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"Dirty Job"Written By: ExecutiveShrimp Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, it belongs
to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. Written for pleasure not
profit. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: Violence, angst, Lemons, Limes Pairings: 1x2x1 Summary: Duo is a masterful pickpocket and skilled but small-time con artist who always chooses to play it safe. When his best friend owes the wrong people a lot of money, Duo get pulled into a high-stakes plot to rob thirty-something billionaire Heero Yuy. The only way to succeed and save his friend is to push his own boundaries and get way too involved.
"Dirty Job" Chapter Twenty The bar was exactly the way Duo remembered it. It was the same as it always had been; the only thing different, was he himself. So, for the first time, he felt intimidated standing there. Stares that would usually leave him unbothered, pricked the skin on the back of his neck as he crossed the smoky room. It wasn't his world anymore. Heero had lifted him out of his old self, leaving behind a shell of the former conman. Slipping back into that shell, he found it to be a tight and uncomfortable fit. The men he once considered peers - cut from the same ragged cloth as he was - were oddities to him now. These men, these criminals, lived their lives according to a belief system that was based on falsehood and a sense of entitlement that served their self-preservation. It was an ignorance that he once shared, but had come to pity and resent. These common crooks, smoking their Cuban cigars, carried themselves like they owned the world, when they didn't have any right. Duo shook that uneasy feeling that made him stick out like a sore thumb. He quickened his pace to make his way to the mahogany bar at the far end. When his eyes met an onyx gaze, he steeled himself. WuFei pushed off the wall that he was leaning against and came to stand across from where Duo picked a barstool. The Chinese man didn't say anything at first. He stared - uncomfortably long - then wordlessly poured Duo his favorite drink. Not until Duo had downed the drink in a single gulp, did the bartender comment: "This is the second time you've shown up, after I was certain I would never see you again." "Surprise," he said sardonically. "Last time you were here, J.J. was in trouble. I'm guessing nothing has changed," he surmised. Duo chuckled bitterly. "A lot has changed, but not that detail. This time, I'm in trouble too. Deep trouble." WuFei poured him a second drink, noticing Duo tap the rim of his empty glass. "I won't give you a loan, Duo. I haven't changed my mind since last time. Getting you a loan will only get you into deeper trouble." "I didn't come for a loan." Duo made a face as the drink burned his throat. He reached into the inside pocket of the leather jacket that Heero had bought him in New York and he produced a stack of cash; some of the money he had earned as the billionaire's escort. "I'm a paying customer." "What are you looking to buy?" WuFei inquired skeptically. "A gun." The bartender was appropriately shell-shocked. He knew very well how Duo felt about guns, after what had happened to A.J. He laughed uncomfortably, wanting to brush it off as a humorless joke, but the sound died in his throat under Duo's serious glare. "What kind of trouble are you in, exactly?" "The kind I can't bullshit my way out of." WuFei raised his eyebrows. "Then it must be really bad." Not interested in dragging this exchange on any longer than necessary, Duo pressed: "So can you get me a gun or not?" "When do you need it?" "Right now." WuFei opened his mouth to speak, but the conman cut him off. "Don't give me any shit, WuFei. I know damn well you have more than off-brand whiskey and barrels of watered-down beer in the back." He shook his head. "Fuck man, it's like you keep forgetting that I know you. That I know your family business. I was practically part of the family business at one point." He didn't mean to bring it up, there was no benefit to be gained from reopening old wounds. Not now that they had finally healed. "Look, I'm sorry," he tried, apologizing for his bitter tone. "I'm not here about the past. I just need a gun and I know this is the best place to get one." WuFei sighed. He stood still in thought for a moment before he finally turned around and walked away. He disappeared through an open door that led to the back. He wasn't gone for more than a minute. When he returned, he boldly placed a revolver on the surface of the bar, right by Duo's drink. With a single, swift move, he swiped the cash and pocketed it. Unconcerned with any possible onlookers, Duo studied the gun and inconspicuously wiped his suddenly sweaty palms on his jeans before picking up the heavy thing. "Be careful with that, it's loaded." The American swallowed. The gun wasn't unlike the one he had made A.J. carry. It wasn't unlike the one that had gotten him killed. The gravity of his decision made it feel like he was sinking into the ground. "Do you need extra rounds?" Unable to speak, he shook his head. At least, he hoped he wouldn't need extra rounds and that the six in the revolver would be enough. He ran his finger over a rough patch along the base of the gun, where the serial number had been filed off. "Good. I'm guessing that means you don't plan on going over to Tsubarov's mansion and shooting up the place. You'd be dead before you would have thought to take the safety off." "It's for self-defense." "Against?" "The Bear." The bartender didn't say anything, but Duo could tell he was biting his tongue. "Go ahead," he encouraged unenthusiastically, knowing he wouldn't like hearing what WuFei had to say. "In my opinion, guns never diffuse any situation. They only make matters worse." "I know that!" Duo spat, looking up at his ex-lover with wild eyes. "Don't you think I fucking know that? Do you really think I'd be here if I thought there was a better way to defend J.J. and myself? How else am I supposed to protect myself against a guy named after a Grizzly bear?" "I've already told you how I think you can best protect yourself. I've told you many times." He paused for effect and repeated the same thing he had been telling Duo over and over when the two had still been together: "Cut J.J. out of your life." Duo mouthed along as WuFei spoke. After a moment of introspection, he shrugged helplessly. "You know what? Maybe you're right. Maybe you've been right all this time. But some things are easier said than done. I can't just walk away from him. If not for him, what purpose does my life have?" "If your life has no purpose, it is only because you've wasted every chance you ever had on that kid. It's never too late to stop being wasteful." WuFei had never made a secret of the fact that he was not a fan of J.J., but Duo had never heard him be quite as seething. The black eyes were wild with turmoil. The Chinese man may not have loved Duo the way he once wanted - needed - him to, but it was apparent he did still love him in his own way. And in Duo's own way, he appreciated it, but at that point it was too late for WuFei to try and help him, or protect him. Duo was too far down this road J.J. had led him down; they were on their own now. He couldn't be angry with the man, not anymore. He didn't hate him anymore, not even as he tried to summon all those past feelings of hurt. That place in his heart that WuFei used to occupy, had been filled with thoughts and feelings of Heero. It was a miserable realization, but it soothed him - somewhat - to know that no matter how impossible it may seem, he could get over people. He got over WuFei, he could get over Heero. Duo straightened up in his seat and matched the severity and determination of the bartender's gaze. He pocketed the handgun and slipped off the barstool. WuFei was first to blink and then a despair settled over his features. "You're making a mistake," he said, with a voice quieter than it had ever been. "... I know." He could only hope it would be his last one. The slightest nod in WuFei's direction was his way of saying farewell, then he turned around and walked out of the bar, knowing that either way - live or die, success or failure - he would never return. He didn't even realize how much his face had been burning until he stepped back out into the cold night. Snow blew horizontally down the street. Duo popped the collar of his coat and walked home, all the while feeling the weight of the gun in his pocket and the weight of every decision that led him here, in his heart. Somehow, he wasn't surprised to see J.J. slouched on the floor of the hallway, to the right of the door to his apartment. The younger man looked halfway between drunk and hungover and reeked like he hadn't showered in days. His black hair were greasy tendrils that fell over his face. When the youngster noticed Duo's approach, he looked up at him but made no move to get up from the floor. Duo made no move to pull him up. He stood over him and waited for whatever J.J. had come to say. He stuffed his hands into his pocket and he held onto the gun tightly and pressed it into his abdomen, hoping the shape wouldn't show through the material of his coat. He didn't trust J.J. to know that he had gotten a gun; he couldn't trust J.J. not to rat him out to The Bear, or to Tsubarov, because the black-haired youth wouldn't acknowledge that Duo was only trying to protect them both, instead, he would see it as a betrayal. It was a long silence, before J.J. accused: "You like him." For once, Duo didn't lie and he didn't argue the fact, which seemed to disappoint J.J. "Angelica told me." Duo kept his lips pressed into a tight line, while the barrel of the gun started to hurt as it dug into his side. "You love him," J.J. surmised. Duo's continued silence confirmed the suspicion. "Jesus..." J.J. broke eye-contact and looked off to the side. "Do you love him more than me?" He challenged. He considered his answer well. "I think he deserves to be loved more than you... But no, I don't think I do." Not even he himself could tell if that was a lie or not. Did he love J.J. at all anymore, or did he just love A.J., whom J.J. looks like more and more every day as he ages? "That doesn't put me at ease." "It's not my job to put you at ease. It's my job to keep you safe and that's exactly what I'm doing. Whether you believe me or not." "Oh, I'm just a job to you?" Duo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Go home, J.J. and get some sleep. Please. I can't do this again. I can't. I can't." Before he would burst out in a rant that would lead to them rehashing that very same argument again, he unlocked his door, stepped into his apartment and locked the door behind him. He stood there waiting for several minutes until he heard the scuffle of J.J. getting back up on his feet and then walking away. He leaned his back against the door, to support some of his heavy weight. The bed is only eight strides away - a minor detour around the coffee table - but it's too far. Has it always been that far? He makes it around the coffee table, but only far enough to let himself drop down onto the couch. The leather still stinks from the last time J.J. spent the night there. On the other side of town, he knew Heero lay in bed right at that moment, underneath clean, crisp sheets. Duo had spent so many hours wandering around that house, but he had never stepped foot in the bedroom. It was one of many regrets that made his heart ache. He wished that one of those many evenings that they had spent together, he would have pried Heero away from his work, led him out of his office by his hand and take him upstairs. Where he would have undressed him, only to lay him down in bed and curl up beside him. He would have watched him fall asleep, to see the tension melt away and feel his body relax against him. Feel his calm breaths swoop over his skin. He swallowed. His throat was dry. His eyes were too wet and started to burn. He redirected his focus to his frustration with J.J. It was easy being angry with him and it was an escape from many things that weren't easy. But as quickly as he summoned his rage for his little brother who had dragged him into this horrible mess, it slipped through his fingers and with a single exhale the only feeling he had left was the feeling of being lost. Because if not for J.J., Duo would have never met Heero. Regardless of how fucked-up the situation was - and how selfish he was being for even thinking it - he wouldn't have wanted to miss knowing him. He was better for having known him, in spite of the circumstances that had brought them together. It pained him all the more to know the opposite was true for Heero. Nothing would be better for him, after tomorrow. That night was the longest night of Duo's life. Until the next night. A black van rolled into his street, half an hour earlier than they had agreed on, but he knew the time had come. There was a moment when he thought for sure that he was going to walk out of the apartment leaving the gun on the coffee table, but after pausing by the front door for a second, he backtracked his steps to retrieve it. He tucked it into the waistband of his jeans, at the small of his back, while he headed down the stairs. His heart and feet were heavy, but his head felt light and fuzzy, like his consciousness could float away any second, leaving the shell of his body behind to do something he knew he would regret. Downstairs, the side door of the van slid open as he approached. Angelica, J.J. and Neil were in the back. The Bear was in the passenger seat. Behind the wheel was a man Duo had never seen before, but he knew was another one of Tsubarov's men. He closed the door behind him and worried he might have a panic attack in the enclosed, dark space, during the short drive to the other end of town. The catering logo on the sign of the van, which may have very well been from a real company, made their presence innocuous enough in the affluent neighborhood during the holiday. But they pass very few cars on the street to take notice of them anyway. Everyone who had some good sense was at home, celebrating with their families, cherishing what they shared. Duo didn't look up from the floor of the van once. Not even as he felt Neil's eyes on him. Not even as Angelica talked. Not even as J.J. joked. The Bear was silent and that scared him more than anything. He knew the roads between his apartment and the Corbeau estate so well, that he knew exactly when they had made the last turn - the one right after that sharp speedbump. Sure enough, the vehicle rolled to a gentle stop. Nothing was said. Neil opened the door and they all poured out of the van. He shut the door quietly behind him and the van drove away, leaving them at the west wall that lined the property. Angelica had her gaze trained on her tablet. She had mapped out the locations of all the security cameras and had figured out how long it took for them to rotate. An algorithm determined a safe path for them through the backyard, at least far enough for them to reach the distribution board by the maintenance shed. One by one, The Bear helped them over the fence. When it was Duo's turn, his stomach churned at the grin the big, bald-headed man give him, before giving him boost to help him over the brick wall. A big hand grabbed his thigh to further help him up and over and it made him even more nauseous. The Bear himself was tall enough to get over without any assistance, so he landed on the ground next to them last. They all crouched behind the overly-groomed shrubbery until Angelica gave the all clear. At her signal, Duo and J.J. crossed the field to the shack first and they had to wait a minute and a half before Neil and Angelica joined them and another minute and a half before The Bear came lumbering over. Neil helped Angelica screw open the metal box to expose the distribution board and she short-circuited the electrical feed to a single camera - the only one that could have picked up on them as they'd sprint to the back door, before camera 6 and 11 would complete their rotation and get a view of the pool and the patio. It was a risk taking out one of the cameras, but one they had to take. Neil stayed behind long enough to screw the box shut again, hiding the evidence of their tampering, while the rest of the crew raced across the damp lawn, past the pool and up the steps of the deck to the back door that would lead into the kitchen. It was a race against the clock. The only two remaining guards, stationed at the security building at the front gate, would have noticed the malfunction and would come over to check and make their rounds. By then, all of them will have had to have made it into the house without setting off any of the alarms. Angelica's fingers worked with impressive speed as she opened up the security panel by the door and attached a smartphone-sized device to it with flat wires. Neil caught up with them and sounded out of breath. He kept checking his watch; they had timed the guards and everyone knew it would take them four and a half minutes to cross the estate for anything less than a clear emergency. If the camera short-circuiting had caused any serious suspicion, they would have made haste and the crew would have been caught in the act already. Feeling nervous and useless, all Duo did was study his surroundings. The memories he had made in the place, calmed him, if only superficially. He remembered pushing Heero into the pool. He remembered having drinks with him on the deck. Memories morphed into fantasies as he imaged what other moments he would have liked to create. Perhaps let Heero teach him how to swim in the shallow end of the pool. Have breakfast on the deck in summer - surprising Heero from behind with a good-morning-kiss. He was so out of it, he nearly yelped when slim but strong hands grabbed him by his jacket and yanked him into the kitchen. His shoulder hit the stone floor hard and he bit down a wince. Angelica still had her fingers twisted into his jacket and he could feel her tremble with anxiety as Neil shut the door softly but with appropriate haste. They all scampered to shadowy corners as the beams of two flashlights cut through the dark night. The guards' voices were heard, but the words were too muffled to be understood. Duo could discern no urgency in their tone. His heart hammered in his chest as one pair of footsteps came up the deck and the light shone right through the glass doors, into the kitchen. He could only hope no signs of their entry had been left behind. "Anything?" Duo heard and then another pair of footsteps coming up onto the wooden patio. The beam of light focused on the panel to the right of the door. The guard did something that made the panel beep once. "Nah." "Damn fucking cameras. Now my pasta is cold." The two continued to talk but their conversation became indiscriminate as they walked away. Finally, Duo could breathe again. When he dared to look up, he noticed Angelica's worrisome gaze on him. He mouthed an apology, for freezing outside, when he should have been paying attention. He hoped that would be the end of it. They waited another couple of heartbeats before slowly getting up from the floor. In the few minutes they had been outside, Angelica had hacked into the security system and her pre-programmed device had overwritten the code. She had recorded a few seconds of footage from all the camera's and looped the feed to the building at the front. The only clue would have been a blip on the monitors, but both guards had been in the backyard, checking up on the malfunctioning camera. The entire system was in her control and the panel had given an all-clear when the guard did his check. During their months of preparation, Angelica had often boasted about her skills and it appeared she hadn't overestimated herself, but in the moment she didn't look nearly as victorious as Duo had expected her too. She looked alarmed and distrustful. He tried smiling at her, but it didn't help. "Are we clear?" Neil whispered. "Yeah." She cleared her throat and regained some of her trademark, cocky attitude, if only for show. "This place is my bitch now." "Let's get to work," Neil said and he lead the way, which he only knew because he had made Duo draw schematics of the place. J.J. and The Bear promptly followed and the black-haired youth looked around himself in wonder, taking in the expensive décor. Angelica trailed behind and Duo remained close to her with every intention of trying to put her at ease. "I'm sorry about that, I should have been paying attention," he said in a low voice, with his gaze trained on the back of The Bear's head. The grizzly bear tattoo stared back at him, with claws outstretched and fangs bared. "That's what you're apologizing for?" She hissed. He glanced at her sideways with a frown but then he felt her hand at the small of back, pushing against the weapon so it painfully dug into him. Shit, she must have felt it when she pulled me out of the way, he realized with horror. "It's just in case, I have no intention of using it," he promised her. "Guns have a way of ruining the best intentions." She shot him a meaningful look. He nodded once, he knew this truth very well. "I won't do anything stupid." She gritted her teeth and sped up her pace to distance herself from him. "Too late," she murmured. At that point The Bear stopped in the doorway from the home office to the forward sitting room that overlooked an eerily lit driveway. He watched them both walk by them with a sickening smirk. "After you, ladies," he mocked. Duo charged into the room, motivated by sheer frustration to get the job over with. He navigated around the furniture and pressed his hand to the paneled wall, to the left of the couch. Three panels, stacked on top of each other, popped open and then swung inward like a door. The automatic lights blinked on and Neil was clever enough to shut the drapes of the forward facing windows. The long-haired American urged everyone to come inside. One by one, they stepped into the small, secret corridor and went down the stairs into the basement office. Duo was last to go in and the underground space felt too crowded with all of them in there: Neil, Angelica, J.J. and The Bear. None of them were supposed to be there. It was nauseating. The space was too intimate and Duo had led them all in there to violate it. Angelica didn't waste any time. She put down her bag and opened the square panel that hid the safe. She made an appreciative sound, almost grotesque and sexual. At the quirk of J.J.'s eyebrow, she shrugged and explained: "She's a beauty." "Just crack her open fast, please," Neil said through gritted teeth. With his arms folded in front of his chest he observed the room for a moment. The Bear made himself right at home, sitting down in Heero's desk chair and propping his feet up on the desk, kicking away a picture frame in the process. The glass front shattered when it hit the stone floor. "Oops." His grin was anything but apologetic. With a groan Duo moved to pick it up. Just as he thought it strange for there to even be a picture frame - he had noticed the absence of anything personal in the house many times before - he turned it over and nearly dropped it again. It was a picture of him. One of the stupid selfish he had taken with the cumbersome camera as he gave himself a tour through New York. Heero had asked for a digital copy of the photos, but Duo had always assumed it were his infantile but sincere attempts at artful photography that had interested Heero, not the silly selfie where he was wearing the New York Yankees cap that he would later gift to the billionaire. "You left quite an impression on the guy," The Bear mocked. "Well, I am pretty great." He tried to be casual, but he failed. Everyone in the room looked at him for a split second when his voice cracked. No one said anything, but The Bear's smirk widened knowingly. The conman tightened his fingers around the frame, it was all he could do to stop himself from plucking the handgun out of his belt and shooting him in that very moment. The gun was only as a last resort, he would only use it in self-defense. No matter how much he wanted The Bear dead, Duo wasn't going to further degrade himself by actually murdering someone. He had already debased himself enough, betraying the trust of the only person to genuinely care for him since A.J. died. The adrenaline started to leave his body as time ticked on. Angelica was the only one hard at work. Everyone else found a place to sit and attempted to occupy themselves as they waited. Duo put the picture away, face down. He couldn't bear to look at himself. His eyes fell on the bookshelves behind the desk. He knew where the camera was, he had hidden it himself, but even he couldn't spot it between the knickknacks. He approached the shelving and scanned everything until he spotted the glint in the little black lens. He snatched the camera off the shelf and put it in his pocket, as if that would somehow make up for placing it in the first place. "Is it going to take much longer?" He asked Angelica irritably. She threw a dangerous look over her shoulder. Without having to check her watch, she informed him: "We've been here all of eleven minutes. Keep your panties on, okay?" There was flicker of regret in her eyes for the choice of words, but she didn't apologize, instead, she just went back to work. She had two laptops plugged into the motherboard of the safe, both running separate encryption programs. The tools she had used to drill through the outer shell still lay scattered around her on the floor. He considered apologizing for his impatience, but he didn't. He started pacing the room - even though there wasn't much room to pace. Just three strides, back and forth, between the bottom of the staircase and the couch against the far wall where J.J. and Neil had taken a seat. He had to be mindful not to trip over or disturb any of Angelica's equipment. All the while, he felt The Bear's eyes on him and the gun digging into his lower back. He became preoccupied with the notion that this was nothing but a game to the big man and that he was just waiting for Duo to make the first move. It was unnerving and stressful and made time slow down further. It felt like they had been cooped up in the basement - which was large, but felt too small with all of them in there, one even more unwelcome than the other - for hours, when in reality, less than twenty minutes had passed. And The Bear asked: "Did you fuck him?" Duo stopped his pacing to stare at him, not so much shocked by the antagonizing question, but by how much it offended him. It was unimaginative and par for the course, but his blood was boiling and the sly grin of the Russian enforcer amplified his reaction. "Don't you dare," he warned with a pointed finger, knowing that The Bear was only getting started. "Because the braid makes it seem like you would be the lady, but I bet it's the fucking Jap who takes it up the ass." He made a lewd gesture, twisting his wrist and thrusting his thumb up into the air. They had never had sex and Duo was still undecided on whether it was his greatest regret or the one thing that redeemed him. Having The Bear thinking about Heero like that, was an even worse violation than what was already being committed. The too-big-of-a-man sat in Heero's chair, in Heero's office, in Heero's home. In his sanctuary. Duo didn't know how much more he could bend before he would snap. The butt of the gun was painful against his spine as he tensed up. "I mean, this guy is obviously fucked in the head, right? So I'm guessing getting fucked in the ass comes with the territory." He clenched his teeth but knew that any defense he could muster would only make it worse. A thoughtful frown moved the man's brows. He dragged his feet off the desk and leaned forward in his seat, folding his hands in an almost comically villainous manner, for which Tsubarov must have been the inspiration. But Tsubarov didn't scare Duo. The Bear did. Tsubarov was a mouth with only words. The Bear was a mouth with nothing but teeth. "No..." The Bear said, realization visibly dawning on him. "No, you didn't fuck him. You care too much." He wasn't used to people being able to read him as well as he could read other people. "Wow." He sat back again, feigning shock. "I can't decide which one of you I pity more. The billionaire who was played by a streetrat. Or the streetrat who played himself." Then he laughed. "That's enough," Neil intervened. Duo didn't listen. "Why are you going this?" He challenged, but he already knew the answer. "We're here. We did it. It was a success." "Not yet." The Bear nodded at the locked safe that Angelica was still working on. "You wanted to us to fail because your hands have gone cold and you want to get some warm blood on them, but guess what? The only one who has failed is you. These past months you've tried and failed to corner me and give you an excuse to squeeze the life out of me, but I'm not playing your game." He smiled, pretending to be smug and victorious when he had never felt so unsure in his life. The bear mimicked his smile and Duo couldn't tell if it was an act or not. The man got up from his seat, calmly, and circled around the desk, slowly approaching him. He held his ground. It didn't feel like bravery, it felt like he was a deer freezing in the headlights. "If you're not playing..." The Bear was so close Duo could smell his breath and feel the warmth on his face. "... why did you bring this?" Then The Bear moved like a viper and he snatched the concealed gun out of Duo's belt. "No!" He tried to reach for it, but The Bear held him back with his other big hand pressed against his chest. Duo started throwing punches at him and in response he was thrown to the ground with a mighty shove. "This is cute," the Russian tank said, eyeing the gun which looked small in his hands. "Jesus, Duo, what the fuck?" Neil said, rising to his feet. J.J. looked more betrayed than any of them. Fool, Duo thought. But then again, weren't they all? He scrambled up to his feet, catching Angelica's concerned look before she refocused on her task, pretending not to be a part of the commotion. "What were you going to do with that?" Neil demanded to know. "How can you even ask me a dumb question like that?" He spat in response. "Was I really supposed to trust him?" "You could have at least trusted me!" Neil wanted to take the gun from The Bear, but the bigger Russian wouldn't let him and that was when Duo was really starting to feel panicked, as the power in the room was switching and Duo was tumbling towards the bottom of the totem pole that was crowned by the grizzly man. Everyone felt it. Neil blanched. It was such a small movement, with which The Bear refused to hand the gun over to the man who was supposed to be his superior, but it was a big moment. Neil and Duo exchanged a look. "I'll tell you who I trust," The Bear announced dramatically and he moved across the room to stand by J.J., who was still seated on the couch. Without saying anything else, he held the gun out to J.J. The black haired youth stared at it in confusion and then, with slow movements, he accepted it. He held it awkwardly, disinterestedly. He fixed a glare on his older brother. Duo's heart broke. J.J. still genuinely believed that the Russian gang had his best interests at heart. How did a caricature like Tsubarov and animals the likes of The Bear manage to indoctrinate a kid so wholly that he would distrust his own brother? The Bear smirked at Duo, taking pride in how he had defeated him even without violence. It was a new kind of victory for the burly man and he reveled in it. "I'm going to take a piss." Before leaving the basement, he turned to J.J. and said: "Keep 'em honest, soldier." J.J. nodded dutifully. Heavy footfalls traveled up the stairs. "J.J.," Duo's tone was pleading. "Give that back to me." He took a step towards him. J.J. leaned back and held onto the gun a little more tightly. "Please give it to me." His voice cracked. "No." The youth had never sounded so adamant, so empowered. "J.J., you can't trust him." "It seems like I can't trust you!" He rose to his feet and started waving the gun around. "For years you've been retelling the same sob-story about how much you hate guns because 'they killed our brother'. " He said it mockingly, which stung. "But here you are, with a gun stuffed down your pants. To ruin the one good thing that has ever happened to us!" Duo released a sob. "The one good thing?" He cast his gaze aside and took a moment to steel himself. With narrowed eyes and mouth pressed into a taut line, he faced the youngster again. He seethed: "You're knee-deep in a pile of shit and you can't even smell it!" "You were going to kill him!" J.J. said, gesturing with the gun, alternating between pointing it at Duo and pointing it around the room. "And what would you have done when I would have stood up for 'im? Would you have shot me too?" "I would never shoot you! I would never hurt you! I wouldn't even think to aim the damn gun at you, you're my brother." "We're not brothers," J.J. said coldly and he aimed the weapon in earnest. After a moment, he thought to take the safety off. All blood drained to Duo's feet as he stared down the barrel of the gun and he felt the fear that he knew A.J. had felt in that moment, right before... "Stop that right now," Neil hissed, but he lacked authority now. "He would have killed you too," J.J. pointed out. It was never Duo's plan to kill Neil, because he had long learned that Neil wasn't the threat. And he hated being right about that. "If you shoot me, you'll kill the last person on earth who actually gives a shit about you," the conman said in warning. "Tsubarov doesn't give a shit. The Bear certainly doesn't give a shit. You're a tool him. A tool to torture me with! Once he's had his fun with me, you're disposable." J.J. scoffed. "Right, yeah, I can tell how much you care. The only one you care about nowadays is that fucking, spoiled autist!" "I wish that was true!" He yelled in response, wrought with emotion. "I wish that was true, that I only cared about Heero. Because then I would have had the guts to tell him about this whole thing and then none of us would be here right now! But it's not true, so here we fucking are! I love him and I love you. But by fucking God you've won my loyalty solely on a technicality. I only stuck with this suicide mission because I've known you longer." It sounded even more stupid saying it out loud. The Bear made his presence known with a dark chuckle. "Wow, am I interrupting something?" "Lower that gun," Neil growled, but J.J. refused to listen to him. J.J.'s eyes flickered towards The Bear and that was when Duo acted on pure instinct, certain it was his only chance to regain the upper hand in the situation. The long-haired American lunged forward, his hands outstretched for the gun. One hand grabbed the barrel, the other grabbed J.J's wrist and twisted it. To his utter shock, his little brother pulled the trigger. The sound was deafening in the enclosed space but Duo was unharmed; the bullet had missed him, now that the gun was angled down and to the right. He squeezed J.J.'s wrist so tightly that he felt a crack and with a whine the younger man uncurled his fingers and the gun was dropped through the floor, Duo was about to get it, when big hands came out of nowhere, twisted into his leather jacket and threw him away like a ragdoll. He landed with his back against the desk and then fell down to the floor. Pain shot through him. Through squinted eyes he watched as the huge, blurry frame of the enforcer bent down and grabbed the gun off the floor. J.J. was pushed back onto the couch with a single order: "Sit". Duo was sure The Bear was going to shoot him while he was on the floor, barely able to see what was happening. But the man walked around him, around the desk and as indicated by the sound of wringing leather, he calmly took a seat in Heero's chair. Duo heard her first. A cough. Then a sputter. Duo blinked until his vision cleared and he saw her, lying prone on the floor. No... "Angelica!" In spite of the pain he forced himself to move and he crawled over to her. The entire front of her shirt was dark red, he couldn't even tell where the blood was coming from. Her face was as pale as paper, her usual, golden hue nothing but a memory. It would only ever be a memory. He ran his hands over her torso and found the tear in her shirt, at her lower ribs on the left side. Her blood was warm. Warm your hands with our blood... But it wasn't The Bear who had blood on his hands. It was Duo. Duo swallowed down bile, only to say: "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He threw a look up at Neil, for help, but the Russian was as pale as Angelica was. The man had truly cared about her and he knew and accepted that there was nothing they could do to save her. Duo hadn't accepted it. He pressed his hand onto the wound and started shouting instructions. Telling nobody in particular to get towels and to help him carry her outside, to take her to a hospital. With his free hand he reached for one of hers, wanting to offer her comfort, but her hand was cold. He looked at her face again. Her eyes were like those of wax figures; glassy, hollow, staring at nothing. Her lips were parted and there was a spot on her upper lip that he mistook for a mole but was actually a drop of blood she had coughed up with one of her final breaths. She hadn't even had time to say anything before the life had drained from her. Not even the strength left to say her little boy's name. Duo could barely breathe himself. He slumped and distanced himself from her as the rest of her body was starting to grow cold. "Well... shit," The Bear said flatly. "That is an unfortunate turn of events. Tsubarov isn't going to be happy about this. Something like this can't go unpunished." "... Unfortunate?" He wondered with hoarse voice. "She hadn't cracked the damn safe yet. Now, Tsubarov isn't getting his money. That will upset him." "She's dead!" "She's lucky, you'll see." "Tsubarov will punish you too for this failure," Neil pointed out. "I can take it as well as I can give it." J.J. started to mumble: "No, no, this- this can't be it... This can't be... It can't be... There has to be something we can do." He let out a nervous chuckle. "There's lots of stuff in this place that's worth like, millions, right? Those ugly fucking paintings, like that one!" He got up and pointed at the abstract painting of the family on the wall. "We could steal all that stuff and sell it, right?" "Do you even know how hot that artwork is?" Neil scolded him. "Those are famous pieces by famous artists, you can't just sell that kind of stuff without unleashing the hellfire of the police onto yourself." He shook his head in resignation. "It's done. It's over. We need to get out of here." "Nah, the kid's right," The Bear said. He was amused by everything. "At the very least we can get some things for Tsubarov to put up in his mansion. Might put him in a slightly more forgiving mood." The game wasn't over for him yet. The Bear went up the stairs and J.J. obediently followed. Duo looked up at Neil. "We have to get out here." The Russian leader looked at Angelica with eyes as dead as hers. He knew better than any of them the fate that awaited them. It took him a while to move. The two of them went upstairs and Duo watched, appalled, as J.J. used a knife to cut Heero's beloved paintings out of their frames to roll them up. It felt like he was watching his little brother amputate parts of Heero, right in front of him. The Bear was watching too. "We're leaving," Neil said as he walked past the bigger Russian. "You aren't going anywhere," The Bear barked and he went after him as Neil made a beeline for the kitchen, planning to go out the same way they had come in. Duo approached J.J. carefully. "Please, J.J. Let's go." "You're an idiot. This place is a fucking goldmine!" He haphazardly tore another painting from its frame. It was the painting over the couch in the office, the one that replaced the painting that Duo had expressed his hatred for to Heero. He actually liked this painting and watching him rip it, physically hurt him, as it damaged the treasured memory that it represented. "Those painting aren't worth a damn if you rip them up like that!" "For once in your life, stop criticizing everything I do! Don't just stand there, help out!" The Bear and Neil were out of sight and out of earshot. Duo and J.J. could escape if J.J. would just listen to reason, but the black haired man was too far gone. Duo thought of leaving him and trying to escape on his own. He took one step away from him and then realized he couldn't. If he did that, everything would have been in vain. He froze in place and continued to plead with J.J. instead, who frantically rummaged through the office, trying to discern anything and everything of value in the darkness. "J.J. this is our one chance. Please. You've trusted me all these years to help you, to take care of you... Please, trust me one more time. Just one more time," he pleaded, extending a hand out to him. "Come with me." A beam of light lit up the windows and the sound of gravel crunching under the wheels of a car registered in Duo's head just as he pictured one of the guards shining a flashlight into the room. With jittery movements he turned around and watched the luxury town car circle the fountain at the center of the inner courtyard and come to a stop at the front door. The driver's side door opened and Calvin stepped out, swiftly and elegantly as he always did. He smoothed one hand over the front of his jacket and with the other he ensured his cap was on straight. His uniform, Duo knew, was not something imposed on him by his employer, but instead was something he wore proudly of his own accord. The slender man walked around the car and opened the rear door on the other side. Heero got out of the car. "No..." Duo whispered to himself. He stood nailed to the floor. Heero wasn't in New York. He was here. He was right here. He had come back early. Why? Their voices were muffled, but Duo heard them say: "Thank you, Calvin." Duo had taught Heero that, to say 'thank you' to his employees. "No problem at all, sir. Are you sure you're alright on your own?" "Gerry and some of the other staff will return tomorrow. I can last one night." Calvin nodded. He shut the door and walked back around to the driver's side. Heero took his first step towards the front door. Duo grabbed J.J.'s wrist in a vice and pulled him along. The younger man didn't protest. They went across the hallway, through the doors that connected the home office to the kitchen. Duo literally ran into The Bear. He couldn't see him in the dark and in his blind fear. "We have to go," he hissed urgently. "He's here! He's back!" He wanted to move around the obstacle of a man but he was held back by his strong hand. "Good news. Tsubarov might get his money after all." Without another word, The Bear stalked towards the foyer. Neil was nowhere to be seen. "No!" He was surprised when suddenly it was J.J. holding onto him, rather than the other way around. He fought his younger brother. "What are you doing? This is our one chance to get that safe open," J.J. argued in a hushed voice, clamping a hand over Duo's mouth to keep him quiet long enough. The long haired man managed to overpower his younger brother quickly and he called out: "Stop!", hoping it wasn't too late to warn Heero. He threw J.J. off him and rushed towards the front door. Through the glass he could see the red tail lights of the car fading and on the white marble floor lay Heero, with The Bear standing over him. ~ * ~ tbc |
