16-Aug-2001
Title: Kidnap 1/?
Author: Murasaki (sylver_wind@yahoo.com)
Genre: drama/suspense, action later on
Pairing: 1+2 (what else? ^_-)
Warnings: possible OOC-ness, shonen-ai, violence and bad language later on
Note: takes place several years after Mariemaia incident, so the boys are all in their mid-twenties.
Archive: GW Addiction, anyone else please ask first!
Notes: Well, after a long hiatus, my brain has decided to
churn out some fiction - finally ^___^ And this is
was I came up with late last night. Murasaki is
trying her hand at suspense/drama, so be patient =)
This is only part 1, but I think I'll have another one
out in a day or two. I'm feeling rather inspired
right now. Anyways, enjoy!
'...' denotes thoughts
"Everything is set, sir."
"Have you made the final preparations?"
"Yes, sir."
"Target confirmed?"
"Yessir."
"Excellent. Let's get this show rolling!"
"Yessir!"
Duo stretched in his chair after finishing the last report for the day. Damn, but this had been a long one, and not very pleasant, either. The morning had started with a 15-minute meeting that continued for two hours. Then he'd gotten a report from one of the group members letting him know that their newest informant in the Blue Dragon organization was found with his chest resembling a target on the practice range. That had angered Duo - the Preventers had been trying to get someone in the organization on their side for two years and every time a contact was established, the guy turned up dead a few days later. It was as if the Dragon overlord had every single of his employees watched 24/7. How the hell were they supposed to bring the guy down if they didn't even know for sure what he looked like? But now the day was over, and as soon as he got this report printed out for Lady Une, Duo could go home.
Home... It had come to mean a lot more to him than just a roof to hide from the elements. Home was Heero. After the war was over, and the Mariemaia incident was over, they decided to move in together to save on rent. Duo still wasn't sure when it happened - when they took the next step, or who was it that took it. It was as if they both suddenly realized they needed each other not just to save on rent. Because it never occurred to either of them to move out once a stable source of income for each was found. Because each of them needed the other to soothe his nightmares away and to sit side by side watching TV at night, and to take turns cooking and cleaning, and shopping. And to take long walks in the park at sunset. And just simply to be there. Always. And so it was, that Duo came home each night to find Heero waiting for him, with that special smile in his eyes that Duo knew was for him and him only.
Duo shut down his computer and headed out, humming to himself quietly. Today was Friday, and Heero and he had planned a nice weekend in the mountains. Quatre (bless his soul) had a cabin up there, and Duo and Heero were always welcome to use it. So they'd pack up and leave as soon as Duo got home. Hopefully, Heero would already be there, waiting. Still smiling, Duo made his way down to the parking garage. In his haste to get home, he failed to notice a black van that was parked illegally not far from his car, or the two men that were loitering by the garage entrance. He was taking out his keys, when someone tapped him on the shoulder from behind. Duo turned around to see a nondescript man standing not three feet away.
"Excuse me, do you have a lighter?" The man drawled.
"Nope, sorry man, I don't smoke. Cigarettes will kill you," Duo smiled and reached for the car door. He saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. Whirling around, he saw one of the men who'd been at the entrance, now brandishing a gun. Duo froze, his mind working frantically on a dozen possible escape plans.
"Just give us your wallet, and we'll be on our way. No trouble at all for no one here." The gunman spoke up.
'How the hell did they get in here?' Preventers' security was supposed to be airtight. Nobody should have been able to get in, let alone a couple of muggers. Duo backed up slightly, his old fighting reflexes flaring back to life in a split second. Then he thought, these were no muggers, as he saw two more people get out of the van and head in their direction. And then he had no time to think anymore because a bag was thrown over his head and an arm was around his neck in a choke hold and he was fighting for breath.
The sickly sweet smell of chloroform made Duo gag and his struggles ceased almost immediately. His consciousness fading, he thought he heard someone mention the Blue Dragon, but by then he was too far gone to care. Duo's last thought before he fainted was that Heero would be really mad at him for messing up their weekend. Then, there was only darkness.
Heero was seething by the time he managed to leave his office. He'd never before realized that the job of a physics teacher in a small college was full of life-and-death situations. Granted, he doubled as a Japanese instructor as well, but that was not a life-saving occupation, either. No, it was only today that his students decided they absolutely had to speak with their professor. My grades are not so good, sir, is there anything I can do to raise my scores? I've missed a few homework assignments; can I hand them in now? I don't understand this last lecture, would you mind explaining to me again? Heero enjoyed being respected and needed, but today of all days he did not want to be late.
As the streetlights passed by his speeding car, Heero's thoughts again turned to the strange twists that his life had taken over the past years. To go from a suicidal terrorist to a respected college professor in a little over six years - that was quite a change. Not to mention acquiring a friend turned lover along the way. Heero never thought he'd be capable of loving someone - that is, until Duo came along.
It had been Duo's turn to cook dinner and, since neither of them had bothered to check the fridge beforehand, all that was available was spaghetti. Neither of the boys was a picky eater, and pasta would have sufficed on that winter night. Except Duo's attention had been diverted from his culinary exercises. They raced into the kitchen once the smoke alarm started blaring, to find the place filled with acrid smoke coming from the stove. It took some considerable effort to get rid of the fumes and to shut up the alarm, and in the end Duo opened the back door and tossed the still smoking burned pot out into the snow bank. That silenced the alarm and left the boys standing in the kitchen, surveying the mess. Duo was the one who started giggling first, but quickly replaced the soft giggles with all-out, full-blown laughter that had him doubled over and tears running down his face. Heero watched, bemused, but when Duo wiped his eyes with a soot-covered hand and left black smudges all over his face, the Japanese boy could contain himself no longer. Maybe it was the pent-up emotions finally spilling out, neither of them knew. But the boys laughed together until they had no strength left to breathe. Sitting on the floor in the smoky kitchen, their eyes still tearing from the mirth, they met each other's gaze.
"I love you, you know," Heero's words, spoken almost conversationally.
"Yes, I know. Love you, too."
Heero smiled as he remembered. Afterwards, they'd spent lots of nights sitting next to each other and lying wrapped around each other, but that first one had been special. On the floor of a tiny kitchen, they spoke the words and held hands, and that was it - but at that moment the companionable silence was far more important and meaningful than any physical intimacy could ever have been.
Heero frowned as he pulled into the driveway. Duo's car wasn't there, and the house was dark and uninviting. He went in, expecting to see a message about something urgent that had come up at work. There was none. It wasn't unusual for the other man to stay at work late, but it _was_ unusual for him not to let Heero know about it. Shrugging it off, Heero headed off to start packing for their weekend trip, but he barely made it five feet from the door when the doorbell rang. Thinking it was Duo who'd once again forgotten his keys, Heero opened the door to find a grubby-looking young man standing on the porch with a bouquet of pink roses.
"Mister Yuy?" the youth inquired in a hoarse voice.
"Yes."
"These are for you." Before Heero could ask for an explanation, the man had thrust the flowers in his hand, and took off in a car he'd left running at the curb. Must be Duo's guilt trip, Heero thought as he turned the flowers to examine them more closely. Except what on earth had possessed Duo to buy pink? They both hated the color. Then Heero saw an envelope attached to one of the stems.
'Street corner café. Ten minutes. Don't be late.' Precise handwriting, no signature. The hand was not Duo's.
Heero's throat was tight as he examined the note. Three terse phrases, no information beyond the time and place of the summons. Heero re-read the note, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. He glanced at his watch - the flowers had showed up three minutes ago, so he had seven minutes left to make it down to the café. He knew the place well - Duo and he often grabbed lunch there. Heero threw the roses in the trash and headed out the door. Then, as something occurred to him, he turned and ran to the bedroom. There, in the bottom drawer of his dresser, he kept a gun. Not the gun he'd had during the war - he wanted any memorabilia from those times - but a compact and reliable .45. He never thought he'd have to use it, he didn't even know why he'd got it in the first place. Grimly, Heero tucked the gun in the waitband of his pants, and put a few spare clips in his jacket pocket. Four minutes left until the rendezvous. He ran.
The street in front of the café (which, ironically, was called the Dead End) was deserted, and so was the inside of the place. Heero made his way to the counter and asked for a cup of coffee.
"Your usual?" the smiling waitress inquired, having come to know this quiet customer well over the past year and a half. Heero nodded. A moment later, a steaming mug of black coffee, no sugar, was placed in front of him. He sipped the brew slowly, waiting for the other party to show up. A minute later, the front door opened soundlessly. Heero felt rather than heard a group of people enter. He willed himself not to move as they sauntered over to his chair.
"Mr. Yuy?" A smooth, cultured voice of a man, speaking with a faint accent of a foreigner.
"Who are you?"
"Ah, sharp as ever! Well, I expect no less from a man of your qualifications."
Heero sipped his coffee impassively.
"You still haven't answered my question. Who are you?"
"Oh yes, forgive my rudeness. I am, shall we say, an acquaintance of a certain friend of yours. One Duo Maxwell? You won't deny your knowledge of him?"
"No, I won't. Strange, Duo never mentioned any acquaintances."
"Well, Mr. Maxwell and I go way back, really. I could even say he is somewhat obsessed with me. Perhaps you will recognize my name - I am Takeda Hajime, but you may be more familiar with my nickname. The Blue Dragon."
tbc...
(:./murasaki/kidnap1)
