Deliveryman Two Part 3
"Hello Dr. J. Perhaps I can be of assistance?"
The bastard didn't even sound surprised.
"02. Une finally tell you that we needed your help?"
Need my help? Was he nuts?
"No. The good lady didn't mention anything of the sort."
I heard him snort on the other end.
"She hasn't told you anything? Don't answer. I can imagine. She has been most unhelpful. Said that we already had her best agent and she wasn't going to turn another friend over to us." His tone said clearly what he thought of that weakness.
For a moment I was less upset with Une. Then I remembered that she had turned one of her friends over to them.
"Well, then. What do you need my help with?" I'd be more than happy to rip your throat out I thought to myself, and your limbs off as well. Just for the sheer pleasure of it.
"To be precise- we need you. There's a problem with 01. We're hoping you'll be able to help us out."
A problem with Heero? What had those bastards done? The rage that I had managed to force down rose back up.
"What kind of problem?"
"We'll explain when you get here."
This sounded like a big old trap. Did they think I was that stupid?
"No. You tell me now. Or I'm not going anywhere."
"And if you don't then you won't see your lover again."
Damn it. Needed to think here. I throttled my rage down. This may be a trap- no more than likely was one. But if I didn't walk into it what were the chances of seeing Heero again? Pretty good, since I thought I could twist Une into telling me what I needed to know.
But pretty good odds weren't good enough.
And there was the whole 'problem with Heero'.
Shit.
"Very well. What do you need me to do?"
"Good. There's a shuttle leaving in half an hour to L2 from spaceport one. Be on it." He hung up.
I slammed the phone down and looked towards the trembling lady. "Well, now. Hasn't this been illuminating?"
"Duo-" She started hesitantly. I waved the gun at her.
"Shut up." I pulled my phone out of my pocket with my free hand and hit the auto dial.
"Winner."
"It's me."
"Duo? Where-"
"Not now! I need you up here in Une's office. She's been playing us."
"Wha-" I practically heard the click. "Damn it! We'll be right there."
The other three arrived seconds later. Wufei looked explosive. It relieved me. He was the full-time Preventer. I didn't think he'd betray us... but all the same it was good to see that he looked as angry as I felt.
Une had collapsed. She was seated on her desk, slumped over. She'd be easy pickings for Quatre.
"Fill us in," Quatre said tensely.
"I don't know much. G hinted about the coming of a new world order when he called me. I saw Relena giving a speech in which she used the phrase, put two and two together, and came up here just in time to answer a phone call from J." I looked at the clock. "He wants me to get to L2 right away and help them."
"Help them?" Trowa repeated.
"They did something to Heero. I have to be on the next shuttle..."
"I'll go with you." Trowa looked at Quatre.
"Right. Go with him." Quatre reached for his cell. "I'll call Rashid. We will deal with things here. Call me when you get to L2 and we'll brief you on what we found out." He turned and looked at Une. "I'm sure the Lady here will be most helpful. Won't you?"
I'm sure I've mentioned before how scary Quatre can be? Not to mention the beyond pissed Wufei standing next to him, looking as though he wanted to cut someone up into tiny pieces? Knowing they had this front covered, Trowa and I left for the shuttle port.
Trowa and I didn't speak much as we headed for L2. What was there to say? We had been betrayed by an organization we trusted. It wasn't the first time that it had happened; after all, our colonies had done the same.
O met us at the gate when we got off the shuttle. He frowned at Trowa, but didn't say anything other than: "please follow me."
What else could Tro and I do? We followed him. Though I noticed that Trowa's hand was never too far from where I knew he had one of his knives hidden. My gun was tucked securely in its hidden pocket, ready for whatever came.
Was it so bad to hope that I'd get to use it on someone soon?
O led us to one of the private shuttle bays. "Here is your ship. The coordinates you need are programmed in. Once you have launched J will contact you and let you know what you need to do."
"Wait a sec. We're supposed to go off in some spaceship that you guys more than likely did some tinkering with? And you won't tell us what for until we're on board? I don't think so." I yanked the gun put of my pocket and pointed it at him. "I want some more information before I get on that ship."
"I agree," Trowa said quietly.
"Very well." O reached into a pocket and pulled out a small recorder. He tossed it to me. "Listen and see if that convinces you."
I hit the playback button.
A minute later the recording ended. Trowa had turned pale. I could feel myself shaking. O looked smug. I took a step forward and punched him right across the face, knocking him backwards.
"You fucking bastard!"
"This isn't helping 01," O managed as he wiped the blood off of his mouth and I snarled.
"No, but it's making me feel better. Maybe I should see if I can make you scream as loud as Heero was in that damn recording!" Trowa's hand landed on my shoulder.
"Heero first," he said quietly.
"Heero first," I agreed. "Then I'm going to kill them all."
Trowa didn't disagree with me. I stared at O. I didn't want to leave him here. Should I drag him aboard with us?
"Hey kid!" A familiar voice hailed me from out of the shadows by the hangar door. "Need some help?"
"Howard?" I called back incredulously.
"It's me." Maybe somebody up there loves me after all. Thank gods. Howard materialized out of the shadows by the doorway, several large Sweepers behind him. One of them was carrying a crate. "Winner called and said the two of you might need some back up- and some toys. He told us the flight you were on and we just had our boys at security watch you on the screens when you got here."
If Quatre had been in front of me, I would've kissed him.
"Howard- you rock. Don't suppose you have a scanner in the toy box?"
"Course I do." Howard gestured one of the Sweepers forward. "Want Jim here to do a sweep of the ship for ya?" Jim was already pulling a scanner out.
"Yes. Quickly please. I don't want to be surprised. If you could take care of the doc too..."
"Oh, that'd be my pleasure." Howard smirked. "Sam and Jack here are part timers with the security force on L2."
O looked stunned, as two of the Sweepers Howard had brought tugged him away. Jim hopped aboard the ship.
"Thanks Howard," I told Howard as I put my gun away.
"Thank Winner. He was the one that got all this pulled together. I guess there's a major upheaval going on down below. It's already hitting the newswires. Preventers letting one of their agents fall into enemy hands and all that."
I turned to Trowa, still standing beside me. "I love Quatre."
"Hands off, Maxwell, he's mine."
"Ship is clear!" Jim walked down the steps.
"Take the crate boys." Howard gestured. "You'll need what's inside. I'm having some ships made ready to follow- but it might take a bit more time. We'll monitor you and be there to back you up as quickly as we can. Get going."
Trowa and I grabbed a hold of the crate and boarded the ship. I sat down in the pilot's seat as Trowa secured the crate. The coordinates were in the computer as promised.
We headed out, feeling a bit more secure than we had a few hours ago. I focused on the controls in front of me, the memory of Heero's recorded screams echoing in my ears. I'll be there soon, I promised him silently. Hold on til I get there.
TBC...
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