Dreams Won't Let Go Part 2
Rescue
The door slammed back with a keen crack. In the split second of the violent unhinging, Heero took two steps, sighted the man closest to him and fired.
Sparks exploded from the Beretta's muzzle. The BANG of its discharge ricocheted about the room.
At least this time luck opted to be on Heero's side.
The watcher spun halfway around reaching for a .357 Magnum lying on a table. Just before his fingers folded over the large caliber automatic, the bullet found its mark on his chest.
Torso jerking from the impact; eyes wide in surprise, the dumbfounded gunman's hands clawed at the bloodied hole to the left of his breastbone.
Legs wobbling under increasingly dead weight; knees buckling, Heero's target swayed against the table. Crimson-stained hands slipped away. Arms dangling limply at his side, the lifeless body pitched forward and hit the floor with a sickening thud.
The Hispanic man stared in stunned disbelief, but only for a moment. Unfortunately his weapon of choice, a semi-automatic machine pistol, was already clutched firmly in his hand and to make matters worse, Duo sat slumped against the wall with the pistol aimed inches from his head.
It was evident Duo had been used as a punching bag. Numerous cuts and abrasions marred his face and his right eye was almost swollen shut. His shirt was ragged, his chest and stomach mottled with discolored welts and the raspy rattling in his lungs was further proof of a brutal beating.
But Duo's injuries were minor compared to the damage the machine pistol could inflect. If the pistol's owner deemed it so, Duo's skull could be blasted to bits and his brains splattered in a distasteful dispersion all over the room.
The fact Duo wasn't dressed in his Preventer's uniform might have been his saving grace but Heero wasn't going to thank the fates just yet.
The machine pistol trembled in the gunman's shaky grasp, "Drop your gun!" he growled.
Slowly Heero lowered the Beretta, allowing it to droop in his hand. With careful, calculated movements, not wanting to give his opponent any excuse to pull the trigger, the Gundam renegade turned peacekeeper faced his foe with determined resolve.
"All right." he said calmly, keeping his voice as even as he could under the circumstances. "We don't have to do anything rash." he declared with a subtle shifting of his weight just in case he had to react quickly.
The pistol toting man leaned over Duo pressing the barrel against his temple hard enough to tilt his head at an odd angle.
"I'll kill him! I swear I will!" The barrel pushed harder to emphasize the threat.
"You don't want to do that." Heero responded, hoping to plant a nonviolent notion in the man's muddled senses. "No one has to get hurt."
The gunman stared at his partner-in-crime's contorted body lying in a pool of congealing blood then shook his head negatively. "Drop the damn gun." he repeated with a wild-eyed look that frightened Heero.
Now there appeared to be a standoff with neither the Preventer agent nor the nervous gunman willing to concede. Besides, Heero was not so foolish to believe his capitulation would spare either him or Duo.no.if he surrendered his weapon they both would die.
"Why don't we both drop our guns?" Heero suggested a reasonable course of action.
Grabbing a fistful of Duo's sweat soaked hair that had come loose from its braid the man declined. "No deal." he hissed with a rough yank before letting go.
Duo shuddered. Pain etched his face, twisted his features into anguished contours. A strangled gulp of air caught in his throat as if thick fluid was clogging his windpipe.
Gazing up through bangs streaked with tacky traces of red Duo offered a defiant glare.
"Shoot me." he wheezed in insolent contempt.
"Shut up Duo!" Heero hissed, "Just shut the hell up."
Despite cracked lips, Duo managed to snicker. "I don't believe he has the balls." was stated as a stronger cough shivered through his lungs.
"Dammit Duo, don't do this." Heero pleaded knowing his partner was throwing down the gauntlet.
The gunman seemed momentarily taken aback by his captive's bold statement. Then he reckoned, if the obstinate bastard had a death wish, why not grant it and be finished once and for all.
But was the Hispanic man fast enough to pull the trigger and still get the drop on the deadly accurate Preventer with the Beretta?
That was one question he had to be damn sure of the answer.
Heero locked his steely sight on the clearly confused man and searched for the slightest hint that the henchman's alertness had faltered enough to give him the firing edge he needed.
One chance was all Heero would get. The single shot had to "freeze" the man or the resulting recoil might finish the trigger pull and violently plunge Duo into the afterlife.
The gunman looked down at Duo whose scorn was still in force. Then he lifted his eyes until they came into direct line with Heero's stern vision that bore into his foe's soul to sear through every layer until it scorched the very core.
The weapon twitched by Duo's head. Trigger finger tensed.
Even in Duo's impaired condition he sensed the danger.
Somehow he summoned up every ounce of power he could muster. In one concerted effort he bent his leg back and brought it around for a sweeping kick that snagged the man's ankle and knocked him off balance.
Staying true to the law of physics, "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." Duo's head whip-lashed against the wall.
Starbursts of white light flashed behind his eyes. Scant seconds later, the machine pistol's deafening report propelled fragments of noise that bounced inside his skull like exploding popcorn.
Dazed by the sensory bombardment, Duo hit the floor hard enough to jolt his entire body and break loose fluid clogging his airway. Retching up blood-tinged phlegm his weak gag reflexes fought against choking on the foul secretions.
With catlike speed, Heero crouched on the floor, tucked his shoulder and rolled under the spray of deadly projectiles that peppered the wall and etched irregular patterns in the plasterboard.
Powdery particles and gritty dust belched in the air and speckled the room just as Heero's completed roll brought him up on his knees.
A bullet between the eyes dropped the Hispanic shooter like a felled tree.
Heero stood up leveling the Beretta at the man's head just in case his bested opponent had not fully answered the Grim Reaper summon. But the death-glaze over his eyes and the gush of scarlet flooding his face was certain proof the man was indeed dead.
With a victorious sigh Heero lowered the Beretta then his eyes locked on his Preventer partner as Duo struggled to breathe.
Heero braced his knee, slipped his arm between Duo's convulsive body and the wall then lifted gently until Duo's shoulder rested against his chest.
Duo moaned.
Placing a hand on Duo's forehead, Heero whispered. "Easy. Relax." he instructed, straightening Duo's torso to aide his restricted inhalations.
As Duo struggled to suck in one good gulp of air, another cough rattled deep inside his battered body. Finally sufficient breath caught in his lungs. A second, easier intake helped to ease the painful hitching.
With noticeable effort Duo shifted his gaze up into Heero's worried eyes, "Where the.hell.did you.come from?" he wondered slumping back in Heero's arms.
"I came to find out why you hadn't checked in."
"Sorry about that."
One more sturdy breath.
"I ran into a little trouble."
Taking a moment to study the pair of corpses, Heero confirmed "I see you did. Do you know who they are? Or should I say were?"
"No idea." Duo winced as his dry, cracked lips stung, "But they knew exactly where I was. Someone tipped them off, I am sure of that."
Heero frowned at the possibility there could be a traitor among their ranks. "Who knew your mission assignment?"
"The Commander but a number of people could've accessed the files. You and I both know it's not that difficult to bypass the security access codes."
On many occasions Heero had snooped into classified files when he didn't have the time or patience to go through proper channels. Also he and Duo had been equally guilty of "stretching the margins" when it came to regulations that might get in the way.
Sliding his arm around Duo's shoulders in a supportive embrace, Heero settled down beside his pale partner. "I promise once you've recovered we'll turn the entire agency upside down. We'll find who's responsible then make them wish they'd never been born. This will be one time we're going to say the hell with the rules and take matters into our own hands."
Duo offered a nod then closed his eyes to stop the room from spinning when it felt like his brain slipped off center. "You bet we will."
"Let's get out of here. I'll call for a forensic team from the car. Maybe they can identify these bastards and we'll have enough information to start making some connections."
Duo did his best to stand but his legs rejected any idea of cooperation.
Heero switched his arm's encirclement to Duo's waist, shored up his support then more dragged than walked Duo to the door.
The braided Preventer glanced back at the deceased figures sprawled about the room. "I pity whoever is behind this." he announced, swaying against his counterpart.
Heero agreed. "Yeah revenge will be sweet."
*********
Heero eased Duo into the Viper's passenger seat and secured his seat belt. Letting his achy head flop on the headrest, Duo gave into the feeble weakness swamping his system.
After calling headquarters and demanding that the forensic team leave no stone unturned in determining the cadavers' identity, Heero contacted Commander Po via a secure line. He explained what happened and promised his report would be on her desk in forty-eight hours.
Not knowing the extent of Agent Maxwell's injuries, the Commander insisted he go to the Med-Center for a thorough examination.
Of course Duo adamantly refused.
Upon hearing her agent's curse-laden protests concerning the fucking hospital flowing through the COM link, Po rephrased her order to let him know she wasn't in the mood for any bullshit, at which point Duo wholeheartedly agreed to the requested checkup.
*********
Agent Yuy paced down the Med-Center's drab corridor for the fourth or fifth time then paused at a window to watch waning glimmers of sunset flare above the crimson-streaked horizon.
With a weary sigh he studied his stress-worn reflection, took a sip of incredibly bad vending machine coffee, glanced at his watch and wondered why Duo's examination was taking so long.
A half cup of coffee turned cold on the window sill veiled in purple twilight. Street lights blinked on one by one. After what seemed like forever, the attending physician stepped out of Room 4.
Chipboard in hand, the doctor's professional demeanor revealed nothing concerning Duo's condition.
"How's Duo?" Heero asked anxiously.
"Mr. Maxwell is very lucky." Dr. Smith responded to the agent's obvious concern.
Reviewing Duo's chart the doctor disclosed the test results. "He has deep tissue bruising. X-rays show a hairline fracture on the third left rib. CAT Scan is clear, no head trauma but he will have a dull headache for awhile."
"Can I see him?"
"Follow me."
Sheathed in a pale blue hospital gown and covered to the waist by a sterile white sheet, Duo reclined on a padded table, his head propped up by a pillow. An oxygen line was inserted in his nostrils and an IV ran from a suspended bag of clear liquid to a needle in his right hand.
"Hey." Duo greeted.
"How are you feeling?" Heero inquired, relieved that a hint of color had returned to Duo's cheeks and the swelling around his right eye no longer impaired his violet vision.
Duo shrugged. "I'm fine. When can I go home?" was directed to Dr. Smith.
"I'd like to keep you overnight for observation."
Clearly not pleased with that answer Duo announced. "I am NOT staying in this."
A glare from Heero cut off the sentence that most likely would've been punctuated with profanity.
Dr. Smith referred to the chart to verify Duo's date of birth, which was only a rough guess since his orphan status had never provided accurate documentation.
"You're an adult so legally I can't keep you here. If you insist on leaving I advise you not to stay by yourself tonight. You could still experience dizziness, nausea or a recurrence of restrictive breathing."
"He can go home with me." Heero stated without hesitation. "I had Medic training during the war. I can evaluate his condition and monitor his breathing."
Dr. Smith took a moment to consider the alterative proposal. "I still think Mr. Maxwell should be admitted but since he has no life threatening injuries I'll release him to your care.
A nurse will remove the IV. Give me a few minutes to type up a detailed treatment sheet, fill a prescription for pain medication and sign the discharge papers."
Dr. Smith paused at the door and issued his final orders to Heero. "Have him drink plenty of water and if you suspect anything is wrong, especially if his lungs become congested, I want him back here ASAP. Understand?"
"I'll watch him closely."
*********
Redressed in his tattered shirt and blood-splotched trousers, Duo mumbled to the nurse pushing him down the hall in a wheelchair. "I'm not an invalid."
Heero chided his difficult partner. "Behave or I'll rescind my offer to take you home with me. You keep causing trouble and your ass will be back here quicker than you can complain about it."
For the remainder of his ride to the front entrance the ex-Deathscythe pilot reframed from further comments but his continuous pouting made it clear he was not at all pleased with his mode of transportation.
Once his disgruntled counterpart was strapped securely in the Viper, Agent Yuy contacted Commander Po to apprise her of Duo's state of wellness and inform her of his temporary relocation.
"I'll call you in the morning with an update on Duo's recovery." Heero promised, "Meanwhile let me know as soon as the lab finds out anything about the two morgue tenants." he requested before ending the transmission.
"Ready?" Heero asked as he put the Viper in first gear.
Very appreciative for his triple rescue from the sadistic thugs, highly probable death and a miserable night alone in the hospital, Duo expressed his heartfelt gratitude.
"Heero," he began, his voice choked with emotions, "Thanks for saving me."
Heero recalled during the war the countless times Duo risk his life to ensure his fellow warriors' safety and as a Preventer Agent had shown the same willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice.
"We're partners and we watch each other's backs. Let's go home and put this day behind us."
TBC...
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