One Night Part 6
Trowa studied the photos of Merquise's home spread on the table in front of him. If he did have to break in, this was not going to be very easy. He had already come to that conclusion earlier when he had been trying to figure out a way to get close enough to Merquise to kill him. He had ruled out the complex then. Now it looked like he was going to have to infiltrate it.
Duo and Heero were bent over a computer in the corner, trying to hack into the Org's database, trying to dig up some evidence that way. So far they hadn't had much luck. Trowa wasn't sure that they'd have a lot of luck breaking into Chang's room, but at the very least they could copy the files off his computer and maybe stick a few bugs around.
Trowa ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. The complex where Merquise had his set up was heavily guarded... he could see why Heero had asked if he could still walk a high wire- the best way in would be over the fence via the power lines... not the safest, but he could use them to walk in.
He smiled faintly. Back when he'd learned how to walk a high wire he'd never thought he'd be using it for breaking and entering... granted, he had never expected to leave the circus...
He blocked that memory, he couldn't think about it now.
He heard Duo curse softly behind him. "There's nothing in here we can use... some data on rival organizations, but nothing that suggests he's been ordering attacks on them."
Trowa frowned at the pictures. "Then I'll have to go in. Any idea where in the complex he'd be?"
Heero got up from his chair and moved to Trowa's side. "The guest quarters are located here." He pointed towards the left side of the building. "Merquise and his bishop usually change rooms every night- the whole top floor is bedrooms... but the guests usually stay put."
"I'm going to have to go in at night- they'd see me otherwise. Do I dare gas the rooms?"
"Safer not to- we don't want them knowing you've been there."
"So sneak in and hope I don't wake Chang up?"
Duo leaned over Heero's shoulder. "You might be okay. Merquise prefers to strategize at night- chances are they'll be in a meeting if we go in before midnight- and after..." Duo smiled. "Well, Merquise isn't above letting his guests join him in certain activities... I'm not sure if Chang would even do such a thing, but..."
"Let's hope he would." Heero met Trowa's eyes. "We can't follow you in, but we'll set up a base, and monitor your progress. If you need us to, we'll create a distraction."
Trowa nodded and looked at the clock. "It will be dark in about two hours- should we head out then?" Trowa looked at the pictures again. "I'm going to need some special stuff for this..."
"The boss has a storeroom." Duo nodded. "I'll take you down there and Heero can give Mr. Winner an update. If we don't have what you need- we'll go get it after. Sound okay?"
Trowa nodded.
~*~
Duo hadn't been kidding about the storeroom. It had everything Trowa needed. Duo helped him select the things he needed, and then helped him carry it back to his room.
"We'll meet you in about an hour," Duo said as he put the stuff he was carrying down on Trowa's dresser.
"I'll be ready."
Duo slipped out of the room and Trowa went to sit on his bed. He closed his eyes and focused on the job, running over it in his head. Over the fence to the roof. Down to the balconies. Inside. Fast data transfer. Bugs. Back out to the roof. Back over the wall.
It would not be that simple, he knew better than that, there were too many unknown variables...
Actually, that seemed to be par for the course these days. He took what he thought was a simple job and nearly got in over his head. He was free of the Organization and working with at least two people he trusted... but even they could be fooled. Winner seemed like someone caught in a situation that he disliked- yet playing the game as best he could...
And what better way to ensure a new employee's loyalty than to bind him to you emotionally. Was that what Winner was doing? Was that how he got people to work for him and stay loyal?
Well, no, he couldn't use the exact same tactics. It wasn't smart to clutter up your working relationships like that. People got jealous after all... and Trowa doubted highly that any physical tactic had worked on Duo or Heero. He had seen what happened to people that tried to come between the two of them...
He slid off the bed and began to get dressed for the evening, banishing the thought of Winner from his mind. The man had gotten him free of the Org, and Trowa owed him. That would be good enough for now.
It was Heero that arrived at the door at the minute specified. "Ready?" He looked Trowa up and down, nodding.
"Yes." Trowa smoothed one of his tight black sleeves and joined Heero in the hallway. "Duo?"
"Getting the van ready."
Of course, Trowa had forgotten. Duo was always the driver.
Duo was waiting for them in the van. It was a beaten up POS with a faded beer logo on the side. Inside was a different matter. Heero took his seat in front of a computer mounted on the side wall and handed Trowa a tiny earpiece. "Put this on. We'll let you know if we see anything at all."
Trowa accepted the earpiece and fastened it on carefully, as well as the tiny throat mike.
"We'll only hear you," Heero reminded him. "If you happen to run into trouble, say something, okay?"
"Got it."
As Duo drove them out to the designated spot, Trowa rechecked his equipment. He had to travel light on this one, and everything had to be securely fastened.
"We double checked everything," Heero told him. "We're fairly sure Chang is the only guest in the complex at this time."
"That's good." Trowa smiled faintly. He hoped it really was the case. He didn't want to have to tap several computers.
"More than likely the hallways are monitored- stay out of them."
"I'll be surprised if the rooms aren't too..." Duo shook his head. "Merquise is apparently a bit of a voyeur. Don't let him get his hands on you. I don't want Winner pissed at us."
Trowa ignored the last part of Duo's comment. "If he does, I will get out of his hands as fast as I can."
Duo gave Trowa a quick grin over his shoulder. "Don't make us come and rescue your ass, okay?"
"Okay."
It was full dark when they arrived. Trowa was glad to see that this part of town was not well lit. He should be able to at least get over the wall easily enough.
"You should be able to go up down there-" Heero pointed to a small alley. "There's a post at the end."
Trowa nodded and picked up the light coat he had brought. "See you two in a little bit. Don't get distracted."
Duo made a face at him. "That's after you get back. Be careful."
Trowa nodded and wrapping himself up in the coat, got out of the van. He walked down the street at a good pace- not too fast, not to slow. He reached the alley and turned down into it.
Fortunately it was deserted. He reached the pole and pulled his coat off. He tugged a black mask down over his head, and then started to shimmy up the pole.
He reached the wires and taking a deep breath, stepped out onto them. He remembered his sister Cathy when he was first learning to walk the wire, standing on the opposite side, her arms outspread.
Don't look down. It's a lovely walk... as long as you don't look down.
Trowa walked the wire, eyes ahead of him, focused on the other side. He reached the wall, topped with barbed wire and stopped, knowing he had to look down.
He saw the gates a few meters away, below him. Guards there- but none on the perimeter... He walked a few more steps until he reached the corner of the building.
Trowa vaulted off the wire and onto the top of the building.
"Showoff," a voice murmured in his ear and he smiled. "Heero's tuned into their frequency. No one has noticed you. Keep going."
Trowa walked to the opposite edge of the roof and knelt down. The first of the rooms was this corner one. He let himself down onto the balcony carefully. The room was dark. He pulled out a pair of night vision goggles and pulled them on.
The bed was made, but there were no suitcases, no clothing, nothing that suggested anyone was using this room. It was possible that they were simply very tidy, but Trowa thought there should be some signs of life. The Chang he remembered liked spreading his paperwork all over his desk...
Trowa sprang over to the next balcony. The room was dark, again no sign of any habitation.
Before he could move onto the next balcony, it flooded with light. Trowa ducked; thankful that the balconies were solidly built- they shouldn't see him here.
"I do have to tell you again how pleased I am that you've joined us..." A voice purred. Trowa recognized it from the phone call of the day before.
A familiar snort. "You make it sound like I had some kind of choice Zechs."
"There's always choices."
"Humph. You know damn well that I'm too in debt to you to go anywhere else."
"And you don't think my opposition would pay to acquire you? You undervalue yourself..."
A faint sound, as of flesh striking flesh reached Trowa's ears. "Keep your hands to yourself, Zechs. I told you before."
"You let Treize touch you."
"I don't owe him money. You'd make me feel like some kind of whore."
"I'm sure you'd be worth every penny." A soft sigh. "Well, at the least he lets me watch..."
A growl. "Perverts the both of you. Don't we have things we should be doing?"
"Of course. I'm sure Treize is waiting for us. Shall we join him?"
Footsteps faded away, the light vanished. Trowa waited to move again just in case one of them came back, then he jumped over to the next balcony.
A moment's work and he had picked the lock on the balcony doors.
The room was dark, but Chang had left his computer on- perched in the middle of a desk that was covered with papers. It took only a moment to attach the device to it. As it copied all the files, Trowa placed a few bugs in the dark room.
He scanned the documents, careful not to move any of them- there was nothing there Winner could use.
A moment more and the download was complete. Trowa pulled the device off the computer, went back out the doors, locking them behind him.
Then back up to the roof, where he waited for a soft 'all clear' and then back across the wire.
It wasn't until he pulled off his hood at the other end that he realized he was sweating. He tucked the hood in his coat pocket and returned to the van.
Heero slid the door open for him. Trowa climbed inside and handed Heero the device as Duo threw the van into gear.
"Good job." Heero said as he plugged the device into his own computer.
"Thanks. Nearly got caught."
"How?" Duo asked.
Trowa told them about the overheard conversation as Duo drove and Heero searched the files.
"Tsk tsk... sounds like Chang has his hands full," Duo chuckled when Trowa finished.
"Ah!" Heero said before Trowa could answer.
"Ah what?" Duo glanced over his shoulder.
"Some documents in an obvious code. I'll need the code breaking programs on the comps we have at home to crack them... but... "
"They should be an interesting read at the very least," Duo agreed. "I'm sure Mr. Winner will be somewhat pleased."
They reached the complex and parked the van in the back of the garage. "Can you go update Mr. Winner while we get to work on cracking these?" Duo asked.
Trowa looked at his watch. "It's late..."
"He'll be up." Duo assured him. The door opened when they reached it. "Hey Rashid!"
"Gentlemen," Rashid frowned. "Mr. Winner is waiting for a report."
"Trowa's reporting," Heero said. "I have some code breaking to do."
"Very well," Rashid turned his frown on Trowa. "If you will kindly come with me?"
Trowa nearly retorted that he could find the office by himself, but he thought that perhaps it wasn't wise to get the man any more upset with him. So he followed Rashid quietly down the hallway.
He was surprised when they stopped at a pair of doors that had two of the Maguanacs stationed in front of them. This was not Winner's office.
One of the Maguanacs tapped on the door, "Mr. Barton is reporting in sir," he called.
"Send him in."
The Maguanac opened the door and ushered Trowa in. Trowa wondered if like the Red King, Winner changed offices all the time.
Then he realized that he was not in an office. Winner was perched in the center of an enormous bed, surrounded by folders and paper.
"Mr. Barton," Winner gestured him closer. "I apologize for the informality, but Rashid gets upset if I don't at least pretend to keep normal hours. How did it go?"
Trowa sat down gingerly on the edge of the bed. "Well, I got a copy of everything on Chang's computer, and I overheard a conversation between him and Merquise. They didn't talk about anything related to the game in particular, but Heero found some encrypted documents in the files I copied. He's hoping they have something useful."
"Tell me about the conversation." Winner gathered up the papers and folders as Trowa told him about what he had overheard.
"So, Chang is in debt to Merquise... and he's only sleeping with Treize. Very interesting. Those pieces of information might prove useful." Winner smiled. "Thank you."
Trowa nodded, still unused to being thanked by an employer. Winner slid off the bed and put the stack of paperwork on a small table. Then he turned back to Trowa with a look that made Trowa's heart rate speed up.
"So, the information is in Yuy's capable hands- and your part is finished." Winner smiled. "I wonder then if you have some time to spend with me?" He moved to stand in front of Trowa, letting his fingers brush against Trowa's cheek.
Trowa swallowed hard. He reached out and let his arms encircle Winner's... Quatre's hips, pulling the other man closer.
"I think my boss might let me have a small break," he said, and Quatre smiled.
"Just a small one? What a slave driver!" He leaned into Trowa sending them both sprawling onto the bed. "Then we'd best make good use of our time..."
TBC...
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