28-Jan-2002
revised: 21-Jul-2002
Heero's mind was racing as he made his way back to his own apartment. Once there he found himself pacing to the soft sounds of his favorite R&B artist and rehashing all the information he had on his current case. He figured the witness he had been waiting to meet at the warehouse near the waterfront was indeed Hilde and the reason for her not showing up was because she had been killed before she ever got a chance to connect with him. Heero frowned as he flipped through the pictures of her beaten and bloodied body. She had been pretty. She should have been going to dances and worrying about lipstick colors, not ending up a broken toy in the warehouse district alone and suffering. He tossed her picture on his coffee table along with the other missing girls. He took another sip of beer and turned the music up louder. It always made him feel better.
He almost didn't answer the cell when it beeped. It was almost one in the morning, so it could only mean Quatre, Trowa, Une or trouble. When he saw the protected number blink on the machine he sighed figuring it to be Trowa. He clicked in on and spoke in annoyed growl. "Yeah Tro, what's up?"
"Heero? It's me."
"Duo?" He immediately recognized the boys' voice. And he also heard the barely contained fear behind it. "Are you okay?"
"I think someone's following me."
"Are you sure?"
"I grew up on the streets shithead. I know when I'm being tagged." Duo's anger was the only thing that kept the fear from coming through over the phone.
"All right, where are you? I'll come get you."
"Fifth and Walker."
The phone clicked leaving Heero to wonder if he ran out of time, or change. He grabbed his coat and keys and raced down to the garage. Within ten minutes he was at Fifth Street scanning for signs of the braided boy. He just stopped at a corner and was about to turn when he heard a knock on the rear window making him jump and automatically draw his gun. He locked his sights on Duo's head, right between the bright eyes that were looking back at him with amusement. He hadn't been expecting that at all, and it showed in his fierce frown. He motioned for Duo to come around and get in and a moment later the braided boy hopped in the passenger side. "Don't. Do that. Again." He ground out once Duo was belted in.
"What? You told me to call you!" Duo squawked.
"No. Hit the glass like that. I almost shot you."
Duo glanced to Heero's lap where the glistening gun shown in the street light and his smirk only widened into a broad grin. "Yeah, I noticed."
Heero turned to Duo and for the first time realized what the boy was wearing. Skin-tight black leather pants with zippers for pockets and a short sleeved, black shirt. He had another shirt over the top that was made of some kind of lightweight material that sparkled red in the low light. He also seemed to have glitter on his face, neck and arms. His eyes were huge and sparkled with the adrenaline making Heero's breath catch momentarily. "Do you have a death wish or something?"
"Som'thin' like that." Duo's grin slipped a little as he turned to gaze out the passenger side window. He could feel the weight of Heero's eyes on him, but ignored it. Now wasn't the time for wallowing.
"Do you know who was following you?" Heero asked him quietly, trying to let Duo's soft spoken admission go unnoticed, but it hung heavy in the air between them as they sat and watched various people walk by the car. He could hear the weariness in Duo's voice and saw the dark shadows under his eyes. He had thought at first that it was make-up to make his voluminous eyes look even more striking, but now as he looked at Duo's profile, all he saw was an attempt to cover up how little he had been sleeping.
"I thought it was some creep from the club, but whoever it is was too good to lose with my usual maneuvers." Duo seemed to be shaking slightly, so Heero turned the heat up in the car. Something had spooked him, that much was obvious because it was a warm night after all.
"Which club?" Heero asked as he unconsciously drove towards his apartment.
Duo turned forward as Heero pulled away from the curb and began driving north. The opposite direction of his place and certainly not the way to the club to look for the guy who had been tailing him. "Uh... the one on Walker and Eighteenth." Duo answered quietly.
"The clubs on Walker are all gay clubs."
Duo's eyes narrowed as he ground his teeth not trusting himself not to make a cutting remark. He felt the most overwhelming urge to open the car door and fling himself out onto the asphalt right then. Why did he ever think to call this guy? Stupid fuckin' cops. They were all the same.
"You're being awfully quiet. Did I offend you?" Heero glanced over to Duo who was practically fuming in the seat next to him. He hit the locks and flicked off the access to them on Duo's door. "You are gay, right?"
Duo turned and fixed him with a bored expression. He wasn't going to have this conversation.
"Hn. Duo, I can tell you're getting defensive, but I know you're gay."
"Yeah and all cops eat donuts, so what the fuck is your point?" Duo crossed his arms angrily over his chest. He just couldn't cut through the haze to find something wittier to say than that.
Heero smiled the tiniest smile in the low light and pulled up the ramp. He swiped his access card opening a huge iron gate and drove into the parking garage. "I saw you at Gabriel's Gate about two months ago." The look of shock on Duo's face was priceless and made Heero bark out a burst of laughter. "You were there with an oriental looking guy with black hair in a cue. White shirt, dark dress pants. You were wearing all black and drinking a Midori sour. I don't know what he was drinking."
"I was not drinking a Midori sour." Duo blurted out before snapping his mouth shut again. "So what? You were following me?"
"No."
"So what were you doing there? Shaking the place down? Kickback maybe? Or perhaps you're just a closet fag yourself."
Heero frowned at that. The tension began with renewed vigor between them at that last comment. He hadn't meant to show it to Duo, but his words stung. "I wasn't there on business. I went with my friends. I knew I had seen you before, but I didn't place it before now. You were wearing the same necklace that night that you are now." He looked at the small gold cross that hung partially hidden under the mesh of Duo's shirt before he allowed his gaze to ghost over Duo's entire appearance again. "I thought that you were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen." Heero turned the car off and sat there wondering what in Hell had made him admit any of those things to a stranger. It was all true, but was he that lonely? That desperate to say something like that to a suspect in a murder case?
All the anger and fear that had been building in Duo for weeks suddenly rushed out of him in a great, gusty sigh. He was being an absolute prick to the guy and hadn't even bothered to give him the benefit of the doubt. The stress, his grief over Hilde, the nightmares, he just wasn't being himself. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have unleashed my frustrations on you. You're right, I was being defensive."
"It's all right. I shouldn't have baited you."
"No one has ever said... that before."
Duo's voice was barely audible. Heero shook his head and looked at how tightly duo had laced his fingers together in his lap. "Said what?"
"That I was beautiful." Duo swallowed and refused to make eye contact, despite how the weight of Heero's eyes on him made him flush and make him want to turn to him. He cleared his throat. "So where are we?" Duo broke the tension as he noted his surroundings and the security for the first time since they had stopped moving. They were definitely in a better part of town than he lived as he took in the big windows of the apartments in the building.
"My place." Heero made no move to get out. He really hadn't planned on bringing Duo to his apartment. He never brought anyone there, so it made no sense to him that they were there sitting in the car with Duo obviously waiting for him to say or do something. He admitted to himself he found Duo attractive, but he was four years younger than he was. And they were so different. Duo was mysterious and full of anger that Heero didn't yet understand, and he was still a suspect in Hilde's death as well as the other girl. He wouldn't know for sure what kind of involvement Duo had until Trowa got back to him with the results of the fingerprints. He turned to Duo who was now fingering the end of his long braid and looking around the garage. He felt the sudden need to explain after his impromptu confession and somehow put things back to a professional state. "I figured if someone was following you it wouldn't be safe for you to go home right away. Harmless or not, I don't think it's wise to let someone know where you're living by leading him back there."
Duo laughed out loud at that. It was a light sound that make Heero want to grab it and lock it in his pocket to bring out when ever he was alone. All thoughts of professionalism flew out the window at the sound of it and the way Duo's eyes sparkled in the low light of the parking garage.
"Did they teach you that at Cop school? Of course I don't want to lead someone to my place, that's why I called you!" He shook his head and sat back allowing some of the tension seep out of his voice.
Heero smiled. So Duo was smart as he was beautiful. "Do you want to come up or do you want me to drop you somewhere else?"
Duo felt the slow burn creep across his cheeks. He really didn't know. This had disaster written all over it. "I don't want to sit in the car, but I don't have anywhere else to go. I guess I'm kinda in your protective custody for now. And I did call you." Duo tried the handle and gave Heero an annoyed look. "Ya gonna unlock this so I can get out or do you want me to sleep in the back seat?"
Heero flushed a little and clicked the locks open then got out. Once Duo was out he hit the alarm eliciting a quiet chirp as he walked towards the elevator.
Duo followed him and leaned heavily against the back wall listening to the terrible music playing in the background as they made they way up. He was trying not to feel completely out of place in his tight leather in the all too bright light of the fluorescent lamps of the elevator. He was much more sure of himself in the low light of the car, or garage, or in the dark club he had been in, than here in the stark absence of darkness.
"You seem very tired, Duo."
Duo's eyes darted over to glance at Heero's neutral expression. "You too. Sorry I called you so late."
Heero cocked his head slightly and let a ghost of a smile grace his handsome face. "Do you always stay out so late?"
Duo frowned a bit and slid his hands behind his back as he leaned his head back against the elevator wall finding the vibration humming behind the music soothing. "No. I just really couldn't sleep after you left. I couldn't seem to turn my brain off, so it was dance myself until I dropped or take a pill to sleep, and I hate pills." Heero seemed to digest that bit of information not commenting on it. When the elevator stopped and the door slid open, Duo found his attention diverted by the steel door directly in front of them with the most fantastic looking flower arrangement he had ever seen in a fancy vase on a small table to the left of it. "Are those real?"
Heero watched as Duo brushed his fingertips over the long curve of a white and pink colored lily. "Yes." He unlocked the door and let it swing wide so Duo could walk in his apartment first. He couldn't help smiling at the look of awe on his face as he left the flowers and stepped into the room.
"This place is amazing. Cops make good money must be."
Heero let out a little snort as he dropped his keys in the bowl on the table inside the door and peeled his coat off. "Not really. It's just me, so I don't spend much in terms of things."
Heero's apartment was very modern with lots of glass and metal and free of nick-knacks. The furniture was soft cream colored leather and the walls had very beautiful pieces of modern art on them. Duo took it all in and sat himself down on the couch without saying anything for quite some time. Heero was content just to watch Duo as he took in the space for a few minutes until he yawned hugely reminding him how tired Duo had said he had been. "You need to shower and then sleep. The bathroom is down that hall and on your right. There are lots of towels in the closet and plenty of soap and shampoo in the rack inside the tub."
He began to busy himself with gathering pillows and such from a different part of the apartment ignoring Duo's silence for a moment to two while he gathered up a blanket to bring over to the couch as well as the pillows. He had already decided to give Duo his bed and sleep on the couch and was about to tell him so when he turned to find Duo fast asleep, curled up with one of the large cushions pillowing his head. He stood in front of the couch just letting himself indulge his desire to really look at Duo. He gently placed the pillows at the foot of the couch, before he unlaced and tugged off Duo's heavy black boots and set them on the floor. He couldn't help brushing a few strands of hair away from the boy's face. "You really are beautiful, Duo." He eased the cotton blanket over him, clicked off the light, and made his way to his bedroom. Duo might be sleeping soundly, but there was no way he would be.
End Part 4
(:./ebony/within4)
