|
"Friends "Written By: Karina
Series: Friends Pairings: 2+6 Ratings: M 15+ [In Australia] Rated in the event of bad language and violence. Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing or the characters. That’s the way it is. Warnings: Not a death fic despite how it starts.
Aussie spelling and unbetaed. Summary: When Milliardo Peacecraft is abducted
and left to die a solitary death Duo Maxwell decides to take a hand
in the proceedings.
Chapter 40 The crackle of the fire filled the room and Trowa was comfortable in the silence. Duo fed small bits of wood into the flame, now and then carefully placing a larger piece to sustain a strong heat. With the door open at his back a constant cold draft entered the room and Trowa imagined this space would have been comfortably warm with the access sealed. They had found an ideal shelter in which to pass the less than pleasant days and nights of their captivity by the extreme weather. This snowbound mountain could easily have become Duo’s grave. Though the howl of the wind had lessened somewhat Trowa had no desire to return to the helicopter at this time. Duo glanced at him, motioning briefly to the doorway. “How long before they will be ready to eat?” “I would imagine they would be by now. I’ll check.” He was almost certain Maxwell wished a private word with Marquise and would take the opportunity to speak with him. He could guess what they would discuss and judged he could afford to give them a few minutes for Duo to question Marquise as to what he could and could not say about what had happened. It was a dangerous game they found themselves playing. Conspiracies were always nasty; ragged edged mine fields where one false step meant disaster. Political games were messy enough but when the game degenerated into the murky darkness Trowa felt from this situation, it took on a new meaning. He only hoped he could keep Quatre out of it. Taking up the handycam, he nodded to Duo and slipped out of the room, looking around as he ran a thumb caressingly over the cold metal in his hand. Chang was nowhere to be seen and Heero stood beside his tent, surveying the pegs hammered into the ice coating the floor as though he expected the ropes to slip and collapse the structure. “We are not going to be faced with wind, Heero. It will not blow away.” The roof above them groaned as though laughing at him, and he eyed the cobweb strewn rafters with speculation. Across from him Heero snorted, a wordless grunt before turning to face him. “We will need to leave for the helo early. Now that I have set up for the night I will contact headquarters and estimate our time of arrival.” “Where is Chang?” “Here.” Wu Fei emerged from his tent, brushing loose tendrils of hair from his eyes. He still looked to be in something of a sour mood and Trowa sighed, far from looking forward to what he felt needed to be done. Wu Fei could be difficult at the best of times and this was far from the best situation. Best to get on quickly, he decided. “Before you do anything I think you need to see this. Then we will talk.” He had their attention and with a surreptitious look over his shoulder he noted Duo leaning into the tent, his braid pooling on the floor beside his bracing hand. He would be able to give Duo a few minutes and anyway, he needed to brief his partners on the latest information. Chang slipped up to his left and Heero moved to his right as he crouched down, using the cluster of tents as shelter from the chill breeze wafting through the cabin. A little of the heat from the fire leaked out to pool in this spot and it was marginally warmer than the rest of the cabin. “Duo gave me the camera. He took photographs when he arrived, as well as some video footage. He might not be a professional crime photographer, but this is good enough for us to use as evidence.” Chang grunted, resting his chin on one knee as he hunkered down, peering at the small screen as Trowa pressed play. “He told me earlier he had photographs.” Trowa was uncertain if they would comment or request pauses as he played the footage, but they remained silent as they watched first the video footage and then the detailed photographs of the room and the man tied to the chair. Though he had no formal training as a photographer Duo had a natural talent with the camera and had done a commendable job of capturing the scene. It was not pretty. He had photographed everything from skid marks in the ice to the blood pooling on the floor at Marquise’s feet. He heard Heero shift uncomfortably at a couple of points, specifically at the most graphic depictions of the damage done to the man. Heero’s views on Marquise were complicated by his knowledge of the man garnered during their constant competition throughout the war. Exactly what Heero thought of Marquise Trowa did not know, but given he wanted to court Relena, Trowa suspected Heero had taken the trouble to thoroughly investigate Milliardo Peacecraft’s past. No doubt the orphaned Prince of Sanc had led a chequered past and Heero had never mentioned the man in private conversation with Trowa. Even following the fight in Antarctica Heero had said little about the man he seemed drawn to. He had the impression Heero had been surprised to learn of a link between Marquise and the black ops group. “This complicates matters,” Heero murmured. “It will likely lead to a lengthening of the journey back to the helicopter by several hours.” Trowa sighed. Wu Fei was still angry and being obstinate then. He had expected more than that after seeing the evidence of what Marquise had gone through. Trowa had hoped Chang would calm down and be more willing to discuss the logistics of their situation. To him it was obvious Zechs would not be in any condition to make the trip to their helicopter. “Option two then,” Yuy murmured. “We use Duo’s machine. It should not take any more than three hours to dig it out and check its systems with all four of us working. We can fly to our machine and transfer Marquise there.” That at least was an improvement and Chang merely grunted, scowling at the camera still held by Trowa. He looked far from happy and glared at the shimmer of firelight coming from the pantry. “This was personal.” Heero’s comment fell with the grace of a lead weight. Chang snorted, watching Heero run a grubby fingernail over the slashed wrist depicted on the screen. The screen was too small to show good detail, but it was enough for them to get a good idea of what had happened. “Someone with a grudge from the war,” Wu Fei decided. “Whether it was White Fang or Oz related, it was personal.” “Do you think it was easy to bring him down? You heard the preliminary report from the crew at his home. He was taken down by subterfuge, not skill, and I can not see him having an easy security system to circumvent.” Yuy was glaring at the camera and Trowa could guess what was bothering him. He had fought Zechs during the war, he was the one of their number who had the most experience with how the man thought and operated. Trowa guessed Heero was having a hard time equating the Lightning Count being taken down by a lesser man. Lesser man? They had no idea of the experience level of the person who had managed to come close to killing Marquise. He might well be an elite soldier with a pet grudge. There was too much they did not know about what happened and what Marquise had been doing since his return from Mars and departure from Preventers. //I doubt asking him will produce results. We have suspected a Black Ops unit is operating and now we know it. Marquise is a part of it. Perhaps he failed a mission and someone got close enough take him down.// But it was not up to them to investigate, so they might never learn the answers to the questions he wanted to ask. Une had given them explicit instructions about what they needed to do and he knew she intended to keep them out of the business. To protect them and more likely protect the Preventers organization from any fallout. Duo’s warning rang in his mind like a clarion; the alarm a warning of games being played in dangerous places. He had the uncomfortable feeling they were already irrevocably involved. “I need to contact Une for instructions on where to take Marquise.” Heero straightened. “I would think, if our earlier speculation is accurate, that those directions will be to a pick up point, not a hospital.” “We will not be given dispensation to investigate.” Trowa closed the camera’s screen, folding it neatly into the side of the unit. “No.” Heero’s growl seemed to echo about the room. “I do not believe they will want us involved.” “We have no need to be involved.” Chang sniffed, glancing at the open doorway. “None of us should be involved.” “But we are,” Trowa murmured. “Yes, we are,” Heero agreed. Chang snorted. “Maxwell is fool enough to stay involved.” “Highly possible.” Heero agreed. “Trowa, can you keep Quatre out of it?” Beneath the blue eyes intently watching him Trowa felt the weight of the question. Quatre would be inclined to concern himself, no matter what he said; no matter what any of them said. If Duo was involved in the mess then Quatre was sure to be as well. “Not if Duo is involved.” “That is what I thought.” Heero sighed. “Typical.” Wu Fei grunted, straightening. “We need time.” “I will make the call from outside and inform headquarters we must shelter for the night. Conditions up here are worse than estimated and we can not give an accurate ETA on our return.”
|
