Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Chimaera ❯ Chapter 24 ( Chapter 24 )

Disclaimer: I don't own the G'boys, I just borrow them from time to time to play with and return them a whole lot happier, ne?

Rating: NC 17

Warnings: Yaoi, Lemon, sap, angst, Male Pregnancy, medical themes

Pairings: 1x2x1

Archive: http://gundam-wing-diaries.150m.com

http://sweetlysour.net.

http://adultfanfiction.net

http://www.theforsakenwk.com

Many thanks to DBZVelena, Ryouga and Yami_Tai for the beta. Also thanks to Yami_Tai for the title of this fic.

Notes: Set partially during the series but main bulk after the war. EW didn't take place. The Eve wars are finished and the peace retained. The pilots have all gone their own ways, Heero and Duo have made a life together both working for Preventer when Duo's world is turned upside down as his unknown past comes back to haunt him.

Dedication: To Velena who gave me the plot bunny for this little gem.

Status: In progress.

~ Indicates flashbacks ~

/ thoughts /

"Chimaera"

October. 2003 ShenLong

Chapter 24.

Duo scouted the area for the third time; it was everything he could have hoped for. The abandoned building would serve perfectly as his cover *home*. Now all he had to do was set up a few belongings and make the place look as if he'd been squatting there for a while. He headed along the passageway to the room he'd selected as being the one he'd use. Squatting wasn't anything new to Duo; he'd done enough of it prior to becoming a Gundam pilot. He shivered at the memories of some of the dumps he'd been forced to take refuge in. He shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind; he had more important things to do.

He dropped the bag to the ground and began to rifle through it, pulling out several items and laying them to the side. He scouted around the place, finding bits of broken masonry and pulling a few bricks from the weak spots. He carted the bricks back to the room and made a crude fire place out of them. Satisfied, he headed back outside into the chilly air and went searching for scraps of wood to build himself a fire. He managed to find some old, broken pallets outback of a warehouse and quickly broke off a few pieces. With his arms full, he headed back to the dwelling.

An hour later saw a small fire burning and Duo nursing a hot cup of tea. He'd set the place up, his bag stashed to one side under some more broken masonry, a few *necessary* items such as a small dented saucepan, some tinned food, a stale looking half loaf of bread and of course, a newspaper and a blanket. It was enough to convince someone that the place was being used, but should the occupier need to leave in a hurry, he could do so with minimal fuss.

/ That's the trap set, now to let the fly in, / Duo thought. He finished the tea and placed the tin mug inside the saucepan. He'd needed that. He'd managed to avoid the porcelain worship this morning, despite the nausea. Somehow he'd managed to keep his stomach lodged inside and hang onto the contents. It hadn't been easy though. At least Heero hadn't been fussing over him with concern. Duo gave a small smile, while he enjoyed Heero's concerns for his health it was beginning to get a little sour. There was only so much *mother hen* he could take and Heero was fast approaching the chopping block!

He'd avoided eating anything, telling Heero he needed to get his things organized and get out into the slum areas to set up his temporary *abode*. Moments later, he was out the door and heading for the poor part of the city. If all went well he would be able to find somewhere, set it up and still make it to the dump for the final briefing. The tea had settled his stomach and the remains of the fire would verify his *living* there. Duo picked himself up from his sitting position on the floor and headed out into the daylight and towards the dump.

~ * ~

Heero rolled up at Preventer ten minutes early. He dropped some files and his jacket in his and Duo's office before going in search of Wufei. He found him in the staff room, cup of green tea in one hand and a sheaf of papers in the other. "A word if I may, Chang."

Wufei looked up and read the anger in Heero's eyes. "My office, Yuy." He had a pretty good idea of what this was all about. Wufei set the cup and papers down on his desk and turned to face the Japanese man.

Heero followed Wufei back to his office and closed the door. Turning around he looked into onyx eyes, fighting hard to keep his temper under control.

"What is it, Yuy?"

"I want you to know that I am not happy with the current state of the mission and the way I was informed of the changes."

"By that, you mean Maxwell?" Wufei quirked an eyebrow.

Heero took a deep breath. "What the hell were you thinking when you agreed to him setting up this facade? And why did you need to be present last night when he told me?"

"Yuy, you are getting off the point. You are allowing your emotions to get in the way of your duty and Maxwell could see that."

Heero's eyes blazed with fury.

Wufei sighed and folded his arms across his chest. "Maxwell is simply fulfilling his side of the mission. He was to infiltrate, become a part of this group and relay the information back to us. He has to act the part and with one of the suspects doubting his integrity, it is vital to the success of the mission that he does this... this setting up of an external cover. If you would take off your Maxwell tinted glasses for a moment, Yuy, you would be able to see that too."

Heero felt the anger beginning to drain away. He was being an idiot, he could see that now. Of course Duo would need to verify his background at some stage if he was to pull off his side of the mission. He knew his partner was more than capable of carrying this off and it wasn't as if Duo *was* going to be sleeping there. No wonder Duo was getting short tempered with him lately. "Gomen."

Wufei walked across and laid a hand upon his friend's shoulder. "It isn't easy, Yuy. You have to remember though that Maxwell is also a Preventer Agent and has skills that surpass some of yours and mine. When you are off duty you can protect him all you like, although I can't see Maxwell taking to that easily." Wufei's voice lowered and took on a stronger tone. "When you are here though, you are both Preventer Agents... you might want to remember that."

Heero nodded. "I apologize. I will not let anything like this happen again."

"I am not the one you should be apologizing to."

"Hai." Heero turned and left the office, returning to his own with a mind that was running wild. With his over protectiveness and concerns, he'd made Duo look like he couldn't do anything, and that was unforgivable. With a tired sigh, he turned on his computer and waited for the thing to load, flicking through the files until he found the one he wanted and started keying in the new information to the computer.

As the program began to run, Heero leaned forwards to study the data, pushing the thoughts of his love to the back of his mind but knowing he would be doing some serious ass kissing when he got home.

~ * ~

Duo made it across town to the dump in time for the briefing, strolling into the small *bunker* he noted the look that Moran gave him. / Thank Christ Heero wasn't here to see that look or else Moran would have more than a date with Shinigami, he'd be going through the very devil himself! /

Duo ignored the man, walking over to a couple of the other guys and joining in with their conversation. Ten minutes later, the last of the group arrived and the boss called for everyone's attention. Duo ran his gaze over the group again, there were eight of them in total, including himself. He guessed he would be one of the youngest, the rest appearing to be late twenties to early thirties with one or two around the twenty mark. He hadn't gone too much into their backgrounds, most of that had been done by the lackey's back at HQ, he'd just given over enough information for them to dig into files and get all they needed.

They all crowded around the small box that served as a makeshift table and stared at the crudely drawn map of the building in which the conference was to take place. The building itself housed offices as well as the conference room; being known as the Trade Building, it was where most of the trade between the earth and the colonies was discussed. The general plan was that each of them would enter the building under the guise of businessmen at differing intervals. Two would carry briefcases in which the disassembled rifles would be hidden; the remainder would carry their handguns hidden on their person. The security was minimal on the ground floor lobby that the boss knew of and so he didn't expect there to be any problem. The main security would be on the fourth floor... the one that housed the conference room.

On the day the conference began two of the terrorists would scope the building out, checking on the level and placement of security in the lobby area and the other office floors. Posing as cleaners they would be able to move about reasonably freely. The fourth floor was the one they were most interested in though. Here they needed to know exactly where every guard was posted, where the cameras were lodged and any additional measures that had been put in place.

The third day was when they proposed to make the assault. As they infiltrated the building they would meet on the sixth floor in office 26, known as 'Fleming and Co'. The company that leased the office belonged to a cousin of one of the terrorists and was conveniently out of town for the week. Once there, they would assemble the weaponry and begin their planned attack. Four would arrive by elevator and the remaining four via the emergency stairwell.

The fourth floor held only the conference room and a small foyer linked to it. The stairwell and elevators opened out into a passage way that ran around the entire outside of the floor with the conference room situated in the center. Once they knew the placement of the guards and cameras, it would be merely a case of taking them out. With that done they would then proceed through the foyer area and invade the conference, taking the various heads out with their surprise attack.

Upon completion of the task everyone was on their own to get out of the building and meet back at the dump where the firearms would be handed back in and disposed of and everyone was then to disperse and lay low until the commotion passed over.

Duo absorbed all the information, scanning the crude map and noting the entry and exit points. "Who's going to be doing the scoping out?"

"Harper and Wallace," the boss replied.

Duo nodded. "Who's going in the elevator and who's taking the stairwell?"

Wallace, Jennings, Cooper and myself will take the elevator, Harper, Thompsett, Moran and you will take the stairwell. Once we arrive on the floor, take out the guards as quickly and quietly as you can."

"Silencers?" Duo asked.

The boss turned to look at him. "I have managed to get a hold of some for the handguns but not for the two rifles."

"Then I suggest that the pair with the rifles stay in the middle and let the handguns do the work in the passage-ways," Duo offered.

Moran glanced across, his eyes narrowed. "You sure have a lot to say for yourself, kid."

"It makes sense though," Cooper stated in Duo's defense.

"I'd like to know where he learned to shoot like he does," Moran muttered under his breath.

The boss thought on Duo's suggestion. "Agreed. The rifles stay in the middle, let the hand guns take out the guards, the rifles can come into play once we break into the conference room itself." The boss turned to look at Duo. "For a youth, you sure do have a lot of knowledge on guns and strategies."

Duo read the question in the tone.

Explain.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Growing up partly on the streets and then in an orphanage, you tend to learn survival skills pretty fast." Seeing Moran about to open his mouth he continued, "Guns, knives, drugs, they're all a part of the world I came from. You either learned strategy and how to use a gun or you became the victim. I didn't want to become a victim."

There was silence in the room as each of the seven weighed Duo's words. It certainly explained the youth's skills. Moran, though, still wasn't completely convinced and he owed Duo for the embarrassment of losing him in the slums the day before. He decided to let it slide for the moment.

The boss continued with the briefing, finalizing the last minute details with Harper and Wallace. When he was satisfied that he had covered everything, he folded the paper up and addressed the group. "I want you all to return here in five days at fourteen hundred hours. Harper and Wallace will have the status on the guards and we will go over the final details of the plan. Any questions?" When none were forthcoming the group disbanded and headed off, Duo slunk out and headed in the direction of his *home*.

Moran looked at the boss, one eyebrow raised in silent question.

The boss nodded and Moran left, hot on the heels of Duo.

~ * ~

Duo smiled to himself as he noted Moran's presence tailing him again. He made sure to let the man see him occasionally but not let on that he knew Moran was there. He slipped through alleys and down darkened streets, knowing it would unnerve his shadow. Finally he returned to the building he'd claimed as *home* and waited for his visitor.

Moran followed the dancing braid, determined not to lose the youth that currently occupied his every waking moment... and sleeping one's as well. He dodged behind light poles and into doorways when he saw the kid pause, then followed again once the braid started to move. He shivered, but not with the cold as he followed down alleys and back streets he would normally avoid. The boss' message had been clear. "Check out the kid and see if his story fits." If it didn't... take him out... if it did then no problem. Moran was hoping it didn't, he'd like to have a little fun with the kid before shooting him. But then he guessed that if it did... he might just have some fun anyway.

He noticed the lithe form slip inside a rundown, abandoned building and hesitated for a moment before following. Moran moved carefully, he didn't know what to expect. He stared down at the floor, the dust and dirt had been disturbed by the passage of feet and so he followed the trail. He paused outside a doorway. The door hung partially off its hinges lurching drunkenly to one side, to enter you needed to step over the lower part. Moran strained his ears and heard nothing,. Cautiously he stepped over the broken base of the door and was grabbed from behind, the scream of surprise lodged in his throat as a hand covered his mouth and a cool blade pressed against his Adams apple.

"Fuck! It's you," Duo said and released Moran, playing his role to perfection.

"Who the hell did you think it was?" Moran barked back, his legs were still shaking with his near death experience.

"In case you hadn't noticed this happens to be the dirty end of town. Around here you don't get the Avon lady calling so any visitor is treated as a potential threat. Like I told you before, when you have spent time on the streets you learn survival skills pretty fast. It's a dog eat dog world out there and I don't need some junkie or trigger happy asshole trying to take from me what little I have," Duo growled and then moved over to the makeshift fireplace. "Want a cup of tea?"

Moran had just about recovered from the attack and managed to shuffle over to where Duo was coaxing the fire into life. He nodded in reply to Duo's question and while Duo set about making the tea, he gazed around him. He could see the duffle bag partially hidden under some masonry and a blanket to one side along with some newspaper. He noted the battered saucepan that Duo had set upon the stove and filled with water from a canteen he'd fetched from the duffle, he also noted one tin mug.

Duo made the tea in the saucepan and poured some into the mug. "I hope you don't mind it black without sugar, I kinda don't stretch to those luxuries," he said as he passed over the mug.

Moran took the mug and sipped at the hot liquid. The bitterness stung his tongue and it was all he could do not to spit it out. Duo had to hold the grin. "You get used to it after a while," he said and sipped from the saucepan. He saw the look that Moran gave him and shrugged his shoulders. "I only have one mug. When you're constantly on the move you need to travel light."

Moran shifted his gaze yet again, this time running over Duo's body.

"Any particular reason you followed me here?" Duo asked, already knowing the answer. He stood up and moved back to his duffle bag on the pretense of fetching something.

Moran's eyes followed the movement and he also stood. "I just wanted to see if what you said about living on the streets was true." Moran took the chance to move behind Duo. He placed a hand on Duo's shoulder and felt the youth tense. Sliding his other hand around Duo's waist he groped at Duo's groin while his voice became a seductive purr in Duo's ear. "You don't have to live on the streets, kid. You can come and share my place with me. I'm sure we can work out something in regards to payment."

~ * ~

tbc....