That Which Mends Part 7
Heero, if you can't do something right and give it your all, there is no point in even trying. Remember that, son."
"Yes, father."
* * * * * *
Recalling one of the many lesson of the man that had raised him, Yuy lifted his head to find himself being stared at by the Preventers around him.
"My mother died delivering me and my father was killed in an accident two weeks before I turned eighteen," he sighed. "By the time his affairs were sorted out, I was a legal adult with a substantial inheritance and a home without a mortgage and no living relatives in the states to my name. I've taken care of myself ever since and been perfectly capable of doing so."
Under his breath, Duo murmured, "Shit." With a sigh of his own, he smiled, "Well, I can't argue with you there. You don't act like you're as young as you are." Frowning, he said sincerely, "But all the same, I'm sorry for your loss." His Commander and teammates nodded sympathetically.
Centered on Maxwell specifically, Heero gave a hint of a smile out of gratitude for the sentiment and quickly turned serious again when he faced Middie. "I appreciate all of your help. If we're done here, I'd like to return to Villanova to finish out the day."
Bowing her head deeply, the Commander replied, "Of course. I'll see you out." She straightened herself and focused back on her crew to order, "Back to work on your projects, gang. I want to know what's so damned important on that chip that it was worth killing Klein over."
All but jumping to their feet, the lot on the couches headed for their clustered desks. Holding an arm out to her side, Lady Une silently urged her charge to take the lead for the elevators while the others offered him good nights and salutations until he was beyond sight along with the Commander.
"Hey, Annie," Maxwell muttered when he neared the redhead. Blue eyes blinking in confusion, she giggled when she was not completely turned before she was scooped up into a fierce hug. Kissing her temple as she returned the embrace, the braided agent sighed, "Thank you for defending me earlier when you were put on the spot."
Rubbing his back, Downs reassured, "No thanks needed. You would have done the same for me or Wufei."
At the mention of their leader, Duo looked over to his Chinese teammate. Releasing the bomb expert, he stepped up as he opened his arms with a smirked, "Yea, thanks for saving my ass, Chang. Now come on and bring it in for some lovin'."
Quickly falling back a few paces away from him, Wufei warned, "Touch me and die, Maxwell. Just get back to work on those surveillance videos and we'll consider it even."
"Fair enough," the cheeky young man snickered as he shifted his direction to return to his desk.
Shaking his head, Agent Wolf peered over at his lover. "You know I only stood up for him for your sake, right?" he smirked.
Anna laughed and pinched his cheek. "Oh, you just go on telling yourself that," she smiled. Kissing where she squeezed when the raven-haired young man pouted, she stated, "I know better. Your secret's safe with me."
She stopped herself short when she began to move for her station to lean in and whisper by his ear, "All the same, I'll be sure to reward you properly when we get to our place tonight." Leaving him with a firm smack to his rear, she hummed a cheery tune as she sauntered her way back to the cluster.
His head pounding, Wufei couldn't tell at first what excited him more... the promise that he knew the redhead would thoroughly see to or the fact that she referred to his home as their place.
Unable to hide the wide grin spreading across his face, his steps were light in his return to his desk.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Once the elevator doors closed behind them, Lady Une met her company's cobalt gaze. "We will have to stay in touch so you can return to look through the vehicle snap shots Agent Scythe is compiling," she said.
Heero accepted the business card that was held out to him, nodding, "I'll give a call tomorrow morning to see if it's ready for me to stop in." Securing the card in his wallet that he stuffed back into the pocket of his wind breaker, an overwhelming concern fell over him as the meeting's details washed over him.
"Do you think Klein will ever be found?" he asked hesitantly.
Why Yuy was so worried about that he couldn't say. It wasn't as if he wanted to be any more invested into the Preventers' case than he already had been. Aside from having to look at some pictures, he was off the hook from ever being involved with them again so that life could finally get back to normal.
Middie seemed equally surprised by his inquiry as the elevator chime sounded to announce they had reached the ground level.
Quickly reaching to hold down the hold button so that the doors remained closed, she fixed the young man with a sobering stare. "Based on the information my agents found, I highly doubt it. Whoever is responsible for this wanted him dead and permanently removed to cover their tracks. Perhaps some day his remains will be found, but..." She shook her head to finish her thought with a deep frown of skepticism.
Swallowing roughly, Heero remained silent as the Commander released the hold button to open the elevator.
A handful of agents from the other divisions were filtering through the lobby while he fell in step behind Lady Une. Before he realized they had reached the front entrance, he abruptly stopped at his guide's pause when they walked through the glass doors.
"Hello, Catherine," the officer smiled warmly to the receptionist. "Could I trouble you for an access card for Heero Yuy? I'd like him to be able to come and go as he pleases until I advise otherwise."
The redhead grinned, "No trouble at all."
Opening one of her drawers, she pulled out a disk of white plastic the same shape and width of a drivers license and scanned the barcode at its base. A bright chirp from her computer announced its logging in of in the ID code and she typed in a couple of commands after she confirmed the spelling of their guest's name.
Catherine passed over the tag with bright, "There you go." Winking to the scholar, she said, "Welcome aboard, Heero. If my brother, Trowa, is any trouble to you be sure to let me know."
Taken aback by the news that she and agent Night were related, Yuy blinked widely. Adding his new card to his wallet, he snickered, "I'll be sure to do that." He saw no need in explaining that he would only be making one more visit at which he'd likely run into the tall agent again.
Shoving his hands into his coat pockets, he said sincerely, "Thank you again for everything today, Catherine."
Her head tilting, the secretary giggled, "Glad to have been of service. Have a good one."
Middie moved for the front door as she stated, "I appreciate your coming in today, Heero. Don't hesitate to call me or any one of my agents if you need anything or if something comes up. Their emergency numbers are all listed on the business card I gave you."
"I will," Yuy reassured. Stepping through the door she held open for him, he muttered a 'good night' and headed out into the parking lot without taking a look back.
Lost to his racing thoughts, he shivered just as the breeze began to pick up. But it wasn't the wind that chilled him.
* * * * * *
"Fuck," Anna grumbled under her breath as she continued to type fluidly throughout her growing frustration. "Another dead end. This guy's coding is one hell of a labyrinth. How are things going for you, guys?"
Glaring at his own screen while his fingers flew over his keyboard, Wufei snorted, "Just as challenging. I'm starting to regret tackling this from the middle."
Trowa peeked his head up from his station, offering, "You're more than welcome to take my chunk at the beginning. Every time I think I'm making headway, I get stuck again." Ducking back to resume his work, he commented, "And if this hard drive doesn't do a better job of keeping up, I'm going to be tossing it from the roof so IT has no choice but to get me a newer machine."
At his desk, Duo's head dropped back with an exasperated sigh. "I had no clue there were so many damned black cars on the road," he complained, rubbing his eyes. "That's what I get for thinking this was going to be an easy chore."
Hanging up his phone at the end of his call, Quatre sighed and dry washed his face and his teammates stopped what they were doing to watch him. "That was the Austin County Sheriff's office," he informed when he dropped his hands to stare at his desk. "The article on Klein's disappearance broke before the official notifications to his parents and family were made. A handful of officers just got back from meeting with them."
Throughout the cluster, a heavy silence fell.
"Damn," Maxwell all but whispered, his own violet eyes losing focus to his memories. Shaking his braided head, he murmured, "That's easily the worst part of these cases." Each one having had the experience of delivering the tragic news to the victims' families and closest friends over the years, his teammates nodded shallowly.
And at different times during the stillness that followed, they all unconsciously cast their eyes over to the empty space by Chang's station before tearing their gazes away.
Biting his lip, Agent Rock turned to Agent Fire. "There's no chance his family's going to see him again, is there?" he asked, though he was sure he already knew the answer.
Reluctantly facing him, Anna frowned deeply, "Not alive. About the only thing that we can hope for them is that his remains might surface. But seeing how efficient his killer was in taking him out..." Shoulders sagging, she shook her head.
That was what everyone had pretty much assumed themselves. Over the years, they'd seen too many disappearances carried out with the same level of professionalism. In the end, they were all the same...
No clues. No body. No real closure for their loved ones that were left behind.
Wufei drew a deep breath and declared, "Well, we can do something for them. Thomas knew the dangers involved in getting us involved but he helped us out anyway. He very well could have saved a lot of lives by risking his own. So, the very least we can to is repay him by getting the bastards responsible for all of this for his family."
Rejuvenated by his sentiment to push on in their investigation, the Preventers agreed by diving back into their tasks.
* * * * * *
Heero pulled his car into the lot beside his dormitory.
At no surprise to him, several students were huddled around uniformed cops throughout the campus for as far as he could see. Most likely gathering as many interviews from potential eyewitnesses and friends of the missing student.
Problem was they'd have a time sorting through what information was valuable and what wasn't. Meanwhile, the Preventers were dozens of steps ahead of the police when it came to knowing what had happened to Thomas Klein and why.
As soon as all of their reports were entered into their databases, Quatre would be filtering through them to move things along in the hunt for the person or persons behind the crime. Anna would analyze the crime scene photos to find out what weapon was used. And Duo would, hopefully, have the plates on the car that Heero could pick out as the one the assassin had driven...
...all before the local police would be able to determine for certain that Thomas Klein was dead.
Only then allowing the reality that a classmate of his had been murdered to finally sink in, the realization sat heavily with Yuy.
Thought he might not have known the tech student personally, it was impossible to ignore the odd sensation that he would never walk the campus halls or attend another party. Then there was his family who were no doubt holding out hope that he might be found alive.
Shaking his head, Heero walked back to his room and forced himself to focus on what he had control over. Namely, he needed to reach out to his adviser to discuss the best way of making up the two classes he had missed that day.
The psych major shed his wind breaker and locked himself in his room. As he sat himself at his desk, he opened his laptop and waited for his instant messenger to open.
Amongst his very small list of contacts, which only consisted of his mentor and professors, he found that Lowe was signed on. He began typing to open a dialogue when a video call patched in prior to his finishing the request for a conversation.
"Heero," his mentor sighed in relief when he appeared on the monitor. "There was a school-wide notice sent out earlier today for all students to report in so that they could be accounted for. I had expected you'd be one of the first to respond. Are you alright?"
Wincing, Yuy quickly came up with an explanation and reassured, "I'm fine. I was only on campus for breakfast this morning when I suddenly didn't feel well, so I missed their notice... along with my classes today."
No one at his school would have known that he was gone, so it was a plausible excuse for his absence that no one would be able to confirm or deny. And it wasn't a complete lie. He hadn't felt well all day since learning about Klein. He just left out what he had been up to or where he went.
Frowning, he commented, "I just read about the incident at Drexel Hall."
His adviser ran a hand through his short, brown hair that had just begun to gray at the edges now that he was in his latter forties. "Nothing like this has ever happened in this area before... it has everyone shaken up," he stated with another sigh. "As for your classes, you didn't miss anything since all courses for the day had been cancelled so that the police could conduct their investigation by interviewing everyone who knew Thomas."
Under normal circumstances, Heero would have been relieved to hear that he did not have any absence strikes against him... but these circumstances were as far from normal as they could be.
"I was never acquainted with him," he heard himself say quietly while his gaze lowered to the edge of his desk. "The only time I ever saw him was at this weekend's party at the Sigma Delta Phi house," he added before he could stop himself.
Blue eyes growing, Odin blinked in disbelief. "Wait... you, Heero Yuy, were at a fraternity party?" he snickered. "I don't believe it."
The student met the gaze watching him and snorted, "That makes two of us. To be honest, I have no idea what ever possessed me to go to it in the first place."
Dipping his head to the side, his advisor grinned, "Perhaps an unconscious desire to come out of your shell a bit and experience life a little?"
Heero glared. "I hope you're not tying to turn this into a counseling session."
"Wouldn't dream of it," the man on his screen smiled, holding his hands up in surrender. "Far be it fior me to do such a thing when you're more than capable to come to me for such a thing if you ever feel the need to talk." Folding his arms, he asked, "Though I am anxious to hear how the night went for you."
'Oh the things I could tell you,' Yuy thought. It'd be a story for the ages, no doubt.
But he kept it simple, vague but truthful with a shrugged, "I got a little more than I bargained for. Needless to say I won't ever be partaking in drinking or partaking in another rager for the rest of my life."
Lowe laughed, "I'd say you must have had a time if you're still recovering from that." Off in the distance, his wife could be heard calling for him and he grinned kindly, "Well, I do hope that you managed to have a little fun for a change. Get well soon. I'll see you around school tomorrow."
Their salutations exchanged, the student and his mentor disconnected the call.
Closing his laptop, Heero fell back onto his bed and stared up at his ceiling. He got more than he had bargained for when he attended that party all right.
Now that he didn't feel the need to worry about himself, he dwelt over the fact that he had willingly allowed a stranger into his bed... another young man at that. Intoxicated or not, it was a revealing glimpse into a part of his psyche that he hadn't given a lot consideration.
His sexuality had been a non-factor for so long, taking the backseat to his lessons and his goals from early on, so he never realized that he might have been at all attracted to men.
Not that the thought of being gay bothered Yuy at all. If anything, he was just shocked he was drawn to anyone for that matter.
Years of being 'pent up,' as most would call it, must have done him in for wanting to have some sort of release. Alcohol just helped him get the nerve take it...
...and he had to admit- deep, deep down- that Duo Maxwell was easy on the eyes.
Chuckling to himself at that, Heero pushed himself up and reached for his digital pad to read ahead in his course textbooks for the remainder of the evening.
* * * * * *
"Earth to Duo."
Violet eyes blinking, the braided agent jolted back to the world and snapped his head around to take in the smirking redhead that was leaning over their linked desks.
Her head propped up in her hands and her elbows bent on the edge of his station, Anna batted her eyelids as she asked in a sing-song, "Whatch ya thinkin' about?" The grin on her face spreading, she informed, "I've been calling you, but you were off in la la land."
A quick glance around the room from Maxwell revealed the rest of their team were spread out. The only one close enough to overhear was Trowa across the link of stations as he continued typing furiously in deep focus on his breaking the code on his monitor.
Peering back to his partner-in-crime, he shrugged, "Just... thinking." He left it at that, spinning his chair away from her and he went back to concentrating on his surveillance videos before he gave anything further away.
Easily turning herself to sit on the edge of his desk, Downs kicked her legs back and forth as she commented, "That Heero is not hard to look at, is he?"
"Why do you think I'm still 'looking' at him in my head right now?" Duo snorted, his eyes widening and his body freezing briefly at the slip before he slammed his forehead on his desk. "Damn it, Anna," his muffled voice growled. "You caught me off guard and you know I don't lie."
Giggling, Anna smirked, "Gotch 'ya." She patted the other agent's back and apologized sincerely, "Sorry for poking fun at you, but I couldn't help it. I've never seen you smitten by anyone before."
His braided head shooting back up, he raised an eyebrow at the redhead as he corrected, "Whoa, whoa. Smitten's an awfully strong word."
"Please. You're totally into him," Barton chimed in from the other side of the cluster, never pausing in his typing or glancing from his screen. "You're probably anxious as hell to wrap up with those recordings so you have an excuse to see him again."
Glaring at his tall teammate, Duo snapped, "Who the hell asked you, Trowa? Just keep doing whatever you're doing over there."
Agent Night just snickered under his breath with a satisfied smile while he continued to work. Wufei and Quatre returned from their following up on a new potential lead when Barton's fluid key clicking stopped abruptly as his visible green eye grew as large as it could.
In a breath, the paling officer breathed, "Um... Anna... does this mean what I think it-" That was as far as he managed before the redhead pulled his chair back and made herself a perch in his lap to read over the decoded transcript.
The rest of their unit fell silent with their alert attention on Agent Fire as her jaw fell open. "Fuck..." she whispered, her hands raising to cover her mouth with her wide eyes unblinking at the screen.
"What is it?" Wufei urged as he neared her. "Is it a code to a new weapon that's being made, as we expected?"
Shaking her head, Anna's red curls bounced in her ponytail. "No," she replied, her hands falling away and her frightened gaze lifting to her lover.
"The chip is the weapon."
TBC...
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