Vicious Cycles of Revenge
Part 1
//Where the hell is he?//
//Gods, how does he think I can *function* like this?//
//Sweet Gods who hear the prayers of lost souls, WHERE IS HE?!?//
Duo Maxwell had been missing for almost a week.
It was killing Heero Yuy.
{{flashback}}
Arriving home after yet another day of tiresome effort at a computer programming job he hated, the
one-time Perfect Soldier found a message taped to his favorite coffee mug. It had been a gift from
Duo; he'd gotten custom mugs for the two of them for the first Christmas in their home after the war.
Heero's read "Still Perfect" and his own read "Still Deadly", both making light of their days as warriors
piloting the weapons of mass destruction better known as the Gundams. The note read:
"Heero---
I've got something to take care of back on L-2. I'm sure you would have wanted to come, but it's
personal. Be back in three or four days.
Gomen nasai, koibito.
Duo"
He had run a hand through the shaggy brown mop of hair, sighed deeply, and had then gone about
the usual evening routine. He prepared a dinner he barely tasted, watched Duo's usual vid
programming for the evening out of lack of anything better to do, and went to a cold and lonely bed.
This wasn't the first time he'd come home to an empty apartment, his lover had an active lifestyle and
frequently had things to take care of, but it never worried Heero since he usually got back on time.
Trust was the keystone of their relationship, but it was also nearly its destruction.
{{end flash back}}
That was a week ago. Now, his evenings were anything *but* routine, he spent every free moment looking for a
clue as to the whereabouts of his missing lover. As he searched, he thought about what had happened to the two
of them and their friends.
Over a year and a half ago, the war with Mariemaia's forces had concluded and the Gundam pilots had disbanded
as a team. Chang Wufei worked with the Preventers now. Quatre Raberba Winner ran the mammoth Winner
Corporation and seemed happy enough. Trowa Barton was nowhere to be found; initially, he had stayed with
Quatre, but the two had gone their separate ways. Heero never felt an overwhelming need to keep track of his
former comrades, Duo did that enough for the both of them, in between his attending the local university majoring
in child psychology.
Heero had been quite amazed when his long-time lover and partner had decided to become a child psychologist,
but it made sense. Duo had a lot of issues left from his own tortured past, and if helping other kids get through
their problems helped him to deal with his own, Heero was all for it. Burying the nightmares of the past had been
difficult for Duo whose memories of the massacre at the Maxwell Orphanage still haunted him.
But sometimes that past just wouldn't stay buried.
He had nothing to base it on beyond the fact that Duo had returned to his home colony, but he was certain that
the disappearance had something to do with his time spent as a child at the orphanage. His college studies and
on-going concern for the welfare of children seemed to always lead back to that.
Now, however, he couldn't work alone any longer. Duo was far too overdue and there had been no messages to
indicate what the delay was; further, his search was strangely fruitless.
He needed help, so he called the best man for the job.
<<bzzzt… bzzzt…>>
"Preventer Headquarters, Officer Chang speaking."
"Wufei, it's Heero."
"Heero? Why are you calling?"
"I need help."
"What's wrong?"
"Duo's missing."
"Be right there. Out."
<<click>>
One thing the ex-Wing Zero pilot had never gotten better at was admitting he couldn't handle a problem on his
own. But if his lover was in danger, as he felt certain he was, Heero could easily overcome his programming to be
self-reliant and reach out. It was a good thing that he did.
"So, he's been gone for a week and you are just now doing something about it?" Wufei looked annoyed. Didn't
the Japanese man understand the need for speed in a missing persons case?
Heero shot him a warning glance. "He left me a message to stay out of it. Duo can handle himself, Wufei, don't
judge me here."
"Sorry, Heero," Wufei ran a nervous hand down his hair, now cut to a regulation length, he still missed the familiar
tail. Especially when he was on edge, like now. "Any idea where he went on L-2? It's a fairly large colony. Could he
have gone anywhere else?"
"My best guess is this has something to do with the orphanage he grew up in. That's the only thing he ever cared
enough about to go back to." Heero had stopped going to work two days prior and had scanned the net each
night for the past four in search of any details that might lead them to his missing love, but it had been a useless
effort.
"All right," Wufei nodded solemnly. "I'm calling Une on this. Relena may not have granted us many courtesies after
the war, but you know she never refused us time for matters involving personal security and this qualifies." He
smiled ruefully at that man the young woman had once pursued mindlessly, often to their amusement, who now
held a key position in the new Earth-Colony United Government.
"Tell Une we may need back-up, I don't know," Heero had searched for any information and when he came up
empty every internal danger signal he had went off.
"Hn," Wufei grunted waiting for a line through to the Preventer leader. "If we need back-up, Heero, we shall
contact Quatre. He has connections there to both the military/industrial complex as well as the underworld from
information that I've gathered; I've kept files on him since the end of the war."
"Underworld? What are you getting at, Wufei?" Heero glared suspiciously.
"Let's just say that not all of Quatre's money is kept neat and tidy, and leave it at that. Even though our former
comrade is deeply involved with organized crime, he is *not* one of the 'bad guys', I'd know." The look on the
Chinese man's face was deadly serious. He turned his attention to the video phone and saluted. "Col. Une, I regret
the short notice, but I need emergency leave."
"What is it, Chang?" The woman's irritating voice carried to Heero's ears.
"Duo Maxwell is missing."
"How long and where? Who's on the case beside yourself?"
"He's been missing approximately a week; he's suspected to be on L-2; the only one on the case until now is
Heero Yuy. Beyond that, no relevant details at this time."
A sigh was heard, then orders called over one shoulder by the woman on screen. "Request denied." Une did not
look the least bit apologetic.
"What?!?" Heero exclaimed, angry that they might lose their best chance.
"This is government business, Mr. Yuy," Une was cold as always. "All of you Gundam pilots are. Chang!"
"Ma'am?" Wufei's voice and expression was carefully neutral.
"You are now on assignment, official Preventers business. Your orders are to do whatever is necessary to locate
and determine the status of former Pilot 02, Duo Maxwell. You are hereby appointed to this case to the exclusion
of all other business until further notice. Am I clear?"
He stood a little straighter and saluted again. "Yes, ma'am. Orders received and understood. I will report when we
have any information."
"Good," the Preventers commander's words were cool and efficient, yet her tone had warmed. "We'll begin a
search from here. Maintain contact, we will alert you to search results as they arrive. Your official account now has
clearance for yourself and Yuy, get there yesterday, understood?"
A smile, thin and dangerous, crossed the Chinese man's face. "Perfectly. Chang out." He saluted again and cut the
connection.
Heero was shocked. "You mean you are now on this 'officially'? I could have gotten this amount of help anytime?
Why the hell didn't you ever tell us this?"
Wufei frowned at him as his long fingers danced across the keyboard arranging passage on the next shuttle to
L-2. "Why the hell didn't you ask *sooner*, baka?!?"
Hearing the word "baka", one of his nick-names for his lover, Heero's guilt assaulted him at every level.
Wufei, clearly displeased with the options he now faced, continued, "We are now past the timeframe for a directed
search. You need to know this, Heero. Technically, this makes Duo a 'John Doe' case. Odds of getting him back
easily decline with every hour past 72. We won't know what we're facing until we get to L-2, but we've got a
shuttle to catch in less than an hour. No time to pack, let's go."
"Ryoukai." Heero responded automatically.
The two headed out the door of the apartment the couple had shared after Heero grabbed a few photos to use for
missing persons notices. Preventers HQ, however, had already transmitted the information ahead of them and the
search was underway while they were still en route.
Arriving at L-2, the men were met by an unlikely person, Trowa Barton, whom Heero had presumed dead. But that
wasn't his name, neither did he wish the police woman with him to know that.
"Officer Chang, Mr. Yuy? I am Neptune Flowers, I work for Winner Corporation Security, I was contacted by
Preventers to assist on this case. This is Officer Grey."
Both men greeted the former pilot as if they were strangers. Heero spent a few moments assessing his old friend
to try to determine what his involvement might be.
His eternal bang of hair had been cut off into a more reasonable style, leaving both piercing emerald-green eyes
clearly visible. Trowa looked very different, with his hair slightly lighter as well as worn differently, but what really
struck them was his height. The man stood an easy 6' 4" compared to their less than 6' each, but there was no
mistaking one of their own. No wonder Duo had never found him. The name, though a take-off on his rumored
birth name of "Triton Bloom", was still devious enough to have passed even the dedicated net spy, Duo Maxwell.
Clearly the man was not dead after all, but if Trowa and Quatre had separated as believed, what was he now doing
disguising his identity and working for the former Sandrock pilot?
Finally, Heero couldn't take not knowing any longer and simply asked, "What exactly is your interest in the case,
Mr. Flowers?"
Giving away only enough to reassure his friend without tipping off the oblivious Grey who was getting information
from Wufei, he remarked, "Mr. Maxwell was here at the request of Winner Corporation, Mr. Yuy. I will debrief both
of you when we return to headquarters." He turned and walked away, dreading any further questions in such a
public place.
"Damn you, Trowa," Heero cursed under his breath as he followed behind the other three men. "What the hell
have you done to Duo? And why?"
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