Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ 1 Blood on the Window ❯ Duplicity ( Chapter 19 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

"You did not just seduce Miguel!" Trowa was staring at Wufei in complete shock as Wufei came into the kitchen, his chest bare. He had several bruises and a few hickies on his throat-and seemed extremely satisfied.

"No, I didn't." he agreed, moving to the fridge and pulling out a can of soda, opening as he turned back to Trowa, his expression curious.

"What?" Trowa demanded of him, looking dumbfounded.

"I didn't just seduce him," Wufei replied with a smirk, winking at me, "I did that several hours ago." he started into the living room as I coughed back laughter.

"You do not think that's funny!" Trowa said to me, looking annoyed.

"These statements you keep making seem to be wrong," I replied, offering my cup of cocoa for sedation, "But you're right. I don't think it's funny that he seduced Miguel."

Trowa took a steadying breath and sipped at the cup.

"I think it's hilarious." I informed him, laughing and hopping out of his reach as he smacked at me.

"Duo!"

I laughed more, thinking about how odd it had been to sleep alone. I hadn't slept alone in probably the entire five months I'd lived with Heero and Relena.

Trowa was glaring at me.

"What?" I muttered, frowning at him, "That's why you brought Miguel, isn't it?"

He narrowed his eyes at me over the cup.

I rolled my own eyes, "To set him up with Fei?"

He looked away from me at that.

"I thought so." I muttered, moving to the fridge to pull out my own can of soda.

"I don't trust that Wufei wants to be with him, though." Trowa muttered before I could walk out of the kitchen.

I turned and met his eyes, not wanting to tell him he was probably right. For all that Miguel and I had been friends when he lived in Mexico, the guy had started to annoy me beyond belief when he decided that I was leading Wufei on. This had annoyed Wufei to the point that it was very possible that he just didn't care.

If Wufei really was only sleeping with him for the sex, I figured Miguel would be heading back to Mexico in a manner of days.

I moved up the stairs slowly, blinking at Wufei when I moved into our room. He was sprawled across the bed on his back, staring at the ceiling.

"You look happy." I noted, moving around the bed and setting my can on my nightstand.

"You wouldn't believe that man, Duo." he informed me.

"I don't think I want to." I replied, grinning at him.

He laughed, sitting up, "I should probably go back in there."

"It depends on what you want to do with this." I agreed.

"Well, I was only just fucking with him, but…"

"Then get back in there before he wakes up. I think with the way things have been going he won't be too pleased if he wakes up and you're in here with me."

He flashed me a grin, grabbing his soda and disappearing from the room.

I sighed, laying back down and staring at the far wall. I had no claim on Wufei, but five months of conditioning make a considerable difference in one's sleeping habits. I'd hardly slept at all during the night, and as quiet as the pair had been, they hadn't been silent.

I smiled slightly, realizing that Kayla'd show up soon-she may have to work at noon, but she'd stop by to see me before that.

I rolled over, thinking again. It was about time I got my own damn car.

.

"I've got a job." I informed Duo happily, pulling him off his bed before he woke up fully, "Let's go!" it'd been more than a month since my last job, and it was about fucking time.

"What?" he muttered, then hit the ground and groaned before kicking out at me.

I laughed, dodging that, "Let's go!" I started for the door.

"What time is it?" he muttered.

"Almost noon, let's go. I want to get back."

"Noon?" he muttered, sitting up and looking at his alarm clock, "Has Kayla called?"

"No." I replied, frowning at him.

"Shit." he muttered, pulling himself off the floor and thinking, pulling out his cell-phone as he followed me from the room, "Kayla?" he asked after a second, "Where are you? Aren't you coming over?" he listened a moment as we moved into his car, then frowned at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Why didn't you call?" he muttered, looking away from me. "Yeah, but…well…Kay…" he moved the phone from his ear, staring at it.

"What happened?"

"She flipped out on me." he snapped, tucking the phone in his pocket again, "She said her mom is doing worse now than she had been so she'd stayed an extra night."

"So she's pissed at you now?" I asked, smiling slightly.

"Fuck you."

"The lord forgives all sins." I replied, chuckling.

He let out a derisive snort, staring out the window.

I frowned, realizing he was really upset about this, "Dude…you can't get pissed at her."

"Why not?"

"Her mom is sick." I returned, "She's probably a lot more stressed out than you know. She is only twenty."

He sighed, shaking his head.

.

Jesse was livid as he came back into his room at La Frawn, "I'll give you twenty to kill for me, Heero." he snarled, "Twenty for you both!" he kicked over a trashcan.

"Um…" Heero muttered, blinking at him, "You know my code, Jesse…I can't…"

"Twenty-four!" Jesse interrupted him, "Thirty! I want this guy gone and I can't stand the lunatic! I wouldn't want him to take this guy out for me anyway, because…" he laughed coldly, "Because I'll be grateful."

Heero looked to me, his eyes unreadable.

I shrugged at him.

"Why don't you do it?" Heero asked me.

"I haven't killed since the wars," I replied, making a face, "And unless I have to, I don't plan to."

"Fifty." Jesse said to me, "I'll give you fifty if you take him out alone."

I stared at him.

"And please use your knife."

I blinked at the guy, "Who is this person?"

"A man named Ben Lerrin." Jesse replied, sneering the name, "He's one of the types to use kaseen on girls who are stupid enough to come to these places alone. I wouldn't be too surprised if someday he killed one of them."

I frowned.

"He just started bitching at me because I didn't have any kaseen for him to buy." Jesse added, gesturing to the door, "The fucker has the nerve to come here and demand of me to sell him shit! Everyone in town knows that Jaded hasn't touched the last fuckin' shipment!"

This information pleased me.

"Can you do it, Duo?" he added.

I stared at Heero, hoping he'd give in.

"You've been seen enough with Jesse that people will accept that you're his friend." Heero informed me, "Everyone thinks you're crazy anyway…so it won't be a blemish for you. If I touch this…"

"How much money would it take for me to get you to do this?" Jesse asked, frowning at me.

"To me, it's a human life." I snapped at him, "It's not a sum."

Heero shrugged, sitting back.

Jesse thought about this a long moment, then met my eyes, "He tried to rape Kayla."

My blood ran cold.

Jesse studied me a long moment, "She doesn't go out much anymore, but when she did he'd tail her around, trying to give it to her."

Anger was building.

"For Kayla's safety?" he offered.

I covered my face with my hands.

"He had her cornered once," Jesse muttered quietly to me, moving closer, "Can you imagine her terror? One of my guys saw him at it and chased him off…Kayla was terrified out of her mind and ran off before we could help her get home. Just think about that, Duo. Think about your little girlfriend and what he could have done to her."

I didn't like that the only argument I could come up with for myself was that Lanni would disapprove. I didn't like that my mind had already reverted to training sessions I'd had with a knife similar to the one I bought-that I was going over the exact muscle movements I'd need for optimum pain and a quick kill.

"He spreads kaseen around for cheap," Jesse added, "So that other fuckers like himself can date-rape unsuspecting civilians."

I ground my teeth together, trying to block out the image Jesse was building in my mind.

"Out of every five-hundred civilians on the streets, one-hundred are somehow exposed to kaseen, and at least fifty are drugged with it. Helpless civilians with no clue that kaseen is so readily available."

The concept 'civilian' was pounding in my head.

"Girls like Kayla, who can go into the clubs, but not drink, are offered tainted glasses. He's like…the general of Paper-cut."

"That could start a war," I said suddenly, grabbing at the thread offered to me and looking up to Jesse, "If they find out that Jaded ordered the hit…"

"Jaded didn't order it," he said quietly, "I did."

"There's not a whole lot of difference."

He studied me a long moment.

I looked to Heero, who promptly dropped his eyes.

"Besides," Jesse added quietly, "It'll just look like a knifing. Do it in some back alley and take his wallet. Drop the cards and keep the cash."

"I'm not some common foot-pad," I snapped.

"No, you're trained soldier who'd rather let a disgusting man live and possibly kill hundreds of girls instead of helping hundreds of virgins sleep safe in their beds at night." he narrowed his eyes at me.

"It's not that I don't think he should be dead," I muttered.

"You can tell that to some girl's mother when they find her raped and mangled body in some back-alley trash-can. You can look her father in the eye and tell him that you thought the man who did it should be dead, but even though you have the ability and the opportunity, you don't want to sully your hands. They'll understand."

"He hasn't killed yet." I returned, looking away.

"Fine, I'll get back to you when they find a body." Jesse muttered, turning and pacing to the window.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose a moment, looking up to Heero again. He was refusing to meet my eyes, studying the floor.

"Fuck, Duo!" Jesse shouted at me, turning back to me, kneeling in front of me and staring me in the eye, "As my friend, I ask this of you."

The words fell heavily between us and for a long moment all I could hear was the distant pounding of the music from the main of the club.

"Fine." I muttered, looking away from his eyes, "Where do I go?"

"He's walking to the Burn right now," Jesse replied quietly, still studying my eyes. He rested his hand on the knife-which was in my pocket, "He's going to see Jun."

I felt another rush of coldness, rising to my feet, "What road."

"Fifth…normally. Sometimes he takes seventh."

"Fine." I muttered, moving toward the door, "What does he look like?"

"Like us," Jesse replied, following me slowly, still studying me carefully, "He dresses like me. Very blond, as tall as you…blue eyes."

I nodded.

"Thank you." he muttered.

"Don't thank me for killing," I spat at him, starting from the room.

"Where are you going?" Wufei asked as we met on the stairs, Miguel was a step behind him.

I shook my head at him.

"Duo?" he asked, watching after me.

"Hail Mother Mary," I muttered louder, "full of grace, the Lord is with thee…"

.

"Why did Duo just walk down the stairs saying the rosary?" Wufei demanded of me as he entered the room with Miguel behind him.

I decided not to say anything.

Jesse was looking away as well.

"What did you two do?" Wufei demanded of us, his tone suspicious.

"Nothing." I replied, "I had nothing to do with it." I moved passed him, pausing in the door to look back at Jesse, "I refuse to have anything to do with it."

I could hear Wufei calling after me as I started down the stairs, but I didn't want to talk to him. I didn't want to deal with the accusations he'd level at me when he heard what Duo was doing…and I didn't want Duo out doing it alone.

I was immersed in the dancers before Wufei cleared the doors that lead to the stairs, and when I joined in the dancing there was no real way he'd be able to see me with the strobe lights flashing.

He stood there a long moment before turning and starting back up the stairs.

"You need to die."

I turned to look at Ace, raising an eyebrow at him, "What are you doing here?"

"Playing." he replied easily, moving to dance with me, "You?"

I smirked at him, "Sinning."

"You think you're clever, don't you?"

"Sin is good for the soul…what?" I muttered, dipping in like I'd kiss him. It was a maneuver I found very successful when I wanted to shut Wufei up.

"Why are you here?" he snapped at me, keeping a noticeable distance between us.

"Why are you here?" I returned easily.

"I come here regularly."

"I can't come here? Are we separating the city into territory now?"

He glared at me.

"You're no fun." I added, moving past him toward the bar.

"Have you seen a psychiatrist yet?" he demanded.

"You're the lunatic," I replied, not bothering to look back at him, wondering why he was following me. It didn't take long to reach the bar, and ordering was simple enough. I turned to look at him again finally, the drink in my hand, "I'm just an assassin."

"But you keep company with the Cheshire Cat."

I raised an eyebrow, "Tailor?"

"The one and only."

"Cheshire Cat?" I demanded, making a slight face at the thought. That name almost hurt.

"He appears with a grin, he leaves with a grin." Ace replied, accepting a drink from the bartender, "It's as suiting a name as any other."

"Who've you talked to about him?"

"Jun. Jun likes to talk about him."

"Who else?"

"Jesse Fallon."

I hesitated in taking my drink, blinking at him.

"You seem startled."

"Sorry, but I have to leave you now." I muttered, pushing off the bar.

"Where is your cat, anyway?"

I turned and met his eyes, "Wandering back alleys in search of scraps."

He narrowed his eyes at me.

I shrugged at him, smirking slightly, "I know, I'm clever." and with that, I dived into the crowed.

What the fuck was Jesse doing, talking about Duo to the lunatic?

.

Duo was sitting on the front pew of the church when I found him, his eyes closed and hands clasped. He wasn't speaking, and could almost have passed for sleeping if my approach didn't cause him to open his eyes to meet mine. He didn't say anything, closing them again.

"Did you do it?" I asked, sitting against him as Miguel hovered down the isle some.

He nodded slightly.

I stared at the floor in front of us as the priest moved into the sanctuary, blinking at us and crossing the room, "Would you like confessional?" he muttered, eyeing me with a slightly evil look.

I looked away from him, shaking my head. I knew he wasn't talking to me anyway, wondering how long Duo'd been here.

"No." Duo muttered, which startled the guy, "I've made my peace."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Duo muttered, rising to his feet and meeting the man's eyes, "Thank you for your patience."

The man muttered some nicety with the word "god" in it as Duo turned and looked at me pointedly. I moved into the isle and as we finally reached Miguel, Miguel led us from the building.

I reached back, grabbing Duo's hand, "Are you all right?"

"No worse than before." he replied, lacing his fingers with mine, "I'm tired now."

"How long have you been here?"

"Couple hours." he muttered, "I left La Frawn at two something, right?"

"Yeah."

"I was here by three."

"Relena is scared for you."

"Why?"

"You didn't come home." Miguel muttered as we moved into the bitterly cold six o'clock air of an October morning.

Duo fell silent, sliding into the backseat of my car wordlessly, "How'd you find me?" he asked as I started to pull onto the road.

"We looked." Miguel replied.

"I checked the other clubs and Heero talked to Jun…" I muttered, "Jesse sent his people out…no one could think of where you may have gone."

"But then Wufei commented about coming here to pray for you," Miguel muttered, "And…then it clicked."

Duo made a noise and I looked at him in the review mirror. Other than the fact that he looked tired, there was nothing odd about him. His eyes were calm and he was staring out the window in a sort of…daze.

"They were expecting you back when you were done." I informed him.

"I know."

I gave up on conversation at that point, not sure what type of mood he was in. Miguel didn't say a word either, and seeing as it had only been in the past week that he'd started trying to make it better with Duo, I could understand that. I appreciated his decision.

When we got back to the house, Duo moved instantly for the stairs, pausing only long enough to hug Relena and thank her before heading to our room without looking at anyone else. Miguel made no comment to me as I followed.

I was beginning to wonder if this would be another long and silent night.

Duo changed into his pajamas almost mechanically, sliding into the bed wordlessly-when I lay down, though, he shifted to cling to me.

I decided not to tell him he was hurting me. His nails were digging into my arms. He was lying with his head on my stomach, staring away from me-I could feel his eyelashes against my skin. When I moved to wrap my arms around him, I was grateful that he gave up his hold.

I'd been wrong about it being just a long silent night.

It was an eternity.