Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Shadows at Midnight ❯ Warning ( Chapter 2 )

A/N: Disclaimers, warnings… go to chapter one.

Added warning, slight Relena bashing.I had to think this chapter over and over again in my head. Gomen for being late, but I did tell you that I would be posting the next chapter in a week or two.

The rating stays as PG-13.

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SHADOWS AT MIDNIGHT

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Chapter Two

San Francisco, California

A nondescript young man dressed in a dark blue shirt and jeans crossed the street towards a tall, plush apartment building in front of him. He was tall and slender, and he wore a black baseball cap on his head that somewhat hid his handsome features. He walked insouciantly past the guards to the sliding glass doors of the building and went inside, waving cheerfully at the blond receptionist. The receptionist, Chandra Porter, rose immediately and shot him a welcoming smile that always reminded him of a lazy cat-seductive and ruthless at the same time.

"Hello, Duo," she purred, batting her eyelashes at him. Duo resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but his smile didn't waver at all. The woman had set her sights on him since he moved in the opulent apartment building three days ago. Duo thought it was amusing how she flirted with him on his first day, despite the fact that he was young enough to be her son.

"Hey, Chandra," he greeted, grinning at the blond receptionist.

The blonde's smile widened, her blue eyes twinkling. "Oh, Duo, you're such a cutie!" she tittered.

He flashed his 'I know' smile at her and continued to the closed elevator nearest him. The elevator was coming down steadily after pausing for a minute in the fourth floor. When it stopped at the lobby, he waited for the sliding door to open, only to lower his head discreetly when he saw who was coming out.

"Good morning, Mr. Yuy." Duo heard Chandra's sexy voice lowered an octave when the half-Japanese teen walked pass Duo toward the glass doors without sparing a glance at him. Duo looked sideways through narrowed eyes at the other boy, who was glaring darkly at the receptionist. When the other boy was gone, he heard Chandra sigh dreamily.

Poor woman, Duo thought.

Inside the elevator, Duo wondered if Heero Yuy saw him. Probably not, he reasoned out. He knew he had lowered his head before the other boy could see his face. As Duo pushed the number four button, an idea suddenly came into his head that had him grinning impishly when the elevator opened at the fourth floor. Duo got out and instead of going to his own apartment; he headed towards the door that he had been eyeing for the past three days.

Room 4013.

He quickly removed his cap, and delved three of his fingers in his hair. When he withdrew his fingers, he was holding a short metallic wire in his hand. Duo put the metal wire in the keyhole. After a few seconds an audible click sounded, and Duo slowly opened the mahogany door.

The apartment was neat. So damned neat that it made Duo involuntarily shudder. His gaze took in the tidy living room of the apartment, noting the gleaming black marble floor and black leather couches adjacent to a huge hearth on the left side of the room. To the right side were the kitchen and a dining room, and in front of Duo was a floor-to-ceiling bay window that led to a balcony, one that had the view of the city. Duo let himself inside the lavish apartment, his eyes still sweeping around the room. Near the hearth, he saw another mahogany door. The bedroom, he thought. He turned the knob and when he found that it wasn't locked, Duo shrugged and went inside.

Like the rest of the apartment, the bedroom was clean and uncluttered. The four-poster bed was in the center of the room, and parallel to the bed was another bay window. On one side was a walk-in closet and on the other side was a big solid oak desk with a silver laptop on top.

It was the laptop that got his attention.

Duo grinned and went to work.

XxXxX XxXxX

One of the most prestigious in the United States of America, Hannover School was a school for overachievers: people with talent, intelligence, prestige, money and ambition. Children of politicians, businessmen, CEO's, actors, writers, aristocrats and powerful families had gathered in this school for its acclaimed quality education. It was a school that admitted only the rich and famous. Besides its excellent standard of education, one look into its lush, extensive grounds would be enough to tell you why.

Set on thousands of acres of green parkland, Hannover School encompassed magnificent Renaissance buildings and surrounding grounds. With its unique location, set amidst San Francisco, it was screened from traffic and the bustling city life but still retained a feeling of tranquility-an impression of being excluded from all the noise and crowd. With the gleaming waters of the Pacific Ocean on its backdrop, it created the perfect setting for the lavish buildings of the school.

The main building, a grand, three-story structure with immense expanses of mullioned windows and graceful balconies called Hannover Hall, harbored the executive and administrative offices, the faculties' offices, and assembly rooms. While scattered around the large area of the school, blocks away from each other, were the classroom buildings, a whole library building, cafés, restaurants, a dining hall, an auditorium, a huge bookstore, a building for sports (all for indoors. The other fields, courts, ranges and pools were outside), and vast parking lots.

It was like being in a dream world.

One that Duo Maxwell would just love to mess with.

Currently, the violet-eyed teen was leaning on the opened door of a black stretch limousine. From his vantage point on a small hill a kilometer away from the enormous gate of the school, he watched the students arriving in their cars and chauffeured limos. His infrared binoculars gave him a close up view of everyone, and he caught himself mentally calculating the dollar worth of some of the valuable things with some of the students.

The staggering amount he arrived at was very tempting, but he silently reminded himself of the reason why he was entering Hannover School in the first place.

The Black Royal Diamond.

Duo lowered the binoculars and sighed. Quatre's uncle and Duo's guardian, Lord Treize Khushrenada, had arrived and told Duo a fortnight ago about his plan to obtain the priceless diamond.

Duo, the only way to get the schematics of the house is to get close to a member of the family. I did a background check on Odin Lowe and found out that he has a son. I have his apartment's address and his school, which I plan to enroll you into. His name is Heero Yuy. Treize had then looked at Quatre beside him, who was smiling softly at them.

Quatre, he had said, you are going to assist Duo in this one. He needs all the help he can get, and he mustn't fail. Duo remembered leaping from his seat when he heard that, and arguing that Quatre shouldn't dismiss his studies in England. Quatre had chuckled and said he didn't mind, since he had always wanted to help Duo in his missions from the very start. In front of his guardian and his best friend, Duo didn't stand a chance to argue anymore and just told Treize to continue with his plan.

Actually, I have already enrolled you and Quatre in Hannover, and I want you, Duo, to get all of Heero Yuy's subjects, get close, and befriend him. If my sources are accurate, you will have a hard time doing so because Heero is rumored to be a very unapproachable person. He had a very rough childhood. Besides having a philanderer and disciplinarian for a father, it is said that his mother is locked up in a mental asylum, despite the public notion that she is dead.

Duo cringed at that, even though he already knew that fact from his own background check on Odin Lowe. For a moment, he had felt a spurt of shame when he thought of the plan that he had to do to just to steal a diamond. Even if it was one of the most expensive diamonds in the world.

The client has told me that time isn't essential. So I advise you to take your time in this long-term mission. Do anything you can to ensure its completion. Treize had smiled at Duo at that, and of course, Duo grinned back. After you befriend him, Treize had continued, you could then easily get the schematics of the house and its security system.

Despite his influence, Treize was unable to get the schematics of Odin Lowe's San Francisco mansion. The tall aristocrat wasn't close enough to the international tycoon, and the security system was a well-kept secret of Odin Lowe. Duo had almost volunteered to get it already-to hell with the schematics-but he suppressed the urge to do so, because of the other plan that he had in store for a certain blue-eyed boy.

HeeroYuy.

Treize had said that Heero didn't adopt his father's surname because he hated his father very much for unknown reasons, so he took up his mother's surname, Yuy.

You are also going to live near Heero. I've taken the liberty to buy two units in Heero's apartment building; all you and Quatre have to do is to move in.

That's your mission, Shinigami.

Duo sighed again, pouting. Long term missions are soooo boring, he thought, annoyed as hell. He would rather prefer the thrill in his other missions, but now he had to wear a stupid uniform and go to a stupid, bourgeois school and interact with stupid, simpering rich girls and arrogant, inane rich boys. Life is so unfair!

"Duo? Are you okay?"

Duo blinked, turning to the opened door of the limousine where Quatre was sitting, looking at him with a rather amused half smile.

"What?" Duo asked, frowning darkly at his blond friend.

Quatre shook his head, still smiling. "Nothing. You just had this funny expression on your face, like you're being tortured or something. Afraid you'll be bored to death?"

Sometimes Quatre's perception was just too frightening. Damn, he thought, he knows me too well. Duo made a face and went inside the black limo, lounging comfortably at the leather seats. He ignored his friend and closed the door impatiently. That signaled the driver to start driving again, and as the luxury car moved, Duo averted his face from his friend's questioning eyes.

"Is that a 'yes'?" the blonde persisted, his aquamarine blue eyes twinkling at his uncomfortable friend. "Why then? Just moments ago, you were so excited about going to school."

Duo shot him a glare that lasted for a measly ten seconds, then he capitulated. "You know, Q, you can be very annoying sometimes," he grumbled.

Quatre smiled innocently. "Talent, Duo. Sheer talent," he said, echoing Duo's words in Monaco. Then he gazed turned serious. "Well, what's the problem?"

With yet another sigh, Duo whined to Quatre his qualms about the school, the students, missing the thrill, and about the night he saw Heero Yuy. He was gesturing madly at his friend, but of course, he didn't include the reason why he suddenly stopped in front of Heero's car. To tell his friend that Heero Yuy's dark blue eyes mesmerized him would earn him a year of non-stop torment. When Duo finished with his tale, they were entering the enormous gate of Hannover School. Quatre leaned back on his seat and stared at Duo intently, his eyes calculating but concerned at the same time. "What are you going to do about that?" he asked quietly.

Duo shrugged indifferently. "Continue with the plan. And…" He was grinning naughtily now.

"And?" Quatre asked, curious and a tad bit worried now at the feral grin of his friend. Whenever his friend smiled like this, it would usually mean trouble.

"Oh, you'll see, Q. You'll see."

XxXxX XxXxX

After emerging from the stretch limo, the two were quickly ushered inside Hannover Hall where the headmistress, Lady Une, was waiting for them. Along the way in the school grounds, some people (mostly girls) recognized Duo as the car racing champion and Quatre as the heir to his father's multi-million dollar company, Winner Enterprises.

Excited whispers and admiring glances were shot on their way, causing Duo to growl inwardly. It was not that he detested his fans; on the contrary, he loved them, because his fans admired him for his skill in driving cars. But giggling girls and gushing admirers were anything but that. He hated how people would ogle whenever they saw him.

Duo took a glance at his side, where he could see Quatre smiling softly at their adoring audience. He couldn't in his life know what possessed his friend to endearingly smile at them. Their stupid sighs made Duo want to puke.

"How do you do it?" he asked later when they were walking toward Lady Une's office. "The only thing that was missing on their adoring faces was drool!"

Quatre chuckled at that. "Duo, think of this as a con. Let them think of a fake reality. That would give you the upper hand," he said lightly, a serene smile quirking on his face.

Duo grinned, feeling a prickle of admiration for his friend. One wouldn't want Quatre Raberba Winner as his enemy, because he could be deadly in his own way. With his light blond hair, large aquamarine eyes, effeminate ways and a generally nice demeanor, people tended to underestimate him at first glance. They didn't know that behind his boyish face lies one of the most brilliant minds Duo had ever known.

They continued to the office, where the elegant Lady Une was staring at the bustle of students outside from a huge window. She only turned when she heard a knock on the double doors of her office. "Come in," she said.

Duo opened the doors and he and Quatre stepped inside the sumptuous office. Quatre moved forward and clasped Lady Une's hand in a firm handshake as Duo closed the door.

"Mr. Winner," she said, then she turned to Duo, who also walked forward, "and Mr. Maxwell." She smiled and reached forward to shake his hand as well. "Please sit down." She gestured at the antique Louis XIII chairs while she sat on her own comfortable chair behind her huge desk. Duo and Quatre complied immediately and sat down. "Lord Treize has alerted me of your arrival. I know that Treize had already briefed you of the school and its rules and regulations. Have you selected your subjects? Lord Treize told me to assist you in any way I could."

"Thank you, Lady." Quatre said.

"We already chose our subjects yesterday," piped in Duo, shooting his charming smile at the headmistress.

Lady Une and Treize Khushrenada had been good friends way back in their childhood, so it came to no surprise to Duo that she wanted to help them, and that their transfer to the school had been very smooth. Especially for Quatre, who left Eton to study in Hannover.

Lady Une nodded. "Very well. Do you know where your classrooms are? I could have you escorted there."

"No, thank you, Lady," Quatre politely declined. "We know our way around the campus." Duo had sneaked into the school two days ago to 'assess' the battlefield, as Duo had so fondly said, so Quatre had no qualms that they would get lost.

"That's good, but humor me, alright? I'll have a student sent over to direct you to your classroom." At the boys' nods, she smiled. "Any questions? Anything else you want to know about Hannover School?"

Both teens shook their heads.

Lady Une nodded graciously. "Now then, you better go to your classes. Just refer to me whether you want to clarify something or when you need help." Duo and Quatre nodded as they stood up and went to the door.

"Thank you, Lady," they said in unison before the door closed quietly.

XxXxX XxXxX

"That sure was fast," Duo muttered to Quatre when he saw their 'escort', a tall, Chinese teen with slanted ebony eyes and black hair tied in a neat pony tail walked over to them in determined strides.

"Winner and Maxwell?" the boy asked briskly when he stopped in front of them. Quatre nodded, smiling in greeting. Duo just grinned and waved. "Hello, pal!"

The Chinese boy scowled for a moment. "My name is Wufei Chang, and you are to call me nothing but my name." He gestured the left while Duo frowned at him. "The Lady has already told me your building and room number. As luck has it, we're in the same class. The building's a ten-minute run from here. Classes will start in thirty minutes. We shall be able to get there without being late if we hurry."

Duo stared unbelievingly at Wufei, his mouth hanging open, and then he remembered that each building were blocks away from one another. He smacked his hand on his head. "Damn! I should've taken the Bentley with me!" He groaned loudly.

Wufei nodded briskly. "You should've expected this, you know. It is wise to bring your own car in the campus." He smirked. "It will get you around the school faster."

"Yeah, well, thanks for the warning, even if it's a little late now, huh?" Duo murmured sarcastically, which earned him an elbow shove from Quatre and a glare from Wufei.

After twenty minutes of walking fast, Quatre and Duo found themselves inside their building, an elegant four-story white edifice in Georgian style. Wufei was leading them to their classroom while commenting every now and then about the building. The Chinese boy had been stiff during their trek to the classroom, as if he was doing something he didn't want to. He probably didn't want to, Duo thought irritably. He'd only wanted to be friendly at the Chinese boy by calling him 'pal', but instead of a friendly feedback, he'd been berated and ridiculed. Idiot, he thought again. Moron, fool, dimwit, numskull, imbecile, dope!

But when Wufei turned to him, Duo smiled brightly.

Duo sighed imperceptibly when the Chinese teen merely grunted at his sunny grin and turned away again. Stuck up jerk, he added. He knew-he just knew that he would be bored stupid in this school. He looked around, knowing that they were being stared upon… again. Simpering females, again.

He roamed his gaze around the opulent building, his face showing not a bit of awe. Boring. What was he doing here in the first place again?

HeeroYuy.

Duo snapped his head, the sound of Heero's name on his mind uttered in that hard monotone of the half-Japanese teen startling him. He glanced around at the building, looking for that unmistakable mess of dark brown hair and Prussian blue eyes.

None.

What the hell?

"Duo," Quatre hissed, "what are you doing?"

"Target," hissed Duo back, then continuing with his covert glances. "I'm looking out for him."

After climbing the wide, sweeping stairs that led to the second floor, they at last arrived at their classroom, with Duo not seeing the 'target'.

"Here's our classroom," Wufei informed them, opening the door and slipping inside. Both Quatre and Duo made no move to go in. Quatre because he was quite nervous, and Duo because his mind was occupied by something.

Or rather someone.

"Duo?" Came Quatre's quiet words.

Duo nodded slowly, his mouth stretching into a wide grin.

"Here we go," he said, turning the knob of the door.

XxXxX XxXxX

Heero scowled darkly for the umpteenth time at Relena, who had literally attached herself to his side since his arrival at school. And judging from the teasing remarks and playful nudges his schoolmates had given him, Heero was pretty sure Relena wasn't quite as quiet as he wanted her to be about the night of his father's party.

The girl, of course, paid no heed to the dark gaze that promised her a gruesome death. She was busily prattling nonconsequentially about cheerleading, her friends, her vacations, her dresses… And she had been going on since he sat down on his seat half an hour ago.

Heero, of course, heard nothing at all.

"Shit…" Heero muttered, gritting his teeth angrily. He was seconds away from doing some bodily harm to her person, but he retained his impassive facade, the only sign of his inner turmoil was the wild sparks in his Prussian eyes.

Seated beside him on his other side, a tall boy with emerald green eyes and cinnamon-colored haired with long bangs falling to one side of his face smirked at Heero, seemingly enjoying his tortured state. Heero glared menacingly at his friend as Trowa answered him with a light shrug. "What?" Emerald eyes looked at him inquiringly.

"You seem to be enjoying this," Heero said, his head abruptly turning to Relena.

Trowa just smiled. "I am. Immensely."

Heero grunted. "Some friend you are."

A small, devious smile slipped on his lips. "It's your own fault, you know. If you hadn't slept with Relena, this would never have happened."

"That's all I did… SLEEP!" Heero hissed.

"So you say." At the dangerous scowl of his friend, Trowa Barton sighed. Heero Yuy was the most impassive person that Trowa had ever known, more so than he was. He had seen many people push themselves towards his friend, but Heero would push them back almost instantly without a flicker of emotion on his blank face, and not only in the literal sense. He was the master at distancing himself from people, putting a very obvious invisible sign to keep out. Trowa couldn't figure out why Heero was getting worked up over one girl. He never saw Heero paid Relena any attention in the past, so he had no idea why he was starting now.

And in the past weeks after his father's party, Heero had been acting… weird. He'd been spending more time than before in front of his computer, and he even visited his mother.

Heero rarely did that.

And today, he'd been snapping at the usual crowd around him, when usually he would just ignore them.

"Heero. What's wrong? You've been acting strange lately."

Something glinted in Heero's eyes, and he frowned. "Someone has been inside my apartment."

Trowa frowned as well. "Are you sure?"

A stiff nod. "Nothing has been moved, but I'm positive someone was there." Heero's harsh gaze pierced Trowa. "So, what do you think I should do with that?" He gestured behind him at Relena again.

Trowa blinked at the abrupt change of subject, but he shrugged again. "Tell her to stop." Though Trowa doubted Relena would comply.

Obviously, Heero thought she would because he turned to the girl. "Relena…"

The blond girl, who was still talking, stopped immediately and smiled at him. "Yes, Heero?"

"Stop talking and scram."

Relena looked stunned, then determination filled her face and she continued talking nonsense.

Actually, the girl had done the same thing to Heero, choosing not to hear him when he told her earlier that nothing happened. She insisted that something had happened, and when he ignored her, she stuck herself to his side.

"I won't say it again, Relena. Do it or I will kill you." Hard, Prussian blue eyes glittered ominously.

"I suggest you do it, Ms. Peacecraft, if you value your life."

Wufei Chang walked up to Heero and Trowa, who both nodded to him, silently thanking him. He turned his austere black eyes on Relena, whose eyes widened at the threat, momentarily speechless. Bakaonna, Wufei thought, rolling his eyes.

"Wufei," Trowa acknowledged. "Where've you been?"

Wufei looked decidedly irritated. "Touring new students," he answered. He was very pissed off because he was assigned to tour the newbies, and he had to run from one building to another just to fetch them. He wasn't a damned babysitter! Wufei reconsidered both boys, and reckoned that the Winner boy was agreeable enough. The other one, though, he wasn't sure. Wufei swore he saw Duo Maxwell making faces at him and at the crowd ogling at them. "They're just outside."

As if on cue, the door opened and a braided whirlwind stormed into the room.

"HEEEERO!"

Heero blinked at the sound of his name being bellowed by an unfamiliar voice. The entire room fell silent when the half-Japanese boy raised his head to look at the person, and when his eyes locked with the most startling violet eyes that he had seen only once, Heero Yuy froze.

The violet-eyed boy waved and flashed his charming smile at the whole class (which made some girls swoon). Then his vivid gaze rested on the Heero and the grin slipped into a small smile.

He stepped forward.

"Hello, Heero, it's been weeks since we last saw each other." It was whispered in a soft voice. Narrowed violet eyes twinkled with an almost turbulent quality.

Silence ruled the room-even Relena stopped chattering, baffled at the tension that seemed to choke the atmosphere. Wufei stared at the two teens looking intently at one another. Heero's eyes were shuttered, while Maxwell's was gleaming with an unreadable expression. He looked at Trowa beside him and saw the other teen also staring keenly at the two boys. The Chinese boy frowned and decided to break the silence.

"Heero, you know each other?"

Heero nodded slowly, his eyes not averting from Duo's.

Duo grinned again. "We just met, Wuffers."

Wufei, curiosity dissolving, growled. "My name is WUFEI!"

Duo shrugged. "Whatever, Wuffie." While the Chinese boy scowled darkly at him, Duo turned to Heero, who was still looking grimly at him.

"By the way, my name's Duo Maxwell."

XxXxX XxXxX

Duo Maxwell…

Heero glanced to his right, where said braided boy lounged at his seat. When he saw Duo in front of him earlier, grinning widely, his heart had stopped for a moment, and he was unable to look away from those piercing violet eyes. The class had already started, and their Economics teacher introduced him and his blond friend.

Duo Maxwell.

Shinigami.

He looked at the teacher in front, explaining how the prices of goods and services were directly related to their supply. But Heero heard nothing.

At last, he had a name for the ethereal creature.

Duo Maxwell.

For the past weeks, he had been searching for information about the elusive cat burglar called Shinigami. He found that for nearly three years, the name Shinigami had been synonymous with daring, nerveless theft at its most dramatic.

If the newspapers were to believe, he had smoothly robbed the richest families of Europe, relieving them of fine baubles and artworks with a delicate precision and painstaking accuracy of a master thief. And in doing so he had bypassed some of the most expensive and complicated security systems ever designed with almost laughable ease. Also according to the data Heero retrieved from newspapers and websites, Shinigami never used weapons, had never injured anyone, and had never come close to being caught-all of which made him something of a legend.

And he had seen the God of Death did his magic on one shadowy night.

He had been unable to remove the vision of the svelte thief out of his mind for the past weeks. He would always remember how his bright violet eyes twinkled, how his long, chestnut hair moved with the wind, how his mouth quirked in a grin…

He was so restless that he even visited his mother. It had always calmed him whenever he saw her. Though it did little to his harassed mind.

Heero shot another covert glance at the violet-eyed teen.

"Now, please get your laptops out and construct a graph for with the following data…"

Heero reflexively took out his laptop from its soft leather bag and opened it. He hadn't had time to use it yesterday…

Heero blinked.

The screen was not showing its usual monochrome screen. Instead, it was showing a white egg with big blue eyes, arms, legs and feet; climbing gingerly and sitting down on top of a wall.

Then the egg fell down and broke. Captions appeared on the screen.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

All the king's horses and all the king's men

Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Ittainani? Heero thought, frowning. He heard a soft snicker and looked to the right, where he saw Duo grinning at him.

The violet-eyed boy lifted his hand and pointed his thumb downwards, and it didn't take long for Heero to understand.

It was a warning.

Tbc…

. . .

Tadaima!

Here's the next chapter! I want to thank those who reviewed! Xiao-shan, Sara-chan (Er… Sara-chan? The Sara-chan as in the reviewer from FF.net?), Tima (Wow, geez, thanks!), Shaeric Draconis, Chadeni and Jahrom. Thank you very much! I'm just so damned glad you like it.

Was there any mistake? This chapter was kinda rushed.

HannoverSchoolis my ideal school. It's like CLAMP school. I once visited a university like that, and I almost got lost because it was so big.

The G-boys are in their last year of high school.

Humpty Dumpty, according to an article I read, was a cannon during the Civil War. The cannon was set above a church tower in Colchester, England to ward off enemies, but eventually, the tower was hit and "Humpty" had a "great fall".

Give me another week or two for the next chapter.

Wah! I feel SOOOO tired!

Reviews are great motivators for a writer to update. Motivate me! (God knows I need it!)

Review! Review!