Dreams Won't Let Go Part 7
Rendezvous
"We did a good job of spookin' the bastard." Duo commented from the passenger seat of the afore-mentioned non-descript SUV parked two rows behind Austin's truck.
Heero nodded with hopeful optimism. "Now let's see if our plan bears fruit."
*********
Heero had no difficulty tailing the Silverado along twelve blocks of downtown boulevards. As the agents pursued at a discreet distance, cooperative signal lights and the manageable volume of traffic aided their surreptitious shadowing.
In eighteen minutes, Austin navigated the city's labyrinth of jaywalking pedestrians, cars, vans, taxies, trucks and an occasional motorcycle. Heero matched every move.
Twelve minutes more.
A zigzag course through side streets, with the majority of shops closed for the night, blended into a poorly maintained asphalt road pitted with potholes.
While Austin appeared to be taking the direct route to his clandestine destination, Duo's L2 generated skepticism caused him to wonder aloud. "You don't reckon Austin is leading us into a trap?"
Heero didn't seem concerned. "He's too distracted to realize we're following."
A moment of silence.
Duo watched the Silverado's taillights alternate on and off as the truck slowed down then sped up. "If it's a trap we're screwed." he commented on his partner's insistence that backup wasn't required.
"We don't have to do this tonight." was offered as an alterative course of action.
There was no hesitation in Duo's reply. "We have to find out why we've been betrayed."
To reassure his partner Heero reviewed Duo's extraordinary combat skills. "You've been outnumbered by Mobile Suits, control panel malfunctioning and weapon systems low on power and you gave the Ozzies hell."
"I hope you don't take offense, but if it wasn't for Scythe I might not have survived."
Heero disagreed. "You were Deathscythe's master. You took charge of the controls. You earned the title Shinigami with piss and fire and I would trust you with my life."
*********
Overhead the sky was an ebony backdrop for thousands of stars. A thin slice of silver, the crescent moon deferred to the pinpoints of shimmering light and bestowed upon them the honor of center stage.
Rutted asphalt had given way to a serpentine gravel road littered with trash, blotched with slimy puddles and flanked by matted undergrowth skewered by skeletal stalks of dead ironweeds.
Without the benefit of large trees with thick foliage to shield their trailing, Heero backed into an equally overgrown service road and switched off the engine.
In the moon-muted gloom it was easy to monitor Austin's progress as the bright swathe cut by the headlights etched a straightway path toward four single-story buildings which gave the outward impression of being deserted.
Once again Duo was prompted to question the agent's motives for motoring into the boondocks. "You think the bastard drove out here to blow his brains out?"
Heero shrugged. "That would be the coward's way out."
Not completely convinced, Duo trusted his gut instincts, "No, Austin has a definite agenda and it's not suicide." he decided as the reddish glow from the Silverado's taillights evaporated into the darkness.
"May I make a suggestion?" Heero endeavored to halt the speculation, "Why don't we suit up and ascertain the fox's intensions."
Bulletproof vests donned and night vision mini-binoculars hanging around their necks, the Preventer partners proceeded to arm themselves with firepower that might seem excessive to anyone but ex-Gundam pilots.
Fully loaded Berettas rested on their hips. SR42 Assault Rifles were retrieved from the back seat. Four "quick load" rifle clips attached to their belts further fortify the private arsenal. Lastly, combat knives with eight-inch serrated blades were strapped to their thighs should circumstances called for silent elimination.
Like twin tigers stalking their prey, Heero and Duo traversed the desolate terrain linking the road and the isolated structures in seamless synchronization. There was no need for hand signals or whispered directions, only the duality of minds and bodies thinking and moving as one.
After a series of concise crisscross dashes stopped a hundred yards from their objective, the interlopers hunkered down among mounds of tangled vegetation. While Duo served as rear guard, Heero utilized his binoculars to urge details into focus.
The derelict structures' configurations were suggestive of manufacturing units or warehouses. Walls were constructed of crumbling brick. Three roofs were sagging, the fourth had collapsed. Most of the grim-streaked windowpanes framed in rusted metal were broken or missing and emitted no light.
"Contrary to the forsaken conditions there has to be a logical explanation for choosing this location." Heero reasoned.
From Duo's vantage point slightly behind his partner, he hugged his rifle to his chest and squinted to the east beyond a cluster of gnarled saplings.
"You might just get your answer cause company is comin'." he announced.
Plums of dust billowing and headlights slicing through the darkness, two cars and a Land Rover maneuvered around the last curve. Copying Austin's trek, the caravan raced onward with the drivers ignorant of the unauthorized intruders flattened side by side in the brittle grass.
*********
In the wake of Heero sliding his shoulder along a disintegrating wall, chalky mortar sifted from crevices like powdered sugar through a sieve.
Across a narrow deer path, Duo crouched in waist-high weeds and sighted in his binoculars. Four fingers indicated the total number of vehicles, including Austin's Silverado, parked by the third building.
Heero mouthed the question. "Watchers?"
Two fingers supplied the answer.
The onset of eerie fog aided the agents' infiltration into the insertion zone. Calculated movements designed to minimize rustling footsteps and maximize the element of surprise counted off the last forty yards of encroachment.
Unaware of their secret surveillance, the pair of watchers milled about a door scarcely lit by a single bare light bulb. Matching the poor luminosity, a faint glow seeped through a row of spider web cracked windows.
Yet despite the lack of light, both the modified shotgun serving as the taller guard's protection and his cohort's choice of a large caliber rifle validated the fact either firearm could create a nasty hole.
Heero indicated his intentions by pointing his thumb to the right. Duo nodded then slunk off to the left.
The horseshoe stratagem, sweeping wide then executing a swift joint convergence on the intended target, required Heero and Duo to lose sight of each other, but via many battles they'd developed a sixth-sense which transcended corporeal limitations and allowed them to "feel" rather than see.
Even in their temporary segregation, the warriors kept a perfect pace, each step duplicated stride for stride until they materialized from the ashen mist.
A blur of motion was the only warning a split second before Heero's boot arced in a high roundhouse kick that impacted with the right side watcher's head. On the left side, the man's stunned colleague was offered zero reaction time prior to Duo's elbow smashing into his chin, teeth and nose.
Two limp bodies were dragged behind a defunct air exchange unit. Duo eased the front door open, waited until his eyes adjusted to the dim, deserted corridor, readied his rifle then took the point.
Behind his counterpart, Heero's alertness was in full force as he advanced with soundless footfalls over filthy black and white floor tiles that put him in mind of a chess board.
This pursuit was like chess, the ultimate gambit of hounds and fox with Duo the Bishop and Heero the Knight.
Pawns would be disabled or dispatched and Rooks eliminated from the next line of defense. Finally if fate deemed the warriors worthy, perhaps their prize would be the King and Queen and checkmate their victory.
But whatever the outcome, the game would be played to a decisive conclusion. There would be no draw and certainly no surrender.
*********
A corroded light fixture recessed in the ceiling hummed. One blue-white fluorescent tube, pulsing like a strobe light beside its burned out mate, cast fluttering shadows that played tricks on the eyes.
Half a dozen gray rats scurried ahead of the Bishop and the Knight until the beady-eyed rodents clawed up the wall and vanished into a hole gnawed in the crumbling plaster.
Duo had no doubts the entire building was teeming with vermin, but the plentiful critter population wasn't an immediate concern. His interest centered on what was so damn urgent to prompt David Austin's midnight run to nowhere.
Heero's thoughts took a different path. The outside guards had been the initial Pawns. Now in anticipation of additional challengers he formulated moves and countermoves refined in the heat of battle.
Pivoting just enough to see Heero in his peripheral vision, Duo whispered the first words spoken since infiltrating the fox's lair. "Austin couldn't have vanished into thin air."
Heero's nonverbal response plus a hand raised to signify caution caused Duo to stop in his tracks.
Barely audible above the faulty fixture's incessant drone, voices murmured along the walls, footsteps tapped on the floor then, in less than a heartbeat, gloom-shrouded silhouettes emerged from an adjoining hall.
When it came to height and weight, Heero and Duo had always been on the shorter, lighter end of the charts. While Heero's rationale was the infusion of Asian genes, Duo blamed malnutrition for his stunted stature.
However the basis for their slighter physiques was irrelevant as the trespassing agents found themselves stuck between the proverbial "rock and hard place".
Confronted by three men who were at least a foot taller and heavier by sixty or seventy pounds, the dusky hallway provided no nooks or crannies for cover nor did the diminutive rat holes offer any sanctuary.
Given that retreat was not an option, as in prior circumstances when fate threw down the gauntlet, the Perfect Soldier and Shinigami had no choice but to stand their ground and tell fate to fuck off.
*********
Undoubtedly the sentries, supported by an assortment of lethal weapons, assumed they had the taller, heavier and three against two advantage; still the gatecrashers' well-armed status had to be taken into account.
Although the young warriors were content with the false impression that smaller equaled vulnerable, they had no qualms concerning the deception and would feel no remorse if the end game resulted in their adversaries' elimination.
An inquisitive interval passed between the Bishop, the Knight and the Rooks as strengths and weaknesses were evaluated and plans of action analyzed.
Judging by the burly trios' baffled expressions, Heero reckoned they'd been hired for brawn not brains and thus would be susceptible to misdirection.
Duo agreed, the men were a few bottles short of a six pack, but he also knew that such deficiencies in intellectual astuteness made the lackeys extremely unpredictable.
Yet one factor was crucial in sustaining their secrecy: avoid a Wild West shootout. Guns made noise and noise attracted attention so Duo and Heero found themselves in the unenviable position of engaging in warfare that wouldn't invite Austin and his unknown number of associates to dance.
In tune with each others' instincts, the Preventer partners formulated similar strategies. With practiced discretion, Duo gave Heero a "go ahead" nod then shifted his weight for optimum balance and reaction time.
Heero put on the mantle of authority and rested his rifle in the crook of his arm which aimed the barrel toward the ceiling. Displaying the least hostile posture without compromising the upper hand, he stepped forward at a slow but deliberate pace.
"We're looking for David Austin." he stated truthfully, "Know where he is?"
The middle man cut his eyes at the fleshy bookends flanking his broad shoulders. Receiving blank stares from his clueless comrades, he snorted. "Ain't none of your business."
Undeterred, Heero took another step to decrease his striking distance. "David is expecting us," he tilted his head at Duo for emphasis, "I'm sure he'll be pissed if he finds out you gave us attitude."
On the right side of the triple threat a man with shaggy auburn hair and a thick white scar etched from cheekbone to chin seemed to have actually processed a thought.
"Hey Johnny," he addressed the middle man with a hint of Scottish brogue, "I don't think those two should be here."
To Johnny's left a swarthy man with beefy biceps and pectoral muscles rippling under his taut red tee shirt added his endorsement. "Yeah."
With the stating of the obvious, a flicker of logic demanded re-evaluation of whether or not the strangers, armored in bullet proof vests, were indeed supposed to be there.
Grabbing for the pistol holstered on his hip, Johnny called the intruders' bluff.
Just as the sidearm was extracted, Heero guided the rifle down his arm, folded his fingers around the barrel and swung it like a bat. The keen crack when the butt collided with a jutting jaw was accented by a grunt as Johnny pitched over like a felled tree.
Satisfied with his handiwork, Heero angled the rifle across his chest and centered his attention on scar face. "Tell me where Austin is!" was growled darkly.
Unimpressed by Johnny's swift defeat, the Scotsman bolstered his bravado and made a headlong rush at the irksome upstart who apparently had a death wish.
The charge could've been halted with a single shot however firing would've broken the "sneak in quietly" rule. As an alternative Heero waited until the last minute, sidestepped the attack then planted a fist squarely in the stampeding fool's diaphragm.
A rush of expelled air, a groan, the man doubled over. Not in the mood to waste time, Heero finished the fight with a solid chop to the base of the skull that dropped his foe like a stone.
Meanwhile Duo and the owner of the bulging biceps had entered into a physical debate on the topic of bulk and brute strength versus speed, agility and cat-like reflexes.
A fist the size of a cantaloupe hissed through the air, Duo skittered out of range. The second punch was dodged then Duo parried with a jab to his opponent's breastbone that had the same effect as hitting a rock wall.
More annoyed than hurt the man snorted and his fist flew again. This time the longer reach resulted in a glancing blow to Duo's shoulder that sent fire racing through his bruised ribs.
Two more successive blows drew blood from Duo's bottom lip, opened a gash over his right eye and plopped him on his ass.
Yellow-toothed grin highlighting a perceived victory, the hulking mass of muscles leered down and with breath that reeked of soured whiskey declared. "If ya gonna fight like a pussy it won't be no fun beatin' ya to a pulp."
Duo spit out blood-tainted saliva and snickered. "Despite what your mama told ya arrogance won't enlarge your puny cock."
It took a nanosecond for the skillfully aimed insult to provoke a response. A huge jackboot, intent on stomping the cheeky expression off the braided lad's face, hovered in midair.
In the same minute time span Duo gathered his feet under him, reared back on his haunches and drove his shoulder into the man's leg supporting all the weight. The horrendous crack when the kneecap snapped evoked a shriek then the Scotsman collapsed like a house of cards.
*********
Duo wasn't aware of Heero kneeling beside him until his partner stated, "You're bleeding."
"I'm all right."
Sliding a thumb under Duo's chin to steady his head, Heero preformed a quick but thorough examination. "I think you'll live." was decided upon closer inspection of the clotted cut above Duo's eye.
After helping Duo to stand, Heero surveyed the aftermath of their brawl with the Rooks. Johnny was unconscious, the Scotsman was staring glassy-eyed at the ceiling and the more animated muscle man was cursing and writing in pain.
Heero shook his head. "What a mess."
Not able to resist, Duo made one final mischievous observation "I guess it is true, the bigger they are the harder they fall."
*********
Thirty yards down a corridor cluttered with cigarette butts, wine bottles, beer cans and used condoms Duo crouched alongside a decomposing rat carcass and sighted his rifle to safeguard his partner.
As a thin line of light rippled over Heero's face, he braced his weight against the hinged side of a partly opened door and peered through the crack. The narrow scope confirmed, like trash strewn hallway, the room was in an identical state of squalor.
Dangling on a frayed cord, a light bulb swayed in gusts billowing through a shattered window. The floor was encrusted with dirt, dry leaves and scraps of yellowed paper.
A dented metal desk with slate gray paint peeling off numerous rusted patches, an equally time-tarnished file cabinet and two metal chairs, maroon seat cushions faded and threadbare, completed the post-apocalyptic décor.
Voices drifted into the hall. Perhaps the varied pitches implied both male and female, but the words muffled by whining wind failed to divulge how many people were participating in the dialogue or offer any clue to the subject of conversation.
A tapping of shoes, a wavering profile borne of the pendulous bulb was briefly projected on the wall then it retreated into obscurity.
"This is a damn waste of time." Heero mumbled in frustration as he squatted beside Duo.
Duo wrinkled his nose at the rancid rodent that was pungently encouraging a swift relocation before he whispered. "May I offer an alternative to your voyeuristic surveillance?"
Opting to ignore the smart-ass remark, Heero nodded "yes".
"Since we weren't invited for tea we don't have to be polite and knock."
"We can't confront the enemy without verifying numbers and strength." Heero countered the "busting in the door" proposal.
To promote his plan of action, Duo tallied up the body count. "We took out two guards and three lackeys that's five out of the game. Judging by the voices there's no more than four or five people, one of them is Austin and you know how incompetent he is. Also we have surprise on our side.
Duo paused so his partner could evaluate the tactical analysis then added one indisputable fact. "No one on the other side of that door is as battle savvy as we are."
*********
All words and movement came to an abrupt halt when the door slammed back and two black clad figures rushed over the threshold.
Adjacent to the demolished window, one man vacillated for a single indecisive moment before extracting a steel-plated automatic from its holster.
The deafening discharge from Heero's Beretta ricocheted around the room an instant before the automatic struck the window sill with a tinny cling, the man grabbed his bloodied shoulder then decorated the wall with scarlet smudges as he sank to a seated position.
A second man with a machine pistol pivoted in place, but never had time to aim. Also opting to spare a life, Duo's pistol targeted its mark on a left thigh that buckled both legs and sent the shooter down to join his confederate on the filthy floorboards.
Congregated by the dented desk, two males and a female shared identical states of surprise as they endeavored to comprehend what had happened.
First on the list of unscrupulous cohorts, a very pale David Austin displayed the stunned characteristics of a deer in headlights. Eyes wide, pupils enlarged and mouth gaped in stunned silence he would have most likely wet himself if either Heero or Duo hollered BOO!
Next, a mid-fifties man of Spanish parentage, with a muscular physique and gray peppered in his thick ebony hair, exhibited the composed demeanor of a seasoned veteran of many transgressions. His brooding eyes held no apprehension, his expression was unreadable and his body language conveyed a malevolent potential for bloodshed.
The petite woman with wavy honey blond hair cascading over her shoulders couldn't have been much older than Heero and Duo. Hazel eyes weren't fearful, but projected a hardened aspect of anger and loathing.
Meanwhile the bested gunmen, sprawled over the floor like toppled Pawns, groaned in their wounded misery.
With the Beretta a natural extension of his arm, Heero addressed the man with the icy eyes. "Antonio Sanchez." was stated rather than asked.
"Correct." A thin lipped grin poised on Sanchez's lips. "Might I inquire concerning your names and the epitaphs you desire to be inscribed on your headstones?"
Before Heero could respond, the woman emitted a glower that rivaled the Perfect Soldier's best glare. "Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell." she hissed out the agents' identities.
Duo made an educated guess. "Elektra Morgan."
"Morgan is my mother's maiden name," Elektra made the correction, "which was put to practical use for my employment registration at the L1 Embassy."
Centering her stern stare on Agent Austin she proclaimed. "This situation has turned out better than I expected. You might have just earned a reprieve for your previous stupidity."
Quickly losing patience with the exasperating tête-à-tête, Duo directed the business end of his Beretta at the impertinent woman and got to the point of his and Heero's unauthorized visit.
"I don't give a damn if you're pleased to see us or what alias you choose or," Duo shot his own angry glare at Austin, "what happens to this fucking traitor who compromised my stakeout. Why was I held in that abandoned apartment and who is Vincent Largo?"
"You were bait to lure your partner."
"And Largo?"
"Vincent Largo was my father."
Now Heero's willingness to endure the convoluted conversation was also wearing thin. "The sameVincent Largo who worked for the United Earth Sphere Alliance on Colony L1?"
Elektra nodded affirmatively.
"So what does being Largo's daughter have to do with us?"
If a fierce look could kill, the Preventer partners would have already been spirited away on their journey to Valhalla. "My father was killed when the venomous Gundam rebels launched their unprovoked attack on Field Marshal Noventa."
Fingers balled into enraged fists, Elektra supplied the final piece to the puzzle. "I vowed the day my father was murdered I'd find every man responsible and vanquish them to hell. Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell were the first on my list and as soon as you're terminated I'm going to hunt down the remaining homicidal pilots who will also experience my bitter vengeance."
Duo cringed at the despondent pain in Elektra's voice then shuddered as exhumed memories of Solo, Father Maxwell and Sister Helen threatened to overwhelm him.
Yet under such dangerous conditions he couldn't afford to be distracted by guilt nor could he mourn the countless soldiers, pilots and innocent civilians slain for the sake of a senseless war.
All he could do was safeguard Quatre, Trowa and Wufei and strive for some measure of atonement, for he knew all too well what had been done could not be undone, not by tears or sorrowful wails or a million acts of revenge by the God of Death.
Pushing his self-reproach aside, Duo drew in a steadying breath and, at the risk of sounding callous, took up his duty of post-war peacekeeper.
"I'm truly sorry for your lost Ms. Largo however Agent Yuy and I can not permit you to redraft the law for your personal reprisal."
Heero took up the next round of reprimands "The same rules apply to Mr. Sanchez who has committed a multitude of crimes including extortion, illegal gambling, tax evasion and being an accessory in IRS Agent Williams' disappearance and probable death. Now add complicity in the abduction and subsequent injury of a Preventer agent."
Finally Duo leveled his strongest rebuke at David Austin. "Agent Austin you swore to uphold the laws of Earth and the Colonies, to preserve the peace, serve the people and defend your colleagues. By your betrayal you've committed the most grievous offense of all which could be punishable by life in prison and your only hope for a less severe penalty will be full cooperation in your accomplices' convictions."
Contrary to David Austin's penitent posture of trembling body, sagging shoulders and eyes directed away from his fellow agents' incensed sight, Antonio Sanchez showed no remorse for his incorrigible deeds.
With contemptuous applause Sanchez submitted his sarcastic critique. "A masterful performance; really tugged at my heartstrings." he sneered, "A well-balanced oration of comedy," he extended his hand towards Heero and Duo, "and tragedy," he pointed a thumb back at Austin.
"Elektra, my dear, as leading lady you're a bit overdramatic, yet very sincere in your role of the bereaved, long suffering daughter of a minor official with dubious loyalties."
Sanchez paused as if to consider further comments then announced. "In response to the recent script revisions, I must conclude my review by taking the players off the payroll." was proclaimed just before he drew an unseen pistol and lodged a bullet between the repentant Agent Austin's eyes.
The baffled look of disbelief on David Austin's face lasted only a moment before his brain shut down and his pupils glazed over then in soundless surrender he crumpled into a boneless heap at Elektra's feet.
In the next split second, as the pistol pointed at Elektra, Heero was forced to make a difficult decision to pay Sanchez back in kind with a bullet to the brain or risk Elektra's life to keep the vile fiend alive to pay for his crimes.
Choosing to uphold the Preventer code of justice, Heero delivered a snap kick to Sanchez's wrist which dislodged the weapon then followed through with an upper cut powerful enough to dislocate the Spaniard's jaw.
Breathless and drenched in cold sweat, the Master of Wing Zero locked his cobalt sight with Elektra's misty eyes that were, at last, devoid of hatred, but still overcast by inconsolable grief.
In deference to Elektra Largo's dejected spirit and to express regret for their part in her father's death, Heero and Duo lowered their eyes, bowed from the waist and said in unison. "Gomen nasai."
*********
Three Preventer SUVs, a forensic truck from the Crime Scene Investigation Unit and two ambulances were mingled among Elektra Largo and Antonio Sanchez's cars, the Land Rover and the Silverado.
Handcuffed and secured in separate vehicles, the overthrown Queen and the checkmated King, with his tender jaw guided back into a proper alignment, awaited their delivery to Preventer Headquarters for interrogation and detention until the Federal Court could file an extensive assortment of charges against them.
The various sentries and bodyguards that Heero and Duo had left scattered in their wake were either in custody or being examined by Emergency Medical Technicians. Encased in a body bag, David Austin had been loaded into a van from the Third District Coroner Office.
Exhausted beyond the point of concern with ribs aching in his chest, Duo sat slumped against a cracked concrete retaining wall and took sips from a lukewarm water bottle.
In a similar state of physical soreness and mental fatigue, Heero stood nearby as he spoke with Commander Po via a secure channel on his cell phone.
The lengthy intervals between Heero's short, often stammered replies confirmed the agent was on the receiving end of a serious dressing-down and, although Duo had expressed his utmost sympathy, he was thankful his partner had volunteered to make the call.
A final "Yes Commander" was uttered in an apologetic tone before the phone was switched off.
"The Commander is royally pissed off." Duo stated without a doubt as Heero flopped down beside, snatched the water bottle and took a long swig.
"That's an understatement." Heero confirmed as he leaned his head back and closed his bloodshot eyes. "She wants a preliminary account by one o'clock tomorrow which will certainly be accompanied by another tongue lashing. A full report is due by the end of the week."
Duo glanced at his watch and sighed. "It's already 2:48 in the morning, when in the hell does she expect us get any sleep?"
"I don't think she cares."
"You know," Duo declared as both ambulances sped away with sirens wailing, "we don't have to put up with this shit. You think we should resign?"
Heero shrugged. "Maybe, but what would we do?"
In no hurry, the coroner's van traveled down the gravel road. Duo watched in silence until the taillights were swallowed up by the darkness. "It's awful what happened to Austin."
"Life can be awful." Heero stated from experience. "Let's go home."
TBC...
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