Life Goes On Part 24
Howard sighed deeply in relief as he headed up Treize's front porch steps. I'd been a long day at J's office and the nearly equally long commute back to his temporary residence had drained him. As he stepped inside the large estate, he was not surprised to find the good doctor and Sally still up and waiting for his return as they sat at the couch in the living room.
What was surprising were the troubled looks on their faces. But then, they were the ones that saw first hand how bad off Duo's situation had become. Ever since his visit to the hospital the day before, both Treize and Sally had been more than glum.
Truth be told, even Howard was more than concerned over the progression of his friend's coming undone, but he refused to slack in his efforts by thinking the worst.
Putting on a bright smile, the old man announced as a means to lighten the mood, "Nothing to fear, my friends. I've been monitoring Liz's progress in finding the solution to our problem and I am convinced that we'll have the serum we need very soon. I know that things seem bad, but we'll have it solved before we really have reason to worry."
At that, Sally bit her lip and slowly rose from the couch. Taking a deep breath, she frowned deeply, "Actually, there is even more reason to worry now." Just as Howard opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, she explained, "Duo's missing. Heero called to tell us that he believes that one of his classmates is involved, but he has no way of knowing where we can find them. The police are investigating as we speak."
"K-kidnapped? " Howard sputtered with wide eyes. "But that makes no sense! Why would one of Duo's classmates want to do something like this to him?"
Treize rose and stated, "Apparently, from what Heero had told us, this Solo had been known to have some sort of animosity towards him from the start of the semester. He said that after the Thanksgiving break, this boy seemed to have had a change in heart when really it was all to get close enough to strike. Heero said that there was a note confirming that Solo convinced Duo to meet up at the Halo Café. Duo never made it there."
Shaking his head, Howard threw his arms up in the air and cried, "It still makes no sense! While it does seem this boy was involved, what could he possibly want with Duo? Was there a ransom note? Or a phone call announcing demands for his safe return? Anything to hint to what Solo would have gained from taking him? What sort of motive did he really have that would benefit him?"
Both Treize and Sally shared a surprised look. Turning back to the old man, the braided young woman admitted, "Actually, we never thought about that. But, Heero never mentioned anything about a note or a call of the like. We were waiting for you to return before we headed over to his apartment to see how we could help."
Nodding, Howard replied, "Good. I want to know more about this kid, Solo. There has to be something that would tip off what's really going on here." Quickly, the trio gathered up their coats and headed outside.
* * * * * *
Heero was in the middle of giving his statement of the night's events to the investigators when Howard and Treize arrived. Obviously distraught, the Japanese teenager dry washed his face with his hands when he finished. Slumped in his seat, he sighed deeply in relief when his mother stepped into the living room to carefully hand over a cup of tea to him. Quietly, the two business-suited investigators discussed their notes in seeing that they had everything that they needed from the distraught teenager for the time being.
Speaking quietly in the kitchen at the table in the middle of the room, Noin, Zechs and Trent filled the new arrivals in on what they had learned from the officers and Heero's recant of everything. Much to no one's surprise, it was now clear that Solo was missing when the authorities at Wayne University had been contacted. If there was any doubt in his involvement before, that had been cleared now.
Howard was working feverishly at his laptop, scanning the small sample of the blood that was found at the scene. Danielle had managed to use her magic on the officers and insisted that they not take the whole of the splatters for the scientist to examine it and rule out whether or not it belonged to Duo.
With a deep frown of worry, Sally shook her head, "I had been hoping that perhaps this was some sort of prank meant to jest, but the fact that blood was found pretty much out rules that." She shuttered at the thought of what that blood could have meant.
"Fortunately, there wasn't enough to be concerned about a life-threatening wound," Trent commented softly. "And we'll know shortly if the blood is even Duo's to begin with." At that, Howard nodded in reassurance as he continued to type rapidly in zooming in on the scanned image.
The young lawyer rubbed a hand over his jaw and sighed, "I've worked several kidnapping and assault cases like this in the past and there are a lot of things just not adding up. There should have been some kind of contact from the people that did this by now to discuss a ransom long before now. If they knew how to reach Duo, they would know how to get to Heero as well. They would have to know that he'd be the one to try to cut a deal with."
His eyes widening, Howard looked up from his screen from across the table and exclaimed in a forced whisper, "That's exactly what I thought! Something just isn't right about this whole thing. There are too many questions as to the motives behind this."
Wiping at her own eyes, Noin bit her lip and offered in a broken whisper, "What if they simply don't intend on Duo coming back to us? What if they mean to... to..." She was unable to finish her thought aloud and buried her face in Zechs's shoulder when he wrapped his arms around her tightly.
Gently resting a hand on the young woman's trembling shoulder, Trent reassured her with a sad smile, "I don't think that we need to be so worried about that right now, Noin. The signs that would have hinted to that as their intent are not there. We have a teenage college student with a promising future as a lawyer in Solo. I highly doubt that such a bright young man would want to be connected in any way to a murder. Danielle and I have been working with the police closely to see that this is handled as quickly as possible."
In the little comfort that she could find from that, Noin nodded as she gently pulled back from her husband to dry her damp face. Sniffling, she reached for the tissue box at the center of the table and gently blew her nose.
Zechs leaned in to kiss his wife on the temple and sighed deeply, "It's been a very challenging few weeks for us with all of the news involving our son." His voice became thick at the end of his comment and he had to clear his throat past the lump in his throat.
Shaking his head to fend off his own emotions, the blonde man said softly, "It was difficult enough to have to deal with knowing his condition. And now this." If he wished to say more, he couldn't when the lump returned and he had to look away when a telling shimmering filled his eyes.
For all of the time that she knew him, Noin never saw Zechs overcome by tears before. Taking her turn in being the supportive spouse, her hand moved to take his and squeeze it in support. Slowly drawing a deep breath, she looked to the others and told them softly, "We just want to know that Duo's safe and that he'll be back with us soon so he can be cured from the reverting that's killing him.
"We just want to be able to move on and put all of this behind us finally. Please forgive us if we're not helping matters by getting worked up," she concluded with a slight duck of her head, her cheeks coloring a bit.
Treize smiled warmly, "I would think less of the two of you if you weren't so emotionally involved. It's certainly not anything to be ashamed of." Sally and Trent quietly expressed their agreement to the sentiment. Both Noin and Zechs kept their hands joined while they turned to nod in sincere gratitude to their friends.
A wide smile tugged Howard's lips as his fingers stopped their fluent typing. Straightening in his seat, he stated, "We'll handle everything one step at a time. For now, however, I do have some very good news."
Back in the living room, the two investigators rose from the couch where they had been sitting. Placing his notepad inside his suit coat pocket, the taller of the two men nodded firmly to the mother and son across from them, "I think that will do for tonight. If you should think of anything else that may be of help in this, please contact us immediately." That said, he bent at the waste to hand a business card over.
Danielle accepted the card with a kind grin on behalf of her drained boy and replied, "Thank you, Detective Stanton and Detective Presley. We will certainly be in contact with you." Gently resting her hand on Heero's slumped shoulder for comfort, she added, "It's been a very difficult night and we appreciate your coming here so quickly."
"Of course," the shorter Detective Presley spoke up. "And you will be the first to know if we should learn of any new developments."
Heero finally broke from his lifeless, sunken state and looked up to the two men standing over him. Muttering his own words of thanks, he was about to rise and escort the officers out when his mother insisted on taking care of it. She rose and led the way out of the living room with the detectives quietly right behind her.
Alone with his thoughts and fears once more, Heero looked down to the nearly finished cup of tea that was waiting in his numb hands. The way that he had drifted during his interview, he was amazed that it didn't slip from his fingers. He raised his arms and finished the cooling tea with a rough swallow and lowered the cup onto the coffee table beside him.
When Danielle returned, she sat beside her son once more and lightly rubbed his back. "Are you all right, son," she asked in a concerned whisper.
Shaking his head, Heero snorted. He turned to meet her cobalt eyes with a deep frown and answered honestly, "I don't know. I'm not even sure if it's all really sunk in yet. Just when it didn't seem that things could get any worse..." A frustrated and shaky sigh left him as his voice trailed off.
Howard stepped into the room along with the others that had been gathered in the kitchen. "Well, the results are back," he proclaimed. When the Japanese teenager snapped his head up to face him, the scientist grinned, "The blood does not belong to Duo. Despite the fact that it doesn't change the situation we're in, at least we can be a little more reassured that he was not the one injured in the abduction. The remainder of the sample is being analyzed at the crime lab for any possible links that will lead to the captor's identity."
The weight of the world seemed to come off of Heero, his chest filling with a rush of air as if it were his first breath. "Oh thank God," he whimpered with tears of relief filling his eyes. "Thank God," he whispered again, his hands reaching up as he leaned forward to bury his face in them. "He fought back", his muffled voice realized aloud.
While it did not change the fact that Duo was captured, it was the more comforting news Heero had received all night. Without it being said, the fact that the blood was not Duo's meant that it was not his captor's intention to harm him... at least it was not their immediate intention.
And for Heero, that was better than nothing to hang on to that would get him through.
* * * * * *
Moaning quietly, Duo blinked his violet eyes open. The cold and dampness that instantly greeted him reminded him in a flash of his whereabouts before his gaze even focused. When he finally got a good look at Solo's worried face watching him, he sighed deeply, "How long have I been out?" His dry throat made his voice crack and he tried in vain to swallow.
Solo quickly was on his feet and gathered some water from the sink of the prison-like facilities on the other side of the room. Gathering one of the paper cups beside the sink, he filled it and rushed back to braided neko's side just as he was pushing himself from the ground to sit up. "Here," he urged gently.
Not willing to trust speaking and hurt himself again, Duo nodded and accepted the cup. After a couple swallows, he finished the drink and sighed deeply, "Thanks."
Crossing his legs, Solo sat across from the other teenager and gripped his white tail. Fiddling with it nervously, he went into a rush of words as he explained, "Duo, I swear that I never meant to hurt you."
He winced with his white cat ear lowering and continued, "Well, maybe when I was first sent by J I did, but that change. But then, I got to know you and I was about to tell you everything when you had that episode in the cafeteria. J knew that I was turning when I called him when you were at the hospital and lied to me that you wouldn't be hurt. I wanted to believe him, and I just wanted to protect the others."
Shaking his head as he tried to take in the hurried justification, Duo could only focus on the last part and repeated, "T-the others?" He was quickly reminded of J's mentioning something about their being 'others' as well.
Instead of Solo having to answer, five cat-eared heads popped out of their hiding places from under the benches that lined along the steel walls. Gasping sharply, Duo's violet eyes widened as he turned his gaze around as the nekos hesitantly moved out into the open.
When his girlfriend reached his side, Solo wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gestured to her with his free hand to the calico-spotted young woman. "Duo, this is Cassie," he introduced. Lightly patting the head of the little boy beside him, he went on, "The little guy, here, is Danny."
As the remaining three neared, he nodded to each and supplied, "And last but not least, Jena, Andrew and Carson." The last named, with grey fur, seemed the least pleased to have to be acquainted. His glare directed at the braided teenager certainly made that clear.
Sitting together in a tight bunch, the six nekos eyed their cellmate suspiciously for his reaction. Still in shock at seeing so many like himself, Duo sat stiffly and blinked in shock. Finally breaking the uncomfortable silence, he gave a small smile and breathed, "You mean... I have a family I never knew about?"
Even Carson seemed shocked at the question, his eyes widening along with his friends. The cell door slammed open, making the lot jump at the echoing sound. Stomping into the room, the tall and muscular man that Duo had scratched during his abduction headed right for him. The right side of his face was covered in a bandage and his eyes were fiery as they bore down on his charge.
"Time for your first trip to the lab," the guard sneered. "J is very anxiously awaiting your arrival there."
With a small cry when one of the guard's meaty hands wrapped around his throat, Duo struggled for breath as he was drug out of the room with little effort. Solo's cry of his name was cut off when the cell door was slammed closed once more.
Closing his violet eyes tightly, Duo prayed that he would lose consciousness once more before he made it to the lab. Unfortunately, fate would not be so kind and he was introduced to just the start of the nightmare that he was in.
TBC...
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