14-Dec-2003
Yes, believe it or not, I actually have another part posted. Hah! Take that, rl!!
Part 7 ~ Premeditation (cont'd)
The sound of the investigator's footsteps had barely started to recede down the hall before Quatre was being supported on either side by his lovers.
Wufei knelt in front of the stricken blond. "Trowa told me. Are you sure, Quatre? Is it Duo you're sensing?"
Quatre shrugged slightly, leaning into Heero's embrace. "As sure as I can be. It does feel like him."
Wufei swallowed and continued softly, "But he's not... dying?"
Quatre put one hand on Wufei's shoulder. "No. Not at the moment, anyway. I can't guarantee..."
Wufei waved the rest of the apologetic sentence away. "I understand, Quatre. It's enough that he's still fighting." He drew a deep breath, and nodded sharply. "Very well, then. You said he wants revenge?"
Quatre nodded. "He also let me know while Lava was questioning me that Relena was not the intended victim."
The other three pilots exchanged grim glances. "I'm assuming Duo was," Heero said evenly.
Duo settled close to Quatre, trying to radiate his agreement without overwhelming his friend.
"Yes," Quatre said quietly. "Do you know who is responsible?" he asked of the air where Duo hovered, and immediately answered his own question with "Yes, he does," when Duo swirled with positive feelings.
"Someone from the war, or related to a case he handled at Preventers?" Wufei said, frowning.
"No," Quatre said.
"A political activist, trying to make a statement?"
"No."
"What Duo would call 'a random psycho?'"
"No."
Heero said flatly, "That leaves someone he knew personally."
Duo tried to keep his reaction restrained, but Quatre still shivered and pressed closer to Heero, whispering, "Yes."
Wufei rubbed his eyes. "So the question is: which of the many people Duo has annoyed in his life is angry enough to try to kill him, had access to the car, and knew that Duo would be in it?"
"Someone at the Palace," Heero said decidedly.
"Agreed," Trowa said, Quatre nodding agreement for Duo. "The car couldn't have been rigged after Pagan arri-"
Quatre flinched and cried out as a black wave of animosity and hurt swamped Duo at the mention of Pagan's name. Duo clamped down on his reaction ruthlessly until the tension in Quatre's form eased off a bit.
"What was that?" Wufei said. "Was the car sabotaged after leaving the Palace?"
"No," Quatre gasped, shaking his head as if to clear it. "That's not it."
Duo eyed him uneasily, dismay filling him. He didn't like this at all. It looked like the continued contact with his soul was doing more than just making Quatre dizzy or faint.
Heero seemed to have the same thought, for he rubbed his cheek gently against the blond head on his shoulder. "I've never seen you react this badly before. It's taking too much out of you."
Trowa nodded. "We don't need to do this immediately. Now that we know Duo was the target, we can protect him until he's conscious again and able to tell us directly what he wants us to know."
"No!" Quatre took a deep breath and struggled upright within the circle of Heero's arm, his tone firm despite the way his gaze kept sliding out of focus. "I have to do this now. He won't remember when he wakes up."
"And there's the chance he may never wake up at all," Wufei said quietly, his gaze on the floor.
Heero nodded reluctantly. Trowa's lips tightened, but he did not protest again. Duo didn't like it either, but he had to trust that Quatre knew his own limitations.
"All right," Wufei said. "Let's start with who was in the room when you called Wind to change the duty schedule."
"Only Zechs and Pagan, as far as I know," Quatre replied.
Duo was ready for it this time, and managed to keep his reaction to his attempted murderer's name muted.
"Such anger... rage..." Quatre's voice was strained. "Betrayal... doubt... reluctant admiration? And a swirl of pure jealousy."
Duo smirked with all his being. That about summed it up. He knew for sure Pagan was guilty, but he wasn't certain of Zechs's involvement, and the idea that the tall - and annoyingly attractive - blond had been making advances to Wufei still made him seethe.
A tinge of red appeared across Wufei's high cheekbones. "We - Duo and I - had a discussion this afternoon about Wind. That's probably why he's reacting so strongly to the name."
Damnit! Duo hurriedly tried to correct the impression that he was only concerned with Zechs.
Quatre groaned, and started to pant shallowly, as if he couldn't quite catch his breath. "N-no! He's feeling... that's wrong..."
"Easy, Quatre." Heero pulled the blond down to lie cradled against his chest. "Take your time."
"Time..." Trowa repeated thoughtfully. Then he straightened up with dismayed realization, and began to mutter under his breath. "There was too big a lag... he must have known... and there was only one other person there..." Green eyes swept the room as if they could pinpoint Duo's location. "Duo - it was Pagan, wasn't it?"
YES! Duo swirled in surprised and eager agreement, until Quatre's pained moan reminded him to be more circumspect.
Quatre was pale and sweating, one hand fisted on his chest, the other squeezing Trowa's fingers mercilessly. "Yes," he whispered breathlessly, "Pagan, it was Pagan."
"Quatre, relax, save your breath. Trowa, explain," Wufei ordered.
"There was a time lag of two or three minutes between when Quatre first felt Duo's panic, and when he felt his pain as the car impacted the water. It wouldn't have taken that long for the car to fall once it left the top of the cliff, so Duo must have known ahead of time that something was wrong. He would have told one of us if he'd suspected something before he got into the car, so he must have only realized after he was underway. If he'd just noticed that Pagan was getting sleepy, he wouldn't have known for sure that he was the target, so he must have seen or been told something else..."
"And the only source of information once he was in the car was Pagan," Wufei breathed. "But why?"
Three pairs of eyes immediately fastened on the Chinese pilot, who slowly began to blush a furious red. "What!?"
"Zechs wanted you, and Duo was in the way," Heero said bluntly.
Wufei's mouth fell open. "You're suggesting... Pagan drove off a cliff because Merquise ordered him to?" He threw his hands up. "That's ridiculous!"
"As an order, yeah, it's ridiculous," Trowa said. "But what about a willing sacrifice? Remember Noin telling us about Lt. Otto? Zechs didn't order him to suicide, either, but he did it anyway. It's not so farfetched to suggest that he could similarly inspire someone dedicated to the Peacecraft family."
"I should have known," Quatre said faintly. "Pagan was fairly brimming with righteous devotion when he arrived with the car. I just assumed he was feeling that way because he's been sidelined by Relena of late, and this was a chance for him to be useful, and do us a favour at the same time." His expression became shamed, and he closed his eyes. "If only I'd probed him, or realized *why* he was feeling that so intensely..."
"You can't blame yourself for that, love," Trowa said gently, covering the hand clenched on Quatre's chest with his own. "You didn't have any reason to investigate him."
Quatre whispered, "I'm so sorry, Duo. I should have known."
Carefully, Duo radiated a response to Quatre's apology; not a negation of the need for it, for that might have been taken the wrong way by the guilt-ridden blond, but a gentle forgiveness. Quatre's tense and worried expression eased into a smile, and Duo relaxed.
He could go now, content that he'd gotten across his message before being yanked out of the universe. He swirled up towards the ceiling, preparing to slip back through the wall to his temporary body.
To his consternation, hundreds of bright, sparkling filaments from Quatre's aura went with him.
End Part 37
(:./wingnut/alter37)
