New Haven

Chapter Three: Whoops!!!

Wufei tried to ignore the man beside him as he parked in the parking space in the underground parking lot of Winner Enterprises. He admired all things that were beautiful. But there was something about this man that made everything in him stand up and pay attention. Both literally and figuratively. The more he got to know him the more he paid attention. He didn’t know how to react to this.

He opened the door of the dodge he drove and motioned to the waiting man to follow him. They entered the elevator and Wufei pressed the button for the 49Th floor. He settled back against the back wall of the elevator and something caught his eye as Duo mirrored the motion. His eyes wandered to look and settled on the jacket the other man wore. ‘I know I’ve seen that type of jacket before.’ He thought as he looked more closely at it. ‘But where have I seen it.’

Duo shifted and turned to question the man standing beside him. The question froze in his mouth as he saw him staring at him. More specifically his jacket. Duo looked down to see what was wrong with it and groaned inwardly. He almost dropped the large portfolio he was carrying, that had the pictures and design ideas he had in it for the buildings in the four blocks he had looked at, when he covered his face to hide his reaction. ‘Why?’ He yelled at himself internally. ‘Why the HELL did I grab this jacket of all my jackets?’ He groaned again as the thought dawned on him. ‘Well Shit! How am I going to explain this to Wing, Heavyarms, Sandrock, and Shenlong if they figure out what it is?’

The ding of the elevator broke through Wufei’s thoughts. He grabbed Duo’s arm and dragged him off the elevator before the doors closed on them and took them where ever it was heading. His hand wrapped around the upper arm. The palm of his hand felt the letters of words embroidered in the sleeve of the jacket.

Duo pulled his arm jerkily from the grasp holding him. The portfolio in his other hand swung and slapped his legs as he moved to gain some distance between himself and the lawyer.

Wufei stared for a moment frowning. He shrugged and led the way to the conference room that the receptionist indicated and ushered the man into the room. As they entered the sun shining through the window caught the threads just right and Wufei was able to read some of the letters. ‘inig’ ‘Where have I heard that combination before?’ Wufei thought as he stared at the long braid slip by him. ‘It rings a bell but why?’

In the room were the three men from the gym/dojo yesterday and a blond woman who looked very much like Quatre.

Wufei took a seat with a copy of the file that they had read yesterday as Duo seated himself a little further away placing the portfolio in the center of the table to allow access of the people to it.

The three men looked up and did a double take as they saw the jacket. They noticed that Duo was nervous and wondered why. He should be excited not nervous.

Quatre turned to see what his friend who had brought him thought. But found his friend deep in thought playing with a pad of paper in front of him. He watched as Duo shed his jacket and hid it in a free chair beside him. There was something about that jacket that had caught his attention but he wondered why. ‘Oh well,’ He thought, ‘I’ll figure it out later.’ “Duo this is one of my older sisters, Iria Connaught. She finds your idea something that she can work with.” His sister nodded enthusiastically. “Iria this is the idea man Lieutenant Duo Maxwell.”

Duo greeted her smoothly and when prompted opened the portfolio to show them what he had done so far.

Cobalt blue eyes regarded their distracted friend as questions were fired at the violet eyed, pixie faced man to be promptly answered. Something was bothering him and he wondered what it was. He sighed and shrugged and added his own questions to ones being answered. His nasal voice firm in its knowledge.

The single green eye that was visible of the other man took in the interactions of the group and focused on the usually vociferous man that hadn’t said a word yet. ‘Hmmmmm,’ He wondered, ‘What could possibly have Chang so quiet?’ He shrugged and let the idea go as he turned to the man answering the questions. There was something about the jacket that had rung a bell and he couldn’t place why. He sat and listened and tried to figure out where he had seen it before.

Wufei scribbled absently on the page before as he thought about the letters. He absently looked down to see what his hands had been doing and nearly came out of his seat. As it was he let out shout even though. “Shinigami!”

The words punctuated the air as four men had different reactions.

Duo jumped out of his chair and dived for his coat.

The fireman jerked straight in his chair.

Preventer Heero Yuy was out of his chair and holding a gun toward the ceiling as Dr. Quatre Raberba Winner threw himself at his sister in hopes to keep her alive.

Wufei blinked at the way his friends were staring at him as they assumed protective stances. He turned and grabbed the coat that Duo lunged for and held it away from the man. “The war is over.” He said calmly. “You don’t need to run.” He told the blinking violet eyes that looked at him fearfully. “You did what you had to do during the war. I haven’t heard of anything that could have been done by Shinigami in the five years since.” Wufei’s mind as usual had put two and two together and come up with twenty.

Duo stared at the man and hope traveled into the fearful eyes that met onyx. He saw redemption in those eyes. He was going to grab it with both hands and never let go of it. “Thank you.” His voice rasped over the word as he slowly pulled the chair back that he had flung from himself in hopes of escape.

Trowa Barton known as Heavyarms shifted in his seat as he stared at the scene before him. “What the Hell was that about?” He muttered not expecting an answer. Usually their war instincts never displayed themselves like this. He replace the knife he had pulled from seclusion under the table as the tension eased slightly.

Heero Yuy known as Wing glared at the other Asian in question. He wanted answers and he wanted them yesterday. He shoved his gun back into the its holster and pulled his chair back into position viciously and sat down.

Quatre Raberba Winner stood over his sister protectively as he stared in wide eyed horror at the young man. The young man he had sent to assassinate the people who had caused the death of his father. “Iria,” He murmured as the tension eased. “Take Duo’s folder and look through it in your office. See if any of the other sisters are interested in helping us on this. We need to discuss some things with him.”

Iria was about to object but the words died on her lips as she saw the warning light in his brother’s eyes. She nodded and retrieved the portfolio from the center of the table and left the room.

Five sets of eyes watched as she left.