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"Friends "Written By: Karina
Series: Friends Pairings: 2+6 Ratings: M 15+ [In Australia] Rated in the event of bad language and violence. Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing or the characters. That’s the way it is. Warnings: Not a death fic despite how it starts. Aussie spelling. Many thanks to Katie for beating Friends. Summary: When Milliardo Peacecraft is abducted
and left to die a solitary death Duo Maxwell decides to take a hand
in the proceedings.
Enough prevarication. Events were progressing about him and once his survival was known, people would begin protecting themselves. He needed to give some thought to the preparations needed to ensure the person, or persons, responsible for his current situation did not have the opportunity to elude his investigation. Or gain sufficient time to strike again, this time more successfully. Given the near success of this attempt he could not afford to allow them a second stab at his back. For a time he must guard himself against those who had for years covered his back, supporting him through the missions he was assigned. He could no longer trust his controllers and even should he discover the identity of the person responsible for this outrage, he could no longer give his trust to the organization. It was time for retribution and an ending. There had been an increasing instance of requests for assassinations coming his way; requests he had refused. On investigation of the proffered assignments he had determined finding other means to remove the desired obstacles from the picture, without killing, to be the more effective path. He was not afraid to kill, but he was notoriously picky about who he killed. By nature he was a hunter, but not a rabid killer, and he had thought his controllers understood that distinction until the instructions for a hit had begun to come in with increasing frequency. He had refused the first few requests, glaring his controllers into submission and reminding them in a frosty tone he was no assassin. He was an agent who worked to keep the peace, and the deal he had struck with the organization who had sought his services was that he did not kill, unless in self defence. He had learned to trust his shadowed side to extricate him from situations which might lead to discovery. The last thing he wanted on any assignment was to be discovered and have the option to kill suddenly be no option, but necessity. Perhaps someone had determined it was time to bring in an assassin to replace him? Black Opal no more ran around killing indiscriminately than Milliardo Peacecraft had during his days in the service. By nature he was not a wanton killer, contrary to the belief of too many who claimed to know him. There was a lot of supposition about him and most of it annoyed him, it was so far from the real Milliardo Peacecraft it was laughable, but he was not inclined to disabuse anyone of their notions. It all added to the mystique of the Black Opal. It made working to secure the peace without killing possible. There was one person he would need to kill and he would do so with little sorrow. The one who had brought him to this isolated place in the middle of the Sanc Alps would feel the cold bite of death. Not even the nanobots could have saved him an indefinite stay in this icebox that was the cabin. Only Duo Maxwell’s interference in the affair had saved him from death, and it was a debt he would repay by removing anyone who might hold Duo accountable for his continued survival. There would be a second body, and this one must be dealt with for the safety of the people. The nutcase who had left him here, opening a wrist just enough to see him bleed out slowly, bound hand and foot to a chair and drugged no less, would of necessity become his first target. After having succeeded so easily in his revenge that one now had a taste for murder and would not stop. The slightest incident, no matter how innocent, could be enough to set him to killing again and if he was alive now, he would not be for long. Given the secrecy surrounding the organization it was entirely possible the one who had set the stage for his capture and murder would have removed his tool to cover his back. It would be the expedient thing to do. //Very possibly it has already been done, the order given and some new hireling, a little less picky about killing than I, could have carried through the order; but there is a chance he is still running loose. If he is, then he is mine.// It would take time to determine the instigator of the affair but he would succeed in finding him, or her. That one he would find and though it would not be easy it would not be as hard as the one who wanted him dead would think. He was careful with how much of himself he revealed. The Shadow persona would only require a few minutes to determine the guilt, or innocence, of anyone he targeted. Who they were and he particularly wanted to know the why. He must not forget to ask ‘why’ before he removed them from this life. Of course there were other factors to be considered. Barton was trying to see into the tent again, but the degree of shadow would be sufficient to defeat him. The lighting was too poor in the pantry to offer anyone a decent view of him and Duo’s body was half shielding the entrance to the tent. While Barton could see little, if anything of him, he could see Barton clearly enough. The man’s hands were locked around the vidcam, and through the medium of his Shadow he could see the tension in those long slender fingers. He had strong hands, competent hands and those fingers were too tight on the device. The man had not liked what he had witnessed and Zechs could feel the growing concern in him. Concern for his friend. Barton was not a fool. He would know, after viewing the footage that Zechs would not, could not, let the matter drop. Barton would know he could not afford to leave the incident and go on without retaliating. The younger man was canny enough to detect the undercurrents flowing from this scenario and he must know which way the wind would blow. But he knew his friend also and Duo had already warned him not to get involved; to guard his back against possible repercussions from being a part of the rescue mission. Such a warning would be taken seriously. Gundam pilots, even without their Gundams, were never to be taken lightly. The warning smacked of conspiracy in grand halls full of shadowy dealings and dirty undertakings. The man was a Preventer and would know corruption was rife in the government of the world nation, and anyone who thought it was not was a dreamer. An idealist. Like his little sister, who perpetually saw only the good in people. It was inevitable that one day Relena would learn just how rotten her peace administration was becoming. Romefeller had had too many fingers in too many pies to be ousted so easily from the power games. Their particular brand of intrigue was dangerous and no one was safe from them. Certainly he was not safe from them should they prove to be behind this attempt on his life, and if they succeeded in removing him from the picture, they could also remove Relena. //It is possible she is making waves again. It is possible someone has decided to target her, but first they would need to remove me.// He had warned them. He had warned them what he would do if they targeted his sister. As a part of his agreement to once more don the mantle of the Black Opal, he had garnered an agreement that his sister was to be left strictly alone. Her protection from those who worked in the shadows had been assured, and he had kept his hand on his sister’s life to ensure their adherence to the agreement. Casting himself back into the murky shadows underlying the peace the world at large enjoyed, had been a small price to pay for her safety. Relena being Relena, she had not made it easy for him. Time and again her policies annoyed people it was better not to aggravate, and he had found it necessary to remind his controllers of their contract. It was not impossible that their tolerance might have been pushed too far, their patience finally breaking. Someone might have decided the Peacecraft siblings as a whole were not worth the aggravation. It was possible, even probable, that someone had decided to kill the Black Opal to allow for a hit on the Foreign Minister who, in the near future, was expected to make a political move which would place her in line for a higher position in the current ministry. Relena made a habit of innocently making waves in certain murky circles, but was she considered to be enough of a problem to warrant a contract out on her? He could not judge. Not here and not now. He would need to investigate, review certain sealed files and speak to particular people. There was also the matter of his last assignment, the acquisition of documentation from the office of the ESUN President himself. It was a mission he had at first balked at, but in the end he had carried it out as neatly and precisely as the Black Opal was renowned for. They had had to convince him of the importance of the mission and he had not read the documentation he had acquired, but perhaps he should have? Hind sight, it was a marvellous thing, but utterly useless to indulge in. He had to wonder now if the mission was sanctioned by the organization, or if it was of special significance to a certain individual or a select few. He would need to pay a few people a clandestine visit and demonstrate to them first hand the abilities of the Black Opal. He was sure they would be delighted with his intrusion into their private lives. Allowing his anger at this situation to overcome his reason would not do. He needed to be the Black Opal to deal with the implications and they would regret arousing his enmity. If he learned this incident was intended as a precursor to taking Relena out of the picture, through either scandal or assassination, they would more than simply regret their decision. The passing from this world of the one or more involved in making such a decision would be in no way quick or easy. It would take him some time to investigate everyone who knew of the taskforce, which was not a problem as he had patience, but he had certain skills to speed events along. The investigation would include Lady Une and Preventers, as he had worked on a number of occasions on behalf of the Preventer Chief. He had three Preventer agents in the cabin with him and how safe did that make him? Had the order already gone out, to one or more of these three, to finish the job if he was found to be alive? It was not impossible Lady Une would give such an order. She had done far worse without turning a hair in the past. Duo’s friends or not, he would respond in kind if one of them made a move to take him down. Until he knew exactly who was involved in this game of cat and mouse, kill or be killed that had become his life, he would consider them involved and not trustworthy. There was only one person he could trust and that one he did not want involved in the sordid mess it was sure to become. Maxwell had proven himself to Black Opal, and that persona was singularly hard to impress.
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