January 28, 2002
Title: The Nightmare Within
Author: Ebonydove
Pairings: 3+4
Warnings: OOC, language.
Story: Heero is a Preventer assigned a case involving the mysterious death of
a nine year old girl. He soon finds a link to another case, along with a series
of unsolved murders. The characters are GW, but the story has nothing to do with
the series.
Author's Notes: I got this idea after reading an article in the local paper.
There will definitely be some sci-fi down the road so be forewarned. Angst and
fluff too!
Heero looked out the window at the bright moon. It had a witch's ring tonight, making it even more luminous than the night before. It was dark, and other than its ominous glow there was little light. He looked at his watch and stretched. He had been staking out the same warehouse for three nights with no luck in locating the only witness who may have information on his present case.
The media had had a field day with reports of the nine year old girl who went missing two weeks ago and turned up dead in a secluded alley of the waterfront district. She had been strangled and left behind a dumpster eighty miles from her home in the posh residential area of Garden Place Manors. What made matters worse for Heero was that the girl happened to be the daughter of a very influential politician who had ties as high as Relena Dorlian-Peacecraft, the Vice Foreign Minister herself. Being the lead detective for the special Preventers Unit put him in the spotlight and on the chopping block if he didn't come up with something soon.
All his leads had quickly turned cold and he was about to give up on looking for the witness tonight when his cell beeped. "Yuy here."
"Hey Heero, it's me. Any luck?"
Heero checked the time again. 4:57am. "No, I'm calling it quits tonight. What's up?"
"Night shift sucks. I'd much rather be home in bed with Quatre than here trying to talk down half crazed loonies." Heero heard the exasperated tone as Trowa continued. "Some guy came in tonight looking for you. Said he had some information on that little girl. I tried to get him to tell me but he's really jumpy and said he rather wait and speak with you about it."
"Did you get an address?"
"No Heero, I don't think you're following me. He's still here. I thought he'd get bored and leave, but he's been pacing around here since a little before midnight. I think you better come and see him. He's got one of your personal cards."
Heero raised an eyebrow at that. He didn't usually give those out. Only in extreme cases. "All right I'll be there in twenty."
"All right, I'll try to keep him away from the coffee. He's pretty spooked as it is."
Trowa hung up the line and turned to the young man. "I got a hold of him. He'll be here shortly. So will you please tell me your name now?" Trowa looked at him with all the neutrality he could muster.
"My name's Duo Maxwell."
Heero arrived at headquarters a half-hour later to find the place practically deserted. He walked up the stairs, to their offices on the fourth floor. The first thing he saw was Trowa, sitting on his desk talking to someone who was blocked from his view. As he made his way over, he stopped and grabbed a cup of coffee and approached the two.
"Tro, I'm here." He had been looking at his coffee, scowling at the thick, dark liquid that he didn't notice the young man rise to stand. When he looked up at Trowa clearing his throat, he met the most striking young man he'd ever seen. He was only about nineteen or so, with long chestnut colored hair done in a braid that swung lower than his backside. He had delicate features, yet still masculine with a wiry and well-toned build from what Heero could see under the black shirt and black leather jacket. His eyes were the most amazing color, not blue, but not quite violet either and reminded him of the midnight sky he had been staring into for the past few nights.
"Preventer Yuy?"
Heero blinked at the boy's soft voice. He heard Trowa shift his stance and clear his throat again. He glanced to Trowa who gave him ‘a look', and then moved to sit as his desk. "Yes, that's me."
Duo shot a nervous look to Trowa who didn't seem to be going anywhere soon, so he too sat back down and took a sip of his soda. "Uh, my name is Duo Maxwell. I came to talk to you about that little girl. The one who was strangled."
Heero's eyes narrowed at the boy as he assessed him carefully. He was always a good read on people and this young man was obviously afraid and hiding something. "Go on."
"Well, I... uh." He took a huge breath and visibly relaxed, slumping a bit in his chair. He dropped his eyes from Heero's intense blue ones to the floor and shuffled his feet a bit. "I saw her die." He didn't look up from the floor nor did he make any further statement. The quiet stretched out for several minutes with the only noise the ticking of the clock on the wall, the bubbling of the water cooler and the electric hum of the lights overhead.
"How did you get my card?" Heero finally asked in his no-nonsense monotone.
Duo raised his eyes to meet Heero's stare and took another deep breath. "My friend."
"Who's this friend?" He asked with a bit of force behind it.
"Hilde Striebaker."
Trowa who had been quietly observing took a breath. "But, she's dead."
"Yeah, I know. That's why I came to see you." Duo shifted his feet anxiously again and folded his hands in his lap.
Heero watched him fidget for a minute before taking pity on him. "Duo, why don't you tell me everything you know about Ms. Striebaker and about the little girl." His purposely made his voice take on a soothing tone to make the tense boy feel more at ease. It could be the break that he was looking for.
"I live in the same apartment complex as Hilde. She lived with her roommate on the second floor. About two weeks ago she came bursting into my place scared out of her wits. She said she thought she saw someone get killed. At first she thought it was a workin' girl, but most of them stay away from that part of the waterfront at night. Especially lately. She said she needed to borrow some money to get out of town and wanted to stay with her sister for a while. I gave her the money and hadn't seen her since that night." Duo stood and began pacing back and forth, unconsciously flexing his fingers from a fist to flat, then back into a fist as he talked. "Then two days ago an officer came around asking questions about her. I saw the picture." Duo stopped and shut his eyes tightly.
"Do you want to sit down, Duo?" Trowa asked with genuine concern. He really had thought the kid was just some wannabe cop for a day and regretted not hearing him out when he had first arrived.
"No. Thanks." Duo turned and stood in front of Heero and looked at him with determination. "She gave me the card before she left and told me if I ever got into trouble to call you and you'd help."
"And are you in trouble, Mr. Maxwell?" Heero asked plainly meeting the fiery violet eyes.
"I think so."
"Because you witnessed her murder or the little girl's?" Heero inquired.
"I didn't witness Hilde's death. I saw the little girl's though." He dropped his eyes back to the floor and dug his hands deep into the pockets of his blue jeans. "I dreamt it."
End Part 1
(:./ebony/within1)
