Kracken
Disclaimer:I don't own them and I don't make any money off of this.
Warnings:Male/male sex, graphic, language, Past NCS, violence
Shinigami's Lover Four
Moment of Truth
"Stop fidgeting, Maxwell," Wu Fei growled.
Duo rolled eyes at Wu Fei as he tugged at his stiff, formal uniform collar. "That's soo helpful, Fei," he retorted sarcastically.
"The location may be different, but the circumstances are the same," Heero told Duo. "You simply need to answers their questions truthfully and then they'll dismiss you."
Duo groused irritably, looking from Heero on one side of him in the elevator, to Wu Fei on the other. "I get that, I'm fine... anyone would be nervous right about now. It's normal."
Wu Fei gave him a look and then snorted, "Yes, anyone would be," he conceded. "I know I am."
"Because you'll be the one who has to stop me if I lose it in there," Duo reminded him with humor bordering very closely on bitterness.
"You will not 'lose it'," Wu Fei assured him.
"And that's why you keep checking your gun?" Duo retorted.
"Standard procedure," Wu Fei replied stiffly.
"The first three times, maybe," Duo muttered and reached to ruffle Soda's soft fur. The dog was pricking ears and looking as nervous as he felt. He said bitterly, "I really wish they'd postponed this until another time, instead of squeezing me in before a gathering of high level Preventer officers."
"That might be a good sign," Heero told him as they exited the elevator. "It might mean that they have judged in your favor already and this is only a formality."
Duo blinked at him. "Are you going to convince me that there's an Easter Bunny next?"
Heero reached and kneaded his shoulder briefly before they entered a large conference hall. After that, he was Duo's guard along with Wu Fei, flanking him, giving Duo their support, but as tense and as unsure as Duo.
The officials were seated in a line behind a long, narrow table. They were all in dress Preventer uniforms and they all wore the same formal, bland expressions that gave nothing away. Otherwise, the room was empty. Very large windows, adorned with sheer, white curtains, let in sunlight from a hot afternoon sky that pooled and sparkled over everything.
Duo pulled at his irritating collar again and stood at attention before the table, eyes straight. "Duo Maxwell reporting as ordered, sirs."
There was a long silence and then an old officer, who's face looked as hard as a slab of granite, said, "I am Commander Pinote, Agent Maxwell. My colleagues and I have reviewed your files and the complaint filed by Agent Grange. You are a problematic man, Agent Maxwell. When your request to become an agent first came to my desk, I immediately declined it." His face soured. "I was, of course, over ruled. Many here felt that your qualifications far outweighed your problems. I knew, sooner or later, that we would end up here. Again, if it were only up to me, I would dismiss you from service at once, but I am required to give you a fair and impartial hearing."
"I guess we can't count on the impartial part," Duo muttered.
"Agent?" The man snapped.
"Nothing," Duo replied quickly and felt a flush.
The Commander scowled and then nodded to the man sitting next to him, a very thin, sour man in his late sixties. "You may proceed Council Alderini."
The man nodded and rose, a computer pad in his hands. He paced around the table slowly and deliberately and then came to stand very close to Duo. Duo eyed him nervously. The man had little black eyes like a crow, the kind that liked to pick at dead bodies on a battle field. Duo tried to shake the image and couldn't.
"I am going to present questions to you, Agent Maxwell, and you are expected to give thorough and satisfactory answers to each one."
"Isn't that the same thing?" Duo wondered.
"Agent?" the man replied blankly.
"Satisfactory and thorough?" Duo clarified. "It's the same, isn't it?"
The man glared. "Are you mocking me, Agent Maxwell? That doesn't help your case."
Duo swallowed and ducked his head. "Just nervous."
The man seemed to gather himself together and his hands tightened on his computer pad. "Simply answer the questions truthfully, Agent Maxwell, and this inquest will be over quickly."
"Yes, sir," Duo replied in a subdued voice.
"Is it true that you were an orphan on L2?" the man asked abruptly, in a tone that insinuated that Duo had lied about that fact.
Duo blinked, caught completely off guard. "How does that-"
"Answer the question, Agent Maxwell," Alderini demanded.
Duo glanced first at Heero and then at Wu Fei. Heero was frowning, as if confused as well, but he and Wu Fei were looking very hard at nothing. Duo finally replied, "Y... Yes, I was."
"How did that come about?" Alderini asked.
Duo mentally floundered, his hand touching an agitated Soda. The dog was feeling Duo's confusion. "I... I don't know," Duo stammered uncertainly.
"You can't remember?"
"No."
"Not at all?"
"No."
Alderini made a note on his pad and then fired off another question. "Is
it true that you were part of a gang on L2, a gang known for petty theft?"
Duo felt himself go hot. "We stole food, clothing... we didn't want to die!" he snapped back. "And... we were just little kids..."
"You were finally caught and prosecuted," Alderini stated as if Duo's reply meant nothing to him. "You were-"
"If you're trying to make Oz out to be a law abiding police force-," Duo began angrily.
"Simply answer the questions, Agent Maxwell, "Alderini admonished him coldly. "You were given probation and turned over to an orphanage; an orphanage that was destroyed after you stole a mobile suit from a military base."
Duo demanded furiously, "Where the hell are you going with all of this?"
"We are trying to establish a pattern of behavior," Alderini replied.
Duo was pale and he could feel himself shaking with anger and memories from a past that he didn't want to revisit, especially in that place. "Yes, I did steal the suit, but I thought it would save lives not... "
"Thank you, Agent Maxwell, "Alderini cut over him. "That's adequate. Now, is it true that you were a prostitute?"
Duo felt as if his insides had turned to water. He heard Heero gasp in shock at his side and Wu Fei exclaim something in Chinese. Duo's heart clenched, as if it would stop altogether. His breath caught in his throat as he stared at Alderini in horror and then he choked out, "W-what?"
"Records from L2 contain several illegal incidences containing your DNA and fingerprint ID," Alderini told him. "Aside from thefts, you were also fined several times for prostitution."
"I was seven years old! Do you think it was my choice?" Duo shouted at him, hearing, on the peripheral of his mind, Soda snarling. "The soldiers fined me all right! Do you know what the penalty was? Letting the arresting 'officers' DO me!" He was panting, unable to even see straight. "They took me back to my pimps afterwards!"
Alderini gave him a critical eye and then coldly went on to the next question. "Is it true, during the war, that you stole your Gundam from the colonists who built it?"
Duo couldn't make the switch in mental gears. He was still caught up in the past, before the war, before he had wrapped himself in the protective shell of Shinigami and killed for a living.
"Duo," Heero said in a pained voice.
"You will be silent, Agent Yuy," Alderini told him sharply and then, "Answer the question, Agent Maxwell."
Duo tried so hard to bring himself back into focus that he felt tears in his eyes. He wiped at them briskly, looked down at Soda, and saw the dog on his feet with hackles raised. Alderini was unaware that he was about to be attacked.
"Soda, green," Duo managed thickly. The dog looked at him, unsure, and Duo repeated it. That simple command brought him back, reminded him of the institute, reminded him of his lessons hard won. Not helpless... not a little kid... Not back there... Not going to be attacked... Not helpless... Duo said his mantra in his mind several times and then he found his battle grin. The doctors at the institute had done the same thing as Alderini was doing now. Again and again, they had taken him over the brink and then they had showed him how to find his way back to sanity.
"Yeah, I stole it," Duo replied at last. "So that the colonists wouldn't destroy the Earth. That was their plan, you realize?"
Duo's voice sounded weak in his own ears. He rubbed at his eyes again and then glared at Alderini, seeing him again, his control over his past in place again.
"So, what's this all about?" Duo wondered acidly, unable to help the manic edge to his voice. "Are you trying to tell me I'm a thief and an all around bad guy? You knew that when you hired me. I was a terrorist killing people wholesale in a war. I'd think you'd be worried more about that."
"Why?" Alderini wondered with an arched eyebrow.
Duo raked the listening officers with a hard eye. "Well, since I'm so used to killing people, wouldn't it follow that I might just shoot anyone who pissed me off?"
"Or made you disturbed... or afraid?" Alderini added suggestively.
Duo blinked at him and then he looked aside at Heero and Wu Fei. Both of them were looking relieved. Heero was also looking sad and pale. "Shit!" Duo exclaimed, furious. "This was a test, wasn't it?"
Alderini began to reply, but the doors of the conference room were thrown open suddenly and masked, armed men stormed in. Before anyone could react, the doors were closed behind them and locked and as they trained machine guns on the assembled. Heero and Wu Fei didn't try to draw their own weapons. They knew when they were outgunned.
"Wonderful!" One of the masked men said as he approached the table of officers. "All the Preventer's best in one room and ripe for the plucking. What could be better?"
"Still part of the test?" Duo accused angrily.
"No," Heero and Wu Fei both said at the same time.
"Yellow Soda, " Duo snapped as the men rounded the officers up in one corner and then turned to them.
The three of them were in soldier mode, faces blank, bodies poised for action, but looking deceptively relaxed. The gunmen thought they saw three young men ready to cooperate.
"Duo, " Heero said as if he feared that he wouldn't have the chance later. "I didn't know he was going to ask you THOSE questions. I would have stopped it if I had known."
"All of you shut up and get down on the floor face down, hands behind your head!" The leader snarled. "Make a wrong move and you're dead!"
Duo gave Heero a look. "That doesn't get you out of the dog house, Yuy, but it does get you a blanket while you're out there. We're going to have a talk after-"
"I said shut up!" The gunman snarled and motioned with his gun at the three of them. "Next one says a word, show them we mean business."
"It was the only way to convince them of your stability," Wu Fei said calmly, as if they weren't in any danger. "You can't blame Yuy for helping you keep your job."
"I am NOT going to let you make mental torture sound reasonable, Chang!" Duo retorted furiously.
One of the gunmen decided that Duo was smaller and easier to handle. He cocked
his machine gun and aimed the butt at Duo's head. "The boss said to shut
up!" he shouted as he tried to bring the butt of his gun down hard.
Duo spun, sweeping the machine gun aside. Taken by surprise, Duo had the man
in a head lock before he could react. Grabbing at the man's machine gun, he
aimed and fired it at the other men in one smooth motion. Shoving the man away
from him then, he continued firing the machine gun as he ordered sharply, "Soda,
red!" The dog was on the gunman and bringing him down in an instant, a
snarling whirlwind of fury.
Wu Fei and Heero had pulled out their guns and jumped into motion as soon as Duo had started firing. The officers were beginning to fall to the floor, intent on ducking any stray bullets, and the other gunmen were shouting in consternation and retreating, some of them shoving the long table over to give them cover as they fired back. Heero and Wu Fei headed straight for them, undaunted, firing their guns with Duo laying down cover fire to help them.
"You fuckers!" the head gunman shouted as Wu Fei and Heero reached their targets and took out several of his men, ignoring the hail of bullets all around them. The leader aimed his gun at them, and then saw that it was already too late, as both Heero and Wu Fei were now armed with machine guns and were training their weapons at the remaining men.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion when, in fact, it was only moments. The reaction time of Gundam pilots was almost inhuman. Once in motion, they were a deadly blur, a hyper, calculated, weapon all on their own. The gunmen never had a chance. Duo saw the moment when the leader realized that and decided to become a martyr. Duo saw him begin to turn towards the officers, whatever vendetta he had against them seemingly more important than his life.
Duo fired his gun and felt it jam. The man ducked and then fired back. Duo felt two stings, searing hot bullets hitting his shoulder and side, before he threw himself down and rolled. He came up again almost instantly, tossing the gun aside. "Soda, heel!" Duo shouted as he sprinted for the leader.
Wu Fei and Heero had their hands full. Using the fallen table for cover themselves, they were firing at the gunmen, who were trying to get the door unlocked so that they could escape. Duo could not call on them for help, he had to make it, somehow, across the hall to stop the leader, while not getting shot, all on his own.
The man decided that Duo wasn't a threat unarmed. A fatal mistake. He turned towards the officers, one in particular, Council Alderini. Alderini was terrified. He wasn't a soldier. The other officers were looking defiant, some gathering themselves to attack regardless of the cost. Alderini crouched, hands raised to protect his head as he pleaded with the man not to kill him. The gunman was unmoved. Duo could see him point the machine gun at Alderini. Duo knew that he intended to make a sweeping gesture and take out all the officers at one time.
"Soda, red!" Duo shouted. The dog was faster. The dog knew that a man with a gun was a target. He took off and Duo watched as the dog launched himself at the gunman. There was a chance the dog would succeed. There was a better chance that he wouldn't stop the man from firing that gun before he did. Duo changed course and threw himself on top of Alderini.
There was the sound of machine gun fire and Duo felt more hot stings hit his body as he grabbed Alderini and used his momentum to roll them both. There were repeated pops as bullets tore into the marble all around them and the sound of Soda snarling intermingled with the screams of a man in pain.
"Duo!" Heero shouted his name frantically.
"Hold still or I will blow your head off!" That was Wu Fei, sounding not so calm as he trained his gun on the fallen leader. "Duo call off the dog!"
"Soda, heel!" Duo croaked as he untangled himself from Alderini. The man was limp. He had fainted.
Heero was kneeling by Duo, face fierce and anxious. "Are you all right?"
"Secure?" Duo demanded first.
"Secure, " Heero replied. "They all chose to die rather than surrender." There was a note of admiration in his voice for that kind of dedication, but Duo just felt sick at the waste of life.
Duo lowered his head into his hands as Soda nuzzled him. The dog had blood all over him. He took stock of his pains and finally replied, "Grazes. Hurt like hell, but nothing deep."
Heero was reaching out though and checking the breaks in Duo's uniform, wanting to see for himself. His relieved sigh told Duo that he was all right. His sudden tenseness told Duo that they now had an audience.
"You and Wu Fei all right?" Duo wondered as he stood unsteadily, feeling bruises and a leg that was hard to stand on without pain. Heero put a bloody hand out to put under Duo's elbow to give him support.
"Minor wounds," Heero replied.
Duo scoffed as he turned with a few hops to face the rising officers. "You and Wu Fei could both be shot in the heart and you'd still say you were okay. Once we mop up here, we're all going to the medic...." he glared at Heero over his shoulder... "and then we're going home to talk."
Commander Pinote stood and straightened out his uniform coat. He was scowling fiercely, blinking all around them at the dead men and the one man they had left in custody. Deliberately, he walked to the over turned table, fished out a gavel and it's base, and then turned to Duo. He stood at attention and looked long and hard at Duo as he balanced the base in one hand and struck it with the gavel in the other.
"I declare this inquest adjourned," Commander Pinote announced solemnly. "Agent Duo Maxwell has answered all of our questions satisfactorily and he has demonstrated to this gathering his competence to be a Preventer agent. All in agreement, say 'aye.'"
There was a spattering of ayes from the shell shocked officers. No nays were forthcoming. Duo breathed a sigh of relief and gave the commander a formal bow, wincing at the pain it caused him. Being vindicated was something, but he wasn't about to forgive anyone yet. ... except Heero, he amended, and, looking at his lover helping Wu Fei secure the prisoner, he knew that he wasn't going to let Heero know that fact until he had read him the riot act about allowing the test at all. There were some things he couldn't allow even the man he loved most in the world to get away with.