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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 4 +
Heero pressed the button for the automatic lock downstairs and spoke into the receiver. "Come up, I'm not ready yet."
They hadn't agreed on the exact time when Duo would pick him up, so when at eight thirty the doorbell downstairs rang, Heero hadn't finished his morning routine. He opened the front door, confident that there was nobody else in the building who would come into his apartment while he was in the bathroom. Duo would let himself in.
Minutes later, he heard a soft knock and the swish of the door opening fully. Heero paused brushing his teeth at the sound and listened to the careful feet stepping into his apartment. He quickly spat out and leaned out of the bathroom, waiting for Duo to see him.
"Morning, Heero!"
Heero took the toothbrush out of his mouth and waved curtly. "I'm not quite ready yet, give me another minute."
He brushed his teeth, watching Duo stare around his living room before ducking back into the bathroom. He was proud of the décor, and gauging by Duo's reaction, the other man liked it too. It wasn't traditional Japanese, not by a long shot. The living room was kept almost completely oriental with rich red and brown colored rugs that were thrown over the couch and the lounge chairs. Ornaments covered the walls at waist height, and rosewood furniture was tastefully arranged around the room. It had cost a lot of money, but it was the most comfortable room in the apartment, aside from the bedroom.
When Heero was done, gel firmly wedged in his hair, he gave the image in the mirror a once-over and deemed himself fit for another day of tiring research. After switching off the lights, he walked back through the hallway, searching for his partner. He found Duo in his kitchen; watering the orchid Quatre had bought him as housewarming gift.
Duo was holding a finger into the soil, apparently trying to find out if it had enough water, when he approached. "You're still in the plant stage, I see."
"Plant stage?" Heero had no idea what that was supposed to be.
"Yeah, you know, first a plant for a year, then a pet for a year and then you can move on to 'real' inter-human relationships." Duo held his hands up in a surrendering gesture when he saw Heero's doubting look. "Hey, that wasn't my idea, I read it somewhere."
"Please, don't tell me that your lizard is-"
"Chameleon." Duo corrected him. "And yes, Kage is indeed my pet-stage-object."
"How long have you had Kage already?" Heero remembered the picture in Duo's wallet, knowing that Duo had looked a bit younger in that picture.
"For three years."
"I see." Heero pointedly looked at Duo, not commenting any further but with a raised, sardonic eyebrow. He grabbed a bottle of water and left the kitchen, moving back to the living room where his bag lay on the couch. He snatched it, and put the plastic bottle into the holding net at the bag's side. Then he went to the door and put his shoes on.
"Ready?"
Duo smiled and followed him outside. They still had enough time to reach the institution but that didn't mean they would waste time.
They left the building quickly, and Heero followed his partner to the car. It was 'parked' on the street, the CIU emergency authorization stuck to the windshield. Again, Duo automatically climbed into the driver's seat, expecting Heero to get in on the other side. After freeing the seat from loose sheets of disastrous handwriting, he remembered his partner's words last night, and decided to make conversation.
"Have you decided on your questions yet?"
"No. I have a few I need to ask, but I want to look at her first to find the right approach." Duo paused and started the car. He turned and led it out of the parking lot before continuing. "It's hard to interview a person whose behavior I haven't had the time to watch before – and interviewing kids is always different from questioning adults, you know?"
"They never let me question kids because of my 'insensitive modus operandi'."
"Lady Une's wording?"
"No, Quatre's. Lady Une just said 'You insensitive prick, this is not a 'good cop, bad cop'-questioning, you're talking to a goddamned kid!'. I also seem to have problems talking to grieving parents, although Quatre taught me some techniques for that already."
Duo smiled before his face twisted into a wide yawn. He apologized and rubbed one knuckle across his eyes. "You talked to Matô, didn't you?" The statement was meant to be a sympathetic, encouraging one, not the reminder of the near disaster it was for Heero. But of course, Duo couldn't know that. Heero listened to his partner explain. "The trick is to never tell them that you can feel for them, that you 'understand'. Grief is a fickle thing, it makes you angry at God and the world."
"I know, I made that mistake with him," Heero admitted, not completely without shame.
"Sorry."
Heero felt Duo struggle trying to explain how to approach someone, but apparently, Duo couldn't find an answer.
"It's best to not talk about it at all. As soon as you intervene with their private ritual with words, you're overstepping an invisible line. You can ask your questions and apologize for asking them, but-" Duo stopped, and Heero didn't prod any further. Obviously, it wasn't that easy. That invisible line seemed to be different in each case, and Heero accepted Duo's try to explain.
"I see." Heero looked over at his partner and saw that the other man was yawning again, how ever unconsciously. He knew that not many agents appreciated those seminars and classes the psychologists were giving sometimes, thinking that they could do their job without the help of some 'shrink'. Quatre had told him about a seminar he once held. He'd held only one because he couldn't understand why nobody would listen to him, why they were trying to undermine him by making snide comments. Heero had patted Quatre on the shoulder, assuring his disillusioned partner that he was listening and indeed interested. He had no illusions of grandeur, he knew he was lacking in the sympathy sector.
So it had come that Quatre gave Heero private lectures when they were on assignments, sometimes those long and boring observations were made bearable by lively discussions about random topics they both found appealing. Topics that made a lot more sense if viewed from two different view points. He hadn't put a lot of thought into the matter of grief before, mostly because it had stopped affecting him a long time ago. He couldn't lose anyone close to him anymore; he'd already paid the highest price. Before he could drift further away, he looked over to Duo and inclined his head.
"Thank you."
Duo apparently wasn't used to getting that certain reaction either, because he replied only after a moment of stunned silence. "You're welcome."
"I never went to one of your seminars. Maybe I should have." Keeping his thoughts on Duo, Heero looked at him, hoping he would accept the apology, seeing it as something more – like a peace offering. Now he just needed Duo to take a step closer as well.
"They weren't that interesting. You didn't miss-"
"Damnit, Duo. Just let me apologize for being a prick for three years without reason and stop with this self-depreciating behavior!" Heero exclaimed, his voice raised. He looked at Duo, who helplessly stared at the street, taking in the shocked features on his partner's face. He immediately calmed down and continued softly, "I just wanted to tell you that I appreciate that you're my partner in this case, and that I honestly don't know why they chose me to help you when you so obviously could solve this case alone much better. Then you wouldn't have to explain everything to me because I'm too stu-"
"Don't!" Duo took an abrupt right turn, and parked the car under some shady trees. Then he turned in his seat to face Heero, his face stern.
"Stop right there. Une chose you because you would keep the investigation on track. I'm likely to just jump in, and try hunting ghosts, literally. You think logical; you'd rather rip your leg out before admitting that a video can kill teenagers. We weren't sure that that was the case as you can remember. Heero, you're the one who's supposed to solve the case, not me. We're supposed to find a murderer, not a video. Lady Une knows that, I know it too. We were partnered because our views are different enough to make an investigation possible. I won't completely give into your logical thinking, and you won't give up trying to get me back to the ground again." He paused before adding with a smirk, "Besides, I'm the only psychologist who can keep up with your standard because I'm an active agent as well. Aside from Quatre, of course."
Heero snorted. He knew that other agents preferred not to work with him, but he had his reasons to reject them. They were a bunch of office-hogs. Hardly any of them ever left their tiny cubicles. They cracked computer codes, analyzed scrapings, clothing, hairs, and fingerprints. They did profiles on killers whose victims they had never seen in person. Unfortunately, CIU policy demanded that of two partnered, active field agents of the crime investigation unit, one had to have psychological diplomas.
The problem was that the ones with psychological diplomas hardly ever were active field agents, and therefore had no clue what to do on site. He had been lucky with Quatre. His partner was an active field agent with a minor background in psychology. Being extremely sensitive to emotions he had quickly learned what made Heero Yuy, and therefore was perfectly able to communicate with him without trying to change him.
Duo was a profiler and an active field agent as well, something generally very uncommon. There were only two in Tokyo. Heero looked over to Duo and watched him lead the car out of the parking lot, and across the street into the parking lot of a diner. Duo yawned again before taking the key out of the ignition.
"I remember hazily that I invited you for breakfast, Yuy."
"Well, I remember fairly clearly and yes, you did."
Duo laughed out loud and opened the door. "I'll just have to believe you then."
"You mentioned coffee and a new TV set too, but to be fair, you were half asleep."
Duo grunted. "Then the agreement is nil. 'Half-asleep' equals 'out of order'." He jumped out of the car and waited until Heero had followed his example before locking the car.
"This is a one time offer, don't think I always invite people for breakfast."
"Chang mentioned something about breakfast being your only regular meal."
Duo sighed, obviously used to that accusation. "Chang talks too much."
"You mentioned that before. Although I think he's right." Heero made a show of looking at Duo and the rather slim figure.
Duo's face lost its smile and he shrugged. "He's a mother hen."
Heero glanced at his partner and remembered how lost the other man had looked in Wufei's shirt despite the fact that Wufei was hardly any taller than Duo. He knew that it was often impossible to eat after having watched a crime scene, or that sometimes the voices in one's head made any appetite one might have had slink away into nothing. They had enough cases of rapid weight loss syndrome to validate a monthly physician's appointment for the active field agents. Personally, he suspected that that was the reason for Quatre's unexpected 'diet'. Somehow, Duo seemed to make a regular habit of leaving out meals. He watched his partner's retreating back for a moment before he followed. Duo knew how to take care of himself; he was a grown man, not some helpless child. It wasn't Heero's problem, was it?
The diner was cool inside and they steered toward a booth at the windows. Heero sat in the shade, while Duo gratefully took the seat in the sun, turning his head to look outside. Heero watched his partner's antics, and was faintly reminded of a cat. He smiled when Duo closed his eyes, and let the sunrays warm up his skin until a waitress came to their table to take their order.
+
Duo quickly unfolded the menu in front of him and ordered a light breakfast and a large mug of coffee. Just what he needed. While they were waiting for their meal to arrive, Duo thought about Amy. Midii had told her about a video, had probably scared her a bit. They would have joked about horror videos, trying to scare each other a bit. Midii would have brought up the video, or maybe even Amy. His eyes were still closed and he frowned. Maybe Amy had brought it up. Midii would have told her about having watched it, and scared Amy. Midii's mother had called them, so they probably almost pissed themselves picking up the receiver. Amy was scared and relieved, scared and relieved - Midii joked around, not serious. Amy went out of the room, maybe to the bathroom. She didn't hear anything, so she probably was in the bathroom, with the ventilator on. Or the other girl was just silent.
Duo had his head tilted, his pupils flitting around behind his closed eyelids. Midii was silent; Amy came out of the bathroom, and went into the kitchen to look for her friend. She was still relieved, probably thinking Midii had joked. Duo was sure that she was smiling. She went to the kitchen, thinking Midii was pouring them something to drink. She was still smiling. She rounded the corner and saw her best friend's feet. She saw the shattered glass, and then the body. The grotesquely stretched out foot, the contorted figure, the horribly disfigured face. The horrid expression, Amy saw it all. She saw her friend's pain, her fear, and her cruel death. He knew, because at that moment, /he/ felt Midii's pain, her fear, her death, he felt Amy's fear, the pain about losing her friend, the shock, the urge to throw up at the sight.
He jerked his eyes open, locking them with Heero's. He choked and grabbed for the coffee the waitress had brought while he was 'away'. His hands shook a bit but calmed when he had sipped the hot liquid. Amy wouldn't like him asking about that night. He took a deep breath, trying to get rid of that urge to throw up; no, she wouldn't like him asking about that night at all. She would probably be catatonic or at least not responding. He would have to coax her out of that shell, somehow.
Suddenly, he had his questions. He cut his omelet, not really caring what he ate. When he looked up he found Heero still looking at him.
"I know how to approach Amy." Duo smiled, but made a grab for his mug to stop himself from freezing that smile on his face. This was not funny, but how else could he cover up what he had just felt?
+
Heero stared at his partner. One moment, Duo was tilting his head against the sun, the next he was clenching the table with white knuckles, his whole body virtually shaking. He didn't understand, and he wasn't sure if he even wanted to. Duo's sudden statement that he now knew how to approach Amy gave Heero a pretty good image what he'd just witnessed. Duo had tried to feel what Amy had felt that night to get to know her better. Did he always do that? If he did, it sure as hell was not healthy.
He watched Duo mindlessly cutting the omelets for a minute before speaking up.
"Are you okay?"
"Of course." Duo's posture told him that the other man wouldn't talk about it. Maybe he /couldn't/ talk about it. He watched as Duo picked up the toast listlessly, without much appetite. After taking a long swallow from his coffee, his partner leaned back, indicating that the topic was dropped. Heero smiled. He understood the gesture, and shook his head. When he had finished his own breakfast, he looked up again, and saw Duo staring out into the parking lot.
Following Duo's gaze, he decided to offer. "Do you mind letting me drive for the rest of the way?"
"Of course not, go ahead." Heero sensed that Duo was still tired, the seemingly relieved answer hiding how tired Duo really was. He waited for a moment when Duo stood up to pay for their breakfast at the cashier, unsure of what to do. His partner hadn't even finished his omelet, he observed with regret. He hoped to convince Duo to get lunch together later, after the ordeal at the institution. After he'd swallowed the rest of his coffee, he got up too, waiting for Duo to return. His partner's whole posture seemed tired, so he ushered Duo to the car quickly. The drive was long; maybe he could get Duo to sleep for a while. In the car, he watched Duo's jaw stretch again, popping under the stress of another yawn.
"What did you do last night to make you so tired?"
"I'm always tired. I usually can't sleep more than six hours in a row, and whatever sleep I can't get at night, I have to somehow get during the day." Duo reclined in the seat and closed his eyes. He rubbed his temples with one hand, half covering his face with the motion. "I'm sorry."
"That's okay, just take a nap. I want you in full capacity later to do the interview." He watched as Duo's eyes dropped close, and turned on the air conditioning after turning the key in the ignition. He stared at his partner for a moment, and was astounded at how much he already knew about him. Duo had never pressured him to explain something, or to talk about himself. Was he not interested at all, or was it just his way to show that he had no wish to 'analyze' Heero, like all of his previous partners had?
Duo grunted softly and turned a bit, as if trying to curl up which was prevented by the seat. He sighed and sagged further into the seat. Heero watched his partner's head loll to the left against the door. He wondered if Duo's ability to feel into other people's minds had something to do with his higher metabolism. If Duo's brain worked differently, maybe being tired was just a side effect. Heero averted his eyes, and looked back at the street leading them to the mental institute. He wanted to know more about Duo, and maybe he could, in return, let Duo in as well.
+
"Ah, the agents Maxwell and Yuy. It's a pleasure to meet you." The doctor's fake smile almost seemed to be frozen on his face. It was clear that he wasn't happy to see them. Heero stared at the doctor in surprise as the man smiled at his partner dismissively; and he watched in well-hidden fascination as the doctor continued. "You must be the psychologist who's taken interest in Amy, aren't you? Well, we'll see if you can get through to her." Heero heard the unstated doubt clear as crystal glass.
Duo, who knew this behavior already just smiled an outwardly completely honest smile, and bowed. "We'll see if I can manage. If you would please show me to the interview room, I have a schedule."
"I'm sure you do. If you would follow me, please; I already told you which questions you can ask without problems?" He spoke over his shoulder as he walked in front of them, leading them toward the room where Duo could meet Amy.
Duo rolled his eyes, sure that the doctor couldn't see him. "Yes, you did." Before the doctor could add a comment, Duo interjected. "And I do remember them well, you don't have to remind me again, thank you." It was true that he still knew the questions he couldn't ask, but since he knew why Amy reacted to some questions differently than to others, he guessed what the problem was. He would see soon enough if his theory was correct.
The doctor huffed and quickened his pace. Heero looked at Duo and saw that his partner was taking deep breaths, calming himself down. Then, the doctor stopped in front of a door and peeked inside through a small window in the steel door. Duo frowned as he looked at the door. He stood on his toes to be better able to look in and his frown deepened.
"This is where I'm supposed to interview her?" he asked, obviously doubting that this could be true.
"This is the common interview room, yes."
"Do all your interview rooms have cameras, microphones, and steel furniture?"
The doctor snorted again, disdain clearly on his face. Heero put a hand on Duo's shoulder and looked into the room himself.
"This looks like the 'interview rooms' we have at the HQ," he added, and stepped back.
Duo agreed with a snort, and turned toward the doctor. "I will take her outside. Where is the garden?"
The doctor automatically motioned to his right, at the glass doors before realizing. "You will not take her outside, we don't know how she would react to-"
"I take the full responsibility. If it makes you feel better, let my partner sign something."
"Very well, if you would please follow me to my bureau, I'll have you sign a paper." He marched back where they had come from, and Heero followed him. He glanced back at Duo, encouraging his partner to start the interview without them with a brief hand gesture.
+
Duo waited until they had taken a turn, and then opened the door quietly. After closing the door behind him, he took a step forward, examining the girl's posture from afar for a moment. His interviewee didn't react at all, he wasn't even sure if she knew he was in the room, as she gave no outward sign of recognition.
"Amy?" Duo stepped closer to her, and crouched low to be able to look into her downward cast eyes. "Would you give me your hand, please?"
He held his own hand out, and watched as she tentatively reached out. He waited patiently until her hand lay in his, then he looked into her eyes.
"I want to take you outside into the garden to talk a bit, is that okay with you?"
She blinked her eyes uncaring, and he stood up, taking her hand with him. She moved the chair back and straightened as well, automatically following his movements. Duo carefully took her hand in his more firmly, and led her toward the door. She behaved just as he imagined she would when he had watched her in that plastic seat earlier. Withdrawn, but not completely catatonic.
The girl was seventeen years old, yet she had been frightened to death and now seemed apathetic and impassive. Not very common, but definitely not something he'd never seen before. He led her outside, toward the garden, and she followed next to him. He didn't want to walk in front of her because he didn't know what she would expect when he turned. The mind was a fickle thing and Duo felt her fear surrounding her like a strong perfume.
When he opened the door he let her step out first, and was taken back when she stared at the reflection of the glass door to look at his face. Feeling the fear leave her like a shadow, he smiled reassuringly.
Together, they walked silently across the lawn toward a bench near the rose bushes. The garden was beautiful and someone had taken great pains to care for it. The bushes were trimmed perfectly and the lawn resembled golf green.
They sat down on the wooden bench but Duo didn't let her hand go, instead he turned toward her, moving his other hand to reach for her other, trying to get her turn toward him.
She did so after only a moment of hesitation, and he tilted his head until he could look into her eyes again. Her chin was almost touching her chest. He knew that he couldn't make small talk with her because she wouldn't respond.
"I don't like your doctor, he actually wanted me to talk to you in that room. I think the garden is much nicer, although I never expected it to look like that." He decided to babble on. If she wasn't expected to respond, she would probably open up without him coaxing answers out of her. His hand left hers, and he reached back and ripped one rose off the bush. Then he held it close to her nose and offered her to smell it.
"They smell wonderful, don't they?"
The girl smelled at the rose and looked up; then she automatically answered with a whispered 'Yes', not even realizing that she had responded aloud. Duo smiled, and tucked the rose behind her ear, arranging her long hair around it.
"It looks beautiful. I'd take you out for a drink, but I don't think your doctor would approve."
Amy smiled and self-consciously ducked her head again. Duo grinned. He had her. "We could always go to the movies instead. I heard there's a new good one out." He paused, gauging by her reaction if his approach was a good one. "I heard you like horror movies."
She hesitantly shook her head and whispered. "Not anymore."
"Is it because of what happened to Midii?" Sometimes, the direct attack was the best. Duo just hoped that he was right this time.
Amy looked down.
"Can you tell me what happened that night, when she died?"
Amy shook her head and shrugged. Duo knew that if she could have told him what had happened, she would have.
"Did you see something else that night? A person?"
Amy jerked her head up and looked at him feebly. "No, nothing, I didn't hear anything."
Duo let her hands go, sensing what was wrong and offered her an embrace, which she gladly leaned into. "You couldn't have done anything, Amy. It wasn't your fault that she died. You could not have prevented it."
The girl sagged against his shoulders and clutched them with both hands, then he felt her hot tears soak his shirt. He couldn't believe that no one had told her before. That no one had thought of how she could feel guilty for not having prevented her best friend's death. Were they blind? He felt relief pour off the girl and stroked her head with one hand, the other cradling her close.
"It's okay, you couldn't have prevented it. It happened, you have to accept it." He felt her shudders die out and straightened her. He wiped the tears off her red cheeks, and smiled reassuringly. "Don't remember her death, Amy. Remember her life. She was your best friend, do you think she wanted you to wallow away like this?" He hoped that he had gotten Midii's characterization right. It was always hard to talk about someone who had died, and he had never even met the girl. "Imagine how she would have laughed if you had told her that you wore white pajamas now."
Amy smiled shyly and leaned forward again, hugging Duo close. He had given her what nobody had given her before. Absolution.
"You're trying to find the thing that killed her, aren't you?"
"Yes, and I promise that I won't rest until I've found it."
"You have four days left."
Duo jerked her away from him, and looked into her eyes searching for /something/ that could tell him that he had just heard wrong. "What?"
"She told me."
"Who told you?"
"The little girl."
Duo blinked, hiding his shock behind a mask of absolute control. "A little girl told you? What else did she say?"
"She doesn't like being in the stables. The horses are never quiet at night."
Duo winced; that didn't make any sense to him at the moment. "Did she tell you anything else?"
"You have four days left." She patted his shoulder absentmindedly, almost maternally. Duo couldn't help but flinch a bit at the touch. He was too raw right now, too open. It hurt to have such strong feelings pour into him. He opened his mouth, as if to take a breath, trying to get his bearings.
"That's okay, Amy. That's okay."
Something wasn't right. This touch, it… he felt cold all of a sudden. As if something more than just the girl had touched him. He extracted himself out of her arms, uncomprehending where this came from. What had Amy done to him?
Behind his calming words, his mind was racing. What little girl? Was Shizuko Yamamura not the woman they were looking for? Was that little girl somehow related to the woman in the video, or was she someone completely different? They had to find the woman. As soon as possible. Maybe this 'little girl' was the key. Now that he thought about it, the voice on the phone /had/ sounded like a girl.
More important to him was, what this strange feeling was, he got all of a sudden? This… fear. This confusion. He consciously pushed all those invading feelings away. Now was not the time to be day dreaming.
+
Heero looked at the broken clock on the wall once again, as if staring at it repeatedly would make it work again, and continued his pacing through the waiting room. After checking the watch on his wrist, he determined that Duo had been gone for only half an hour but under the scrutinizing gazes of some of the residents he felt time was standing still – and in a way it was. The doctor they had been talking to had let him sign a paper that whatever Duo did that would set Amy's treatment back, could be sued out of them. Heero was confident that his partner would do nothing to worsen the situation, but he wasn't altogether sure if the doctor couldn't make it look like Duo had done something if he really wanted to. He'd signed the paper, hoping that the doctor wasn't stupid enough to try them. That was when he realized that he was just being paranoid.
Sitting back down in the white plastic chair he had been ordered to wait in, he watched the people in the 'recreation room'. A man at a desk not far away from him was trying to reassemble a small jigsaw puzzle with what could hardly be more than fifty parts. It showed two grey kittens in a basket. Or at least it should have shown that picture. Right now, only the kittens' heads and a part of the basket's handle were visible. Heero averted his eyes quickly as the man looked around, apparently feeling eyes on him.
Only a few correctly placed puzzle pieces later, the double doors opened, and a slightly disturbed looking Duo entered the room. Heero stood up, the sudden movement alarming Duo to his presence. He watched his partner approach and greeted him with a smile.
"Did you find anything out?"
Duo nodded, but didn't elaborate, which made Heero assume that it was something important. Either that, or Duo didn't know. Looking at his frazzled partner, he hoped that it was the former. Somehow, he didn't want to know what his partner would be like when he didn't know what was going on.
He followed Duo outside, apparently his partner had already brought Amy back to her doctor, and they were done here. When he caught up with the other man's fast pace, Duo still hadn't spoken a word. He automatically wanted to go to the passenger's seat when Duo dropped the keys in Heero's hand. "You drive."
Heero looked at his partner disconcerted.
"Duo?"
"Give me a moment, I've got to…" Duo trailed off, and climbed into the car's passenger seat. After he'd shut the door, Heero saw him recline in his seat. He didn't change positions until Heero had turned the key in the ignition, and then he only shifted minimally to buckle up.
Thinking about the scenario he had witnessed in the diner earlier, Heero was concerned. He steered the car out of the parking lot, away from the institute. On the freeway back to Tokyo, he turned to look at his partner more closely, and wasn't happy with what he saw. He didn't like it one bit. Touching his partner's shoulder lightly, he asked, "Duo, are you okay?"
For a moment, he thought his partner was asleep, when Duo suddenly jerked forward, and started coughing. Heero immediately turned to the side of the road, and stopped the car. Duo was already fumbling with the seatbelt and Heero quickly freed him. Helpless, he watched his partner open the door and almost fall out as weak knees gave out. He jumped out, and hastily ran to the passenger's side, where Duo was kneeling on the asphalt, coughing, and retching. He was propping himself up on his hands, shaking fingers cramping badly on the concrete.
"Duo!"
Heero carefully held Duo's braid when the other man didn't react, but suddenly threw up unnaturally clear water. It ran into the soil next to the road, drying almost unnaturally fast.
"Duo, snap out of it!"
Now scared, Heero patted his partner's back when Duo didn't stop coughing and dry heaving. He felt a shudder run through Duo's body before it sank to the side, into his arms. Glazed over eyes looked at him and whispered words left Duo's pale, wet lips.
"So bad… Heero, it's so evil… too evil… can't grasp it…"
Soon, the eyelids fluttered closed, and Heero was cradling his partner's unconscious body close to his.
"Then don't." Heero whispered quietly, rocking the body tenderly, like a mother would rock her baby. "Then don't," he repeated his words before looking down to examine his partner. Duo was out of it, there was no movement beneath the closed eyelids, and the only sign that he was truly alive was the heavy breathing that slowly returned to normal. He laid two fingers to Duo's neck and checked the erratic pulse, feeling it slow down under his digits.
Carefully, Heero picked Duo up and sat him down in the passenger's seat. Feeling his partner's cold skin, he left him there, and went to the trunk, searching for a blanket. There was a pillow in the backseat, but nothing that resembled a blanket.
The trunk was strange, simply put. It was the first word that came into mind when he examined it. Two large boxes for sensitive electronic equipment were buckled into a metal carriage which looked like it had been custom made to fit into the trunk. In an open basket, a blanket was half covering flashlights, packages of salt and a few rolls of duct tape. Heero didn't need to know what all this was for, so he just took the blanket and sniffed. It didn't smell too bad. A little like it had been kept in a wet and moldy cellar for too long, but nothing vile. He shut the trunk softly, so as to not shake the carriage too much and returned to tuck his partner in.
After he had wrapped the dark cloth around Duo's body, he buckled him up carefully, and tilted the seat back a bit, so Duo would be able to rest. When he stepped back and shut the door, he automatically looked down, but the asphalt was as dry as it had been before. No sign of water, no sign of what had just happened.
Shaking his head, trying not to think about it Heero jogged over to the driver's side, and hopped in. He steered the car back onto the road, back to the CIU. He wondered if Quatre knew something about what Duo had done twice today already. After checking Duo's slowly normalizing temperature again, he picked his phone out of his pocket, and dialed his other partner's number. As always, Quatre picked up fairly quickly.
"Agent Winner."
"Quatre? It's me, Heero."
Quatre's voice immediately changed its tone, and greeted him cheerfully.
"Heero, what's up?"
Heero paused. He didn't want to talk about this on the phone. "Quatre, can I meet with you somewhere? I need to talk to you in person. We're arriving in about an hour, so how about we have lunch?"
"Of course! The Italian restaurant around the corner? Trowa's had me on a protein diet all week, I could use some real food."
Heero agreed to his friend's suggestion and gave him their estimated time of arrival before disconnecting the call. He hoped he would get some answers out of his former partner. He knew that the other man was an empath, and hopefully he knew more about parapsychology. Knowing Quatre's catlike curiosity, that was very likely.
The rest of the drive remained quiet. Duo stirred sometimes, but otherwise stayed deeply asleep, his mind not ready to return yet. He woke up once they were in Tokyo; the loud traffic apparently disrupting his restful slumber.
"We're back already?"
Heero shot the other man a quick smile, and steered them safely through the lanes of cars.
"We'll meet with Quatre for lunch. I don't know who's tagging along."
"Probably Trowa and Wufei," Duo suggested yawning. He straightened, and sniffed at the blanket carefully before throwing it down to his feet.
"You took the blanket from the basket?"
"Why? I thought it didn't smell too bad, and you were practically shaking."
"No, it's nothing too bad," Duo smiled. "It's just that this blanket has seen too many graveyards and catacombs to be very comfy."
Heero cleared his throat. He hadn't known that; he also wasn't sure if he really wanted to know what Duo was doing with a blanket in graveyards. He chose to ignore the path that conversation was leading to.
"Duo, do you know what happened before you passed out? Because I don't, and it sure as hell scared me."
"I'm sorry. I- I don't know either." Duo carefully folded the blanket and threw it on the backseat before looking out of the window absentmindedly.
Heero didn't buy it. He believed that Duo did know what was going on, but was too afraid to admit it to himself. Maybe Quatre would be able to give him the answers he was looking for. He wanted to know why Duo had coughed up clear water, what he had meant by 'grasping it', and what had happened with Amy that had him so upset. Because, whether he wanted to admit it or not, Duo's reaction scared him. Duo was supposed to know what was going on, he was supposed to have all the answers ready. Somehow, everything slipped out of Heero's control, and he didn't like it one bit. When the rats were scared, wasn't it time to flee the ship?
+
The restaurant was almost eerily empty. Most guests had eaten already, the lunch break hours being long over. Duo patted his jacket's pockets in search for his glasses while Heero steered them both toward a table in the corner where he could make out the figures of their other partners, and Trowa. Wufei was sitting on a chair, leaving the second bench of the booth to them. They greeted each other quietly, not all of them very familiar with each other yet. Heero slid into the booth, sitting himself across from Trowa, to leave the seat next to Wufei to Duo.
"Hi, Fei!" Duo exchanged high five with his Chinese partner before tagging the other two men's names to the greeting. Heero watched as Duo comfortably flopped down next to him.
"I'm starved. Trowa, give me your glasses, would you?" Heero smirked, because one look at Trowa's eyes told him that those yellow eyes with a cat's irises were not natural.
"Sorry, they're being corrected."
Wufei grinned and pointed toward the newly designed daily specials' page, which was printed in large print to appeal to the customer's eyes.
"Francesco-san, you're a genius!"
The exclamation brought the grinning waiter to their table, and Heero noted that he was truly happy that Duo had found the page.
"I knew you were getting sick of eating lasagna whenever you didn't bring your glasses, Mr. Maxwell."
Trowa wasn't as polite as the others and broke out in laughter. Heero hid his grin behind a polite hand, and quickly ordered his meal before Duo could comment. After the others had ordered as well, and Duo had excused himself to go to the bathroom, Quatre leaned forward secretively.
"So, Heero. What do we have to talk about?"
"It's about Duo." Heero paused, not knowing how to explain what had happened. "He's doing strange things."
"Strange things?" Quatre raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"
"When we were at a diner for breakfast, he somehow zoned out and I think he somehow felt what Amy had thought that night."
Quatre stared at him, the curious expression clearly stating that he was interested and wanted to know more, so Heero felt encouraged to continue.
"After he'd talked to her, on the way back, he did the same thing. He zoned out, and suddenly he was coughing, and throwing up completely clear water. Quatre, it's not possible. That water didn't even wet the concrete afterward!" He noticed that Wufei and Trowa were listening in, too. Quatre was frowning, apparently knowing what he was talking about. He sat up straighter, hoping for an explanation, when Duo returned. Sensing that something was wrong, Duo broke the uncomfortable silence that was covering their table.
"What were you talking about?"
Trowa looked like he wanted to cover for Heero, but a slight wave of Quatre shut him up. When Duo was sitting in the booth again, his feet uncomfortably shifting from one side to the other, Quatre looked at him sternly before breaking the silence.
"Duo, have you ever experienced hyperesthesia?"
Heero raised an eyebrow. He had never heard of the word, and he had no clue what or why Quatre was asking.
"You've got to be kidding me, Quatre." Apparently, Duo knew very well what that meant. Quatre's challenging look undoubtedly stated that he wasn't kidding at all, so Duo answered very slowly, "No, of course not. Quatre. I'm neither a clairvoyant, nor a psychic."
"How about Lucid Dreaming?"
"No." The answer came very vehemently this time, and for Heero's taste a little too quickly.
He watched Quatre measure Duo carefully, then shot a glance at Duo's best friend, but Wufei didn't seem too surprised. Neither did he confirm anything Duo had denied. Trowa leaned back, watching the scene play out. Heero couldn't read whether Trowa knew what Quatre was talking about or not.
"How did you know where to find Mayer and Nagoya?"
The question hit Heero hard, when he remembered what Duo had told him about the two little girls, and he tilted his head to see Duo's reaction.
"I don't know. I just tried to think like him, and-" He shrugged his shoulders, a helpless gesture of surrender.
"Maxwell, you idiot!" Quatre suddenly shouted. "You never, ever go into someone's mind!" He broke off and forcibly calmed his voice down to a whisper. "Duo, don't you know how easy it is for someone like you to get lost in there?"
Duo looked up sharply. "Someone like me?"
Quatre looked a little perplexed, as if the answer was crystal clear. "Duo, have you never thought that you could be a psychic? You're highly per-"
"I am <I>not</I> a psychic!" Duo jumped up, interrupting his friend.
"Duo, calm down. Take a seat and listen to me."
"No! I don't want to hear it!" Quite obviously upset, Duo gripped the desk, ready to slip out and leave.
Heero put a hand on Duo's, pulling his current partner down. "Duo, sit down. Let Quatre say what he's thinking."
Defeated and halted by his partner, Duo sat back down and crossed his arms.
"Duo, tell me one thing. Why are you always getting so angry when driving through Tokyo? You know that you're not someone to get aggravated about something so inconsequential."
"They're angry, aren't they? You feel their anger and it changes the way you perceive the situation." "No!" Duo jerked back. "I am not psychic!" Suddenly, Heero saw his partner flinch as if something had hit him. Looking at Quatre's concentrated face, he knew it could only be him. He had done something to reach out to Duo on another level. He heard Duo whisper dejectedly. "I can't be."
"Don't you think I would notice? I'm an empath, I can see that you have the ability to reach out to people, that you can read them."
"You can't know, what…"
"Duo, I want to talk to you about some things. You have to know how to get yourself safely 'out' of another person's mind again."
Heero stared at Quatre. Was that what Duo had meant when he'd told him that it was too evil, that he couldn't grasp it? Had he gone into the mind of the person Amy had seen that night? The person who was haunted and revengeful enough to create a video that could kill? He remembered Duo's cold skin, the shivering, lifeless body in his arms and wanted to shake Duo's shoulders, wanted to yell at him and make him promise to never do that again. He didn't want to lose his current partner to something that evil. He didn't dare to imagine what it had to be like, for someone, to be trapped in another person's mind. Trapped in the mind of a ghost, whose only reason to stay was to kill and murder.
"Maybe we can also do some tests to see just how talented you are." Quatre's voice was encouraging, but suddenly, his expression changed to one of pain. A pain that was mirrored in Duo's face.
"Talent. That's no talent. It's a fucking curse, that's what it is!" The upset man paused for a moment, before adding in a bitter voice. "I was tested. Numerous times. ESP cards, Ganzfeld Setting, ADC projects, Alpha Waves, Closed and Open Decks, what have you. No, I'm not psychic. I just have the uncanny ability to know what the bad guys think. And sometimes not even that is enough." Duo got up and excused himself. "I'm sorry. Please, eat without me. I need some time alone." He bent down low to Heero. "Heero, I'll meet you in my office when you're done. We need to go over some things."
With a pat on Wufei's shoulder, he left the restaurant quickly. Wufei looked after his former partner, but halted Heero when he wanted to run after him.
"Leave him be, Heero. He needs some time. Most likely, he'll have a whole new list of leads for you to work on by the time you get back."
Heero stared at Quatre, the concerned look making him want to ask various questions. What were those tests Duo had taken, and why would he have taken them, if he spoke of them so disdainfully?
"Quatre?"
"He," Quatre trailed off. Apparently he was trying to decide whether to tell them what he felt, or not. "He's hated himself for not being what had been expected from him for a long time. I can't tell you more, it wouldn't be right."
Heero understood Quatre's reasoning, but that didn't mean he was happy with it. However, it made him curious. Duo had taken all those tests, but nothing had proved that he was psychic. He'd tried them all, just to be sure. That still didn't give him a clue why it was such an important issue for Duo, but somehow, he didn't doubt that he would find out. Somehow, he would make his partner talk. Maybe, just maybe, talking would help Duo.
What made him curious, was the question Quatre had asked about the Mayer-Nagoya case. If Duo had been able to find the two girls by 'going into' the psychopath's mind, maybe he did that more often? He had studied psychology, his mentor was one of the most acknowledged parapsychologists in Tokyo, maybe even in Japan. He had decided to become a profiler, a 'mindhunter'. Why? Why would someone with supposedly no psychic ability go after a job that put his sanity on the line like that? Knowing that with a little more psychic ability, he would be able to do more, would be able to help more? Maybe Duo had known all along that he could do it.
+
When Heero returned to Duo's office, the other man was waiting, or rather sleeping on the couch. Heero turned the lights on and went over to the sofa to sit down. What his friends had told him, had changed his perception quite a bit.
He gazed at the other man's features, a bit startled to see such a deep frown on that handsome face. Suddenly, crystal clear water-like liquid ran out of Duo's nose. Before he could debate with himself for too long, he touched Duo's shoulder, trying with a simple gesture to get his partner to wake up. Could it be, that this liquid was the same as the water Duo had thrown up earlier? Abruptly, Duo's eyes flew open and he sat up, startled to see someone sitting so close to him on the couch. A few drops of water trickled onto Duo's jeans.
"Heero! What-" He wiped absently at his nose, frowning a bit. "How late?"
"Barely three PM."
Duo rubbed his eyes, sitting up slowly. "We need to go to the media lab at the local newspaper and print out some pictures. I already called ahead, so they're expecting us."
"Do you want to print pictures of the woman?" He didn't question his partner. If Duo said they would have to go to another lab to print them, he wouldn't ask why they couldn't do it in their own lab.
Duo shoved the blanket out of the way, and explained himself while getting ready. "Yeah, the scenes of her and the landscape. The man in the window, the chair, the horses; anything that will give us a pointer as to where those pictures were seen."
Heero waited patiently until Duo had gotten everything he needed before opening the door. After Duo had stepped through, and was locking it, Heero realized just how much he liked this ritual. They had probably done it only twice before, but watching Duo lock the office door seemed so familiar by now, and he gave a quick grin.
"I won't let you get away this easily tonight."
Duo looked at Heero sharply when he turned to follow him to the elevator. "Tonight?"
"The shooting match. We already postponed it once."
"I doubt we'll be done in time to go to the library anyway, so I guess we're game for the match later."
"The library?"
"Yes. When we have the printed pictures, we'll run a search in the library. I saw something interesting when I watched the video for the eye shutting movements, that I think has some potential. We'll see."
Glad that his partner seemed to be in better spirits than before, Heero called the elevator up. "Compared to you, I feel so damn insufficient. I hope my indestructible research skills will come in handy tomorrow."
Duo smirked and stepped into the carriage when the doors opened, closely followed by Heero. "I'm sure they will." He pushed the button for the parking lot and turned to Heero. "With our forces combined, we will solve the case, Watson!"
Heero snorted. "Now you're comparing me to that idiot sidekick? I'd much rather be Robin."
Duo turned to look over his shoulder. "Oh, shut up, Catwoman."
"Catwoman?" Heero stared at the door incredulously, trying to catch Duo's expression in the polished metal.
"Well, if you'd rather be Robin, I'm sure we could arrange to have your sexy body clad in red tights and a huge green chastity belt. Although then, I won't be held responsible for my body's reactions."
Heero chuckled. "Well, it's better than that full body armor that's constricting Batman in the most uncomfortable places."
"Oh? How would you know?"
"Let's say, I'm sure Robin has tried to get into Batman's suit more than once."
Duo laughed out loud. "Heero, I have to say, I like that dirty look on you."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. Now, Robin, where did you put my car?" Duo twisted his head in search for his sedan and followed Heero to the right.
"The Batmobile is that way, Sir."
Duo chuckled as Heero indicated the black car with a polite hand movement. "Do you want me to drive?"
Heero shook his head, dangling the keys from his fingers. "No, I want you to relax." It was the truth after all; he didn't want Duo to be actively subjected to those drivers' moods. Quatre had told him that feeling others' emotions often tired him enough to leave him open for manipulations. That he would suddenly talk with an Osaka dialect, just because the woman at the newspaper stand had had one. Those were the small things he would have to look out for. Whether it was only until the case was solved, or whether the murderer had opened a lasting channel in Duo, Quatre couldn't say. Nobody could, least of all Duo himself who was still in denial.
+
The newspaper's building was tall and hostile looking; the bureaus and departments were graced with huge glass windows, but the façade was painted in a menacing black. The media lab was located in the cellar, only one floor above the gigantic archive the newspaper called its own. It had been established for many years, and despite the digitalization of all data, the archive still held all old newspapers in its fully packed file cabinets.
The secretary directing them to the media lab seemed to be in a hurry; her heels clacked on the floor in a staccato rhythm as she quickly led them through the doors and staircases.
"We're locking up the departments in one and a half hours. I'll come and pick you up if you're not done by then. If you need help, the head of the department will help you in any way he can."
By the end of her little speech, about what machines they could use, they had arrived at the doors of the laboratory they had asked to work in. She smoothly finished her introduction with one last question.
"Do you know how to use the equipment, or do you need instructions?"
Duo smiled politely, shaking his head. "We'll be fine, thank you."
She left them with a bow and strode back the way they'd come from. Duo turned to Heero with a smile, his fingers fumbling with the flap of his bag.
"Ready?"
"Whenever you are."
Duo smirked, Heero's good spirits lifting his own up automatically. He opened the doors, and made a beeline for the large printer in the corner. Heero stared at the machine, which was a huge block of modern technology. A monitor in shoulder height, and the inlet for a tape just underneath were encased in two separate black panels. Buttons and regulations, shifters and a little wheel like the one they had worked with in their own media lab were enclosed by silver metal between the two. Heero had a relatively good grasp on technology, so he guessed what most of the buttons were for; he let Duo insert the tape before raising a questioning eyebrow.
"Do you really know what to do?"
Duo stared up at him. "Don't you?"
"Not exactly. I'm just guessing what all those buttons are for, but I don't know exactly what they do." He watched fascinated, waiting for the machine to eat it.
"So, 'Play' should be fairly easy to find, right?"
Heero pressed a button and the monitor flickered to life. He turned the wheel to the right and was greeted by the familiar picture of static, followed closely by the ring appearing. When the woman came onto the screen, Heero pressed 'Pause' and 'Print', hoping that he was right, and this would give them the pictures they had come here for.
The printer hummed to life and Duo went over to see the final outcome. The printer was warming up and they had to wait, but Heero didn't dare to go on, in case the printer needed the actual picture for printing.
"Does it work?"
"It's coming along just fine." Duo's eyes were glued to the printer, waiting for the sheet to come out. He grabbed the finished picture when it was done and showed it to Heero. "Go on, get a picture of the man in the house next."
Heero turned back and moved the tape to the right spot to print the next picture out. They did so with the next few scenes, until Duo stopped him.
"Let me do the next one. I think we might be onto something here."
Heero stepped aside and watched his partner work. When the scene with the ladder was over, and the scene cut to the dead horses on the beach, Duo moved to scene-by-scene wheeling.
The following scene was the one with the cliff and the bizarre fly that seemed to be real. Real enough to move its little transparent wings. Real enough to seem to buzz. Fascinated, Duo stopped the video, and Heero was forced to look at the fly. He was compelled by an unrecognizable force to watch that little fluttering insect wriggle on the screen, almost unnaturally real. Heero stared at the monitor, unable to look away, unable to do as much as blink. The monitor became a glowing mass of pixels as his vision inched in on the fly. It seemed so… his finger moved on its own volition – up, upward, toward the screen. The fly seemed to buzz, it was too real, too- his index finger was almost touching it, his thumb slowly closing in. He watched the little wings flutter one last time before he made a grab for the little fly, when suddenly, it stretched its little wings and flew off, into the air.
"What the hell?" Duo looked at Heero's fingers, then at his partner, with unbelieving, big eyes.
"I-" Heero stared at his fingers, then at the video. The fly was gone. "This is so wrong, Duo."
"I'm inclined to agree."
"This isn't really happening, is it?"
Duo shrugged his shoulders. "A hallucination? Subliminal suggestion? I don't have an answer, Heero. Not right now."
Heero shook his head, a shiver running down his spine. Nervously, he pointed toward the wheel. "Go on, let's get over with this."
Duo agreed with a sigh. He tilted the picture dangerously, and shortly before it changed, the black line already half in the picture, Heero could see what Duo had meant by 'something'. A rock formation was lying beneath a hill, water crashing onto the dark shore – and on the hill was a lighthouse, standing tall and proud against the ocean.
"A lighthouse," Duo remarked the obvious.
"Right, and how many lighthouses are there in Japan?"
"That's what we'll have to find out in the library tomorrow. I doubt there are many that look exactly like this one." Duo paused and printed the picture. "You don't happen to know someone who would be specializing in maritime history, do you?"
Heero shrugged his shoulders in silent apology. The chances were low that either of them did; and asking around would cost too much time. He waited until Duo had printed the picture before he picked it up and remarked rather dryly.
"Well, it has to be somewhere along the coast, right?"
"Smartass. Let's go, it's almost five already." Duo ejected the tape and stuck it in his bag; both were glad that the horror show was over again.
"Do we have everything we need?" He handed the prints over, and waited until Duo had put them all away.
"Yep," Duo patted his bag. "Everything is ready for tomorrow morning. The library opens at nine, we have to make sure we're early. Maybe the whole ordeal will lead us to the right person already, then we're done and the case is wrapped up."
Heero thought that his partner sounded a little too cheerful, but didn't comment. He was a pessimist. Most of the time, anyway. He stretched languidly before following Duo out of the department. He was wired up enough to look forward to the shooting match. There was nothing he enjoyed more after working a long week, and most of the time, he went twice. He loved the dark cellar with its halogen overhead lighting. He had hardly ever met Duo at the hours he went there, most of the time between six and seven, after the rookies had cleared out and before the special teams went to train. They had a routine of their own, and he was smart enough to realize that they didn't want anybody else on 'their' range. He had only gone once during lunch break, and after knowing that Duo went there at that time, he had kept himself busy, avoiding going then.
The building was clearing out as they left, and they were accompanied by laughing, chattering people as they walked toward Duo's car. The exuberant behavior of the employees made Heero realize with a start that the rookies would still be at the range. At least until six, since hardly any ever stayed longer in the building than they had to.
Heero was one of the elite agents in the homicide department. The rookies always stared at him, trying to judge him. He was their hero, their idol. They admired him, they wanted to become like him.
He was, after all, the man who had shot down Hayachi Aeko. He was the sniper who had ended one of the bloodiest hostage situations in the recent history of Tokyo. Oh, how he hated their admiration, their sick infatuation. They hadn't looked through that reticule and seen the bullet split the man's head, scattering brains and blood onto the young hostage that was just a scant inch away from the point where the bullet had entered. They hadn't seen her break down in tears of blood because she was Hayachi's teenage daughter, because someone had just shot her father - because she had just lost her mother and her two older brothers to a man who had thought he could solve his family problems with violence.
He was still their hero. He was the man whom they saw on training videos. Face stern, eyes firmly set on the target. So cold and oh so professional. They didn't know how scared he had been that day, how he had almost let that man shoot his daughter, because he <I>could have hit her</I>. Those rookies didn't know that he had resigned from the sniper squad that day. They still thought he had gotten promoted, that working as an agent in the homicide department was an honor. They didn't need to know the truth. They didn't need to know that the man they admired at the shooting range was a coward who had fled and gone into hiding. He had the gift to shoot a fly off the wall at a remarkable distance, but he didn't want it. He hadn't asked for it. He had often wished that he hadn't been such an extraordinary cadet in the military. He had often wished that he had missed an important shot, just once.
The drive back was filled with dread. He didn't want to meet their eyes, didn't want them to 'hang around', just to watch him perforate a paper sheet with all the hate he could muster. He was tired of their respectful and polite bows whenever he came across one of them. He was tired of the honorific added to his name, all those things that made him want to turn and run; run from the excited gleam in their eyes. Were they so set on killing people? Were they so set on mastering the art of killing that they forgot what horrible consequences those actions had? Were they not aware of how many hostages spent the rest of their lives, asking 'why'? Were they not aware how many lives could be ruined with one perfectly placed bullet? How many more with an imperfectly placed one?
Heero shook his head as they got out of the car. He hadn't realized how long they'd been on the road already; the drive back had taken them longer than it should have. He looked at Duo, who just shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't like them either."
He smiled sourly. Just how much was his face giving away every time he zoned out in thought? The parking lot was almost empty, Lady Une's ostentatious European car being one of the few cars left. The shooting range was only one floor up, so they didn't even have to take the elevator.
The range was locked with a keycard lock; people passing had to slide theirs through the lock to get in. A mechanism that had been installed the day after someone had stolen ammunition from the little reserve stock in the office. Ammunition that still hadn't turned up. Ammunition everybody feared would turn up one day in an investigation, involved in murder instead of being shot just for training purposes.
The firing range itself was modern. A brightly lit corridor led to the office, where close to twenty people could operate their weapons at once. The officer on duty sat behind a high desk, giving out the headphones, plastic glasses, cleaning equipment, and occasionally additional ammo, if people were getting too enthusiastic.
Before they sat down at one of the tables, Duo requested .45 ammunition for his weapon. Heero still didn't know which one Duo fired, the magnum not giving away much. He tried to guess what sidearm Duo would use, gauging character and usefulness. Maybe a Beretta Combat Combo, or a Sig Sauer, although he doubted it. The weapon Quatre owned used .45 ACP ammunition, but somehow, a HK didn't fit Duo. He quietly slid into a booth and waited for his partner to reappear. He heard Duo discuss something with the officer, and guessed that Duo wanted to bribe the man into loading a few magazines with the bullets he'd bought. He could certainly understand it. Filling clips wasn't a very exciting thing to do.
When Duo finally sat down opposite of him, he had five borrowed clips of ammunition, indicating that the weapon Duo used wasn't uncommon. Curiously, Heero watched Duo's hand disappear in the jacket and snap the holster. When the hand reappeared, it was firmly holding a Glock-21. Heero had to smirk approvingly. It was beautiful and had style. Just like…
"So," Duo drawled. "What are you packing, Yuy?"
Heero smirked and snapped his own holster, freeing his Beretta from its leather cage. "Beretta ninety-two FS," he smiled.
"Nine millimeter Parabellum," Duo added. "I expected no less from you. I thought you might carry something stylish like a Desert Eagle or a Heckler&Koch."
"Afraid?" Heero raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. My baby doesn't like to compete with those. Putting her in the shadow and all that, you know?" Duo smirked, patting the barrel jokingly.
Heero snorted. Most people considered the Glock to be ugly, even unhandy. Its magazine was often laughed at, because it only held ten rounds instead of fifteen or more, which had become standard. It also didn't have an external safety, which made it easier for the gun to be unintentionally discharged. It was a gun that didn't speak to all people.
"Quatre carries a HK Mark twenty-three."
"Thought so. It's elitist, and stylish - somehow that fits him, doesn't it?" Duo replied, as he dissembled his weapon.
Heero agreed. He had gone shooting with Quatre quite often, and seeing the other man handle his HK, he had to agree that it looked quite attractive.
He followed Duo's example, and started cleaning his own weapon by pressing the disassembling latch, which made his weapon especially easy to field strip. He looked up briefly, to see Duo struggle with the barrel for a moment.
"You forgot your glasses?"
"Yeah. I don't need them for shooting, so I didn't write a reminder. I'm hopeless that way."
"Why don't you just wear contact lenses?"
Duo shook his head and put his reassembled weapon down for a moment. "I can't. My eyes are too sensitive." He took the Glock up again and worked through the mechanism of shooting, to see if it was working smoothly.
Heero listened as the parts of Duo's sidearm slid into one another until the familiar click sounded, announcing that if it had been loaded, a shot would have been fired.
"Ten rounds?" Duo asked absently while loading a reserve magazine with bullets. Heero looked up to see him depress the coil before shoving a bullet into the magazine, securing it.
"Yeah. Don't you ever get worried? Most people have magazines with more rounds."
Duo shook his head, feeding the magazine with another bullet. "No. I just have to make sure that I'm the better marksman. Having only ten rounds is something to get used to, just like the Safe Action. The first time I tested a Glock, and the shot was delayed, I wanted to tell them to fuck off with that idiot gun. It's okay, once you've gotten used to it – after a while you don't even notice anymore."
Heero listened. He had, of course, tried the Glock. His reaction was the same as Duo's, but he hadn't taken the time to actually get used to it. He had chosen a Beretta, where everything fit him.
Heero checked his sidearm one last time before taking a new magazine up. It had fifteen rounds, but somehow, Duo's confidence about his own marksman abilities calmed him. He didn't want to have to worry about Duo going out of bullets, the other man probably had more reserve clips, just to be on the safe side, despite his sharp shooting abilities.
"Ready?"
"Yep." Duo secured his own gun in the holster. Then he followed Heero to the desk where the officer on duty handed them the huge headphones and plastic glasses after taking back the cleaning equipment.
"The rookies have left already, the range is all yours until seven. Team Beta signed up for later." The officer lit up two lanes next to each other and wished them fun, before turning back to his work.
Heero followed Duo into the range, and put his gun on the table in the left lane's booth. His partner followed his example and put his own down in the other lit booth. A look at the monitor over their heads showed them that both figures were unharmed, and no bullet holes were marring the paper sheets.
"We're counting by points, right?" Heero intervened before loading his gun.
Duo shrugged. "Sure. I'm too old for 'Who makes the smaller Smiley' anyway."
Heero snorted. He put his headphones on, and waited for Duo to do the same. Then he snapped the neck back, cocking the firing pin, and aimed at his paper sheet. He pulled the trigger carefully, putting the holes exactly where he wanted them. Gun hand, shoulder, and neck. He paused for a moment, knowing that Duo was watching his progress on the monitor. He aimed again, firing two shots into the stomach before letting three rapid shots loose into the figure's chest area, hitting the heart with two shots, the last a bit to the center as his hand automatically tired after two close shots. He moved his aim immediately, putting two rounds through the figure's head. Of course his shots were perfect, he thought with resignation. What had he expected? That somehow, magically, one would go astray, hitting the heavy sacks, without even scratching the paper figure?
He snapped the neck back into place, put the empty magazine out, and put both the gun and the magazine on the table. With one hand, he put the phones down and pulled the paper sheet toward him with the automatic mechanism in the ceiling. He had to exchange it anyway.
"There," he stepped back, and turned toward Duo who had indeed watched everything on the monitor.
A wolf-whistle applauded him and Duo smiled. "Good shots, Yuy."
"Thank you. Now, let me see what you've got."
Duo grinned. "Let me show you how I'd pierce him."
Heero raised an eyebrow as he put on the phones again, mirroring Duo's movements. "Pierce?"
Duo turned toward the firing range and loaded his gun. Without much further ado, he cocked the pin and fired two rapid shots into the figure's chest, marking two imaginary nipples. Another round of three followed quickly, piercing each testicle and what had to be the poor guy's cock with a little imagination. Heero smirked, wondering what came next. One shot perforated the paper sheet in the stomach area, indicating a navel piercing. The next shots went right through the figure's head, marring the sheets where the eyebrows were supposed to be. Two rounds left, Heero counted. Duo 'pierced' the figure's nose and a little to the right and lower, he put the last round - apparently marking the ideal place for a lip piercing.
When the last shot was fired, Duo put the safety back on and put the gun down after emptying the magazine.
"See?" Duo grinned, after he'd put his headphones down.
Heero shook his head, not bothering to hide his smile. "Since we were technically counting by 'points', I won. But you get the extra credit for creativity."
"Ah, Heero. You're right, but don't you think all those shots to the head counted more than stomach and arm shots?"
Heero stared at his partner for a moment. Had Duo actually counted the points he had pierced? The four 'piercings' in the figure's head were really close together, all within the fifty points field. He counted. No, Duo hadn't won, despite the head and chest shots. After all, he had hit more vital organs with his precise shots.
"Smartass."
Duo grinned. "You knew there was a reason I didn't give him another Prince Albert. That one didn't count, since it was technically out of the figure's range. I had to make up with something, so I wouldn't look like a complete loser. Want a rematch?"
Heero shook his head. "Let's just," he paused, not sure how Duo would take the suggestion. " - perforate those damn paper sheets with our frustration. How does that sound?"
Duo looked at him with a strange smile, and Heero raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"We have fought on the mat a lot, but," Duo paused, and Heero didn't know what to make of his expression. "We have never fought for the fun of it. We have never fought to get rid of tension. Would you consider a round of sparring instead of shooting?"
Heero looked at his watch. "Now?" He liked the idea, but it was already half past six. "Well, I guess, it would be nice, but…" He trailed off, unsure of how to tell Duo that he was beat.
"Just not today?" His partner supplied helpfully. "Just not today," he repeated Duo's words with a weary smile. "I'm dead tired."
"Then, let's fire some more rounds before heading back. You're right, we can always do that another time."
Despite Duo's understanding tone, Heero couldn't help but feel sorry. Maybe they wouldn't have the time to spar on the mat again. After this case, could they stay friends? Would Duo disappear to America, without giving them a chance to make good on the time they had lost? He put the headphones back on, and let the perforated target paper slide back against the rear wall. They were just shooting for fun now, no need to waste a new figure. He put a new clip into his gun and cocked the firing pin anew. He looked at Duo for a moment before concentrating on firing.
He didn't want Duo to leave. He wanted Duo to stay, to hang out with him. He wanted… what? He fired another round into the figure, carefully perforating the head in rows. What did he want from Duo? He took a deep breath and fired a clear shot into the figure's heart. He wanted Duo's heart? He realized that if he relied on his subconscious to tell him half-assed philosophic answers, he was in deep shit. He certainly didn't want Duo dead. And putting holes through the figure's heart wouldn't make the upcoming deadline any better.
When he changed the second magazine, Duo tipped him on the shoulder and pointed toward the target paper. He spelled 'Lots of frustration, eh?' with his lips. Heero ducked his head, mumbling something unintelligible back.
Frustration? Was he frustrated enough to want to kill Duo? Somehow, he thought, his subconscious was really out of it today. Or maybe he just didn't want to know what it really wanted to tell him.
After he had emptied the third clip, he stepped back from the firing range, secured his weapon, and left the room, waiting for his partner to finish. He watched with a smile, as Duo bowed to the firing range, before securing his weapon. When he came after Heero, his face was flushed, his eyes gleaming.
"That," he breathed hard, making Heero wonder, just what he had fired at in his mind. "That was fun."
Heero raised his eyebrows. What could have led his partner to totally shred the paper sheet with four magazines? What could make him angry enough to want to put 40 bullets into a person's body? He had to have looked a bit spaced out, because Duo tilted his head questioningly.
"What is it?"
Heero looked at his watch and winced. The Task Force team would arrive any minute, and he didn't really want to meet them. Taking off both the headphones and the plastic glasses, he shrugged his shoulders.
"Later? We won't have cleared out till seven if we start now."
"True." Duo absentmindedly scratched the bridge of his nose and concurred after a moment. "Let's go." He took Heero's and his plastic glasses and gave them back to the officer at the desk, and signed them out.
"Well, if you want to, we could-,"Heero looked up as Duo spoke, securing his weapon blindly.
"We could stop at my place and hang out a bit? It's only seven. We could go over the interview with Amy and have a look at the pictures again, to see what gives the most information."
Heero bit his bottom lip at that. An evening spent with Duo was far better than an evening spent alone in his apartment. Besides, he was curious about what had made Duo so upset after the visit at the mental institution. He was sure it had to have something to do with the girl, but since Duo hadn't told him what exactly they had talked about he couldn't even guess what had happened between the two.
"I'd like that."
Duo's smile encouraged him. The other man seemed really glad that someone was paying him company; and maybe, Duo was even glad that /he/ was paying him company.
They left quickly, walking down the corridors and down one level to the parking lot where Heero had parked the car. Lady Une's car had left already, making the place look even more deserted and empty. Still in possession of the car keys, Heero unlocked the sedan and got in at the driver's side. Duo didn't question his decision and got in on the other side. Slightly concerned, Heero watched his partner buckle up without a word.
"Did you want to drive?"
Instead of a verbal answer, Duo yawned, shaking his head. "No, go on. Get me home, Robin."
Heero smirked. "Are you going to tell me where you live?"
"I haven't before?"
Heero shook his head and waited for Duo to tell him the address. He knew the street. It wasn't even very far away from where he lived. Just like his own, the apartment building Duo stayed in was in the better part of town. The building itself was tall, hidden behind an expensive and secure looking fence. As he drove into the little parking lot in front of the building, he could see a woman work in the garden, even though it was almost seven already. She looked up with a smile on her face, as she saw the black sedan. When he got out, she tilted her head curiously, quite obviously expecting someone else. Heero guessed she was Duo's neighbor.
Duo opened his door a little slower, having grabbed the messenger bag from the backseat before getting out. Heero was already on the passenger side when Duo closed the door on his side.
"Shall we?" Duo inquired with a smile, before he went ahead, not waiting for an answer.
Heero followed his partner, politely bowing to the woman who beamed at him. She seemed to wait for Duo to say something, but his partner just glared at her, a smirk tugging on his lips.
"Alright, alright. Sanako-san, this is Heero Yuy, my current partner. Heero, this is Sanako, my-" Heero felt Duo search for a word.
"His neighbor," Sanako supplied helpfully and held her hand out in greeting. "It's a pleasure to meet you face to face, Yuy-san."
"Likewise."
Duo grumbled something unintelligible and unlocked the door. Heero politely bowed to the elder woman, before he followed his partner into the dark hallway. When Duo had found the light switch, Heero could see a modern corridor leading to a few steps and a larger parterre. Duo jogged up the stairs and rang the button for the elevator, before he turned to look into Heero's questioning eyes.
"Face to face?"
"Yeah." Duo seemed to stumble over the word. In the neon light, Heero could see his partner flush lightly. "We… talked about you."
"Nothing bad, I hope?"
"Of course not. Nothing; I mean, only good things." Duo jumped as the elevator announced its arrival. "Good things."
Heero smirked and stepped in between the opening doors, entering the carriage. "Like what?"
Duo pressed the button for the third floor and shook his head. "That I like it that you don't ask stupid questions."
Heero grinned. "A fairly good characteristic, isn't it?"
Duo nodded sagely, his expression mock serious. The tapping of his foot, and the gradual shifting of his messenger bag indicating that he wanted to get 'home' badly.
"There, third floor. Welcome to my abode." Duo stepped through the parting doors and entered the small corridor of the third floor. A sensor picked up the movement and the wall lighting came to life with a few faint flickers.
"My abode, because the other apartment on this floor is empty most of the time. The owner is a businessman, I think."
When Duo had opened the door, Heero went in behind him, watching his partner's 'homecoming ritual' curiously. Duo switched the security system off before toeing off his shoes, leaving them in a heap at the door. Heero took his shoes off too, and padded after Duo when the other man shuffled over to the large terrarium in the corner, on the opposite wall. Obviously to get food for his pet. Heero could hear him greet the chameleon, and came closer to have a look at it.
He was staring into those dark eyes, when he heard Duo murmur absentmindedly, "One moment, honey."
Heero smirked. "Okay, I'll wait."
Duo straightened, his movements stilling until he had regained his balance. When he turned, his expression was composed. In his hand was a transparent plastic box full with moving insects.
"Do you want me to feed you live crickets too?"
"Not today, thank you. I already puked."
The honest laugh he won made Heero smirk in response. He didn't want to watch Duo feed his chameleon, so he took the opportunity and looked around the living room instead. It wasn't any more traditionally Japanese than his own. The interior decoration was modern, although of no real style. The apartment was obviously Duo's own, because one of the walls was half red, half white, the dividing line in the middle the stylistic variation of a famous artist's face. Heero couldn't place a name on the man, but he found it amusing that Duo would dedicate a whole wall to a celebrity. Metal poles held up shelves of stained glass alone the walls. Black/white landscapes were held in between thick, black picture frames, gracing the wall with an artistic aura. An expensive entertainment set fit perfectly into an assortment of black cubes. There were dashes of color thrown into the room Heero would have never thought could go together, but not even the huge purple plush couch and the matching set of grotesquely opulent lounge chairs surrounding a stained glass table in the middle of the room seemed out of place. The clash of modern and 'comfortable' was working well.
Heero had troubles deciding what to look at first, but he felt immediately at home. The whole apartment looked lived in and inviting. He gave Kage a look, as if expecting the chameleon to defend its territory. The reptile, however, was as comfortable as ever and didn't even spare him a look. Heero was torn between being offended at the lack of attention, and being glad that it didn't eye him like it considered him dinner. Duo's voice coming from the kitchen startled him for a moment, and he was astonished that he hadn't heard his partner move at all.
"Do you want anything to drink? I have beer, coke, guarana, and orange juice."
"Guarana with ice cubes, please." Having had an eclectic taste for as long as he could remember, Heero couldn't deny himself the pleasure of being offered guarana. He finally dared to glance at the chameleon, which was in the process of stalking its prey, already licking at its lips with a small, pinkish tongue. Looking away again quickly, his eyes followed Duo into the kitchen. The other man opened the fridge, and the head disappeared behind the door for a moment before a voice rang out.
"Coming right up!"
Even the kitchen seemed modern, as if fresh out of a catalogue. The surfaces were – not counting the black counter top – metallic too, as was the fridge. It was more lived in, glasses with various herbs decorating the surface surrounding the oven haphazardly. He went closer, and propped himself up on the bar, looking into the cooking area.
"Do you still want to discuss the case?" He had seen Duo yawn earlier, and after today's rather exhaustive trip he wouldn't have objected if Duo had wanted him to leave.
"Yeah, we could bounce around some ideas. We haven't really 'discussed' the case ever since we got back today"
"True." He watched Duo place the glasses filled with ice cubes on the bar.
"However, I would be really grateful if you could take the car home with you. I'm not sure if I can go out there again." Duo filled the glasses with the sparkling liquid and stifled another yawn. "I honestly have no clue what's up with me today, sorry."
"No problem. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning. You said the library opens at nine?"
Duo hummed in accord, and picked up the glass closer to his body. After gulping down half of the juice, he sighed deeply, apparently refreshed.
"You can come and pick me up at eight. I have no clue if the library has a parking lot though, we might have to drive a few blocks down."
Heero gave a small nod in response. That seemed okay. "Eight it is."
Duo smiled, and put his glass back down before he headed toward the fridge. He opened it and surveyed its contents. After a moment, he scrunched up his nose. "You could even come over for breakfast, if you wanted to."
"I will bring some fresh bread." Heero liked the idea. He hadn't done that in some time. Having breakfast with someone. It wasn't the same as 'staying for breakfast', but it was close.
Heero decided to take the plunge, and looked up first. "What happened in the clinic today?"
At a loss for words for a moment, Duo rolled the ice cubes around the bottom of his empty glass. "I don't know." Not content with this answer, Heero urged his partner to go on, and was once more greeted by a familiar gesture when Duo rubbed his temple.
"Well, at first, everything seemed okay. Can you believe they worked with her all this time now, and nobody ever bothered to tell her that Midii didn't die because she happened to not be in the room? The poor girl's been feeling guilty for all those weeks. No wonder she was so closed off."
Heero winced in understanding. As a psychologist who'd worked with kids in the past, the condition had to really shock Duo.
"I can't tell you what exactly happened, but she… did something. It was cold, and I was too raw to block everything." Duo frowned. "I can't describe it any better. She mentioned a girl telling her that we have four days left to solve the case."
Heero frowned. Four days, and they had no leads other than a few pictures. Yes, he was scared – and he wasn't afraid to admit it. On the other hand, maybe that would give them the energy they needed to solve the case. After all, CIU agents were trained to give their best under stress. Confident that they would solve the case in time, he turned to follow Duo.
+ End Part 4 +
addenda/footnotes/explanations/definitions:
I'm stating that it is extremely uncommon to be a profiler /and/ an active field agent, and that there are only two in Tokyo. I don't know just how many there are in Tokyo, but even in the United States it has been extremely uncommon. Profilers like John Douglas have always been frowned up on by 'real police inspectors', because they were not 'real'… it seemed creepy that someone could understand the mind of a murderer so well. I don't know how many there are now… things have changed.
In the lunch scene Quatre and Duo mention some parapsychological phenomena. Those are explained here. Not by me, but by the glossary of parapsychology on a website that unfortunately doesn't exist anymore.
Hyperesthesia - An actual or apparent exaltation of the perceptive faculties, or superacuity of the normal senses, characteristic of the hypnotic state. It has been observed frequently in hysterics. They may feel a piece of wire on their hands as heavy as a bar of iron. The smallest suggestion-whether given by word, look, gesture, or even breathing or unconscious movement-is instantly seized upon and interpreted by the entranced subject, who for this reason is often called "sensitive". The phenomena of hyperesthesia, observed but wrongly interpreted by the early magnetists and mesmerists, was largely responsible for the so-called clairvoyance, thought reading, community of sensation, and other kindred phenomena. In its manifestation, hyperesthesia is often difficult to distinguish from telepathy, or clairvoyance. Theoretically the dividing line is that clairvoyance is a central perception that does not reach us through the sensory organs. In practice it is difficult to decide whether the perception takes place through the sensory organs or not.
Extrasensory Perception (ESP) - A term used in parapsychology to denote awareness apparently received through channels other than the usual senses. Phenomena related to ESP include clairvoyance, telepathy, and precognition. See also: http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/e/esp_extrasensory_perception.html http://www.paranormality.com/zenner_cards.shtml
Ganzfeld Setting - A development in modern parapsychological techniques. The term Ganzfeld roughly translates as "total field", and the Ganzfeld Setting is basically a sensory isolation situation used for testing ESP. The subject, wearing earphones and blinders, sits in a comfortable chair in a soundbooth and is instructed to stare at a bold red light, creating a diffused glow. Over the headphones comes a soft hiss of white noise. The subject normally stays in the isolation booth for about 35 minutes and is instructed to think aloud, describing mental images, thoughts, and feelings. This monologue is monitored by an experimenter on an intercom system. Meanwhile another assistant (often a friend or associate of the subject) starts looking at pictures (often on slides held to the light). See also: http://comp9.psych.cornell.edu/dbem/ganzfeld.html http://moebius.psy.ed.ac.uk/Ganzfeld_H.html http://www.irva.org/papers/Academic1.shtml http://parapsykologi.se/artiklar/ganzfeld.html
ADC Project - Established by Judy and Bill Guggenehim to accumulate first-hand accounts of people who have felt the direct presence of or have actually seen deceased loved ones. They have collected more than two thousand such accounts of "after death contact" (ADC) in their study.
Alpha Wave - A brain wave with a frequency of between 14 and 50 cycles per second, related to relaxation and dream states. Through biofeedback machines, subjects can learn to produce alpha waves and induce altered states of consciousness. During the 1970's, many thought alpha waves to be especially associated with ESP and worked on producing them as a means of assisting people with psychic development. See also: http://skepdic.com/alphawaves.html
Closed Deck - Term used by parapsychologists in card-guessing tests, where each symbol in the deck occurs a set number of times, as in a normal pack of playing cards. The deck is randomized for each run in the test. This is in distinction to an open deck.
Open Deck - Term used by parapsychologists in card guessing tests, where each symbol in the pack is chosen at random, versus a Closed Deck, where each symbol occurs a set number of times.
+
Chapter 5 |
