chapter but who I can't DM because you're not logged in: The story is certainly in act 3 of 3, so yes. It's going to wrap up. But not too soon, there's still a lot to cover.

Chapter 79: El Valle

"Why are we stopping?"

Duo didn't turn to look at Wufei, his eyes were focused elsewhere.

"You're gonna head out on foot. Two blocks straight ahead, then turn right. That's the dorms. Go help the kids."

He felt Wufei's hand curl into a fist around his shirt.

"You need backup!"

When he did turn to look over his shoulder, dark eyes were angrily staring at him. If Wufei thought he could effectively glare to intimidate, he was forgetting all the years Duo spent by Heero's side. The man had nothing on a Heero Yuy glare.

"He said to meet him in the church. The church. That's on the other side. I can handle him myself, but I can only do that if the kids are safe and I need you to help the guys keep them that way. Please."

"They nearly killed you at the shopping center!"

"No. They were trying to distract me from you. And I'd bet this is another setup to distract me again." His eyes turned back to where the church stood, a few blocks away. "So please. Help them. You can come after me later if you like but help them!"

He felt Wufei dismount the bike before he saw him.

"Duo. If you die I will kill you."

A smile grew on his face, and he locked eyes with Wufei.

"If I'm gonna die, it'd seem appropriate for you to do it."

With a short nod Wufei took off, running in the direction specified. Duo stayed for a moment and watched Wufei round to the north side of the building. He took in a quick breath and let it out slowly as his gaze turned towards the visible spire of the old church. How should he approach?

It would make sense for someone as theatrical as Chevalier to be waiting for him in the ambulatory, behind where the altar would stand if it still existed. If he entered through the western front, he'd have a long walk straight down the building with no real cover. One of the transepts would be less exposure.

He turned the bike and headed towards the southern transept, farthest from the northern side with the dormitories and thereby the only decent option. When he got there, he rode the bike all the way up the sidewalk towards the doors. No one was there, but he suspected this was another choice made deliberately.

If they were going to shoot him, it wouldn't be before fucking with him some more.

Duo took a moment to stare at the doors, designed in the shape of an older Gothic portal, but styled to a modern and clean look. The last time he saw those doors he was dropping off gifts with Hilde. A hand reached out, then hovered before making contact with the metal. His eyes slid shut, and his other hand reflexively came up to touch the cross around his neck. A terrible feeling, the same one he had from the moment he didn't hear Elise's voice on the phone, permeated deep into his soul. He recalled Father Maxwell, and his words of defiance against brutality. He remembered Sister Helen, and how she started off fighting with him often until they came to terms with one another. And he thought of how they died because of him.

There was no doubt he was afraid. The last time he confronted men of violence in a church his life was turned upside down, and 245 people died. He murmured softly to himself the only psalm he enjoyed as a child, and could almost see Father Maxwell and Sister Helen's horrified faces when he recited it in front of the congregation.

"Aunque paso por el valle de la sombra de muerte, no temeré maldad. Porque soy muerte... y este es mi hogar."

His memory of Father Maxwell suddenly laughing at him once he got over his shock gave him strength to push forward. Before he could, he heard distant gunfire and froze.

The hostages.

The guys.

Heero.

With his heart beating wildly, he steeled himself to continue the original plan. Wufei should already be providing additional backup, and four former Gundam pilots were a formidable team. Trust. He had to trust them all to do their jobs and to be okay.

The doors were heavier than he expected, and their sound echoed in the large open space and up into the high, vaulted ceilings. Shortly after the sound announced his presence, he heard music, and smelled something familiar and toxic.

Silent Night was playing softly on speakers. And he knew, instantly, what horror he was walking into.

He knew the mole. He knew the objective. He just didn't know the motive or how far it would go.

Without preamble, he walked towards the crossing, his eyes focused to his right. The further he got, the more he could see. As the ambulatory slowly came into view he saw Chevalier and a few of his men waiting for him, exactly where he anticipated. One of the lackeys was spreading around a liquid. It was the cause of the toxic smell.

With them was a child Duo recognized from photos Elise sent him. In those pictures he always looked so happy and full of life. Now he appeared rightfully terrified.

Duo stopped at the center of the crossing, staring daggers at Chevalier.

"Mr Maxwell! It's good to see you again."

"Release Bastien. He's not part of this."

"Rude, not to say hello."

"It's also rude to threaten the lives of children, but here we are."

Duo hated the smile on Chevalier's face. He hated is calm and soothing voice, too.

"Bastien became a part of this when you accused me of being a child murderer. So am I, or am I not?"

Self control was the only thing that stopped Duo from screaming at him, and an understanding of his position was the cause of him not opening fire. Whatever move he made, the child would likely die. Whether or not it had anything to do with accusing Chevalier of being a child murderer, he'd never know. And it didn't matter, anyway. What mattered was the little boy, so very scared and alone, stuck in an impossible situation.

"Only you know the answer to that... Chevalier."

To his own ears, that name came out harshly. But it was safer to correct away from using the man's first name, lest he once again take issue with what he called Duo's rude behavior.

"Playing more nicely now, I see." The man casually swung his arm, pointing his gun for a brief moment at Bastien as the barrel moved about. Then, with absolute ease, he leveled the barrel to the back of the boy's head. "Did you learn respect," he began to ask, before his voice dropped its sing-song quality "when faced with mortality, Shinigami?"

Anger further blossomed inside of Duo as he watched Chevalier treat an innocent child like his life meant nothing. He also noticed that his underlings were acting all too casually. They were watching him, but none had a weapon trained on him. They were betting on him not making a move while a child's life was held in the balance. They weren't wrong.

The boy coughed, probably from the fumes that only felt more intense with each passing moment. He didn't notice Chevalier's glare, or the gun pointed to his head, because he was looking at Duo. Whether the fear in his eyes also showed hope, Duo would never quite know.

In an attempt to give a little comfort, Duo shot him an empathetic look and locked eyes with the child when he answered.

"If it helps Bastien, I'll do anything." He looked up towards Chevalier. "I'll even address you as royalty."

A bright laugh echoed throughout the former church. Standing at the altar the acoustics were incredible. The sound made Duo a little sick.

"Spoken like a true benefactor, Mr Maxwell." He kept his gun trained on the boy as he leaned forward to speak near his ear. "Did you know Mr Maxwell here is the one who provides for your school, your home, your entire life? He's the reason you have no material wants. But he's also the reason you're not safe."

There was nothing Duo could say to refute that, and as he watched Bastien tremble, silent tears in his eyes, he wanted to reach out and hug him.

"Tell me what to do."

"You can start by handing over the funds I requested."

With his eyes still trained on Chevalier, Duo reached his free hand into a pocket. That was what caused the underlings to suddenly train their weapons on him. When his hand emerged he held a phone.

"It's here. You probably don't want me to toss it, so someone better come take it."

For a few seconds no one moved, then Chevalier signaled one of his men to approach Duo and take the device. All the while Duo kept his face neutral and his gaze trained on the ringleader. He spared not a glance to the two men who suddenly had weapons trained on him while a third walked towards him. He only had one target in his sights.

When the man finally snatched the phone and retreated, the others lowered their weapons. Chevalier held out his free hand expectantly. The other hand, holding a gun on Bastien, lowered a notch when he unlocked the device and smiled.

"You really did get me those funds."

"I'm a man of my word."

"I'm glad, because the plan changed while you were on your way here to L2. This is no longer to pay my bail."

Though he was clearly being baited, Duo had little reason not to bite.

"And what exactly have I paid for?"

"Desperate men."

Professionalism kept Duo from flinching at the non-answer. Chevalier enjoyed theatrics. If he gave no reaction the man would still tell him what he meant. In his experience, men like him had a hard time keeping their cards close to the vest once they felt victory at hand.

"You're not curious?"

"You'll tell me either way."

Finally the smile on Chevalier's face began to slip and his gun came up again.

"Awfully cocky for a man who paid to have his lover killed."

The blood in Duo's veins turned to ice but his expression did not change. He wouldn't give the satisfaction of showing outwardly how he felt.

"I don't believe you."

"Those gunshots weren't just for a fun time. Desperate men, already slated to die, will do a great many things to secure their family's futures." The light in his pale blue eyes made him appear unhinged, which from Duo's point of view, he was. "If all went to plan, Heero Yuy is dead. And you paid for his killer."

The if in that statement carried a lot of weight in Duo's eyes. Chevalier was an exacting man with his words. There was a chance he was bluffing, or perhaps he ordered Heero killed but didn't yet know the outcome. Either way, he had to fall back on one of the few things he knew to be true: Heero wasn't easy to kill.

"I don't believe you!"

Instantly a hatred shifted into Chevalier's intense pale blue eyes, laser focused on Duo. That unhinged glint was gone, and in its place was pure rage.

"Everything, and I mean everything, is your fault. Don't you ever forget that."

Duo saw it. He saw the moment Chevalier's eyes went from playing with him to something much more sinister, much more actionable. From back in the war he knew he was a fairly quick draw. Not as fast as Heero or Trowa, but fast.

He wasn't fast enough.

Duo hit is mark and Chevalier stumbled from a shot to his shoulder, but Bastien was dead on the floor, not a chance of survival, no reason to check for a pulse or tend to the boy. If he'd only been faster, the boy might be alive. As it was, the moment of his death would never fully erase from Duo's memory. And that changed the game. He didn't hold back. He felt Shinigami take hold, just like during the war. Duo was secretly a Preventer. He played by rules, refrained from outright killing if he didn't have to.

Shinigami had no rules.

The few men who minutes earlier were so casually dumping fuel and waving a gun here or there also drew their weapons. Without a thought, without even considering his actions or surroundings, Shinigami shot all three on instinct alone. His eyes were locked on Chevalier, but the men were all within his field of vision, and they dropped in rapid succession like dead weights. The God of Death disposed of them quickly. Only two men got off shots of their own. One missed, and the other grazed an arm.

He didn't even flinch. He wasn't entirely in control anymore.

In the back of his mind, Duo knew he was still there. But he wasn't piloting himself. Control went to his darkest side, the part of him that enabled a teenager to almost indiscriminately kill during the war. It was a part of himself he thought might have been tamed in the years since.

One of the reasons he chose to work for Preventers wasn't just to use the skills he'd picked up in his youth, and it wasn't because a messed up teenage solider, or terrorist, depending on who told the story, couldn't acclimate. That was true to an extent. It would be hard to go from the freedom of piloting and working on one of the most advanced machines ever built to, well, high school. He couldn't very well explain his past in a way that would allow him to be a regular kid.

Still, the biggest reason he joined was to keep that darkness within his heart at bay. He'd assumed by taking a role where the violence he committed was monitored and sanctioned that he'd satisfy whatever bloodlust his wartime and childhood alter-ego might demand. If he demanded any.

And it worked. He never really felt that urge to fall back into his Shinigami persona.

He came close at HQ, but never crossed that line. Duo was fully in control when he attempted to beat a man to death, and it scared him at the time, knowing he was of sound mind. His shame, and his self-hatred, stemmed from the knowledge that he was capable of bloodlust all on his own, and the worry over what that meant combined with his position of power.

From the floor, Chevalier began to laugh. It was hollow and piercing, echoing against the vaulted ceiling. Shinigami took a step closer to him, watching as he writhed, one hand holding his wounded shoulder and the other fishing in his pocket.

"Don't fucking move."

The warning was ignored, and as his hand came back into sight a small metal lighter was revealed.

The gun remained targeted on Chevalier, Duo's hands unwavering. He could feel hatred, red hot and firing through his veins as he clawed desperately for control of himself. In the seconds it took to kill Chevalier's men he was fully gone, but he reeled just enough of himself back to not outright murder their boss. He was, after all, almost law enforcement. And unlike the others, Chevalier wasn't drawing a gun with the intention to kill him. He was defenseless, and prone. His gun had clattered to the ground when he was hit, and he made no move to pick it up.

But Bastien was dead by his hand. Innocent Bastien, who Duo knew from Elise's photos and the emails she sent with updates on the children, was just a body. And the man on the floor in front of him, the child-murdering monster, flicked his lighter and slid a flame across the tile into the accelerant one of the dead men scattered earlier.

Flames quickly spread, and that horrible and toxic smell shifted into something worse.

"I should kill you," Duo growled as the heat increased. "Anyone who meets Shinigami has to die." There was a nearly visceral pull on his consciousness to remind him the war was over. It wasn't a sharp pull, it was muddled. It was Duo putting all his weight and strength behind an insurmountable task and struggling hard to keep any semblance of control. But there was some control. He was, technically, still there.

"Unfortunately, you're under arrest."

With his hands up in the air, Chevalier simply smiled. "You're going to let me go, Shinigami."

The use of that name almost allowed his alter-ego to take hold again. Almost.

"Why the fuck would I ever do that?"

The heat grew more intense as flames bathed the large room in a warm glow. Chevalier moved his hands in a gesture that implied a shrug, but stopped short of moving too quickly.

"Because if I don't rendezvous with my people on time, the pretty doctor Earthside will pay the price."

All Duo could hear was the low howl of fire consuming oxygen. Just that steady sound, no crackling, no outside noise, not even the beating of his own heart. The heat from the flames licked at his skin, sinking into his flesh in a way that would eventually become unpleasant before it became deadly, but wasn't quite there yet. He wasn't sure if the world around him stopped, or if he was trapped in a loop of just a few seconds.

"What does that mean?"

There was a pleasantry in Chevalier's voice. That sing-song quality returned, and it made Duo want to scream.

"You heard me. She's not here right now. She didn't come to L2. Is she on call? Who do you think arranged for that?"

"You're bluffing!"

"Want to test that theory and find out?"

He did not. Though he was aware of a numbness threatening to consume him, he was still alert enough to understand that risking another life, risking Sally's life, was not going to be an option. That a child died in front of him was hard enough. He couldn't live with himself if he got a call that Sally was also dead.

"How do I know you're not going to kill her anyway?"

"You don't. But I didn't kill any children before you showed up. So I feel I'm mostly a man of my word."

Chevalier laughed again, and coughed a little when the fumes and smoke entered his lungs.

"Tell me, Mr Maxwell, do you think I'm a liar?"

He smiled wickedly as Duo stared him down.

"Am I, or am I not?"

TRANSLATION FOOTNOTE:

"Aunque paso por el valle de la sombra de muerte, no temeré maldad. Porque soy muerte... y este es mi hogar" is how Duo re-imagined Psalm 23:4 as a child. It translates roughly to "Even though I pass through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Because I am Death... and this is my home."

The chapter title, El Valle, is "the valley."