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"Ringu"Written By: iniq Disclaimer: Ringu is not my story. The original storyline was developed by Koji Suzuki who wrote the book "Ringu" in 1990. Later, this book was adapted by Takahashi Hiroshi, slightly altered and put on screen in Japan in 1991. The movie "The Ring", which was aired in the USA in fall 2001, is also a cast off of that book, though – again – with a slightly different plot. The idea for this fanfic is not mine. I merely mixed plot elements of the book with plot elements of the two movie versions and altered the storyline where inconvenient. Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing and its characters are copyright to Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties. I make no money with this fic. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: OOC, yaoi, horror, AU, fusion Pairings: 3x4x3, 5x?, 1+2+1 (get together) Summary: After watching a video tape people begin
to die and it is upto Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell to find out why. "Ringu " Part 2 +
Heero managed to stay near unconsciousness until 5 am when suddenly, he woke from a strange muffled noise coming from the front door. Instantly awake, he grabbed his gun from the night table and sat up straight. He spared a quick glance to the other bed, only to discover that it was empty. Duo was a morning person. Heero groaned quietly and rolled his eyes as he stood up. He had expected everything, but certainly not to find the other man awake at five in the morning. Slowly, sleep still in his bones, he put his socks on and slipped into his shoes. They would return to Tokyo before noon and analyze the video this afternoon. Maybe tonight they would have some interesting leads. Heero just hoped they would find at least something useful on the tape. Something to keep his partner and himself alive; a partner who was doing shadowboxing outside on the grass as Heero observed a minute later. "Duo?"
"Oh! Morning, Heero!" Duo finished his moves, then walked into the kitchen. "Coffee?" He asked just a few seconds later, already opening the cupboard to take a mug out.
"Yeah, thanks. You have sugar somewhere?" Heero hated black coffee. It was an insult to his taste buds, and he was not going to cough and sputter in Duo's presence if it could be avoided.
"No, but I have some chocolate if you want to dissolve it in there."
He watched as Heero's faced twitched and offered an explanation. "It tastes really good. Trust me?" Heero thought about what he had told his partner earlier and nodded reluctantly. He watched as Duo poured out the almost black liquid and unpacked the chocolate bar on the counter while his mug was prepared.
"How much?"
"Just one or two chunks. Otherwise it gets too sweet and sticky. For your first time I recommend one piece, just so you can see if you like the taste or not." Duo winked and Heero caught a glimpse of a saucy smile in the other man's face. He didn't really want to know if this had been about more than just coffee or not. He'd never really understood innuendos. Quickly, he concentrated on the task at hand, operating with the piece of chocolate.
"Okay." Hesitating, Heero broke a piece of the bar and dropped it into the hot mug. After he'd taken the offered spoon, he stirred and watched the chocolate color the coffee a slightly lighter brown. He took one last glance at Duo who had already taken a sip and did the same. It tasted surprisingly good and apparently that showed in the look he gave Duo after approving of the coffee because, because the other man smiled and nodded.
To break the uncomfortable silence that had settled over them, Heero voiced his gratitude openly. "That's good coffee. Thanks."
"You're welcome." Duo emptied the mug in one long swallow and placed it on the table. "Ready to rumble? We should go back as soon as possible. I saw some interesting things on the video I'd really like to analyze."
Heero searched the other man for signs of nervousness, but couldn't find any. Duo was as calm as ever and he was grateful for that. He just hoped that Duo's composition would hold until the last day. At the thought he shuddered. He didn't want to lose this man. Why, he didn't know, but he didn't want to have to miss that smile, that lively figure – and the only sparring partner that put up with him.
He watched enticed, as Duo balled his office clothing into the bag he had obviously brought the spare clothing in and closed the bag with one quick movement.
"All done. Did you want to shower first?"
"No, I'll do that at the bureau. After I've watched the video." Heero pointed the fact out as if it were obvious to Duo that he would do so as soon as they were back. Duo just grimaced and nodded.
"Yeah, I thought so."
"We can work on it better if we make a copy, you know?" Heero suggested, trying to take Duo's mind further away from the initial statement. That he would watch it was clear. Now the only thing Duo could object to was 'when', and Heero wouldn't give him the chance to argue about that.
Duo took the video and placed it into his bag after putting it into a safe cover he had brought with him, a fact that had Heero's mind turning. Duo had already guessed that there was a video and he had wanted to watch it first? Heero hadn't thought of that. Maybe that had been the reason why Duo had stressed himself with the interviews so much. Why had he taken the chance to discover and watch the video first? Had Duo wanted to spare him? Heero looked skeptically toward his partner who was already leaving the cabin. They locked eyes, and in Duo’s eyes Heero could see one thing very clearly: determination. Determination not to put him in harm's way.
"Duo, give me the video." He demanded firmly.
"No."
"Duo, there is no way you are going to do that alone! I won't have-"
"What is your problem? You should be happy about the fact that you don't have to watch the fucking video, Yuy! Stop acting like a four-year-old and get in your car. I'll meet you later." Those words said, Duo all but ran out of the lodge to his car. Heero was quick to catch up. By now he was sure that Duo had never intended to show him the video or the copy, but go somewhere else where he could analyze it and try to solve the case on his own without endangering anyone else.
"Duo, wait!" Heero ran after the other man, who now outright ran toward the black Jeep. They arrived at the door at the same time, and Heero beat Duo to opening it. As they both sat inside, Heero came face to face with the gleaming eyes of one Duo Maxwell.
"No, Yuy. You won't go with me. I won't let you-" Heero saw that Duo interrupted himself, not able to continue without betraying himself. He reacted quickly, using the other man's opening.
"What, Maxwell? You won't let me watch the video? You won't let me die? You won't let me make my own decision to help my partner?" He watched Duo's horrified expression and knew that he was right. He watched Duo bite his bottom lip and continued.
"This is my decision, Maxwell. My life and my case. You can't always save the people around you from pain and suffering. Sometimes you have to let them chose their own way."
Seeing the color drain from Duo's face, he knew he'd hit a nerve. He saw that Duo hurt, but couldn't do anything about it. At least, not much.
"I'm sorry, Duo, but I won't let you run and hide. You are not alone in this one. Not this time." Heero watched as Duo sank back into the seat. He watched the other man's internal struggle, content that he had made his point clear. He was surprised to hear Duo speak.
"Okay." A slight pause, in which Duo seemed to think about the conversation they had that morning, then he asked. "How did you know? Where did I slip?"
"That's just how your brain works." Heero winked as he quoted his partner's earlier statement. "Wufei warned me about your altruistic way of thinking."
"Really?" Duo seemed to think about that, and finally added with a smile. "He talks too much."
"I'm glad he told me."
Duo nodded vaguely and started the car. Heero smiled again, checking through the window to see that his car was properly locked. Satisfied, he tilted his head back and let Duo drive. He would have fallen asleep, if not for his restless mind.
"Duo, what's on the video?"
"Hm. You'd have to see for yourself. There are weird scenes. For example, a chair hanging in the air, upside down, turning like a twister."
"So it's computer animated?"
"No. That's the strange thing. It looks like it's a really old video, though I realize that today you can make any video look old with your standard digital camera at home. Still, there's something 'old' about it, I can't explain it any better." Duo moved his hands, undermining his point.
"Yeah. I'll see for myself. Maybe I can point a finger on why exactly you feel that way." Heero fell silent but suddenly, he exclaimed." Damn!" Duo swerved to the right in shock. "What? Did you forget something?"
"Actually, yes. I forgot to tell you what Matô said." Heero smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand and continued. "Their son recorded the video."
"What?" Duo called out. "No way! That's not possible, Heero."
That firm statement piqued Heero's curiosity. "Why not?"
"Because there is only static at the resort. They don't get any channels because there's a frequency hole in the little valley the hotel is in. That's why they have the video recorders in the first place." Duo paused a moment. "A little boy like Itsumi Matô wouldn't know that, right? He would just assume that his favorite show was on the same channel as it was back home."
"Of course! He wants to record the show he sees on the same channel every week in Tokyo, but it records this weird video instead because the channels change with the region." Heero finished Duo's thought.
"Right. Now we have three problems." Duo counted them with his fingers off the steering wheel. "How did the video show on that channel, who made the video, and how?"
"One possibility would be that someone hacked the signal."
Duo thought about it for a moment before he responded. "Seems like pretty much the only possibility to me."
"No. There is at least one other: What if the video recorded itself?"
Duo snorted. "What if Snow White did it?" Heero waited for Duo to think about it for a moment, but the other man didn't bite. Heero didn't like the sound of Duo's voice, then he remembered what he had observed at the beginning of their investigation. Duo never gave up in an instant, so, why did he do it now? He decided to press further.
"No, Duo. Don't discard it as impossible right away. You never do that. Think about it for a moment. What if something other than a video camera recorded it?" Heero knew that if he gave Duo enough to think about it, the other man would eventually come up with a completely reasonable explanation, however unlikely, impossible, and supernatural the solution might be. That was one of the things Wufei had told him years ago in the beginning of the Chinese man's partnership with Duo. That's how they sometimes were able to solve their cases. He remembered that Duo was a psychology student, despite his extremely young age, and that he had a lot of knowledge in the supernatural field. Heero doubted that he had ever been able to use it for a Agents' case before, but now would be a good time to start using this hidden knowledge.
"The video recorded itself. Okay. Let's see what possibilities we have." Heero watched with interest as Duo zoomed out for a minute and let the car drive on autopilot only.
"A psychokinetic would be able to put pictures on photo paper by just imagining them. There is no known case of someone doing a whole movie just by thinking about it, you know what I mean? It'd be a revolution in thermography!" Duo looked at Heero excitedly. The idea now seemed reasonable to him, and Heero once again admired the spark of life that seemed to light Duo's face up when he was happy or excited.
"Do you think it's possible?"
"After studying that stuff for a few years and working for various homicide departments for almost four years, you learn one thing, Heero: Everything is possible. Absolutely everything. I don't say that it's a reasonable explanation for what's in the video, but you might be right about that possibility. The video sure looks like it's mental. The more I think about it, the more some of the scenes make more sense. If we analyze the video, I'm sure we'll find some details. I don't want to say that's the only possible way to do that video, but it sure is something we should think about. Although-" Duo paused and grinned at Heero who raised an eyebrow in question.
"-what about aliens? What if aliens made the video to kill earth's population so they can open up a new fast food restaurant chain?"
Heero snorted. "I like the previous one better. Besides, if the video kills, then the possibility of the video coming from the mind of a seriously deranged person is even more likely."
"Heero, my man, that's exactly the direction I don't want to go right now."
"Why?"
"If we admit that the video kills, and that it's really made by a mentally sick individual, then the next questions you have to ask are why the person made this video and what did the individual want to achieve by doing so?"
Heero was stunned. Of course those would be the next questions, as well as how could they could survive. What would they have to do, what magical modus operandi would they have to follow to get rid of the curse? Obviously Duo thought the same, because Heero realized that suddenly the other man had become very quiet.
"Maybe we won't solve the riddle at all, Heero. Do you really want to-" Duo trailed off into silence and concentrated on the curvy road, glad that he couldn't turn and look at his partner's face. Of course, with those less than happy visions, Heero would take the previously said words back. Nobody with his mind intact and sane would consciously want to risk his life for that dubious cause.
"Duo, stop it." Heero had watched Duo's changing expression and felt the need to assure him. "I don't regret what I said and this won't change my plans. I am going to watch this video, and we'll do whatever we can to prevent the curse."
"You are crazy, Yuy."
"I never stated otherwise."
Duo nodded slowly, not sure what to think of that. They would find out what had killed those kids. Together. Hopefully before his or Heero's deadline.
+
Yawning, Wufei poured himself a cup of coffee and groaned when he saw that the mug was only half-full when the machine announced that it was empty.
"Quatre, you-" Annoyed, Wufei turned but couldn't see his partner in the chair the other had occupied for the past hour. Still not really awake, he continued mumbling to the empty room. "-didn't refill the coffee-machine. Again." Suddenly, he saw his partner entering the room, a stack of files in one arm, his free hand dragging a tall man with him. Wufei rubbed his eyes and squinted.
"Barton, is that you?"
"Yeah. Look whom I found outside!" Quatre tugged Trowa closer and pushed him toward Wufei.
"What are you doing up here? I thought they kept you locked up in the cellar for good."
"Funny, Chang. I'll have you know that our contract states we have to be let out for exercise sometimes. Today it's my turn." Trowa perched himself on the edge of Quatre's desk and sipped on his coke.
Wufei just rolled his eyes in resignation and turned to Quatre. "You forgot to refill the coffee machine again. I told you that's my only demand if you want to start work at seven." He glared at his current partner mockingly and pointed with his mug at the stack of files in Quatre's arms.
"Are those the newspaper articles from south Hakone?"
"Yeah, but since we don't have any idea what we're looking for it might be a bit difficult to pin down what time span we have to cover." Quatre sighed and dropped the files onto the table, dividing them up into the years the articles had come out.
"How far back did you go?" Wufei sipped at the cup and winced. The coffee had been on the bottom of the machine for too long and had become too bitter. He moved over to the desk and randomly opened a folder to see what was inside.
"Twenty years. Do you think that's enough?"
Wufei halted his movement for a second, thinking about the talk he'd had with Heero the day before. He looked up again and shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably.
"I honestly have no idea how far back we have to go. Heero didn't mention anything that could help. I guess he and Duo haven't come that far with their investigation yet."
Quatre impatiently shuffled through the files. His voice was angry when he voiced his question. "Why didn't you ask him? Maybe he could have-"
"He didn't respond any further, he seemed to be thinking about something and I didn't want to interrupt him." That was as far as Wufei would go for a near apology, so Quatre let it rest although he wasn't fully convinced that Heero would have zoned out like this.
"So, basically you two try to… do what, exactly?" Trowa didn't really know what these two were attempting to achieve by searching the newspapers. To him it seemed like a futile attempt to help, but he didn't believe it would lead to anything important.
"I already told you about the deaths. Well, we don't know if this hasn't happened before or if there were other strange happenings in this area, like unresolved killings or anything peculiar that might have a connection to the current case." Quatre patiently explained, not looking up from his work.
"That's pretty vague, I dare say."
Quatre turned sharply at what sounded like an accusation to him. "Got a better idea? Would you rather have us do nothing to help them? Would you rather see them die?"
"No Quatre. I'm sorry, that was uncalled for." Trowa quickly interjected in an attempt to calm his partner down. "If I can help you with anything like searching the network for information tell me, okay?" He made a step forward and placed a chaste kiss on his lover's lips. "I'll see you at lunch." Quatre nodded and after Trowa had turned to leave, a lazy smile crossed his lips despite his sudden outburst. Wufei noticed and quickly turned away at the intimate moment. Suddenly he felt a file poking him into the ribs and he took it wordlessly.
"What's that?" He raised a questioning eyebrow, almost wishing he hadn't asked when he saw Quatre's devilish grin.
"This is the year you're going to start with. You take the even years, I'll take the odd ones. We'll work ourselves back in the timeline. Hopefully we'll hear from Heero or Duo soon so they can give us some clues."
Wufei nodded and opened the file. When he saw what awaited him, he moaned. "If this whole thing is a hoax I'll be very angry."
"If it isn't you'll be glad to have helped, so shut up and work." Wufei sighed at the tone in Quatre's voice. He had never doubted that Quatre was an excellent agent, but his easygoing nature often deluded the people around him. Of course he didn't want to see the two men die. Looking over at the other man who was already starting on the first file, he smiled. Quatre had a good heart, no doubt about that.
+
Heero had watched his partner nervously gnawing on his bottom lip for ten minutes until he decided to break the silence that had fallen between them.
"Want me to drive for the rest of the route?"
"What?" Duo jerked his head around, not having understood what Heero had asked, as he was deep in thought.
"I asked if you wanted me to drive."
"Please." He took a look into the rear mirror and drove the car to the side of the road. Pushing the gear shift into neutral, he stepped off the gas and pushed the door open. They switched positions, both men using the opportunity to stretch their tired limbs before sitting down again. Before Heero could continue the drive, Duo motioned him to stop.
"Can I use your mobile please? Mine is broken."
Heero searched his pockets, and when the cell phone was found, he handed it to Duo. Suddenly he remembered his futile try to reach his partner the day before. "So it wasn't just the static?"
"Why, did you want to reach me?" Duo glanced at his partner surprised, as he took the phone gratefully before looking down again to search the electronic memory for the number of his other partner.
"Yeah." Remembering what the call was about, Heero shrugged it off. "It wasn't about anything important." He checked the rear-view mirror and resumed the drive before Duo could think of asking what he had wanted to call him for.
"Good. I'm sorry, but the old tattered thing fell from the seat in the car. The fifth in two years. Makes you wonder if they make them deliberately easy to break." Duo muttered. "Ah, here it is. Your cell is pretty state of the art. Where did you get it?"
"SoumaSoft."
"Really. They make cells too? I get all my computer software there." Duo mumbled while figuring out how to use the speakerphone option.
"Yeah, the software is pretty good there. Did you know they sell bullet proof glass too?"
"They do? No, I didn't know that. I got mine through Lady Une when they exchanged the old windows in the meeting room for new ones after the shooting." Duo fell silent when the third ringing tone was broken by the nasal voice of his Chinese partner. He quickly pushed the speakerphone button, allowing them both to hear Wufei.
"'Fei!"
"Maxwell. What are you doing with Yuy's cell? This isn't your number."
"I know, mine's broken. Again." He smirked, knowing that Wufei was probably rolling his eyes now, silently wondering how one single person managed to destroy five durable cell phones within two years.
"Duo, I refrain from any comment. How's the investigation going? Commander Une let Quatre and me work with you-"
"No!" Duo yelped and directed a worried expression at Heero who too shook his head and spoke up.
"Good Morning, Chang. The reason Maxwell doesn't want your direct help in this case is that he has found the video and already watched it."
"Morning, Yuy. I'm glad that you're that concerned, but neither Quatre nor I will sit by while you-"
Suddenly, Wufei realized the seriousness of the statement. "Duo? You've found that video? What did- what happened?"
"Well, it's hard to describe. The most important thing is that it really said that I would have seven days left to live. We thought about the possibilities of somebody manipulating or tricking us, but we couldn't come to a conclusion. What do you mean 'Lady Une let you work with us?"
"We're currently checking the newspaper articles for anything strange that has happened in the south Hakone area around that hotel, but since we have no idea what to look for it's hard to find anything useful. I was hoping you would give us something to work with."
"We don't have all that much yet. Could you check the reason for a frequency hole in that area and if it would be possible to send something despite it?"
Heero nodded. He also had thought of that possibility. Suddenly, he remembered a thought that had crossed his mind when he had seen the main building of the resort for the first time.
"Could one of you check the background of the resort? The owner, when it has been built, and what had been on the land before that, who had sold the land in the first place, and why."
"Of course." Wufei seemed glad that Heero and Duo had some leads for them to check. "Duo, a certain Dr. Takashi called for you last night. He said that he had no luck reaching you. He told me what he found instead. Want me to brief you now?"
"Yes, please."
"I just have to find the file first. Give me a minute. I'm buried in folders here." They heard rustling as paper was shuffled around on a desk.
Suddenly, Duo's expression grew wide. "Shit!" he exclaimed. "Wufei! I completely forgot about Kage!"
"Kage is doing fine. When I had gathered that you wouldn't be home last night, I went over to your apartment and fed her. She's fine."
"Did you close the lid tight enough?"
"Of course, I wouldn't want a repetition of the last time." Heero watched the display with interest, not interrupting. He didn't know why he wasn't angry with his partner for wasting time talking about his pet. He did know that he wouldn't scold Duo. He heard Wufei chuckle on the other end of the line before the Chinese man interrupted himself and started briefing them on what the pathologist had found. It wasn't much, as both men quickly realized. In actuality, the doctor hadn't found anything to undermine their theories but had been able to give proof that led them to exclude their earlier guesses.
"So the kids really died from heart attacks and it's almost impossible that their deaths could be the fault of some virus." Duo repeated.
Heero nodded. "It also means that we can say that technically it wasn't murder. Whatever it was that killed them left no trace. Still, there must be a reason behind all this."
"Whatever? Everything that has a reasoning behind malevolent actions is human. We can almost be one hundred percent sure that 'whatever' killed them was human." Duo didn't want to think of what exactly he meant, but he continued. "That means whoever killed them must be incredibly smart and-"
"-and he or she must be really angry to kill as cruelly as that."
Wufei listened with interest, as Heero and Duo completed each other's theories like they had done nothing else for ages.
"Looks like a perfect hunt for the two of you" he interrupted. "Listen, I have to go back to Quatre. Is there anything else you need to know?"
Duo shook his head and looked at his partner expectantly. "No. We'll be home in about one hour. That'll be probably ten thirty or eleven. We need an Audio-Visual Research room in the media department by then. Those are the ones with all the equipment we'll need for video copy and analysis."
"Sure. I'll make sure you'll have one as soon as you get here. Lady Une will want you two reporting in, though she officially doesn't know that you've been in South Hakone. You never told her directly. Duo? Can I talk to you in private for a moment?"
Heero watched his partner rise his eyebrows in surprise and assumed that Duo didn't also know what this was about.
"Of course. Let me set the speaker back."
"Tell me when you're ready. See you later, Yuy."
"Of course, Yuy out."
After the two had said their goodbyes, Duo picked up the cell phone and held it to his ear. He gave Wufei notice that he was the only one to hear their conversation right now and listened closely. Heero watched as Duo's expression changed from surprised to some fish-like look. The other man didn't seem to like whatever Wufei revealed to him. He tried to listen in, but couldn't hear anything that Wufei said.
"I see. Well, we'll just hope I won't run into her then, right? You'll call us if you find anything out, right? Yeah, the same goes for us. See you later."
Duo disconnected the call and placed the cellular on the dashboard in front of him. "We don't have much, do we?"
Heero shook his head. "No. We have an hour left until we get back to the bureau. Why don't you spill what you've been thinking about for the past two hours?"
"I've been thinking about how beautiful the sun is shining and that it's a shame that we have to spend this day working." Heero huffed in annoyance as Duo leaned forward and pushed the play button on the CD player. Soon melancholic pop blared from the speakers and the other man reclined in his seat to watch the landscape. Heero turned the volume down to almost nothing and looked at the street resolutely. His calm voice cut through the air as he briefly glanced at Duo coldly. "You think this is all a game?"
"No! Of course not! I just don't see what good it does to be thinking so hard all the time. Loosen up. It's not as if we'll solve the case in this one hour while we're sitting in this car. I can't think right now. Give me a break. If you're so hot for the case, why don't you tell me what you've been thinking about?"
Heero took a deep breath and tried to calm down, but he couldn't. He had to get this out of his system or it would stand between them for the rest of the case. He raised one hand from the steering wheel and let it slide through his hair, frustrated with his partner's attitude. "You're the psychologist! You tell me how one could kill by visual and audio suggestive messages or by hypnosis. You tell me if it is possible to hypnotize someone so that they die after seven days. Duo, I am not able to draw the same connections as you do!"
His hand went back down on the steering wheel, an exasperated gesture of defeat. This was more than he had wanted to show, but now he had to go through with it. "My education was different from yours. I can tell you what explosive one used by merely smelling the smoke, but I have no idea how to hunt down a psychopath. Lady Une told me to trust you, but if you're not even seriously thinking about the case, what am I supposed to think?"
Heero forcibly concentrated on the street again, waiting for a reaction. He knew he wouldn't be able to solve the case alone – and neither could Duo.
"I'm sorry, Heero. I just don't believe it makes much difference whether we bounce around theories now or not. I've already said it once. I can't think right now. My brain is drained. I'm going to sleep for the rest of the trip. I didn't get all that much sleep in the last week. When I'm awake, I'll tell you everything I was thinking about, but not now. A tired soldier is a dead soldier because he makes mistakes. Surely you know that."
Duo apparently didn't expect an answer. He reclined in the seat, his hands fumbling under the cushion until he found the handle to push the back of the seat into a more comfortable position. With a murmur, he leaned against the door, apparently ready for a nap. Heero took a good look at the slumped figure before he turned his gaze on the street again. Maxwell was still an idiot.
+
Under normal circumstances, Lady Une wouldn't believe that one could know who was outside just from the knock on the door, but working in this department she had soon learned that it was, indeed, possible.
"Come in, Yuy." She looked up briefly, making sure that it was indeed Heero Yuy and his partner who were entering her bureau. With a few trained phrases, she excused herself to the caller and put the phone down.
"Maxwell, Yuy, nice to see that you care to come in and report."
"Good morning, Commander."
Duo stared at his partner, as if expecting something other than a title as a welcome, but Heero looked at the desk and didn't made any attempt to speak up. "Commander. We do owe you an explanation for our sudden disappearance, but we had to follow some very important leads."
"Yes." Heero began slowly as if he wanted to say something else, but he didn't continue. Instead he looked at his partner who immediately took a step forward and sat down in one of the chairs in front of Lady Une's desk without invitation. Shrugging, Heero followed his partner's example and sat down in the unoccupied chair next to Duo's. He listened as Duo started bluntly with their report.
"Commander Une, we found the video."
Lady Une slowly nodded her head, not sure if she really wanted to hear their conclusion, but she knew that she had no real chance. Director Khushrenada had already asked about the progress of the investigation. He had been more than a little miffed that she couldn't tell him much. Her agents obviously didn't report to her, and she would have to make sure that her agents knew their place. She had ignored his comments, like she always did. He couldn't replace her, because he knew that she was the figurehead of the Agents in Tokyo and, moreover, because her homicide department had the highest crime clear-up rate in Japan.
Heero continued. "We believe that it was really the video that killed those four teenagers, possibly by hypnosis or other suggestive underlying messages." He spared a glance at his partner, who looked at him wide-eyed and begged silently to stick with his theory. Duo nodded slightly in agreement although he did not fully understand why Heero lied to their commander and interjected.
"Yes; although we'll have to analyze the video before we can be sure."
"We are going to attempt doing so after this briefing."
Lady Une nodded again and looked down at her notes. "Chang told me you went to south Hakone. I'd appreciate it if you gave me details. Director Khushrenada already complained about your lack of discipline. I tried to explain to him, but you know how he gets. Try to give me more information. I can divide it into portions and feed it to him, but I need something to tell him."
"Of course, Commander."
She found it amusing that Yuy looked at Maxwell, expecting him to explain further what they had found out. "We went there because of the interviews we had with the late teenagers' parents. There had been a dead boy before, and all leads pointed to a certain holiday resort in south Hakone. That's why I decided to go there. Yuy followed me about half an hour later."
"I see. Well, type it up and give it to me as soon as possible. You're dismissed. I assume Chang has already organized whatever you need?"
Duo was already rising from his seat. "Yes, he has. We'll analyze the video and follow the leads. You'll hear another report by noon tomorrow, alright?"
"Fine. Khushrenada is not happy that I have four agents on one case. Be prepared for Chang and Winner to be ordered to another case. Good day."
After they had left Une's bureau, Heero immediately led the way to the elevator to go to the media lab on the last floor. As promised, Wufei had reserved a room, and the receptionist of the media lab immediately pointed them to the third Audio-Visual Research room. Suddenly, Heero remembered the documents they had asked their partners for. He also remembered that he hadn't taken a shower this morning. He sniffed at his clothing and decided that he wanted one as soon as possible.
"Duo, I'll talk to Chang and grab a quick shower downstairs while you prepare the video set. Maybe he or Quatre found out the name of the previous owner."
"Oh. Right. I completely forgot about that. Of course. See you in a few."
While Heero showered in the bathroom next to the Agents' gym and met up with Wufei a few floors up, Duo made a copy of the video so that they wouldn't waste any time in their analysis. He wanted to go to the major tech room to investigate the bandwidth. If they knew what had recorded the video, their search would probably go on much faster.
After he had labeled the copy with one of the stickers on the desk, Duo placed it on the desk and put his wristwatch next to it so Heero would remember to look at the time when he watched the tape in case he was back earlier. Duo left the room and closed it, making sure the red light on the magnetic lock was on. He didn't want anyone else to endanger themselves. With the original tape in his hand, he searched for the tech lab, which had to be on the same floor. That didn't say much, considering how large the floors of the building were. He was just about to give up and return to the receptionist's desk to ask for directions, when he rounded a corner and found what he had been looking for. Duo slid the keycard through the slit on the lock and punched in his code when he heard a sneering voice behind him. "Mr. Maxwell, what a pleasure to meet you again."
Recognizing the voice instantly, Duo turned and glared at the woman who was standing a few feet away. "Ms. Darlian, I'd love be able to say the same about your presence." He punched in the last number with force and waited for the light to change to green. When it flashed on, he excused himself politely.
"I am sorry, Ms. Darlian, but I have some work to do, I'm sure you don't mind." Quickly, before she could respond, he turned and entered the room, slamming the door behind him. Shutting Relena out of his mind, he concentrated on what he came to the tech lab for, namely finding out what instrument the video had been recorded with. He shoved the tape into the machine and let the video play. Strangely, the display didn't show what he had expected. He tapped the plate in a futile attempt to get it working correctly, but nothing happened to reassure him. The video 'wasn't' recorded. It just 'existed'. Rubbing his temple, Duo tried to wrap his mind around the idea that he had seen an animated thermography. He shuddered. This was not possible. The idea of somebody being able to make an animated thermography was as outlandish as the idea of beaming or interstellar travel. The video showed no sign that it had been recorded by something similar to a video camera. He tried a few of the buttons that should have corrected any mistake in the machine, but none brought any other result.
Sighing, he took the video out of the recorder and moved to the door. He turned back to make sure that the power supply for the machines was cut off and turned the lights out. Another lead leading to nothing. Looking around carefully, Duo made sure that Relena wasn't around. He really didn't want to run into her again. The woman had been ready to drag him in front of a judge or at least kill his career. He didn't even know why she hated him with such fierceness that she would fall back on such low resources. He walked down the corridor back to their room, tapping his fingers on the videocassette. He would stay longer to search the Internet for the newest information on parapsychology and psychokinetics. If the video was a mental one, he could eventually ask one of his professors if they had heard something. His mentor, whom he had worked with for his diploma had a vast archive of paranormal cases from all over Japan, and he knew a lot of the phenomena involved, he would know how to find what they needed for their investigation. When he came back to their assigned room he found Heero sitting in one of the chairs, busily comparing notes on a notepad with the files. His hair was still wet from the shower and he had a new set of clothes on. Obviously he, too, kept spare clothing in his locker. Upon hearing the lock click, Heero turned and looked at Duo questioningly.
"I was in another lab to find out what had recorded the video." Duo had wanted to ask Heero to guess, but considering the strained relationship between them he didn't want to take any chances. "You were right. At least that's what I could find out."
"I was right? With what exactly?"
"The video wasn't recorded in any way! For example, a video camera makes a picture and it gets put on film. This video doesn't have any tracks."
"But, that's like-"
Again, Duo interrupted him, even more excited now that he could relate his theory to somebody else. "-like being born without fingerprints! The video was made in a telepathic way. I want to talk to one of my old professors who specialized in this field of study. He might give me some names or people who have that ability."
"When do you want to call him?"
"He's not at the university today, but I'm sure he'll be there tomorrow. I'll call him tonight and make an appointment." Duo stepped behind Heero to see what his partner had been working on and leaned on the back of the computer chair. Heero turned again and leaned back, so that Duo could see the files better. It didn't help much because Duo couldn't see the letters. He quickly fished the glasses out of his black bag on the floor, noticing how good Heero smelled as he bent down.
"That's the name of the previous owner. The files weren't public and it took Wufei quite some negotiation to get them. The previous owner was a man named Richard Morgan. An American wedded to a Japanese woman. They bred thoroughbreds on the land, which wasn't as big as the resort is now. It was mostly surrounded by nature." Heero paused for a moment and got another sheet of information which was half empty. "Strange thing is, they didn't live there for long. There is no Morgan family around in South Hakone anymore. They left after selling the land." Heero saw his partner bend over some more to grab a sheet. He grabbed it and shoved it closer into Duo's reach.
"Glasses?" Heero smirked, admiring the view. Duo grabbed the sheet with a growl and answered briefly.
"Yeah." He turned his head, his nose inches away from Heero's. When he saw the smirk, he narrowed his eyes and growled daringly. "What?"
Heero knew when it was better to deny any sort of amusement and his eyes widened momentarily. "Nothing! It's just -" Quickly deciding that it was best not to irritate his partner, he gave Duo his most dazzling smile and continued. "Looks cute."
Duo snarled mockingly and moved away, barely hiding his grin. Instead, he looked at the sheet of paper, regarding its contents. "So the new owner of the resort couldn't help much. Strange, but we'll leave that for now and analyze the video. You haven't watched it yet, have you?"
"No. But I will do so now."
"Okay. I'm leaving so you can watch it alone. The first impression is important, I think. Maybe we can go and grab some lunch after you've watched it. I'd like to hear your views, and I could use something to eat."
"Of course."
Duo smiled and walked toward the door. "Lights on or off?"
"Off is fine."
Heero watched his partner leave the room, then turned and pressed the play button. He didn't see the red light on another machine go on. Instead, he stared at the screen, reliving the feelings Duo had felt the night before. A strange joining of scenes, seemingly in no order at all. Some were scary, some disgusting, and some plain unrealistic and abstract, some even evoking feelings.
+
Duo wanted to wait outside the room until Heero finished watching the video, but after a few minutes the waiting made him uneasy, and he left his spot for a bathroom break. He was about to reenter the room, the door already slightly ajar as he heard Relena's voice behind him.
"Mr. Maxwell, your lover called out for you on the intercomm system. He probably wants to meet you in the janitor's closet on the third floor for a 'meeting'."
"My what?" Duo didn't understand what the woman was hinting at. He was in no relationship at the moment. Obviously Ms. Darlian still felt like she had to avenge her brother.
"Mr. Chang."
Duo clenched his fists. Even if a woman scorned was the saddest, most dangerous thing on earth, he would not let this woman denunciate his friend. By doing so, she had definitely overstepped her line, not only by calling him a fag to his face, but by involving Wufei. He remembered Wufei's lessons on polite negotiation and convinced himself that it was better to not aggravate the woman any further.
"As I may inform you, Ms. Darlian, Chang Wufei is happily married and I can assure you that I do not, nor do I wish to, have a sexual relationship with him." He tried to remain calm, even though it took all of his inner strength. "I don't know why you should assume so, but you are wrong. Whatever your problem with me is, I don't want you to draw my friends or partners into your little game."
He gave a tired sigh and continued, trying another angle. "Ms. Darlian, your brother is a grown man. I'm sure he doesn't need your protection. Nothing you will do or say is going to get me fired, why can't you understand that? You can file ten more cases against me, it won't matter."
"I know that, Mr. Maxwell." Duo raised his eyebrows. She knew her mobbing attempts were useless? Then why the hell would she still try so hard? The superiors had moved her to a different department, they didn't even see each other at work usually, but still she found a way to talk bad about him. While people usually saw past her façade, there were enough people who believed her. That was one of the reasons he had embraced the agent exchange program with open arms. He was sick of being talked down to – not only by her, but by anyone who looked at his looks and decided he wasn't Japanese at all.
She was still glaring at him. "You know that? Then why-?" His words failed him.
"I don't like you, Mr. Maxwell."
Well, he supposed, that was as good a reason as any other thing she could have come up with.
+
The video had just stopped when he heard Duo's voice outside, the door already half open. Someone had to be holding him back. When Duo didn't enter, Heero stood up and inched closer to the door. An angrily raised voice made him stop. Duo seemed to be barely holding back his anger. He'd heard the same tone of voice from Chang a few times before, and obviously the Chinese man had taught his partner some of his skills. Now he recognized the other voice. Relena Darlian, one of his former partners and obviously now working in the media department. Heero decided to wait. After all, Relena and her dispute with Duo two years ago had caused him to break up the friendship he had with two of his colleagues. He wanted to know what was going on between these two ever since.
"Ms. Darlian, you just don't like me because I slept with your brother. You know he was gay before that."
"Shut up. You used him to get higher up in the agency. There is nothing you could say to me that would convince me otherwise. You haven't seen him! You used him and then you left him, do you even know what he went through?"
Now, he heard Duo angrily retaliate. "You have no right to talk like that. As I told you a thousand times, this does not concern you. You can't take what your brother told you at face value. He was hurt-" Heero winced as he heard her heels click on the floor. "Ms. Darlian, please!" Apparently she was leaving. He strained his ears as Duo let out a muttered curse and a sigh, but couldn't discern the words.
Heero felt he had to talk to Duo, to make things better. To tell him that he hadn't believed her, but the truth was, he had. However, he knew that Duo wouldn't need to sleep his way up the food chain – he was one of their best agents, and probably the best profiler in the department. Heero was just opening the door fully when Duo entered, his lips in a thin, hard line. When he saw Heero's face, he made an instant turn and left the room again. He all but ran down the corridor to the staircase and let the door crash shut behind him. Heero growled, only guessing that his expression had made Duo uncertain. He left the room, determined to set his partner straight about his personal value. He didn't know what exactly had set this off, but suddenly Relena's motives seemed a little bit clearer to him. The phone rang once, but Heero decided that this matter deserved his attention more than the phone call. Too late he realized who the caller would have been.
Heero opened the door and was immediately hit by a gush of fresh air rushing through the staircase. He didn't have to decide which way to go as the only door left above him shut and the draft ceased. He made his way up the stairs and opened the door to the rooftop. Heero didn't know why he was following his upset partner to calm him down. He just knew that he had to. He had to apologize for believing Relena rather than another respectable agent and for not even listening to Duo's side of the story. He had been angry, but he still didn't know why. Angry at Duo? Angry that Duo had been attracted to Relena's brother rather than him? Noticing how insane he sounded, Heero shook his head. He didn't even like Duo very much. Or did he? Before he could answer his own question, he reached the end of the stairs and opened the heavy door to the rooftop.
Noticing the wind that was sweeping over the roof, he rubbed his upper arms to warm himself up. He searched the roof until his eyes lay on the figure of his partner who stood near the edge on the broad platform that surrounded the roof. His arms were stretched out, slightly wavering in his stand as another squall of wind hit him. Carefully making noise on the gravel so that he would not startle Duo, Heero made his way toward the figure. Before he could call out Duo's name, the other man turned his head and smiled at him.
"It's like flying."
Heero looked at his partner for a second, making sure he wasn't about to do something stupid, then he stepped next to him and mimicked the posture. They stood in silence for a minute before Heero opened his eyes again and looked over to the other man's face and nodded slowly.
"Like flying." He felt the air rustle his bangs and wondered what the wind would do to Duo's long hair. Staring at the other man's braid, he saw it fly too, despite the weight it must have had. He stepped back and down from the stand, noticing Duo doing the same. Duo didn't look at Heero, but at the horizon when he answered the silent question between them.
"She is a complicated woman," Duo started. "Her sense of justice is strong, I guess. Her loyalty too."
"I know that now. I -" Heero paused and waited for Duo to look at him. "I apologize, I had no reason not to trust you."
"Things happened. It's okay now. She's still angry, though. Zechs is, too. Well, Zechs is still hoping I'll turn around one day and confess my love for him."
Heero couldn't bring himself to look at his partner but instead followed Duo's gaze toward the horizon. "Don't let this worry you now. You have backup, which she doesn't."
Duo sighed and turned fully toward his partner. "You're right. Let's concentrate on the case and forget about her. You've watched the video?"
"Yes, I did." Duo's sudden change in topic made Heero forget what he had wanted to say, the reason why he had followed his partner to the roof. He had wanted to make one thing clear to Duo; that he was worth the position he had within the Agents' organization and that Relena didn't know what she said when she had told him that he had to fuck somebody to get his current rank.
Duo resisted the urge to ask Heero what he thought about the video, instead he asked "Want to talk about it over lunch?"
"Sure. Cafeteria, or-"
"Let's go to the Italian Diner around the corner, I don't feel much like Agent food today."
Heero agreed and let Duo lead the way back to their assigned research room to make sure it was locked and that nobody would need it for the rest of the day. They left their files and the video tapes on the desk and made their way to the elevator.
"It's strange."
Duo was startled when Heero started talking so suddenly but immediately knew that he was talking about the video. He waited for his partner to tell him more about what he felt, but nothing came so he pressed the button for the first floor and watched the doors close before he agreed.
"Yeah."
+
As soon as Heero had left the corridor through the door to the staircase, Relena moved toward the research room, catching the door before it shut, curious as to what the two agents had been doing inside.
Back in her own office, Relena closed the shutters and locked her door. Whatever Maxwell and Yuy had been doing in the room, she wanted to know what it was. Luckily, Heero hadn't seen the empty video cassette in the recorder, or he would have labeled the tape. She pushed the cassette into the recorder and switched the TV on. The blue screen changed into static and Relena watched with a slight shiver as a white ring appeared on the screen.
+
The diner wasn't very crowded even though it was already lunch time. Heero entered the restaurant first and immediately went to one of the booths in the back of the room, ignoring the waiter who desperately tried to get his attention and place them closer to the other tables which would have made his job easier. Duo had to smile at his partner's antics, but he understood the reasoning behind them. Quietly he followed the two and when the waiter turned to fetch the menus, Duo winked at the man he already knew. He ate at the diner quite often. The waiter immediately recognized him and bowed his head slightly. Heero looked at their silent conversation and was determined to ask Duo how frequent his visits to the small diner were when his cell phone rang.
"Yuy? I called at the media department earlier, but I don't think Ms. Darlian passed the message on. I found out what you wanted to know."
"Good news?" Heero motioned Duo to come closer and made room for his partner to take the seat on the bench beside him.
"Depends on what you think is good." Wufei said on the other end, just as Duo managed to listen in. If Wufei said that, it usually meant bad news or at least disappointment.
"What did you find out?"
"Well, the frequency hole is quite easily explained. The antennas don't reach the hotel and obviously parabolas would have been too expensive. The whole South Hakone area is in that frequency hole. Even though hacking a TV station would be no problem, one could not use it to send something to one of the televisions at the resort."
"At least now we know what to exclude." Heero stated firmly when he had disconnected the call. He leaned back and let their bodies touch casually. He felt Duo's shoulders shake slightly and turned to look at his partner worriedly, only to see the other man chuckle, looking back at him.
"At least something positive, eh?"
Heero nodded, not fully understanding what was so funny about his comment until he saw the irony. A smile curved his lips and he added. "I just hope we'll find something to confirm one of our theories, too."
Duo's exuberant chuckling vanished and his expression grew serious, not fully able to hide the sarcastic smile. "That's not funny, Yuy. You have a wicked sense of black humor."
"What humor?" Heero threw a bad pun right back, but their banter was interrupted by the waiter who chose that moment to bring the menus. The man waited until they had chosen their drinks and left them to choose the food. Heero couldn't help the small grin as Duo patted the outside of his jacket to determine the residence of his glasses.
"Want me to read it out to you?"
"Funny, Heero. So funny."
"Hey, don't get grumpy with me just because I happen to see better than you. Come to think of it, how do you shoot?" "I have no problems with shooting, thank you very much. Don't try me, Yuy, or you might end up with a black eye." Duo narrowed his eyes, his voice serious.
"I'd much rather try you at the shooting range. I want to know if my partners can shoot the broad side of a barn if they can't even read menus." "You think I'm a bad shot? You think I'd be at the Agents if I couldn't shoot a fly off a wall? You think I fucked my way into the homicide department?"
"Don't!" Heero intercepted and laid a calming hand on his partner's arm "Don't say that, because we both know it's not true. I saw your file, I know your abilities, and I never doubted that I could implicitly trust your shooting skills." Heero's attitude changed within the second and he continued in a smooth voice. "I didn't mean to anger you. I just want to measure my gun with yours if you know what I mean." Heero winked and was rather pleased to see that Duo had no come back to that innuendo.
Instead, his partner opted for another retort. "Do you want a match? What are you doing tomorrow night?"
"Tomorrow night it is." Heero paused and looked at his partner questioningly. "Do you want me to read it out loud now or not?"
"I'll eat lasagna. Thanks anyway."
"But there are so many other-"
"Shut up, Yuy... while you're still on my good side."
Heero smirked and waited for the waiter to come into view so he could get the man's attention. As amusing as their conversation was for him, he wanted to get over lunch and go back to analyzing the video. They had a deadline, after all. Heero winced at the choice of words in his thoughts, but composed himself. He finally caught the waiter's eyes and the man immediately came toward their table. They ordered quickly, the waiter apparently knowing already that Duo would order a lasagna when he was without his glasses.
"So?" Duo watched the retreating back of the waiter before looking at his partner. "What do you think of the video?"
"It's strange, that's for sure. I have to admit that I didn't pick up the phone."
"Why not?"
"You were upset and running. I wanted to follow you rather than wait for the phone call."
Duo just stayed silent and motioned his partner to continue with his observation with a raise of his eyebrow. Heero had to smile at that and was astonished that he could understand the other man that easily without words.
"The first picture is the bloody water, I didn't really know what to do with that one. I mean it's scary, but it's pretty much abstract. It's gurgling and whatnot. I don't think that could be real. If we assume that the video was produced in someone's head, that person either liked blood a lot or he has seen so much of it that he's scared of it. He or she."
"Right, although the first picture you see is the ring. I agree with your theory on the bloody water. The next scene is the woman combing her hair, what did you think of that one?"
"Something was wrong there. I can't point it to something right now, but I hope we'll find that out later when we watch the tape again. It had something to do with the mirror, I think."
Duo nodded. "Did you see the fly?"
"Yes. I almost wanted to touch the screen to see if it was real."
Duo agreed with him, absentmindedly looking into the shop. What did that mean? A fly? A fly so real it looked like it was ready to leave the screen in a maritime scene. It was utterly abstract, but it had to mean something. Duo held his head in his hands, propping himself up, trying to find a connection until he felt Heero nudging his ribs, announcing that their meal had arrived. Breathing out heavily, Duo grabbed the cutlery while the waiter placed the lasagna and fettuccini in front of them.
"Buon appetito!"
Heero smiled and dug into his fettuccini dish, trying hard not to think of the scene with the monkey. He shuddered slightly and watched Duo doing the same. They looked at each other in the same instant. Heero, whose memories were even more fresh than those of his partner, shrugged his shoulders and picked up a few more noodles.
+
"Chang, please get Winner and come to my office, please." The voice of Director Khushrenada carried through the office without effort.
"Of course. We'll be there in a minute." Wufei straightened and went over to the smoking room where he was sure he would find Winner talking to his partner, who spent all of his breaks there. He opened the room with the balcony and immediately saw the two men standing close together, sharing a cigarette. Quatre stood with his back to the room, holding a cup of coffee in one hand, the other entwined with his fiancée's hand who leaned against the handle of the balcony.
Wufei came closer, fighting his way through the clouds of smoke and the talking people in the room. The balcony was small, and currently the two lovers were the only ones outside. When he was within earshot, he spoke up.
"Quatre, Khushrenada wants to see us."
Trowa had to smile and took the cigarette from his partner's lips. When Trowa had announced that Wufei had entered the smoking room, they had bet on the Chinese man's reason to come into the room. Quatre had been right. Obviously Khushrenada deemed it fit to break up his agents' lunch hour for presenting them a new case. Nobody in the whole organization knew what motivated the man to rob his agents of their lunch breaks, and nobody cared anymore.
Quatre turned scowling. "Did he say anything?"
"No. You know him. I think he wants us on another case. Remember that Lady Une already mentioned that he didn't like four Agents working on one little case."
"Little? It's a case that could kill two of his elite force. The stupid bastard hasn't realized that yet."
"Maybe he called us in for something entirely different. Are you coming?" Wufei turned to walk back into the room when he heard Quatre chuckle.
"Wufei, how can you ask such a thing! You're married, and in the presence of my lover, you rascal!" Wufei rolled his eyes and turned back to face the two chortling men. "Trowa, would you mind sharing him? I'm sure I can work something out with my wife."
"Time sharing?" Trowa raised an interested eyebrow, which earned him an elbow into his ribs from his fiancée.
"Of course. Why not? Quatre, aren't you interested in getting to know me better?"
"Trowa, I'm afraid the opportunity is too enticing. You don't mind me going with Wufei, do you? I promise we'll make it fast."
Trowa grinned, trying to get his facial expression back under control. "Take your time, love. I want you to come again later." Wufei chuckled and watched recognition wash over Quatre's face.
Quatre pecked his lover on the cheek and winked, grinning. He turned to follow his colleague. Before he was out of hearing range, he smacked Wufei on the shoulder and huffed mockingly. "You and your dirty mind, Wufei. What did you think he meant?"
They left a quietly laughing Trowa behind and crossed the large floor toward Khushrenada's bureau.
+
When they had finished their lunch, Heero and Duo had compared their ideas of how to proceed with the analysis of the video and were ready to execute their plan. They quickly paid and rushed out of the restaurant, not wanting to lose time or ideas that they had gotten during their talk.
They reached their destination within a few minutes, since the Agents building was only around the block and the elevators were empty. They stepped out on the top floor, returning to their bureau for the day. The videos and files all lay on the desk, and nobody had been in the room. They had locked the door, but since almost all Agents with a certain rank had access to the research rooms, that didn't mean much. They were glad that their wish had been respected and their room hadn't been assigned to anyone else.
Heero locked the door behind him while Duo pushed the tape into the recorder.
"Ready?"
Instead of answering, Heero took the remote and flicked the TV on, waiting for the video recorder to recognize the cue. Soon, the white ring appeared and the game started anew.
When the image with the woman combing her hair appeared, Heero pressed pause and motioned for Duo to take the slow motion wheel. The other man let the tape play, picture after picture, stopping when the camera swerved from the woman in the right mirror to the girl in the left mirror. "Do you see that?" Heero pointed at the still screen. "No camera. There should be one because the camera points directly at the mirror."
Duo nodded, writing the clues down. "The first riddle. We know what's wrong, but we don't know how it was done."
"Move forward. I want to see the next one. The one with the man in the window."
"Did you see anything wrong with that scene?"
"No, but I want to see the house. We need clues about the locations where those scenes where 'shot'. Maybe the house has a special architecture we would find only in certain places."
"Good idea." Duo took the wheel again and let the video play forward, capturing the building in a still picture. "Do you recognize something?"
Heero shook his head. "No, but I'm no architect. Do we have someone from the Agents who knows such things?"
"I doubt it, but we can ask Quatre later. He knows almost everybody in the building."
"He just loves to gossip with the ladies in the smoking room." Heero smiled and batted Duo's hand away from the scrolling wheel. He moved the scenes forward until the maritime scene appeared. They both looked at the fly, fascinated. Duo brought his hand up and yielded to the temptation to touch the fly. Nothing happened, and they both released breath they didn't know they had been holding. Reluctantly, Heero moved the scene forward, jumping over the scene with the monkey and the horse, going more slowly when the scene with the people crawling in the mud appeared.
"Shame."
"What?" Heero looked at his partner, wondering how Duo could pinpoint the feeling so easily.
"Don't you feel it too? When you watch that scene, all those people - stop!" Duo exclaimed and took the wheel into his hand, rolling it back until he could see the people crawling through the mud in slow motion. He slowly pushed the wheel, going forward picture by picture. Suddenly, the scene jumped for a moment, and a strange raster picture appeared showing apparently hundreds of faces looking at the viewer, laughing. Heero shuddered. He knew what his partner meant. The faces seemed to laugh at the viewer. He felt shame, but didn't know why.
"What the hell is that?" Heero drew his eyebrows together. It wasn't natural that a video, a picture, could make one feel emotions so strongly. It certainly wasn't a common experience for him, and he hated it. He could control his feelings nearly constantly, but this forced him to feel something he didn't want. He took the wheel from Duo's hands and quickly played forward.
"Heero! We can't just leave that scene out because we're not comfortable with it, what if this is a major clue?" Duo tried to bat Heero's hand away from the wheel, but the other wouldn't budge.
"Duo, this is insane!"
"That's why we're working on it. Let me see that scene again!"
"Great! If you're so hot for it, why don't you analyze it alone-" Heero halted himself. This was exactly what Duo had wanted in the first place, but he had told the other man that he wouldn't let him do it alone. What was he doing? "I'm sorry, Duo. I didn't mean to react like that, it's just that this abstract thinking makes me so damn uncomfortable."
"It's okay. I understand. I won't mind if you leave now. I can do it alone. It's no problem."
"No. I'm sorry. Let's go back and watch those faces again."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. Please." Heero moved his hand away from the wheel, but suddenly halted and went back. "What's that?" He moved the scene the tape currently showed slowly forward, recognizing a shutting movement.
"Are there more of those?"
"I don't know. Did you recognize them?" Heero moved slowly forward and found another shutting movement. "What could it mean?"
Duo shrugged his shoulders and noted the clue down onto his notepaper. This case was definitely becoming more interesting by the minute.
+
A few hours later they had watched the video multiple times, but hadn't found out much more. Every minute of the video was now tightly written down on the notepaper and they went over the observations when Duo suddenly yawned and asked his partner what time it was.
"Six thirty." Heero looked at his wristwatch, remembering that Duo's still lay on the table somewhere. He reached out and grabbed a few folders from a slanting pile and found the watch underneath. He gave it to his partner who checked it out of habit.
"We won't find out much more tonight. Let's head for home. I'm tired."
"Sure. Let's put the files back into your bureau and go home."
Duo grabbed the two video tapes and his black bag and moved to the door, waiting for Heero to take the rest of the files outside so that he could lock the door.
While Heero waited outside, Duo flicked the lights off and let the door fall into place, waiting until the red light blinked on. "I will try to call my old professor tonight at his home. Maybe we can meet him tomorrow at the university. I hope he can cram us into his schedule."
They took the elevator downstairs to the crime department, surprised that the floor was almost empty. "Are you sure it's only six thirty?" Duo frowned and went over to his bureau, keying in his personal password before being able to open the door. He flicked the lights on and let the bag fall on the floor next to a file drawer.
Heero just nodded and looked around in the room, which he hadn't set foot in for a long time. The room was small, but it was filled with bookshelves which were crammed full of psychology books and files on profiling cases. On the wall behind the desk were children's pictures, obviously drawn for the profiling unit since a lot of them had the insignia of the CPU on them. Heero knew that Duo often worked on kidnapping cases which involved children. He let the stack of files fall on the desk so that Duo could lock them away in a safe drawer and walked closer to the wall of pictures, looking at them closely. They often involved red stains and black men, scary pictures which children had drawn to get rid of the pictures in their minds. One of them made Heero frown and he wanted to ask Duo what it meant. It showed a figure in a circle, obviously under the ground. He felt Duo's breath on his neck and slightly turned, only to see the other man's eyes closing to keep his emotions back.
"The Mayer-Nagoya case. Three years ago, two girls disappeared from their school and no one knew where they had vanished. We got a clue two days later when someone found the shoe of one of them in the parking lot. We were sure they had been either kidnapped for ransom or-" he took in a shuddering breath "- something else. The families got a call each another two days later, assuring the parents that there was no reason to be sad, the kids were in good hands now, that they wouldn't have to suffer for very long.
"I got the information and went out hunting. I did the profile, and we found out who had done it. How isn't important. Three days later, we found them too late. Cathy Mayer was already dead. Her friend Hitomi Nagoya was alive, barely. Their captor had buried them both in a casket six feet underground, an air tank breathing into the casket so that they wouldn't suffocate. She wouldn't talk to anyone, but she drew this picture for the trial. She's now ten years old."
With a sharp movement, Duo turned to the desk and took the stack of files, locking it away in the bottom drawer of his desk. Heero was still looking at the picture. Had he really thought Duo was a shallow character? He turned and stared at the bowed back of his partner. When Duo straightened again, he looked at Heero with a hollow smile.
"Let's get you home. It's partially my fault that your car is at that resort in south Hakone, so until you get it back, I'll give you rides. Where do you live anyway?"
Heero slowly gave him his address and moved toward the door. He definitely had to rectify some of his assumptions about his partner.
"I know where that is. No problem. When do you want me to pick you up tomorrow morning?" Duo locked his bureau and then followed Heero toward the elevator.
"Seven thirty. If we want to meet your professor at the university, we'll have to leave at least two hours early."
"You're right."
The elevator halted on the parking floor below the ground level and they went to the car, noting again how empty everything was. The car wasn't far away from the elevator and soon they sat inside, on their way out of the building.
When Duo stopped the car at the curb in front of the building where Heero lived, Heero thanked him without words. They didn't need them as they had already agreed on the new driving arrangement. He got out of the car and closed the door. Before he turned to leave, he bowed down and looked in by the open window.
"Tomorrow at seven thirty."
"Seven thirty. Goodnight, and don't let the bedbugs bite." Duo winked and let the window close automatically. He left the curb with screaming tires, tired and impatient to get a hot shower and his bed.
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