Archive: http://www.fanworkrecs.com
Disclaimers: I don't own the characters from Gundam Wing, I just play with them for non-profit fun until they run screaming back to their creators.
Warnings: AU - AAAAAAAAAAAU. Some yaoi, lemon, violence, language. You should be a legal adult to read this. Open-mindedness helps, too.
Pairings: all over the map; Duo-centric. yaoi and het.
Author's Notes: A huge helping of "suspension of disbelief" would be appropriate before you read this. I'm sure J or G could explain the science behind it, but they're kinda dead right now...
Part 5 ~ Scraps
For a brief instant he was rushing through blackest night set with sparkling diamonds, until one of the shining stars became larger and painfully bright, overwhelming his senses. He fell into the light, accelerating, until he slammed into a barrier that moulded around him, confining him tightly.
He gasped, his lungs burning for air, his chest spiked with agony. Slowly, slowly, his breathing eased and the pain lessened. His vision gradually focused enough for him to realize that he was lying face down on the floor, staring mindlessly at a rather ugly threadbare carpet. A few more moments rest, and he had the energy to lift his head carefully and look around.
He was in a small bedroom. He eyed the wan artificial light coming in the window and sniffed the air. Flat, slightly metallic, and very, very dry - L2 most likely. His home?
His eyes flicked over the few pieces of mismatched furniture and the carefully mended coverlet over the sagging mattress as he made his assessment - shabby but relatively clean overall. If this were his home, then it seemed he was quite poor.
But it also appeared relatively safe - there were no visible threats. Just himself, lying on the cold floor in his underwear. He groaned softly and slowly eased himself up and over to sit on the bed. He put his head in his hands and forced his dazed brain cells to function.
He had tried to hold on, to stay with Heero, but he had flowed out like water from a shattered glass. It had looked like Wufei had managed to tighten the tourniquet enough before he had been forced to let go, so Heero probably didn't die. At least, he probably didn't die of blood loss. But his other wounds were not trivial, and he had already been going into shock...
Duo's hands tightened in his hair. There was nothing he could do about it now. Because now he was in another place, in another version of himself, maybe even in another time.
Or was he? He checked his watch: Thursday May 16th, 7:14 am. He calculated, biting his lip in concentration. Hmm, subtract a few minutes to get his act together, and add the 16 hour time zone difference between L2, which was on the same clock as the old space center in Houston, and the zone Pandora Research was in, and that would be... about 11 pm on the 16th.
A shiver ran up his spine as he realized that he had arrived on L2 in this timeline at about the same moment that the weapon had fired on Earth in his original timeline.
But maybe in this universe, the infiltration hadn't started yet. Maybe he wasn't too late to stop it, to save Heero from being shot again.
He turned to the vidphone on the bedside table. It was an interesting hybrid, obviously put together from bits and pieces. He smirked as he noticed the unobtrusive scramble switch. Definitely his own handiwork.
He checked the labels beside the speed-dial buttons hopefully. '01' was Heero, of course. Then came '03', followed by '04', so both Trowa and Quatre were alive! He smiled and let out a breath he hadn't been aware of holding. '05' would be Wufei, 'S' was probably Sally, 'H' was likely Hilde, but who was 'L'?? He put aside that minor mystery for later.
He flicked on the scrambling device, pressed the '01' button and waited impatiently. After two rings there was a subdued >click< as the line connected. The screen flashed an irritating "Connecting - please wait" message for a moment or two before clearing to show a middle-aged woman.
"You've reached His Imperial Majesty's Security Services, how may I assist you?" she said, looking at him over the tops of her glasses.
Imperial Majesty??? Heero was an Emperor? Wait, no, she said Security Services, so Heero must just be working for an emperor. But who the hell was the Emperor? Damn, he couldn't very well ask that; he should already know... ooh, this universe hopping was frustrating!
Duo shook his head slightly, recollecting that the receptionist was waiting. "Uh, hi!! I'm looking for Heero Yuy?"
"He's not available at the moment. May I connect you with his vid- mail, or can someone else assist you?"
"Mmm, is Chang Wufei around?"
"One moment, please."
"Steel here," Wufei's upper body appeared on the screen. He was looking away, attending to something on his desk, his reading glasses perched on his nose.
Duo used the moment of distraction to stare at his friend. Wufei might be using a Preventer name, but he definitely wasn't wearing a Preventer uniform. The formal midnight-blue coat spread smoothly over his chest and shoulders, the bullion embroidery and bits of brilliant white lace at wrist and throat merely emphasizing the golden tone of his skin. Duo had to admit he looked good; but it was just so... so... Sancian.
Wufei finally looked into the screen, frowning at the lack of response. "Maxwell." The frown moderated into a smirk. "I have a formal function which I must attend, three urgent tasks to be performed beforehand, and my sash has decided to become lost. You have impeccable timing."
Duo grinned. "You know I live to annoy you."
"Heh. What is it you want?" Wufei was sorting papers on his desk as he spoke.
"I have to warn you and Heero about Pandora Research," Duo said.
"Pandora...?" Wufei frowned at him over the top of his glasses. "Why would you need to warn us of them?"
Unease coiled and twisted in Duo's belly at the words. Usually there were only two reasons to be unworried about a lab. Either the research was not dangerous, or the scientists were working for you. Since he knew firsthand just how dangerous the project was...
Wufei snorted lightly and continued, "Were they not the fools who destroyed themselves three or four months ago?"
"They destroyed themselves? Are you sure?" Relief and disbelief warred for dominance inside him.
Wufei turned to a console beside him and tapped in a brief query. "Yes, Pandora Research Labs was the place," he confirmed. "According to off-duty security, the scientists had some sort of test run scheduled, and the entire team was there to evaluate the results. As far as we can determine, the experimental equipment malfunctioned, causing a runaway chain reaction among the site's generators."
"It blew up?"
"Yes. The personnel onsite were presumed dead - three scientists, ten lab assistants and a security force of fifteen. It says here that the lab buildings were leveled, leaving a rather large crater. There wasn't even enough left to deduce what they had been working on."
"Wow. OK... well... I guess my information wasn't relevant after all. Thankfully." So, the machine was gone - but at the cost of almost thirty lives.
"You heard something? I thought you had 'given up spy work'?"
"I just... I thought that... you guys might be in danger. I couldn't let it slide."
Wufei nodded slowly. He studied Duo's face on the screen for a long moment. "We all want the best for each other. If... if there should come a time when you need help, or someone to talk to, I would hope you would call me... or Heero. I..."
Whatever else Wufei may have wanted to say was interrupted by a persistent chime from his computer.
"Aaaargh, I truly must go now. It was good to talk with you, Maxwell."
"You, too, Wu!" Duo laughed and then pointed, "And 'Fei, your sash is on top of the bookshelf." "Arigato!" Wufei snatched the offending sash and turned back to the screen. His hand hovered over the cutoff switch. "Don't forget what I said, Duo. You need never stand alone unless you choose to do so. "
Duo smiled at his friend. "I know that, Wufei."
The Chinese man nodded once, and cut the connection.
Duo flopped back onto the lumpy mattress and stretched. The generator was gone, destroyed. Heero was safe. He could relax...
The sound of a door opening close by brought him to his feet in one smooth motion.
The bedroom door opened slowly, and a little girl in pajamas padded into the room, rubbing her eyes sleepily. She had short dark brown hair and looked to be three or four years old.
"I ha badweam!" she announced petulantly. She leaned her head against Duo's hip and hugged his leg tightly. "Ihwuz scehweeyaniy wuz fwyten!" [1]
Duo blinked. He had looked after a whole gang of younger children when he lived on the streets, but he hadn't understood any of what she had just said.
He leaned down and patted the little girl's back a bit nervously. "It's OK, kiddo," he said soothingly. "You're all right." He peered down the hallway, half-hoping, half-dreading to see the girl's mother. No one was there.
He freed his leg from the child's clutches and hoisted her into his arms. She snuggled into him at once, arms around his shoulders, legs around his waist, one soft cheek mashed against his collarbone. Her eyes closed and she heaved a sigh, relaxing bonelessly. "Iym hungwee, Daddy." [2]
Duo froze. Daddy?
He stood there, one arm under the little girl's bottom, the other against her back to hold her upright, a big goofy grin spreading across his face. Daddy... He brushed his cheek against her hair. She was awfully cute.
Duo unlocked the gate and swung it wide, latching it into position. It was a weekday, and the salvage yard his alter ego ran would normally be open for business. He didn't want to draw attention to himself by acting out of character. Besides, from the look of things he could use all the income he could get.
He glanced over to check on his daughter as he made his way back through the maze of parts and scrap metal. She was carefully dumping out a small bucket of bolts to play with, and he smiled at the surge of warmth in his heart. He really liked having a daughter. He could be as outrageously silly as he wanted and she just thought he was wonderful.
He had managed to get her dressed and fed after her surprise appearance earlier in the morning, gradually picking up enough of her mangled pronunciation to understand what she was saying. Most of the time, anyway.
Luckily she had seemed to think nothing of the basic questions he had asked her, like 'where do we keep the bread?' and 'what colony are we on?'. He had learned that her name was Helen (a bit of knowledge that had brought tears to his eyes as he remembered the nun that had helped him escape the streets), and that she spent her days 'playing' and 'helping' him.
She had also said that Mommy's name was 'Mommy' and that she worked 'at work'. Duo snickered, remembering the earnestly helpful expression she had been wearing when she had revealed this information. Despite the non-answers to his questions, he had figured out who Helen's mother was pretty quickly - the plain gold ring on his left hand and the framed picture in the living room of a laughing Hilde wearing a matching band had made it pretty obvious.
He thought about that now as he opened the large building at the far end of the yard. Hilde and him. Married. He shook his head. He had been impressed with her during the war, and had dated her a couple of times afterwards, sure. But he didn't really feel married... Apparently this version of himself had gotten to know and appreciate her quite a bit more than he had.
So, he had settled down with a wife and a daughter on L2. Their home was cramped and worn, but tidy. The few appliances and machines inside were a mish-mash of jury-rigged parts, but the front door was solid and the lock difficult to pick.
And speaking of picking locks, he couldn't seem to find the proper key for the door marked 'Office' inside the machine shop. He ran through the key ring he had found in the house one more time. The keys for the front gate and the outer door of the shed were there, but none of the others would unlock that door.
Now, why would the key be missing? Could he have hidden it? His curiosity nudged him. He really wanted to know what was inside this room.
He checked on his daughter once more (she was sorting the bolts into piles - dark, shiny and rusty) before sussing out the office again. There was no other entry - no window, not even a large and convenient ventilation shaft. In fact...
He looked over the design of the built-in room again. In fact, it looked like that innocent little office had been built as a subtle fortress. He tapped the walls, listening to the resulting sound. Plaster over metal plate, he would bet anything.
He rubbed his hands and carefully flexed his fingers, limbering them. Then he casually scratched the back of his neck under his braid. Sure enough, his fingers brushed a set of lockpicks hidden in his hair.
He brought out the picks and selected two with a twist of his wrist. A simple lock like this should hardly take any time at all...
Twenty minutes later, he was cursing under his breath, and no nearer to getting inside. Even allowing for the number of times he had glanced over to check on Helen, this was taking too long.
He knelt down before the door and examined the keyhole more closely. It looked like a standard house door lock. He frowned, staring at the plate around the lock. Something was off...
He went over it minutely, noting the slight roughness at the edge of the metal, and the lack of any identifying marks. He nodded to himself. This was something he had built.
So... if he had designed the lock, it would stand up to a determined assault, but it would also include some element of guile. As in fighting, he far preferred stealth to outright strength.
He stared at the facing until his eyes started to glaze, and then he saw it - a roughly oval area that was just a tad shinier than the surrounding metal. He grinned as he realized the significance of the slight mark. He was a genius, an absolute genius.
He stood up and confidently took hold of the door handle. Then, instead of wrapping his thumb around the knob, he pressed it against that smooth spot on the surrounding plate. Silently the door gave way under the slight push of his hand. The knob didn't even turn, he noted with some amusement. He wondered how many would-be thieves had wasted their time trying to pick the fake lock, never noticing the thumbprint recognition system.
After another quick look at his daughter (now building a tower out of the shiny bolts) he stepped into the room, flicking on the lights. He looked around with interest, curious to see what was so important that he would protect it with such a clever lock.
Filing cabinets, a desk, a patched-together comm unit, a few slightly messy piles of paper - it looked like an ordinary office. Well, of course it would; anything his alter ego was hiding would be well concealed. He smiled, relishing the challenge of outwitting 'himself'.
Two hours and several Helen-breaks later, he was almost ready to believe that the lock was just the result of a bored scrap yard owner with a talent for tinkering and too much time on his hands. It didn't just look like an ordinary office, it was an ordinary office. An ordinary office of an ordinary business. Actually, an ordinary business that wasn't doing too well, according to the figures he had seen.
He had assumed he was fairly poor by the furnishings of the house; what he hadn't realized was that he was also deeply in debt. The costs of starting up the yard as well as a family had taken their toll. Also, L2 was notoriously poor, which meant there were fewer people buying, and those that were couldn't afford to spend much. According to the numbers he had come across, he would be bankrupt within a very short time.
But surely he wouldn't have dived into a business without some sort of fall back position. Perhaps that's what the office's complex lock was designed to conceal... But what was the plan? And where was the information?
End Part 7
[1] "I had a bad dream. It was scary, and I was frightened."
[2] "I'm hungry, Daddy."
Many thanks to Kayo, mighty translator of anime, for official Japanese phrases! ^_^
(:./wingnut/alter7)
