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Nov. 26th, 2008 07:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_goldenpathTitle: Heero Yuy, Secret Agent 001: of Fire and Ice
Fandom: Gundam Wing
Pairings: to be established Heero and Duo.
Genre: AU, action, adventure.
Warnings: foul language, some angst.
Summary: Heero Yuy, top agent in Her Majesty’s, Queen of the World Relena Peacecraft, Secret Service, is send on a dangerous mission: rebels in the L2 colony are developing a new commanding system for mobile suits - the Mobile Doll system - with the goal to overthrow the Earth Sphere United Nations government. To execute his mission successfully, Heero pursues the lead of a mysterious young man, clad in black, with a long brown braid and blue eyes…
Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing or any of the brand names mentioned in this fic.
Author’s note: Fic loosely based on the James Bond concept; so lots of brand names, flashy cars, high-tech gadgets and a lot of made up stuff (gratuitous use of ‘artistic license’). The Gundam designs are the ones for the Endless Waltz models, except for the Deathscythe Hell, who looks like… the Deathscythe Hell. I don’t like the Endless Waltz version of the Grim Reaper, but that’s personal. Events and persons from Endless Waltz are used in this fic, mingled with events and persons from the first series, twisted to fit my evil plot. Everybody is 5-6 years older; as genius as Heero might be a 17 year old secret agent isn’t really believable in my book.
Key:
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Heero dwelled through the impressive mansion, awaiting dinnertime. The house was decorated in an exclusive Victorian style, but it looked like the interior decorator had crammed as much pompous objects as possible in each and every room. To top it off, whoever was responsible for it, had mixed in baroque Louis XIV and Louis XV furniture, as well as chromed every door handle and knob. It was an awful match, and it certainly wasn’t Heero’s taste - he couldn’t imagine how much Septem had paid for this atrocity of an interior. He left the salon he had ‘admired’ and walked down the hallway, looking at the paintings, who seemed to be genuine paintings, caught in heavy, wooden, cheaply gilded frames. A little absent-mindedly, he continued to wander around, until he heard a loud clunk and an equally loud, yet irritated “Damn!”
It came from a door at the end of the hallway, and curiously Heero approached the slightly ajar door, and pushed it open. He could only see stairs, leading down; obviously to the basement. The lights were on and music played at a rather low level; opera music, judging from the first impression of bombastic tones and a low, yet female voice. Heero ventured down, taking the steps one by one, unable to keep his curiosity down. He heard someone bustling about, humming to the music.
He reached the end of the stairs, only to stare at the back of a man who was knelt down on the floor, hands picking up bits and pieces from something that Heero didn’t recognize. He did recognize the thick, chestnut braid dangling over the man’s shoulder, when he reached forward to pick up a shard. Still humming along to the music, he casually collected everything on the floor and got back on his feet, stretching his back.
“Stupid recirculation unit,” he muttered under his breath and took a few steps to dump the broken equipment on a grey, metal table top.
Heero quickly contemplated what he should do; he better leave him, this Duo.. of course he remembered his name, he made it his point to remember people’s name and faces as soon as he met or saw them, and he had no trouble at all remembering Duo. It was obvious that he was busy with something, and he didn’t want to bother him; they weren’t supposed to meet, not yet… but fate wasn’t on Heero’s side that day. Just as he was about to turn around, the heel of his shoe grinded on the stairs. It wasn’t a loud noise, certainly not in comparison with the music, but Duo overheard it and whirled around, hands immediately shifting into a position a martial arts master would be jealous of. He hardly seem to move at all, he was that fast.
“My apologies,” Heero said quickly. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
The other relaxed, but just very slightly, and he didn’t let go of his stance, hands still in the air. Heero recognized the pyong-hi sogi, a basic Tae Kwon Do stance - it looked even deadlier as Duo balled his hands into fists. It was a severe mistake to take him for a easy-going guy who liked to dance with girls; this man could kill him in a blink of an eye. Heero stiffened, his heart racing, his mind focusing on the situation at hand. He knew how to defend himself, and he would fight to the death if need be. Duo was expendable, like everyone else he would meet in this mansion; they were all rebels, criminals, terrorists, and he had Lady Une’s orders to eliminate any threat to the United Earth Sphere Alliance…even if that meant killing someone he was potentially interested in.. in another way than just an enemy who needed to be defeated.
“I know you,” Duo suddenly spoke, and relaxed with the same ease as it had taken him to jump into the stance. “You were at the charity ball, dancing with Hilde. Lowe, wasn’t it?”
“Correct,” Heero answered. “Odin, Odin Lowe.”
“Duo Maxwell,” he re-introduced himself. “So, you’re doing business with Wufei?”
Heero was again taken aback by Duo’s casual use of Chang’s first name, but remembered that Duo was either European or American, what probably made him either uncaring for or unaware of the different use of first and last names in Japanese and Chinese culture. Chang wouldn’t exactly appreciate being addressed in this familiar matter. Heero took the last step of the stairs and sauntered over to Duo, his eyes taking in his surroundings. The basement was a well-lit room stacked with crates and boxes; only a few of them were opened, and held equipment that he couldn’t identify at first sight. There was also some equipment on the table, besides the broken recirculation unit Duo had put on it: a grapple, binoculars, some kind of hooks, climbing gear and a few other things Heero couldn’t name, but it looked like tools of a thief to him…a very cunning thief. Duo had to be ‘Shinigami’, the man contracted to steal the two thousand Gundanium chips from the vault at the International Deposit.
“I’m only delivering the circuit conductors,” Heero said, tone neutral. “They have unique abilities and are very versatile; they don’t need to be manufactured in outer space either, unlike the gundanium chips.”
“What are you implying?” Duo said, voice suddenly turning cold. “That the colonies are responsible for fabricating those chips? That the colonies are considering waging or starting up a new war?”
Heero put his hands up in defense. “I didn’t imply anything. I only told you about my merchandise. I’m a trader, like anybody else here, okay?”
Duo showed a smile, baring his perfect white teeth, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.
“My apologies, if I’ve offended you. I take any accusation towards the colonies rather personally. I’m from L2 myself, you know.”
L2 housed the most notorious rebel groups from the entire colony cluster. It was the home of bombings, revolts and fire fights, as well as the home of the most incompetent government Heero ever had seen. Outbreaks of violence were common in L2’s daily life; Lady Une was right that the only good fortune about this particular colony was, that they didn’t dispose over the heavy artillery and firepower like L3 did. L3 was an innocent toddler compared to L2.
Furthermore, this meant that Duo Maxwell was more likely than not a war orphan, growing up on the streets, and involved with rebel factions as soon as he was able to walk. The question remained: which rebel side was he on, or was he working for himself only? Had he taken Chang’s side, or had he rented himself out to the highest bidder? Heero filed the information carefully away and kept a perfectly neutral expression on his face.
“I’m a war orphan myself, you know.” He blurted it out, and immediately blinked in surprise. That wasn’t what he’d meant to say. Duo leaned against the table and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He was wearing a simple black shirt with black slacks, nothing identifying about him but his conspicuous braid. Heero didn’t know if his words affected the other in any way.
“Fucking war,” Duo muttered under his breath but Heero caught his words. No doubt, Duo was referring to the second and last war, called the Eve Wars. So many had become orphaned that the authorities had stopped counting them. It was almost as if he could see the wall building up in front of Duo. It wasn’t going to be easy to get through to him.
“Hard times,” he said. Duo looked at him, examining.
“What are your reasons?”
“What do you mean?”
“You said you’re a war orphan. Why are you in the business, with your conductors, specifically matching the unique abilities of gundanium chips?” Duo snorted. “What are your reasons, Odin Lowe, to deal with people like Wufei? Are you doing it for the highest bidder? To earn your next meal, or do you really think I don’t know what conductors matching gundanium chips can do?”
The other’s vehemence took Heero aback, and he knew he had to be careful. If he wanted to use Duo as his contact, he had to milk him for information as much as possible. For the first time in his career, it annoyed him that he thought of ‘using’ the other. He had used others for information a million times before.
“There is some self gratification, yes. I want to earn money just like anybody else.”
“You don’t have to be ashamed about it. I know people who sleep well at night when they earned their money killing others; they’d do anything to avoid becoming a poor, helpless orphan again.”
“I don’t kill people,” Heero said and cringed inwardly. He had a double zero in his codename, signifying his license to kill - but that didn’t mean he took pleasure in it. If anything, he tried to avoid casualties as much as possible; he wasn’t like 006, who thought that the only good informer was a dead informer. He was nothing like Marquise. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill the leaders behind an operation, the ones responsible for death and destruction, but he wasn’t going to kill each and everyone crossing his path. If Duo turned out to be a major player in this, he’d inevitably have to face him…and maybe… kill him.
Heero shook his head as if he wanted to get rid of the thought. “I don’t kill,” he repeated, even if it was a lie.
“There are only victims in a war,” Duo said. “On every side.”
“You’re confident that there will be another war,” Heero said.
“What else do you think Wufei is going to do with your precious conductors? Modifying them into kitchen appliances?” Duo barked a short laugh, but there was no humor in it.
“If I’m not mistaken, you’re working for him. So, what’s your reason?”
Duo glared at him, and reached behind him, only to pull out black gloves out of nowhere; they’d been lying between all the equipment on the table. “Fair enough. I asked you about your reasons first.”
He put on the smooth, skin tight gloves, taking his time. “I don’t work for Wufei like that,” he said. “I’m only here for a commission.” He didn’t elaborate. “I’m not sure what he’s going to do with your conductors, I was joking about the kitchen appliances.”
Showing Heero a watery grin, he clenched and unclenched his fists, the fabric of the gloves creaking.
“I have faith in him that he won’t do what I think he’s going to do. Wufei…he believes in honor and tradition, and he wants to live up to the standards of his colony.”
“L5,” Heero said.
Duo nodded. “His honor compels him to take revenge. L5 self-detonated, but they burdened their only survivor with a charge I can’t imagine how it must feel like. He wants his revenge, but I.. don’t believe he’s ready to wage a war for it. He saw from up close and personal what war does. A war isn’t going to give him his colony back, and his honor would be ashamed or something like that… he talked about ‘resurrecting Nataku’, but I don’t know what that means.”
“So where does that put you?” Heero tried to press the matter.
“Me? Somewhere along the bottom of the food chain.” He grinned deviously, yet disarmingly. It looked good on him. Suddenly, he was interrupted by an annoying, shrill beeping noise.
“My pager.” He took the device out of his formfitting black slacks and read the display. His grin was still firmly in place, and Heero couldn’t see any changes in his face, whether the message was good or bad. Duo pocketed the pager and brushed some imaginary dust from his pants. “Well, I see you at dinner, Odin Lowe.”
Heero recognized a dismissal whenever it was given and only nodded at Duo. The other already had turned around and rummaged through the equipment on the table. A little stupefied, Heero climbed up the stairs and emerged in the pompous hallway again. He needed to find a calm spot where he could make an urgent phone call.
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The large rose garden was the only place where he wouldn’t be disturbed. The mansion was quiet, the servants moved silently and discreetly, but Heero hadn’t had the chance to debug the mansion and he didn’t want to take the risk of being overheard. Taking out his Sony Ericsson Black Diamond, his fingers tapped at the speed dial button and he waited impatiently for his call to be answered.
“Good afternoon, Central Colony Cleaning Company, how may I help you?” A pleasant female voice rang out to him..
“Yes, this is Odin Lowe speaking. Connect me through to your Customer Service, please.”
“One moment please.” She almost sang the words to him.
“Central Colony Cleaning Company, Customer Service, how may I help you?” This voice was very familiar. Heero pressed the phone closer to his ear. How Lucrezia Noin kept all those fake companies, codewords and charades apart was a mystery to him, but she was very good at it - leaving a message with her was a 100% guarantee it would reach the person it was intended for.
“Yes, I’d like to file a complaint,” he said. “My name is Lowe, Odin Lowe.”
“What can I do for you, mister Lowe?”
“When I picked up my coat, it looked clean on the outside.” These words would mean that he had arrived safely and that his mission was going smoothly so far. “However, when I wanted to wear it, I found large stains on the inside.” The ‘stains’ would stand for ‘problems’.
“What kind of stains, sir?”
“Black,” Heero said. If he’d said ‘red’, it would obviously mean that victims would be involved.
“Large stains?”
He hesitated. How much of a threat was Duo Maxwell? If he got his hands on the gundanium chips, leading to the first steps in rebuilding the machines of war…
“Exceptionally large. I want you to take this up with your headquarters.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” Lucrezia’s voice was flat, “there’s no one at the headquarters at the moment.”
“What!” Heero almost choked. Une was gone? He quickly tried to calculate the time difference between the L4 colony and Earth. It shouldn’t make that much of a difference, and it was mid-day. Had she gone out for a meeting? “When can I talk to someone from headquarters?”
He needed to know if she had received his e-mails and followed up on his advice. Why had she left her office? “It’s imperative that I talk to someone from headquarters today!”
“I’m sorry sir,” Lucrezia Noin didn’t sound apologetic at all. “At this moment, no one is in. If you bring back your coat at the earliest, convenient time as possible, we can have another department take a look at it.”
Heero gritted his teeth. He needed to talk on a secure line with Une, and tell her to either relocate the gundanium chips or increase security at the International Depository. He needed ot know if she had followed up on his advice. He couldn’t think of someone else in charge who could help him, and he would only call Relena when the Earth was about to implode.
“There’s no time to bring in my coat,” he answered curtly. If he’d ask for a replacement or a refund, Headquarters would take that as a sign to send in reinforcements. “I want to talk to someone from Headquarters, that it all!”
“I’m sorry, the manager isn’t in right now. Can I take a message?”
Goddamnit Lucrezia! “Tell your manager that I will sue you all!” Heero closed his phone and released the breath he was holding. If anyone intercepted his call, they would think that Odin Lowe was an impatient man who was stirring up a fuss because of some coat that hadn’t been dry-cleaned according to his wishes. Noin would know, however, that she needed to contact Une as soon as possible because there was trouble at hand. Major trouble. They had to prevent Duo Maxwell from stealing those chips. Those small things could be the start of an entire new war, no matter what Duo had said about Chang and his honor; gundanium chips were gundanium chips. Chang could make a fortune re-selling them. Maybe Une was preparing to set up a trap. Sometimes you could catch a small fish, and use him as a bait to lure the bigger fish. Heero wasn’t so sure if Duo Maxwell was a small fish, though. If he could pull off walking out of the vault with two thousand Gundanium chips, he would prove to be a bigger fish than maybe Chang himself.
This was all that he could do, the rest was up to Une. He did trust Noin to pass the message to her, but there was something else bothering him, and it didn’t have anything to do with Headquarters. He couldn’t keep his mind off of Duo, and he didn’t know why. Sure, he was good looking, and that braid was.. downright sexy. It had been a very, very long time since Heero Yuy had thought of anyone as ‘sexy’. He had put his social life, his lovelife, on the backburner for his job. Relationships were a liability in his line of business, and yet this Duo Maxwell made him reconsider… what nonsense! He’d never considered a relationship before, heck, he had rejected the Queen of the World. Why would a thief like him change his opinion on relationship? He was a secret agent. There was no match. It just couldn’t be.
Heero went back into the mansion and bumped into General Septem, who was accompanied by a young, tall girl who was clearly far too young for the ‘general’. The man with the grinding, nasal voice introduced her to him, but he forgot her name as soon as it was pronounced. She didn’t really impress him with her giggling either. Unfortunately, she proved to be another guest for dinner, and Heero didn’t want to think what her business with the general was, even if he could take a good guess.
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After the dinner, for which Chang had excused himself at the very last moment, Heero wanted to return to his hotel. Duo had been pleasant company, even involving the bimbo at Septem’s side in the conversation every now and then, but nobody had spoken about ‘business’. As soon as Duo left the dinner table, there was no reason for Heero to stay any longer. He had hoped to get another chance to talk to Duo, but he had disappeared as soon as he had walked out of the room.
If the General was miffed about Chang making the deal with Heero, he didn’t let it show when they said their goodbyes. Septem was just a contact, but a valuable one; without him, the meeting between Heero and Chang hadn’t been possible. Nevertheless, when talking about fish, the ‘general’ was nothing but a small one; a very, very small one. Heero took great care not to ruffle the man’s feathers further; any contact turning against you was another problem to deal with. The both of them were all pleasant and smiles when saying goodbye; Septem had called for a limousine to take Heero back to his hotel. Strangely enough, nobody accompanied him on the way back. He made a quick stop at the bank to cash Chang’s check; it would cause suspicion if he didn’t go after the money immediately. The teller studied the check - it was a small advance, but it still made for a hefty sum - and finally disappeared to get the money. Heero drummed with his fingers on the desk. He wondered for a brief moment why Chang had used a check, for crying out loud. Heero didn’t expect to be handed the stereotypical briefcases with wads of money immediately, but most rebel factions kept Earth credits and hard cash around them, instead of using banks and checks. He’d have to investigate if the money he was about to receive, wasn’t part of some kind of money-laundring scheme. He couldn’t afford to get side-tracked; besides, money-laundring wasn’t part of his job description. Heero had dealt with more delicate and dangerous missions than just a ‘simple’ money-laundry operation. He wasn’t a secret agent for nothing, and he knew exactly why he was so good at what he did; he had his father to thank for it. His ‘father’… why was he thinking of Odin Lowe right now? The man had been dead for almost over a decade, but Heero hadn’t forgotten about him. It was because of him that he followed into his footsteps, and Heero had never considered any other career. With his talents, it was only a matter of time before he would end up being a secret agent.
He didn’t want to think about it right now. Focus on the mission, that was the most important at the moment. He had to be careful; maybe Chang’s people were around somewhere to keep an eye on him. Well, they could report their boss that he had cashed in his check already, which was to be expected. He didn’t make sloppy mistakes. As he was waiting for the teller to return, he pondered about Une. There could be a million reasons why she was out of the office. Even Une took a break; not that Heero ever had used his vacation days. His secretary, Sylvia Noventa, had stopped reminding him of all his outstanding vacation time, because he never took it. She had stopped reminding him about getting a social life, too. And at a certain moment, she had stopped talking to him, safe for the necessary exchange of information; Heero Yuy didn’t waste his time with chitchats.
Looking around him, he saw a few couples standing in line, talking to each other. Not all of them looked like happy couples; some didn’t even look at each other. Heero wasn’t blind to relationships. He just regarded them as a liability in his line of work, and he had used that as an excuse to not interact with potential lifepartners. He lived for his work, and he was satisfied with that - at least, he thought he was. Duo Maxwell popped up in his mind again, and it confused him. Would he be the one to change his life?
“Here you are,” a female voice rang into his ear and he was startled out of his thoughts. The teller had returned and divided the money neatly into two thick envelopes, firmly sealed. “You only have to sign,” she said as she shoved paper and pencil towards him.
As he signed, he mentally reprimanded himself for allowing his thoughts to drift off. He wasn’t never caught off guard - that wasn’t like him at all!
“Is there something else I can do for you, sir?”
“No thank you,” he said, brusquer than he intended, and put the two envelopes in the inner pocket of his Armani overcoat. The teller scowled and called out loudly for the next person in line. Heero turned away from the desk, a little awkward with the heavy envelopes, tugging at the left side of his coat. Grumbling, he left the bank and went back to his hotel. Hopefully he could relax a little, take a hot shower, and prepare himself for what was to come. Heero already knew he would be keeping an eye out for any news concerning the International Depository. Either way, he had to be ready for action as soon as Chang called in on his merchandise.
The International Depository, located at MO-II, was a similar building to what was widely known on Earth as ‘Fort Knox’. The small resource satellite had played a pivotal part in the history of war, and it was on MO-II that the capitulation and subsequent peace treaty had become official. Because of its significance, it had been turned into a memorial site. Relena had suggested that some memorials should be kept, to remind people what ‘war was capable of’. It had been easy to send the Gundams into the sun for destruction, but she didn’t want humanity to forget about the horrors of war. A visit to MO-II was obligated for school children and politicians; a large part of the building had been turned into a museum.
The other part of the building, what no school child or adult got to see, was the International Depository. MO-II didn’t belong to the space colonies or to Earth. It was without leadership or government, and was as such regarded as ‘neutral.’ Many war-related objects were stored here, objects and information about the multiple parties involved in the wars, that simply shouldn’t fall into the wrong hands. The gundanium chips had been brought there as well. It was impossible to break into the International Depository, and specifically its vault. If a thief would get past the first extremely intricate alarm, he had to deal with a lot more electronic locks, all interconnected, timed and under pressure - entire sections of the building would be irrevocably sealed off with solid steel doors if the tiniest shift in weight or pressure occurred.
Rebel groups had tried to break into the Depository to get their hands on mobile suit plans. They had used impressive gunpowder and massive laserbeam force; but only succeeded in scratching the front door. The building didn’t need the presence of physical guards; it was guarded by the complicated alarm system, massive locks and a gigantic number of cameras. Heero didn’t know why he was almost convinced that Duo might be the one to break into the Depository and walk out with the chips. It was simply unheard of; he wouldn’t get past the first alarm, like many others before him. As soon as the alarm was compromised, armed forces would be there within a few hours; there was no need to hurry, due to the automatically sealed doors. The thief would be trapped, without any chance of escape.
So why was he worrying? Duo, if he was Shinigami, had managed to steal the Gundam building plans, which had been on display at one of the most heavily guarded museums of the world, just like MO-II. Stealing plans or chips, it would be the same to him. Heero recalled the details in the report Lady Une had given him. No sign of forced entry, no footprints, no fingerprints. The thief had disposed over the very specific codes for the alarm system, hence why Lady Une stated in her report that it had to be an inside job. The entire management, staff and guards had been replaced - and the rest was silence. Nichol had casually confirmed it was Shinigami who took the plans, but Heero didn’t have confirmation on Duo being Shinigami.
He had to focus on the mission, he reminded himself. Duo Maxwell was distracting him, sidetracking him. It would be a massive blow to the rebel forces if Chang and his chips, and Duo as the masterthief, would be taken out, but he started to hesitate. Chang was the major player here, not Duo. Duo worked for him on a commission base. He wasn’t any of his priorities, Chang was. He should use his time to infiltrate the group more, become best friends with Septem - which made him shudder - and find out more about Chang and what he was up to. He would either arrest Chang himself or call for backup, depending on how the mission went. Yes, he should focus on that. Tomorrow he’d call Nichol and set up another appointment. And if he saw Duo again… well… that depended on the circumstances. For now, Heero refused to think about him any longer; he had to focus on the mission. But Duo Maxwell was tenacious, and he kept thinking about him…and truth to be told, he didn’t object to it too much.
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The following days were frustrating. Chang refused any meeting, and when Heero finally got to talk to Septem again, he learned that Chang wasn’t even at L4 anymore. The general refused to give him more information, and after buying Nichol a few beers, Heero found out that Chang had left at the very same evening, when he had excused himself for the dinner at Septem’s mansion.
“He wasn’t in a hurry, if you might think that,” Nichol said. He enjoyed being the one asked for information, and the feeling of power that came with knowing something the other didn’t. “Chang moves in slow-motion, but every step he takes, is extremely well-thought. He never takes a step without considering every option. He has a plan, I’m sure of it.”
“What kind of plan might that be?” Heero asked. Sometimes Nichol bragged and talked too much, and his loose lips would come in handy. This time, the other was more aware of what Heero wanted, and with a big grin on his face, he put the beer in front of him, back on the table.
“Odin, Odin,” he shook his head, still grinning, “you can’t expect me to start blabbing about Chang’s plans just because you bought me a couple of beers.”
“Why didn’t you tell me immediately that you don’t know a thing about his plans?” Heero commented dryly. The other scowled, but it didn’t sour his mood.
“I know my position, and Chang isn’t going to confide in me. However…” He reclined into his comfortable seat, “he’s best friends with Shinigami, and as soon as he brings him the gundanium chips, he’s ready to take his next step.”
“Shinigami must be very talented to get into the International Depository,” Heero said. He took a sip of his wodka-martini. Too much martini, not enough wodka. “I heard that once you set off the alarm, all sections of the building are sealed off automatically.”
“He knows that - what do you think he is, a petty burglar? There’s nothing he can’t find his way into, state of the art security or not.” Nichol picked up his beer again and took a firm swig. “It’s not any of your business anyway,” he muttered. “You’re only here for the conductors.”
“I like to get to know the people I work with better,” Heero answered deadpan. He didn’t owe Nichol any explanation, but he was cautious; no need to rile anyone. The man scratched at his sideburns.
“Yeah, you’re right about that,” he said. “Give me another beer, then!”
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Contrary to what many people might think or believe, the life of a secret agent isn’t that exciting. It’s often boring - waiting for the next move to make, carefully setting up people against each other, like moving pawns on a giant chess board, calculating who was going to do what and when - and the outcome was always different than one expected. Being a secret agent and working undercover didn’t entail luxury and decadence. The Star hotel, where Heero resided for now, was fairly crappy, certainly to L4’s standards; no cockroaches, but no clean towels or bedlinens every day either.
Going undercover was a double-edged sword, in any situation. People would expect him to live a swanky lifestyle, as much money he was supposedly making with his trade, but on the other hand, people would expect him to live low, to stay under the radar, because of the very nature of his trade. Heero had set up his cover perfectly, of course - anyone checking up on his background would see what he wanted them to see: Odin Lowe, with criminal records on smuggling and counterfeit goods, also a few arrests but not enough to hold him in jail for an extended period of time. Heero had made sure that his cover persona wasn’t popping up on the grid too often; too many lies would be hard to remember, and why make things difficult? His cover was good and solid, no need to add superfluous, elaborate layers to it; keep it simple, and keep out of trouble.
He pulled out his laptop and booted it up. This hotel wasn’t that low-quality that it didn’t offer free access; he set everything up so he could access the United Earth Sphere Alliance’s secured system through a private, protected satellite. No need to allow other people to snoop around these lines either. As Heero was waiting for the connection to be made, he drummed with his finger on the tabletop. Should he tell Lady Une that he’d seen Barton and Winner at Septem’s garden? For all that he could see they were just taking a walk; but a walk in the garden of someone known for being on the…less than perfect side of life? If Winner was as stupid as to risk his solid reputation…maybe he couldn’t care less, for whatever reason? He had associated himself with the Barton Foundation as of late, which could be easily explained from a business point of view; Winner possessed resource satellites and mining operations, Barton the heavy machinery. Maybe it was just a matter of time before they would associate, Barton delivering the machinery needed for Winner’s operations. It was just too much of a coincidence, and Heero didn’t like coincidences. He made a firm mental note of it - now he had two distractions going, Duo on one side, Winner and Barton on the other side.
Logging in took him quite some time; there was a lag in the connection and he entered his codes carefully, and checked them twice over. Finally he was granted access to the secured line and soon enough, a message popped up on his screen. He was to contact Lady Une immediately, urgently, no matter what time. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach; Heero was sure he knew what this was going to be about.
Keying in another set of codes, he checked and double-checked to make sure the line was really, really secure. The secret service had its own satellite for sending and receiving messages, video and audio - but Heero didn’t trust anything he didn’t program himself. His father had passed on some paranoia to him, but he was rather safe than sorry. His fingers danced over the keyboard, as his eyes were glued to the screen. The video connection was being established, now he was knocking on Lady Une’s virtual door. It was an annoyance that there was a lag in the connection, but there was nothing he could do about that.
Image was coming through; Une was saying something, but the audio wasn’t in synch. Frustrated, he tried another frequency, but the words came in scrambled. Une kept talking, but then tilted her head a little as she didn’t receive any response. She suddenly turned around and grabbed something behind her. It was a piece of paper, and she wrote something down, holding it up in front of the camera.
“Chips stolen” was all that she had written down, but it was enough.
“Idiots!” Heero said out loud, in the belief that Une couldn’t hear him either. “Totally unacceptable! Why did you ignore my warning the first place?”
Lady Une put up her hand. “Don’t you dare, Yuy!” Her voice came in a little distorted, but audible. The reception had been finally established. “I just had the scathing of a lifetime, courtesy of our Queen, so don’t you start all over me again.”
“This would never have happened if you had taken notice of my warning.” Heero had the decency to blush, if only a little. She would scrub his ears about his “Idiots” later.
“Damn it, Yuy!” He was shocked. He had never heard Lady Une speak a foul word. “What do you think that I was doing? Nothing? Sitting at the beach for fun? My hands are tied, Yuy. I’ve taken good notice of your warning, but I had to face two ministers who thought it wouldn’t be necessary to send forces to the International Depository because of it supposedly invulnerability. There was nothing more I could do!”
“What do you mean?”
She took off her glasses and started rubbing the bridge of her nose, suddenly looking very tired. “I spoke to the Minister of Defense and the Vice Foreign Minister. They voted against sending forces to MO-II, as they both weren’t comfortable with it - it could be seen as a declaration of war, or so they said. You know how fragile the relationship between Earth and the Colonies is, and sorry to say, but our Vice Foreign Minister isn’t Darlian.”
She was referring to Relena’s father, who had been widely known - and respected - for his diplomatic and pragmatic skills. After his murder and Relena becoming Queen of the World, there was no one else suitable for this particular position; no one was good enough to match Darlian, and it showed. The current Vice Foreign Minister, Heero didn’t even know his name as the man hadn’t left any impression with him, was scared that everything could be interpreted as a declaration of war.
“Protecting the International Depository isn’t a declaration of war,” Heero said, agitated. “It’s to protect people from..”
“I know,” Une interrupted him. “The Minister of Defense wasn’t willing to free up armed forces, and didn’t see the necessity in sending them. He completely relied on the alarm and defense system of the Depository itself. He wouldn’t even consider that one man could succeed in breaking into the vault.”
The Minister of Defense was Marshall Noventa, an elderly man who had lived through the wars and was fully deserving of his title, contrary to ‘Duke’ Dermail and ‘General’ Septem. His granddaughter Sylvia was Heero’s secretary. Noventa had passed up on the offer of the post of Vice Foreign Minister as it included traveling and much tension, and at his age, he didn’t feel up to it. As Minister of Defense, he had a steady life close to his granddaughter, his only living family.
“Is there any surveillance material? Camera footage?”
She continued rubbing. “Yuy, the thief was an invisible ghost. We have nothing of him, no footprints, no fingerprints. Nothing.”
Exactly as when the Gundam building plans were stolen. “But those chips… they have to weigh a lot!”
“Gundanium is pretty heavy, certainly when it comes to two thousand chips.” Une’s voice had definitely taken a sour tone. “They were stacked in large boxes - he took the chips out and left the boxes, but we have no idea what he used to transport them. The only thing we have is that, according to G., he used equipment that is so state of the art that he has to invent it yet.”
G. was a close partner of J. and was responsible for at least half a dozen inventions for the secret agents, at least the double zero numbers. Heero frowned. He had seen something of what he thought was Duo’s equipment; the grapple, the mounting gear - it hadn’t looked that much state of the art to him.
“What did he use?”
“G. has a good clue on the weapon,” Une said and reached behind her again, leafing through a stack of papers. “Weapon, equipment…he cut through the roof and straight into the vault with it. I don’t know what to call it.” She held the papers up in front of the camera. “Here.”
Heero squinted and took screencaps of what she was showing. It looked too bizarre to be true.
“Impossible,” he said. “Was G. high on something?”
“Don’t ever ridicule their knowledge, Yuy,” Une snapped, but her voice lacked the scathing tone she used when she disagreed.
“As you can see, he has used an above average sharp weapon. Notice the curving and the smooth cuts on the surface? G. thinks it’s a scythe-shaped weapon. A thermal scythe of some sorts, as the roof is made out of solid titanium and judging from the burn marks, it went through it like butter.”
“Impossible,” Heero repeated.
“What is your objection?”
“The vault is the heart of the International Depository, and it’s sunk into a basin with a laser alarm. According to this, G says he’s more than 100% sure the thief used the thermal scythe to open the vault. How can he operate a thermal scythe under water?”
“That’s up to you to find out, Yuy. You warned us of the theft in advance, it’s not your fault that two Ministers are too stubborn or too stupid to see the very danger under their nose. I want you to establish contact with the thief, get to know him better, and finally deliver him to us. We have some catching up with him to do.”
“No!” Heero all but shouted. He felt his face flush when Une looked at him, surprise clearly written in her eyes.
“Excuse me?”
“We.. we can’t apprehend him just yet,” he defended himself weakly. “It would ruin… my contacts in the business,” he continued. “Besides, Maxwell works on a commissioner basis, he probably doesn’t know a thing about the people he work for.”
“Maxwell, hm?” Une’s sour mood was lifted, she even sounded enthusiastically. “So you’ve met him personally already. Good work!”
Heero cringed, and cringed some more. He had to salvage the situation, no matter what. Fortunately, he hadn’t spilled Duo’s first name.
“Forget it,” he said a little too lightly, “there isn’t a single shred of information to be found about him. War orphan, L2, need I say more?”
“You’re the only one who knows what he looks like, Yuy,” Une said sternly. “Don’t tell me that I have to draw you a picture. If this guy really doesn’t exist like you say, you’re your own only lead to him. You know how he is and what he looks like. I need you to stay in touch with him and retrieve those chips, before things really get out of hand.”
“I strongly advise against it,” Heero said. He was veritably sweating. If Une made the connection to the person who stood next to Chang on the picture in the Operation “Zero System” files... “We’re ruining golden opportunities if we do this.”
“Are you really going against my orders?” Lady Une sounded amused and offended. The audio signal still wasn’t in synch with the video, so he saw her moving her lips way before her words reached him. “I don’t care if you have to crawl into bed with him, you make sure those chips are returned, and that he’s properly brought to justice for his crimes. Do you understand?”
If she could see his furious blush despite the less than stellar video, she ignored it, for which he was thankful.
“I understand,” he answered dutifully.
Une didn’t dignify him with an answer, reached for her keyboard and the connection was cut. The video image turned black and it was suddenly very quiet, very eerie in the room. Heero heaved a sigh and put his earphones down. Mimicking his boss, he started rubbing the bridge of his nose. It felt like this mission was going to much more difficult and intense than he thought. Focus on the mission, that is what you do best.
Somehow he couldn’t convince himself.
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Part 1 |
Part 2 |
Fandom: Gundam Wing
Pairings: to be established Heero and Duo.
Genre: AU, action, adventure.
Warnings: foul language, some angst.
Summary: Heero Yuy, top agent in Her Majesty’s, Queen of the World Relena Peacecraft, Secret Service, is send on a dangerous mission: rebels in the L2 colony are developing a new commanding system for mobile suits - the Mobile Doll system - with the goal to overthrow the Earth Sphere United Nations government. To execute his mission successfully, Heero pursues the lead of a mysterious young man, clad in black, with a long brown braid and blue eyes…
Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing or any of the brand names mentioned in this fic.
Author’s note: Fic loosely based on the James Bond concept; so lots of brand names, flashy cars, high-tech gadgets and a lot of made up stuff (gratuitous use of ‘artistic license’). The Gundam designs are the ones for the Endless Waltz models, except for the Deathscythe Hell, who looks like… the Deathscythe Hell. I don’t like the Endless Waltz version of the Grim Reaper, but that’s personal. Events and persons from Endless Waltz are used in this fic, mingled with events and persons from the first series, twisted to fit my evil plot. Everybody is 5-6 years older; as genius as Heero might be a 17 year old secret agent isn’t really believable in my book.
Key:
----------- scene change
Heero dwelled through the impressive mansion, awaiting dinnertime. The house was decorated in an exclusive Victorian style, but it looked like the interior decorator had crammed as much pompous objects as possible in each and every room. To top it off, whoever was responsible for it, had mixed in baroque Louis XIV and Louis XV furniture, as well as chromed every door handle and knob. It was an awful match, and it certainly wasn’t Heero’s taste - he couldn’t imagine how much Septem had paid for this atrocity of an interior. He left the salon he had ‘admired’ and walked down the hallway, looking at the paintings, who seemed to be genuine paintings, caught in heavy, wooden, cheaply gilded frames. A little absent-mindedly, he continued to wander around, until he heard a loud clunk and an equally loud, yet irritated “Damn!”
It came from a door at the end of the hallway, and curiously Heero approached the slightly ajar door, and pushed it open. He could only see stairs, leading down; obviously to the basement. The lights were on and music played at a rather low level; opera music, judging from the first impression of bombastic tones and a low, yet female voice. Heero ventured down, taking the steps one by one, unable to keep his curiosity down. He heard someone bustling about, humming to the music.
He reached the end of the stairs, only to stare at the back of a man who was knelt down on the floor, hands picking up bits and pieces from something that Heero didn’t recognize. He did recognize the thick, chestnut braid dangling over the man’s shoulder, when he reached forward to pick up a shard. Still humming along to the music, he casually collected everything on the floor and got back on his feet, stretching his back.
“Stupid recirculation unit,” he muttered under his breath and took a few steps to dump the broken equipment on a grey, metal table top.
Heero quickly contemplated what he should do; he better leave him, this Duo.. of course he remembered his name, he made it his point to remember people’s name and faces as soon as he met or saw them, and he had no trouble at all remembering Duo. It was obvious that he was busy with something, and he didn’t want to bother him; they weren’t supposed to meet, not yet… but fate wasn’t on Heero’s side that day. Just as he was about to turn around, the heel of his shoe grinded on the stairs. It wasn’t a loud noise, certainly not in comparison with the music, but Duo overheard it and whirled around, hands immediately shifting into a position a martial arts master would be jealous of. He hardly seem to move at all, he was that fast.
“My apologies,” Heero said quickly. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
The other relaxed, but just very slightly, and he didn’t let go of his stance, hands still in the air. Heero recognized the pyong-hi sogi, a basic Tae Kwon Do stance - it looked even deadlier as Duo balled his hands into fists. It was a severe mistake to take him for a easy-going guy who liked to dance with girls; this man could kill him in a blink of an eye. Heero stiffened, his heart racing, his mind focusing on the situation at hand. He knew how to defend himself, and he would fight to the death if need be. Duo was expendable, like everyone else he would meet in this mansion; they were all rebels, criminals, terrorists, and he had Lady Une’s orders to eliminate any threat to the United Earth Sphere Alliance…even if that meant killing someone he was potentially interested in.. in another way than just an enemy who needed to be defeated.
“I know you,” Duo suddenly spoke, and relaxed with the same ease as it had taken him to jump into the stance. “You were at the charity ball, dancing with Hilde. Lowe, wasn’t it?”
“Correct,” Heero answered. “Odin, Odin Lowe.”
“Duo Maxwell,” he re-introduced himself. “So, you’re doing business with Wufei?”
Heero was again taken aback by Duo’s casual use of Chang’s first name, but remembered that Duo was either European or American, what probably made him either uncaring for or unaware of the different use of first and last names in Japanese and Chinese culture. Chang wouldn’t exactly appreciate being addressed in this familiar matter. Heero took the last step of the stairs and sauntered over to Duo, his eyes taking in his surroundings. The basement was a well-lit room stacked with crates and boxes; only a few of them were opened, and held equipment that he couldn’t identify at first sight. There was also some equipment on the table, besides the broken recirculation unit Duo had put on it: a grapple, binoculars, some kind of hooks, climbing gear and a few other things Heero couldn’t name, but it looked like tools of a thief to him…a very cunning thief. Duo had to be ‘Shinigami’, the man contracted to steal the two thousand Gundanium chips from the vault at the International Deposit.
“I’m only delivering the circuit conductors,” Heero said, tone neutral. “They have unique abilities and are very versatile; they don’t need to be manufactured in outer space either, unlike the gundanium chips.”
“What are you implying?” Duo said, voice suddenly turning cold. “That the colonies are responsible for fabricating those chips? That the colonies are considering waging or starting up a new war?”
Heero put his hands up in defense. “I didn’t imply anything. I only told you about my merchandise. I’m a trader, like anybody else here, okay?”
Duo showed a smile, baring his perfect white teeth, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.
“My apologies, if I’ve offended you. I take any accusation towards the colonies rather personally. I’m from L2 myself, you know.”
L2 housed the most notorious rebel groups from the entire colony cluster. It was the home of bombings, revolts and fire fights, as well as the home of the most incompetent government Heero ever had seen. Outbreaks of violence were common in L2’s daily life; Lady Une was right that the only good fortune about this particular colony was, that they didn’t dispose over the heavy artillery and firepower like L3 did. L3 was an innocent toddler compared to L2.
Furthermore, this meant that Duo Maxwell was more likely than not a war orphan, growing up on the streets, and involved with rebel factions as soon as he was able to walk. The question remained: which rebel side was he on, or was he working for himself only? Had he taken Chang’s side, or had he rented himself out to the highest bidder? Heero filed the information carefully away and kept a perfectly neutral expression on his face.
“I’m a war orphan myself, you know.” He blurted it out, and immediately blinked in surprise. That wasn’t what he’d meant to say. Duo leaned against the table and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He was wearing a simple black shirt with black slacks, nothing identifying about him but his conspicuous braid. Heero didn’t know if his words affected the other in any way.
“Fucking war,” Duo muttered under his breath but Heero caught his words. No doubt, Duo was referring to the second and last war, called the Eve Wars. So many had become orphaned that the authorities had stopped counting them. It was almost as if he could see the wall building up in front of Duo. It wasn’t going to be easy to get through to him.
“Hard times,” he said. Duo looked at him, examining.
“What are your reasons?”
“What do you mean?”
“You said you’re a war orphan. Why are you in the business, with your conductors, specifically matching the unique abilities of gundanium chips?” Duo snorted. “What are your reasons, Odin Lowe, to deal with people like Wufei? Are you doing it for the highest bidder? To earn your next meal, or do you really think I don’t know what conductors matching gundanium chips can do?”
The other’s vehemence took Heero aback, and he knew he had to be careful. If he wanted to use Duo as his contact, he had to milk him for information as much as possible. For the first time in his career, it annoyed him that he thought of ‘using’ the other. He had used others for information a million times before.
“There is some self gratification, yes. I want to earn money just like anybody else.”
“You don’t have to be ashamed about it. I know people who sleep well at night when they earned their money killing others; they’d do anything to avoid becoming a poor, helpless orphan again.”
“I don’t kill people,” Heero said and cringed inwardly. He had a double zero in his codename, signifying his license to kill - but that didn’t mean he took pleasure in it. If anything, he tried to avoid casualties as much as possible; he wasn’t like 006, who thought that the only good informer was a dead informer. He was nothing like Marquise. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill the leaders behind an operation, the ones responsible for death and destruction, but he wasn’t going to kill each and everyone crossing his path. If Duo turned out to be a major player in this, he’d inevitably have to face him…and maybe… kill him.
Heero shook his head as if he wanted to get rid of the thought. “I don’t kill,” he repeated, even if it was a lie.
“There are only victims in a war,” Duo said. “On every side.”
“You’re confident that there will be another war,” Heero said.
“What else do you think Wufei is going to do with your precious conductors? Modifying them into kitchen appliances?” Duo barked a short laugh, but there was no humor in it.
“If I’m not mistaken, you’re working for him. So, what’s your reason?”
Duo glared at him, and reached behind him, only to pull out black gloves out of nowhere; they’d been lying between all the equipment on the table. “Fair enough. I asked you about your reasons first.”
He put on the smooth, skin tight gloves, taking his time. “I don’t work for Wufei like that,” he said. “I’m only here for a commission.” He didn’t elaborate. “I’m not sure what he’s going to do with your conductors, I was joking about the kitchen appliances.”
Showing Heero a watery grin, he clenched and unclenched his fists, the fabric of the gloves creaking.
“I have faith in him that he won’t do what I think he’s going to do. Wufei…he believes in honor and tradition, and he wants to live up to the standards of his colony.”
“L5,” Heero said.
Duo nodded. “His honor compels him to take revenge. L5 self-detonated, but they burdened their only survivor with a charge I can’t imagine how it must feel like. He wants his revenge, but I.. don’t believe he’s ready to wage a war for it. He saw from up close and personal what war does. A war isn’t going to give him his colony back, and his honor would be ashamed or something like that… he talked about ‘resurrecting Nataku’, but I don’t know what that means.”
“So where does that put you?” Heero tried to press the matter.
“Me? Somewhere along the bottom of the food chain.” He grinned deviously, yet disarmingly. It looked good on him. Suddenly, he was interrupted by an annoying, shrill beeping noise.
“My pager.” He took the device out of his formfitting black slacks and read the display. His grin was still firmly in place, and Heero couldn’t see any changes in his face, whether the message was good or bad. Duo pocketed the pager and brushed some imaginary dust from his pants. “Well, I see you at dinner, Odin Lowe.”
Heero recognized a dismissal whenever it was given and only nodded at Duo. The other already had turned around and rummaged through the equipment on the table. A little stupefied, Heero climbed up the stairs and emerged in the pompous hallway again. He needed to find a calm spot where he could make an urgent phone call.
The large rose garden was the only place where he wouldn’t be disturbed. The mansion was quiet, the servants moved silently and discreetly, but Heero hadn’t had the chance to debug the mansion and he didn’t want to take the risk of being overheard. Taking out his Sony Ericsson Black Diamond, his fingers tapped at the speed dial button and he waited impatiently for his call to be answered.
“Good afternoon, Central Colony Cleaning Company, how may I help you?” A pleasant female voice rang out to him..
“Yes, this is Odin Lowe speaking. Connect me through to your Customer Service, please.”
“One moment please.” She almost sang the words to him.
“Central Colony Cleaning Company, Customer Service, how may I help you?” This voice was very familiar. Heero pressed the phone closer to his ear. How Lucrezia Noin kept all those fake companies, codewords and charades apart was a mystery to him, but she was very good at it - leaving a message with her was a 100% guarantee it would reach the person it was intended for.
“Yes, I’d like to file a complaint,” he said. “My name is Lowe, Odin Lowe.”
“What can I do for you, mister Lowe?”
“When I picked up my coat, it looked clean on the outside.” These words would mean that he had arrived safely and that his mission was going smoothly so far. “However, when I wanted to wear it, I found large stains on the inside.” The ‘stains’ would stand for ‘problems’.
“What kind of stains, sir?”
“Black,” Heero said. If he’d said ‘red’, it would obviously mean that victims would be involved.
“Large stains?”
He hesitated. How much of a threat was Duo Maxwell? If he got his hands on the gundanium chips, leading to the first steps in rebuilding the machines of war…
“Exceptionally large. I want you to take this up with your headquarters.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” Lucrezia’s voice was flat, “there’s no one at the headquarters at the moment.”
“What!” Heero almost choked. Une was gone? He quickly tried to calculate the time difference between the L4 colony and Earth. It shouldn’t make that much of a difference, and it was mid-day. Had she gone out for a meeting? “When can I talk to someone from headquarters?”
He needed to know if she had received his e-mails and followed up on his advice. Why had she left her office? “It’s imperative that I talk to someone from headquarters today!”
“I’m sorry sir,” Lucrezia Noin didn’t sound apologetic at all. “At this moment, no one is in. If you bring back your coat at the earliest, convenient time as possible, we can have another department take a look at it.”
Heero gritted his teeth. He needed to talk on a secure line with Une, and tell her to either relocate the gundanium chips or increase security at the International Depository. He needed ot know if she had followed up on his advice. He couldn’t think of someone else in charge who could help him, and he would only call Relena when the Earth was about to implode.
“There’s no time to bring in my coat,” he answered curtly. If he’d ask for a replacement or a refund, Headquarters would take that as a sign to send in reinforcements. “I want to talk to someone from Headquarters, that it all!”
“I’m sorry, the manager isn’t in right now. Can I take a message?”
Goddamnit Lucrezia! “Tell your manager that I will sue you all!” Heero closed his phone and released the breath he was holding. If anyone intercepted his call, they would think that Odin Lowe was an impatient man who was stirring up a fuss because of some coat that hadn’t been dry-cleaned according to his wishes. Noin would know, however, that she needed to contact Une as soon as possible because there was trouble at hand. Major trouble. They had to prevent Duo Maxwell from stealing those chips. Those small things could be the start of an entire new war, no matter what Duo had said about Chang and his honor; gundanium chips were gundanium chips. Chang could make a fortune re-selling them. Maybe Une was preparing to set up a trap. Sometimes you could catch a small fish, and use him as a bait to lure the bigger fish. Heero wasn’t so sure if Duo Maxwell was a small fish, though. If he could pull off walking out of the vault with two thousand Gundanium chips, he would prove to be a bigger fish than maybe Chang himself.
This was all that he could do, the rest was up to Une. He did trust Noin to pass the message to her, but there was something else bothering him, and it didn’t have anything to do with Headquarters. He couldn’t keep his mind off of Duo, and he didn’t know why. Sure, he was good looking, and that braid was.. downright sexy. It had been a very, very long time since Heero Yuy had thought of anyone as ‘sexy’. He had put his social life, his lovelife, on the backburner for his job. Relationships were a liability in his line of business, and yet this Duo Maxwell made him reconsider… what nonsense! He’d never considered a relationship before, heck, he had rejected the Queen of the World. Why would a thief like him change his opinion on relationship? He was a secret agent. There was no match. It just couldn’t be.
Heero went back into the mansion and bumped into General Septem, who was accompanied by a young, tall girl who was clearly far too young for the ‘general’. The man with the grinding, nasal voice introduced her to him, but he forgot her name as soon as it was pronounced. She didn’t really impress him with her giggling either. Unfortunately, she proved to be another guest for dinner, and Heero didn’t want to think what her business with the general was, even if he could take a good guess.
After the dinner, for which Chang had excused himself at the very last moment, Heero wanted to return to his hotel. Duo had been pleasant company, even involving the bimbo at Septem’s side in the conversation every now and then, but nobody had spoken about ‘business’. As soon as Duo left the dinner table, there was no reason for Heero to stay any longer. He had hoped to get another chance to talk to Duo, but he had disappeared as soon as he had walked out of the room.
If the General was miffed about Chang making the deal with Heero, he didn’t let it show when they said their goodbyes. Septem was just a contact, but a valuable one; without him, the meeting between Heero and Chang hadn’t been possible. Nevertheless, when talking about fish, the ‘general’ was nothing but a small one; a very, very small one. Heero took great care not to ruffle the man’s feathers further; any contact turning against you was another problem to deal with. The both of them were all pleasant and smiles when saying goodbye; Septem had called for a limousine to take Heero back to his hotel. Strangely enough, nobody accompanied him on the way back. He made a quick stop at the bank to cash Chang’s check; it would cause suspicion if he didn’t go after the money immediately. The teller studied the check - it was a small advance, but it still made for a hefty sum - and finally disappeared to get the money. Heero drummed with his fingers on the desk. He wondered for a brief moment why Chang had used a check, for crying out loud. Heero didn’t expect to be handed the stereotypical briefcases with wads of money immediately, but most rebel factions kept Earth credits and hard cash around them, instead of using banks and checks. He’d have to investigate if the money he was about to receive, wasn’t part of some kind of money-laundring scheme. He couldn’t afford to get side-tracked; besides, money-laundring wasn’t part of his job description. Heero had dealt with more delicate and dangerous missions than just a ‘simple’ money-laundry operation. He wasn’t a secret agent for nothing, and he knew exactly why he was so good at what he did; he had his father to thank for it. His ‘father’… why was he thinking of Odin Lowe right now? The man had been dead for almost over a decade, but Heero hadn’t forgotten about him. It was because of him that he followed into his footsteps, and Heero had never considered any other career. With his talents, it was only a matter of time before he would end up being a secret agent.
He didn’t want to think about it right now. Focus on the mission, that was the most important at the moment. He had to be careful; maybe Chang’s people were around somewhere to keep an eye on him. Well, they could report their boss that he had cashed in his check already, which was to be expected. He didn’t make sloppy mistakes. As he was waiting for the teller to return, he pondered about Une. There could be a million reasons why she was out of the office. Even Une took a break; not that Heero ever had used his vacation days. His secretary, Sylvia Noventa, had stopped reminding him of all his outstanding vacation time, because he never took it. She had stopped reminding him about getting a social life, too. And at a certain moment, she had stopped talking to him, safe for the necessary exchange of information; Heero Yuy didn’t waste his time with chitchats.
Looking around him, he saw a few couples standing in line, talking to each other. Not all of them looked like happy couples; some didn’t even look at each other. Heero wasn’t blind to relationships. He just regarded them as a liability in his line of work, and he had used that as an excuse to not interact with potential lifepartners. He lived for his work, and he was satisfied with that - at least, he thought he was. Duo Maxwell popped up in his mind again, and it confused him. Would he be the one to change his life?
“Here you are,” a female voice rang into his ear and he was startled out of his thoughts. The teller had returned and divided the money neatly into two thick envelopes, firmly sealed. “You only have to sign,” she said as she shoved paper and pencil towards him.
As he signed, he mentally reprimanded himself for allowing his thoughts to drift off. He wasn’t never caught off guard - that wasn’t like him at all!
“Is there something else I can do for you, sir?”
“No thank you,” he said, brusquer than he intended, and put the two envelopes in the inner pocket of his Armani overcoat. The teller scowled and called out loudly for the next person in line. Heero turned away from the desk, a little awkward with the heavy envelopes, tugging at the left side of his coat. Grumbling, he left the bank and went back to his hotel. Hopefully he could relax a little, take a hot shower, and prepare himself for what was to come. Heero already knew he would be keeping an eye out for any news concerning the International Depository. Either way, he had to be ready for action as soon as Chang called in on his merchandise.
The International Depository, located at MO-II, was a similar building to what was widely known on Earth as ‘Fort Knox’. The small resource satellite had played a pivotal part in the history of war, and it was on MO-II that the capitulation and subsequent peace treaty had become official. Because of its significance, it had been turned into a memorial site. Relena had suggested that some memorials should be kept, to remind people what ‘war was capable of’. It had been easy to send the Gundams into the sun for destruction, but she didn’t want humanity to forget about the horrors of war. A visit to MO-II was obligated for school children and politicians; a large part of the building had been turned into a museum.
The other part of the building, what no school child or adult got to see, was the International Depository. MO-II didn’t belong to the space colonies or to Earth. It was without leadership or government, and was as such regarded as ‘neutral.’ Many war-related objects were stored here, objects and information about the multiple parties involved in the wars, that simply shouldn’t fall into the wrong hands. The gundanium chips had been brought there as well. It was impossible to break into the International Depository, and specifically its vault. If a thief would get past the first extremely intricate alarm, he had to deal with a lot more electronic locks, all interconnected, timed and under pressure - entire sections of the building would be irrevocably sealed off with solid steel doors if the tiniest shift in weight or pressure occurred.
Rebel groups had tried to break into the Depository to get their hands on mobile suit plans. They had used impressive gunpowder and massive laserbeam force; but only succeeded in scratching the front door. The building didn’t need the presence of physical guards; it was guarded by the complicated alarm system, massive locks and a gigantic number of cameras. Heero didn’t know why he was almost convinced that Duo might be the one to break into the Depository and walk out with the chips. It was simply unheard of; he wouldn’t get past the first alarm, like many others before him. As soon as the alarm was compromised, armed forces would be there within a few hours; there was no need to hurry, due to the automatically sealed doors. The thief would be trapped, without any chance of escape.
So why was he worrying? Duo, if he was Shinigami, had managed to steal the Gundam building plans, which had been on display at one of the most heavily guarded museums of the world, just like MO-II. Stealing plans or chips, it would be the same to him. Heero recalled the details in the report Lady Une had given him. No sign of forced entry, no footprints, no fingerprints. The thief had disposed over the very specific codes for the alarm system, hence why Lady Une stated in her report that it had to be an inside job. The entire management, staff and guards had been replaced - and the rest was silence. Nichol had casually confirmed it was Shinigami who took the plans, but Heero didn’t have confirmation on Duo being Shinigami.
He had to focus on the mission, he reminded himself. Duo Maxwell was distracting him, sidetracking him. It would be a massive blow to the rebel forces if Chang and his chips, and Duo as the masterthief, would be taken out, but he started to hesitate. Chang was the major player here, not Duo. Duo worked for him on a commission base. He wasn’t any of his priorities, Chang was. He should use his time to infiltrate the group more, become best friends with Septem - which made him shudder - and find out more about Chang and what he was up to. He would either arrest Chang himself or call for backup, depending on how the mission went. Yes, he should focus on that. Tomorrow he’d call Nichol and set up another appointment. And if he saw Duo again… well… that depended on the circumstances. For now, Heero refused to think about him any longer; he had to focus on the mission. But Duo Maxwell was tenacious, and he kept thinking about him…and truth to be told, he didn’t object to it too much.
The following days were frustrating. Chang refused any meeting, and when Heero finally got to talk to Septem again, he learned that Chang wasn’t even at L4 anymore. The general refused to give him more information, and after buying Nichol a few beers, Heero found out that Chang had left at the very same evening, when he had excused himself for the dinner at Septem’s mansion.
“He wasn’t in a hurry, if you might think that,” Nichol said. He enjoyed being the one asked for information, and the feeling of power that came with knowing something the other didn’t. “Chang moves in slow-motion, but every step he takes, is extremely well-thought. He never takes a step without considering every option. He has a plan, I’m sure of it.”
“What kind of plan might that be?” Heero asked. Sometimes Nichol bragged and talked too much, and his loose lips would come in handy. This time, the other was more aware of what Heero wanted, and with a big grin on his face, he put the beer in front of him, back on the table.
“Odin, Odin,” he shook his head, still grinning, “you can’t expect me to start blabbing about Chang’s plans just because you bought me a couple of beers.”
“Why didn’t you tell me immediately that you don’t know a thing about his plans?” Heero commented dryly. The other scowled, but it didn’t sour his mood.
“I know my position, and Chang isn’t going to confide in me. However…” He reclined into his comfortable seat, “he’s best friends with Shinigami, and as soon as he brings him the gundanium chips, he’s ready to take his next step.”
“Shinigami must be very talented to get into the International Depository,” Heero said. He took a sip of his wodka-martini. Too much martini, not enough wodka. “I heard that once you set off the alarm, all sections of the building are sealed off automatically.”
“He knows that - what do you think he is, a petty burglar? There’s nothing he can’t find his way into, state of the art security or not.” Nichol picked up his beer again and took a firm swig. “It’s not any of your business anyway,” he muttered. “You’re only here for the conductors.”
“I like to get to know the people I work with better,” Heero answered deadpan. He didn’t owe Nichol any explanation, but he was cautious; no need to rile anyone. The man scratched at his sideburns.
“Yeah, you’re right about that,” he said. “Give me another beer, then!”
Contrary to what many people might think or believe, the life of a secret agent isn’t that exciting. It’s often boring - waiting for the next move to make, carefully setting up people against each other, like moving pawns on a giant chess board, calculating who was going to do what and when - and the outcome was always different than one expected. Being a secret agent and working undercover didn’t entail luxury and decadence. The Star hotel, where Heero resided for now, was fairly crappy, certainly to L4’s standards; no cockroaches, but no clean towels or bedlinens every day either.
Going undercover was a double-edged sword, in any situation. People would expect him to live a swanky lifestyle, as much money he was supposedly making with his trade, but on the other hand, people would expect him to live low, to stay under the radar, because of the very nature of his trade. Heero had set up his cover perfectly, of course - anyone checking up on his background would see what he wanted them to see: Odin Lowe, with criminal records on smuggling and counterfeit goods, also a few arrests but not enough to hold him in jail for an extended period of time. Heero had made sure that his cover persona wasn’t popping up on the grid too often; too many lies would be hard to remember, and why make things difficult? His cover was good and solid, no need to add superfluous, elaborate layers to it; keep it simple, and keep out of trouble.
He pulled out his laptop and booted it up. This hotel wasn’t that low-quality that it didn’t offer free access; he set everything up so he could access the United Earth Sphere Alliance’s secured system through a private, protected satellite. No need to allow other people to snoop around these lines either. As Heero was waiting for the connection to be made, he drummed with his finger on the tabletop. Should he tell Lady Une that he’d seen Barton and Winner at Septem’s garden? For all that he could see they were just taking a walk; but a walk in the garden of someone known for being on the…less than perfect side of life? If Winner was as stupid as to risk his solid reputation…maybe he couldn’t care less, for whatever reason? He had associated himself with the Barton Foundation as of late, which could be easily explained from a business point of view; Winner possessed resource satellites and mining operations, Barton the heavy machinery. Maybe it was just a matter of time before they would associate, Barton delivering the machinery needed for Winner’s operations. It was just too much of a coincidence, and Heero didn’t like coincidences. He made a firm mental note of it - now he had two distractions going, Duo on one side, Winner and Barton on the other side.
Logging in took him quite some time; there was a lag in the connection and he entered his codes carefully, and checked them twice over. Finally he was granted access to the secured line and soon enough, a message popped up on his screen. He was to contact Lady Une immediately, urgently, no matter what time. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach; Heero was sure he knew what this was going to be about.
Keying in another set of codes, he checked and double-checked to make sure the line was really, really secure. The secret service had its own satellite for sending and receiving messages, video and audio - but Heero didn’t trust anything he didn’t program himself. His father had passed on some paranoia to him, but he was rather safe than sorry. His fingers danced over the keyboard, as his eyes were glued to the screen. The video connection was being established, now he was knocking on Lady Une’s virtual door. It was an annoyance that there was a lag in the connection, but there was nothing he could do about that.
Image was coming through; Une was saying something, but the audio wasn’t in synch. Frustrated, he tried another frequency, but the words came in scrambled. Une kept talking, but then tilted her head a little as she didn’t receive any response. She suddenly turned around and grabbed something behind her. It was a piece of paper, and she wrote something down, holding it up in front of the camera.
“Chips stolen” was all that she had written down, but it was enough.
“Idiots!” Heero said out loud, in the belief that Une couldn’t hear him either. “Totally unacceptable! Why did you ignore my warning the first place?”
Lady Une put up her hand. “Don’t you dare, Yuy!” Her voice came in a little distorted, but audible. The reception had been finally established. “I just had the scathing of a lifetime, courtesy of our Queen, so don’t you start all over me again.”
“This would never have happened if you had taken notice of my warning.” Heero had the decency to blush, if only a little. She would scrub his ears about his “Idiots” later.
“Damn it, Yuy!” He was shocked. He had never heard Lady Une speak a foul word. “What do you think that I was doing? Nothing? Sitting at the beach for fun? My hands are tied, Yuy. I’ve taken good notice of your warning, but I had to face two ministers who thought it wouldn’t be necessary to send forces to the International Depository because of it supposedly invulnerability. There was nothing more I could do!”
“What do you mean?”
She took off her glasses and started rubbing the bridge of her nose, suddenly looking very tired. “I spoke to the Minister of Defense and the Vice Foreign Minister. They voted against sending forces to MO-II, as they both weren’t comfortable with it - it could be seen as a declaration of war, or so they said. You know how fragile the relationship between Earth and the Colonies is, and sorry to say, but our Vice Foreign Minister isn’t Darlian.”
She was referring to Relena’s father, who had been widely known - and respected - for his diplomatic and pragmatic skills. After his murder and Relena becoming Queen of the World, there was no one else suitable for this particular position; no one was good enough to match Darlian, and it showed. The current Vice Foreign Minister, Heero didn’t even know his name as the man hadn’t left any impression with him, was scared that everything could be interpreted as a declaration of war.
“Protecting the International Depository isn’t a declaration of war,” Heero said, agitated. “It’s to protect people from..”
“I know,” Une interrupted him. “The Minister of Defense wasn’t willing to free up armed forces, and didn’t see the necessity in sending them. He completely relied on the alarm and defense system of the Depository itself. He wouldn’t even consider that one man could succeed in breaking into the vault.”
The Minister of Defense was Marshall Noventa, an elderly man who had lived through the wars and was fully deserving of his title, contrary to ‘Duke’ Dermail and ‘General’ Septem. His granddaughter Sylvia was Heero’s secretary. Noventa had passed up on the offer of the post of Vice Foreign Minister as it included traveling and much tension, and at his age, he didn’t feel up to it. As Minister of Defense, he had a steady life close to his granddaughter, his only living family.
“Is there any surveillance material? Camera footage?”
She continued rubbing. “Yuy, the thief was an invisible ghost. We have nothing of him, no footprints, no fingerprints. Nothing.”
Exactly as when the Gundam building plans were stolen. “But those chips… they have to weigh a lot!”
“Gundanium is pretty heavy, certainly when it comes to two thousand chips.” Une’s voice had definitely taken a sour tone. “They were stacked in large boxes - he took the chips out and left the boxes, but we have no idea what he used to transport them. The only thing we have is that, according to G., he used equipment that is so state of the art that he has to invent it yet.”
G. was a close partner of J. and was responsible for at least half a dozen inventions for the secret agents, at least the double zero numbers. Heero frowned. He had seen something of what he thought was Duo’s equipment; the grapple, the mounting gear - it hadn’t looked that much state of the art to him.
“What did he use?”
“G. has a good clue on the weapon,” Une said and reached behind her again, leafing through a stack of papers. “Weapon, equipment…he cut through the roof and straight into the vault with it. I don’t know what to call it.” She held the papers up in front of the camera. “Here.”
Heero squinted and took screencaps of what she was showing. It looked too bizarre to be true.
“Impossible,” he said. “Was G. high on something?”
“Don’t ever ridicule their knowledge, Yuy,” Une snapped, but her voice lacked the scathing tone she used when she disagreed.
“As you can see, he has used an above average sharp weapon. Notice the curving and the smooth cuts on the surface? G. thinks it’s a scythe-shaped weapon. A thermal scythe of some sorts, as the roof is made out of solid titanium and judging from the burn marks, it went through it like butter.”
“Impossible,” Heero repeated.
“What is your objection?”
“The vault is the heart of the International Depository, and it’s sunk into a basin with a laser alarm. According to this, G says he’s more than 100% sure the thief used the thermal scythe to open the vault. How can he operate a thermal scythe under water?”
“That’s up to you to find out, Yuy. You warned us of the theft in advance, it’s not your fault that two Ministers are too stubborn or too stupid to see the very danger under their nose. I want you to establish contact with the thief, get to know him better, and finally deliver him to us. We have some catching up with him to do.”
“No!” Heero all but shouted. He felt his face flush when Une looked at him, surprise clearly written in her eyes.
“Excuse me?”
“We.. we can’t apprehend him just yet,” he defended himself weakly. “It would ruin… my contacts in the business,” he continued. “Besides, Maxwell works on a commissioner basis, he probably doesn’t know a thing about the people he work for.”
“Maxwell, hm?” Une’s sour mood was lifted, she even sounded enthusiastically. “So you’ve met him personally already. Good work!”
Heero cringed, and cringed some more. He had to salvage the situation, no matter what. Fortunately, he hadn’t spilled Duo’s first name.
“Forget it,” he said a little too lightly, “there isn’t a single shred of information to be found about him. War orphan, L2, need I say more?”
“You’re the only one who knows what he looks like, Yuy,” Une said sternly. “Don’t tell me that I have to draw you a picture. If this guy really doesn’t exist like you say, you’re your own only lead to him. You know how he is and what he looks like. I need you to stay in touch with him and retrieve those chips, before things really get out of hand.”
“I strongly advise against it,” Heero said. He was veritably sweating. If Une made the connection to the person who stood next to Chang on the picture in the Operation “Zero System” files... “We’re ruining golden opportunities if we do this.”
“Are you really going against my orders?” Lady Une sounded amused and offended. The audio signal still wasn’t in synch with the video, so he saw her moving her lips way before her words reached him. “I don’t care if you have to crawl into bed with him, you make sure those chips are returned, and that he’s properly brought to justice for his crimes. Do you understand?”
If she could see his furious blush despite the less than stellar video, she ignored it, for which he was thankful.
“I understand,” he answered dutifully.
Une didn’t dignify him with an answer, reached for her keyboard and the connection was cut. The video image turned black and it was suddenly very quiet, very eerie in the room. Heero heaved a sigh and put his earphones down. Mimicking his boss, he started rubbing the bridge of his nose. It felt like this mission was going to much more difficult and intense than he thought. Focus on the mission, that is what you do best.
Somehow he couldn’t convince himself.
Part 1 |
Part 2 |
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no subject
Date: 2008-11-29 02:17 pm (UTC)I love how you're writing the start of his relationship with Duo. You're doing a good job of establishing how Heero is slowly falling in love (or at least lust) with Duo. I can see where Duo is going to complicate things very, very much for Heero.
Is it wrong that I'm hoping Wufei is going to turn out to not be as bad as Heero thinks he is? You don't need to confirm or deny anything about that. ^_~
Thanks for posting more of this story!
no subject
Date: 2008-11-29 05:33 pm (UTC)I'm glad you like the story; it felt a bit weird to pick it up after so long, and I had to rewrite it quite a bit, as my writing has changed (and hopefully improved) ever since I started this fic. So I'm glad that it all worked out!
We're going to see more of Wufei, and until then, I keep my lips sealed ^__~