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Scenes 16 thru 20	By : shini0angel Category: Gundam Wing/AC > General Views: 397 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Dark Diplomats

The key to successful
leadership today is influence, not authority ~ Kenneth Blanchard

Shinigami
surveyed Tahil, watching her with an approving eye as she worked. He turned to Troy
who stood ready at his side, waiting for orders. Shinigami smiled thinly to his personal
assistant who had become his all around caretaker and living and breathing
appointment book.

�Get her
attention discreetly and bring her to Mimi�s,� Shinigami said turning around to
face in the direction of Mimi�s. �I�ll
be in my usual room. Bring her straight
to me Troy and then hang around for
a bit because I�m going to need you for later.�

Troy
Stevens nodded and moved to carry out his orders. He did not bother asking questions of his
boss since Shinigami was often miles ahead in his plans, his mind seemed to
move circles around everyone else. Troy
just tried to keep up as best he could and he did as he was told. He observed the girl a little more closely,
carefully checking over the other people in the general vicinity before finally
deciding to approach with care and caution.

�Tahil?� Troy
asked when he was within a few feet of her, his stance calm and certain. �Shinigami sent me to fetch you to Mimi�s. He wants to speak with you now, follow me.�

Tahil
looked him and up and down but at last she nodded and he turned satisfied that
she was not going to be difficult. Troy
led the way to Mimi�s, ignoring all the attention they attracted walking beside
one another. Many of the people thought
that he had purchased Tahil for some quality time, a thought that would have
once offended him greatly. Now he was
past such petty offences, he had devoted his cause to Shinigami and it did not
bother him that he belonged to a mere teenager.
Shinigami was more than the stories made him out to be and he was worth
every day that Troy gave over to
him in service.

Troy
did not bother knocking on Mimi�s door.
He walked in and one of Mimi�s girls smiled at him but no one approached
him about what his business there was.
Even the bouncer barely turned a glare in his direction and even that
was only to acknowledge him with a casual nod of recognition. Troy
moved up the stairs to the room that Shinigami had on permanent rental.

Shinigami now
lived at the old Hawthorne House but he had little rooms rented out all over
the Shadows. He used them for meetings
and drop-offs for various things and people.
It was safer that way, a smart way to operate in Troy�s
opinion.

Already his information network had
spread throughout the Colonies. L1 was
the first to fall to him. Shinigami had
practically strong-armed them into it.
L1 was where most of the drugs were transported to from Earth before
being brought over to L2 and then re-sold.
At first L1 had told him they expected payment, more than Shinigami was
willing to offer them. So he had the
Sweepers picking the drugs up from Earth, paying for them and transporting them
to L2 for only a fraction of the cost.
It had only taken L1 two weeks to cave and work for no charge.

After that
L4 followed. They were notorious for
being a clean colony but not when it came to technology piracy. The Daman Family had been particularly
helpful there by supplying their services to L4s former clientele for less than
the regular price. It had taken them
less time than L1 to fold to his demands.
Once L1 and L4 had joined with Shinigami L3 had offered to partner up
with him. A mere technicality but it
made the negotiations much more smooth and pleasant.

The
information network was growing stronger on Earth everyday as well. Most of Earth�s Underworld partnered with
Shinigami because he controlled the Colonies and without the Colonies nearly
fifty percent of their profits would disappear every year. None of the Underworld on Earth wanted to
think about that as a possibility. It
also helped that Shinigami made most of the people who helped him into richer
people. And if not richer they were
safer and conducting more business.

Troy
knocked on the door and opened it, ushering Tahil in. There was no need for a secret code; the
bouncer downstairs made sure that no one unknown made it upstairs while
Shinigami was in residence.

�It�s good
to see you again,� Shinigami lounged on the slightly dirty mattress and
gestured to one of the four chairs in the room.
�Take a seat Tahil. You too Troy,
and shut the door would you?�

Without a
word Troy complied and watched with
some mild amusement as Tahil thought about being stubborn before she too took a
chair.

�Now that
we�re all here we can get down to business,� Shinigami put his hands under his
head making a pillow. �Tahil, I want you
to do something for me. That�s why I
asked for you to come here. I need you
to go to L1 and follow and observe a Mr. Dodd for me.�

�Why?�
Tahil folded her arms over her chest, a strap on her top moving down her
shoulder just a bit.

�Mr. Dodd
has managed to piss me off,� Shinigami leveled his violet gaze at her until she
looked away. �The details of how and why
aren�t too important to get into and we don�t have the time. And I need to find out what type of schedule
he keeps before I pay him a visit. I
hate working with unknown variables if I don�t have to.�

�Send your
little lackey over there,� Tahil grumbled as she tugged down her too small
shirt.

�Oh I
would,� Shinigami smirked at her choice of words. �But he needs to stay here. I�m going on another business trip and
someone needs to run things from here for me.
That�s why I need you on L1, because I know you�ll do a good job. It
should only be for a week or so and after that you�ll be back here and five
thousand credits richer.�

�A lot of
money for such a simple job,� The girl noted with a sharp look aimed at the
High Leader, suspicion in her eyes.
�What�s the catch?�

�There
isn�t one,� He sighed, blowing his bangs out of his eyes. �I�m willing to pay so much because I need
someone to leave with me tonight. It�s a
rush job and I need to pay enough to entice you to leave tonight.�

�I�ll take
it,� Tahil finally said after a brief consideration. �When do I need to be ready to leave?�

�Four hours
from now,� Shinigami sat up on the mattress.
�I�ll drop you off with Howard and he�ll brief you some more on exactly
what I need from you while you�re down on L1.
Troy, you know what to do while I�m gone. I�ve got to go and pay a little visit to a
few old friends of mine.�

Troy
blinked curiously at his boss. He did
not know who the old friends were.
Eventually Shinigami would tell him but for now he was content not to
know, knowing too much was always a bad thing.

�Be back
here in three hours Tahil,� Shinigami said as the girl moved to the door. �Don�t be late.�

�I won�t
be,� She tossed impudently back over her shoulder as she left.

�What�s
going on?� Troy asked.

�A lot of
shit,� Shinigami chuckled softly leaning back against the peeling wallpaper on
the wall. �I have a little information
for a certain Preventer I know but who doesn�t know me. And I need to stop in and see Sandrock.�

�Is
Sandrock a friend from the war?� Troy
said listening carefully to the tone and words.

�He is,�
Shinigami confirmed with a wry smile.
�You�ll probably never meet him which is for the best. It�s nothing to worry about Troy. I�d just rather put off the visit until next
week but it can�t wait any longer.
Things have been set in motion.�

�It�s about
that Catalonia girl isn�t it?� Troy
was smarter than he looked.

�Yeah, it
is,� He smiled briefly at the mention of Dorothy�s name. �I�m not going to let her be convicted with
the death sentence. It�s pointless and
Relena isn�t being very effective at the moment. A little blackmail here and a murder there
will get me what I want just as well.
Peace has a dark side to it you know.�

Troy
merely nodded. He knew all too well what
that dark side was. Shinigami controlled
that dark side, he embodied it even though it sometimes seemed like it would
slowly tear him apart. But Shinigami
always held himself together. Troy had a
feeling that Shinigami would do whatever it took to keep another war from
breaking out, no matter what it cost him or anyone who worked for him. Troy
thought that was admirable of him and a murder or a few hundred dead was a
rather small price to pay in the grand scheme of things.

Idly he
thought about who Shinigami had known before he had returned to the Shadows,
what he had done while he had been gone from L2. There was not a record to be found because
anyone who tried turned up the same dead ends.
Troy knew, he kept track of
everything and stored it away in his head.
Very little was written down on paper for fear of incrimination or
blackmail.

�Don�t
forget you need to speak with your contact in Berlin,�
Troy reminded needlessly.

Shinigami
merely nodded, already lost in his own thoughts and plans. Troy
honestly did not know how he kept it all straight but that was not his concern.

Troy
watched, on guard, as Shinigami slept for nearly three hours. Suddenly his eyes snapped open and a hand
strayed to where a gun lay concealed in his trench coat before Troy
could react. He looked to Troy
and conveyed to him silently that he wanted his assistant to open the door to
their room. Troy
did so and Tahil stood outside a bit winded arriving from wherever she had
disappeared off to. Shinigami smiled
when he saw her, hand slipping unobtrusively away from his concealed firearm.

�We�ll be
on our way then,� Shinigami leaped off the mattress standing and wide
awake. �I�ll drop you off with Howard
and then head down to Earth. I�ll call
in tonight Troy, have something
ready for me.�

Troy
merely nodded. Everything was under
control in his capable hands or Shinigami would have replaced him by this time.

Shinigami
and Tahil boarded the Demon King,
Shinigami�s personal shuttle. It was
small, only able to take ten people and cargo but it was fast and undetectable
thanks to the superior connections he had access to. The Sweepers had been a great help in
building and designing it. Daman
had provided some excellent technology that very few people had. It took them only an hour to reach Howard on
the Anubis. Shinigami docked long enough to pick up some
extra weapons and drop Tahil off, he wasted no time with idle chit-chat among
the Sweeper crew.

Nearly
seven hours later he was at his destination.

�This is
Shinigami calling out to Berghof,� He called out on the secure frequency that
had been prearranged.

�Berghof
reading,� A deep voice came back to his ears.
�Landing is cleared. Green lights
all the way.�

Shinigami
grinned. Green lights indeed. He landed easily on the air strip, taxing off
to the side. He then received clearance
to taxi his shuttle into one of the larger hangars, a good place to hide the Demon King. He came down and out of the shuttle walking
confidently to one of them men waiting off to the side for him. He carried one bag with him, casually slung
over a shoulder.

�Berlin
first,� Shinigami nodded a brief greeting to the two men. �I need to meet with a contact there.�

He was
immediately ushered into a private car that drove with no stops except for gas
and bathroom breaks. He felt a bit like
someone of Relena�s standing, being driven around. He arrived in the early morning hours at his
destination.

Shinigami alighted from the car and
was taken straight in to see Lt. Danzig as he was known. It was an insightful meeting. Lt. Danzig gave him more information to use
against Senator Dodd.

�That reminds me,� Lt. Danzig
said. �The main operator of the new L5
Colony is still unknown. I can�t find
any name for him. All we know is that he
is not of Chinese descent.�

�Interesting,� Shinigami
commented. �If you find out anything
contact me.�

Shinigami was smiling like a cat that had just eaten a bird by the time
the meeting had ended and he was on his way to New Capitol. The only thing that remotely bothered him was
the new L5 Colony but even that could not dampen his spirits.

Once in New
Capitol he went by Merquise and Chang�s apartment. He dropped off a package in the mailbox
addressed to Merquise. He was confident
that Zechs would receive it and keep its contents a secret.

He then went back to the privately
owned and operated airstrip and slept fitfully for several hours on board the Demon King at his own insistence. He woke and showered in the mechanics
bathroom being careful not to get his braid wet.

Shinigami
waited for night to come, passing the time with a call to Troy. His assistant reported that things were going
well and that Arman had some men on L1 should Shinigami need them when he made
his special trip. He smiled at the
thought.

His next destination was Quatre
Raberba Winner�s. He knew Winner�s grounds and mansion well enough to break in completely
undetected, especially now that the sun would be going down. Shinigami waited, keeping his bag on his back
in the garden. The sun began setting,
casting shadows all across the yard from the trees and bushes, which Shinigami
used as cover to get in close to the house.
He was able to disarm the security system wirelessly from the outside
because of the equipment Daman had provided him
with. Slipping in through the window was
easy work for an old thief like him and Quatre�s windows were not much
different than anyone else�s, they just cost more money.

He lowered
the window after himself and re-set the alarms in Quatre�s house. He used his stealth to head up to Quatre�s
private rooms to wait for the young blond business man to come in. He did not have to wait long.

�Hello
Quatre,� Shinigami said from his seat at the foot of the bed. �Long time no see.�

�Shinigami,�
Quatre said almost saying Shinigami�s real name instead of the alias. �What can I do for you?�

�No need to
be so formal,� Shinigami smirked briefly at Quatre�s politeness. �I�m just passing you some information by
word of mouth because I don�t want it written down. Senator Dodd has been a bad boy and I aim to
publicize that in a few weeks.�

�Good,�
Quatre nodded with approval. �That
should help Dorothy�s case.�

�Dorothy
won�t be put to death Q,� Shinigami stood and moved for a window. �Not while I�m in control of things. I�ll get her off one way or another. Failing that I�ll break her out of prison
before the execution. You continue work
on Rochambeau like you�ve been doing.
That will leave me free to go after Dodd.�

�Was there
anything else?� Quatre asked sensing that Duo was about to leave.

�Not
really,� Shinigami smiled fondly at his comrade. �I needed to see for myself that you�re not
over-working yourself into an early grave.
This world needs you. Tell Relena
to take a little break now and again for me will you?�

�I will,�
Quatre promised him.

Shinigami
paused before flinging open the bedroom window as though he wanted to add
something more but he merely tossed one more smile over his shoulder before
slipping away into the oncoming darkness.

He left the
grounds quickly, walking down the street at a slow rambling pace. A few blocks away a car pulled to a halt to
the side of the road and Shinigami got into the back seat. He directed the driver to take him to a hotel
in New Capitol and once there he locked the door behind him and collapsed on
the bed, sleeping for the entire day.
When he woke his braid was a mess, coming loose.

A muttered
sigh and a few curses later he was stripping down leaving a trail of clothes on
his way to the bathroom. Once there he
quickly undid his braid and stepped under the hard stream of hot water. He made quick work of washing his hair with
plenty of conditioner and shampoo.
Fifteen minutes later he stepped out of the shower and got most of the
excess water out of his hair before re-braiding it wet. There was not enough time to dry it, he had
places to be and people to meet with. He
had already been on Earth for three days.

Shinigami
called the car back and checked out of the hotel. He spent several hours riding in the car back
to Berghof�s location. Once there he
went immediately to the head of the Berghof operation.

�Daniels,�
Shinigami said with a fleeting smile. �I
need Zechs Merquise closely watched over the next two weeks. I want to know what he�s eating, who he talks
to. Everything and anything you can get
me.�

�I�ll get
on it,� Daniels made a note on a piece of paper. �Anything else I can do for you?�

�Yeah,� He
shifted his weight to the other foot.
�Actually there is. Have Danzig
look into Dodd�s associates, business and personal. If any of them can be connected to Dorothy
Catalonia or her imprisonment I want to know right away. Anything to do with Dorothy Catalonia gets to
me or Troy as soon as you get
it. Those are standing orders for
everyone.�

�I�ll be
sure to pass those along just to be certain that everyone�s aware of that,�
Daniels promised. �And I�ll pass along
your orders to Danzig.�

�Then
that�s everything,� Shinigami moved towards the door. �I�m heading back into space now. Reach me through Troy
if anything comes up.�

Daniels
nodded as he watched Shinigami slip away through the door. The Demon
King was cleared for take off half an hour later. Shinigami was in space and docking with the Anubis eight hours later. Howard surprisingly was one of the people
there to meet him as he disembarked from the Demon King.

�Howie,�
Shinigami had a genuine grin on his face.
�Sorry I didn�t take the time to at least say hi before I left.�

�It�s all
right Kid,� Howard adjusted his sunglasses on his face. �How long are you here for this time?�

�A few
days,� Shinigami said grabbing his one bag and moving over to Howard�s side
while some Sweepers swarmed over the Demon
King to check it over and make minor repairs and alterations. �Until Tahil comes back and reports to
me. Then we�ll both be leaving back to
the Shadows.�

�Go get
some sleep Duo,� Howard said looking him over as they left the holding
dock. �You need it.�

�Sure thing
old man,� Duo smiled.

No matter
how many times he insisted that Howard call him Shinigami the old man never did. He was always Duo or Kid but he liked it that
way, it kept his old self alive. But for
the moment he could was too tired to care and when his head hit the lumpy
pillow it felt like a piece of heaven.

He woke to
a tapping on his door. He squinted
before realizing that there was no light on in the room. It took him a few seconds to wake fully and
walk the few steps over to the door to open it.
Mac stood there, lips pinched in obvious disapproval but Duo shrugged
that off easily enough. There were many
things that caused Mac to wear such a face.

�What can I
do for you?� Duo asked studying the mechanic before him.

�The boss
picked up that girl you dropped off with us a few days back,� Mac wiped some
invisible grease off his palms onto his slightly dirty rag tucked into his
belt. �Howard said I should come and get
you up. Kid, you�ve been out for nearly
eighteen hours, do you ever sleep?�

�I sleep
plenty,� Duo grinned wiping the left over sleep from his eyes quickly. �Just haven�t for a while, been busy. Lead on Mac!�

He gave the
mechanic a friendly squeeze on the shoulder as he shut the door to his
room. Duo may not have been a Sweeper in
name any longer but in the true sense he was still part of the family. It was enough to take away the harsh reality
that he was really alone in his world.
He let Mac lead even though he knew that Howard would have Tahil in his
office.

Duo stepped
into the room without bothering to knock.
It was his interview after all and he was the boss here even though it
was still Howard�s fleet.

�Say Mac,�
Duo said calling back the mechanic before he could slip away. �Did Ginger ever get the Bolt?�

�She sure
did,� Mac said shaking his head in disbelief that Duo actually remembered such
a small detail. �I�m going back to work
now. Take care of yourself�

Duo shut
the door behind him leaving him alone with Howard and Tahil. He glanced briefly in Howard�s direction
before deciding that the Sweeper captain could remain. Howard would never talk and it did not matter
if he knew Duo�s plans or not. The
Sweepers had been sucked in too deeply to back out now, too deep in to even have
a prayer of getting clemency from Relena Darlian Peacecraft herself.

�What�ve
you got for me babe?� Duo grinned unrepentantly at Tahil.

�Dodd
sticks to a pretty tight schedule,� Tahil shrugged her slender shoulders. �He keeps his plans for the day on his
computer; you should be able to have an easy time hacking into it if I could do
it.� She passed him a folded sheet of
paper. �That has his office hours for
the next few weeks.�

�Lovely my
girl,� Duo grinned like a Cheshire cat as he took the paper from her. �This is plenty. I just needed confirmation I could
trust. And I suppose you both deserve to
know my plans involving Dodd. He�s
getting a special visit from yours truly and I mean to put the deep fear of
Shinigami into him. If that doesn�t work
he won�t get second chances from me because I plan on canceling him from the
equation.�

Howard let
out a whistle. �Dodd�s a big player in
politics. Are you sure you should kill
him if the scare doesn�t work?�

�Either
that or kidnap him,� Duo ran a hand through his bangs. �Killing would be easier than kidnapping though.�

�If I give
you a two man crew to go along with you on the Demon King the kidnapping should work,� Howard scratched at his
chin thoughtfully. �If you�re willing to
expend the extra effort for that course of action.�

�I�ll keep
that in mind Howie,� Duo promised with an easy smile. �I�ll have to factor in the right timetables
for everything to work out. Thanks for
the offer though. I�ll let you know if
I�ll need that crew.�

Howard
merely gave him a tiny smile before he pushed himself up and out of his
chair. �Duty calls.�

He left Duo
and Tahil alone in his office and Duo merely sat back and let him go. It did not matter who knew of these plans, no
one who worked with him or for him would be stupid enough to get in his way.

�Hey
Tahil,� Duo said ten minutes later.
�Could you do me another favor?�

�I
suppose,� She looked curious.

�Remind me
occasionally that I�m not only a puppet master,� Duo gave a tiny smile. �I can�t have my ego getting to big.�

Tahil
merely shook her head but he knew that she agreed and that she understood what
he could not voice, his fears, losing who he was to his own private darkness. A darkness that he ruled with a calculated
and personal touch because he was Shinigami and that was his job.
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Scenes 16 thru 20