Scenes 21 thru 25 | By : shini0angel Category: Gundam Wing/AC > General Views: 369 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing/AC, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
A Private Search
The Chinese
Preventer stalked down a hallway in the main Preventer building with a scowl in
place. Most of the other Preventers hung
out of his way, still not quite sure how one so young could be among their
ranks but smart enough to realize that he was very dangerous when
provoked.
He just
could not understand how Duo Maxwell could remain hidden so well. There were no traces of him anywhere. Even Heero Yuy had slipped up but he had been
long gone by the time any Preventer had been able to get there and he had not
come up since. At least it was evidence
that he still existed. But Duo Maxwell
had no records and had not popped up on Preventer radar or on Chang Wufei’s
personal searches. It was amazing that
Duo could keep such a low profile; he just could not believe it.
But then
again he knew that Duo was a chameleon, perhaps not even he had seen all of his
personality. It was a pretty safe bet
that no one had. He was so caught up in
his musings that he did not even notice the footsteps coming up behind him and
if he had he probably would have walked faster or even run.
“Chang,”
Lt. Noin came up beside him, keeping pace with him and he felt a sudden dread
creep up into his throat at her appearance.
“Noin,”
Wufei acknowledged her even though he wanted to get back to the safety of his
office.
“Do you
have a minute?” She asked politely.
“Actually
there was something I needed to take care of, will this take long?” Wufei had
no desire to speak to the woman but he had no desire to get into an argument
with her either.
“It won’t
take long at all,” Noin promised him with a slight frown. “If you’ll just follow me please.”
Wufei
barely held back his sigh of dejection but he followed after her despite the
overwhelming desire to come up with some excuse. He wished to get this conversation over and
done with; he only hoped that it would be so easy. He knew that since Noin was the one pulling
him off to the side for a chat it would most likely involve some complex
situation and he had a good idea of the other party in that situation. He wanted to curse the day he had taken Zechs
Merquise’s offer but he made a good partner and he was easier to get along with
than most of the people Wufei worked with.
“Now
Chang,” Noin said closing to door to a small conference room behind them. “Why is Zechs avoiding me? He’s never done this before and I think that
you know why and I want to know right now.”
She glared
at him and he bit back the acerbic reply he so longed to give. Insulting the woman would only earn him more
trouble with her in the future than if he just tried to stay out of the whole
mess.
“I honestly
have no idea,” Wufei lied convincingly and he even managed to look somewhat
confused. “He doesn’t confide in me
about very many personal issues. I’m
merely his roommate.”
“Somehow I
don’t believe that Chang,” Noin glared at the Chinese Preventer and he wondered
if she could sense that he really was lying.
“He has to have told you something.
You’d be better off telling me whatever it was here and now rather than
in the future.”
“All he
said was that he did not want to discuss you in any way,” Wufei finally
admitted, although it was only the partial truth since Zechs complained about
Noin whenever something happened. “I
don’t know why and I don’t care why to be honest. It’s none of my business.”
Noin said
nothing as Wufei moved for the door and opened it to escape to freedom.
“If you’re
keeping something from me Chang I’ll find out,” Noin promised, her lips pressed
tightly together in anger.
Wufei said
nothing in response. He was not afraid
of a mere woman with a grudge against him.
But he was not afraid of much having been a Gundam Pilot and fighting in
two wars. He continued on to his
destination ignoring the looks he was receiving now from curious Preventer
personnel. He knew what they were all
thinking but gossip was never something he had put much value on.
He made it
into his shared office with Zechs. The
other man was away back at their apartment with the evening off. Wufei shut the door behind him and sat in his
desk, back ramrod straight.
Now was not
the time for anger even though he could feel it coursing through his body. It was time to do a little more digging on
the elusive Duo Maxwell. Thinking about
Duo got him back on track and he punched a number on his vid-phone for an
automatic call to L2.
“Hello this
is Hilde,” The young purple haired woman said with a smile before she saw who
it was and then the smile fell from her face to be replaced with a look of
uneasiness. “Oh, hi Wufei. What can I do for you?”
“You’ve
still heard nothing from Maxwell?” Wufei questioned her, not even bothering to
say hello.
He watched
as her face crumpled slightly as she fought to hold back her tears but her tone
was angry and upset, “No, how many times do I have to tell you? If that’s all you ever want to talk about
please don’t call me anymore because I can’t take it. I have enough trouble dealing with Duo’s
disappearance as it is. I don’t need you
to remind me of it every week like clock work.
I don’t need a reminder that my best friend is gone and hasn’t made
contact with anyone and that I don’t know how he’s doing. I remind myself more than enough times every
single day.”
“I am
sorry,” Wufei bowed his head feeling guilty for hurting her with his
callousness. “I did not mean to cause
you pain. It’s just that something
doesn’t sit right with me. Duo has not
once slipped up, even Yuy has done so and he had the best training out of all
of us.”
“You won’t
find any trace on Duo unless he wants you to,” Hilde shook her head clearing
her eyes with her fingertips before going on with a smile that she seemed to
keep in place through sheer will. “He’s
too good for that. He’s from the streets
Wufei, he can bury himself back in them and you’d never stand a prayer of
finding him.”
“Well do
you have any ideas where he might have gone to?” Wufei pressed her with another
much asked question.
“For the
last time I don’t,” Hilde snapped, suddenly angry and defensive. “Duo doesn’t have any family left alive, only
people he considered to be family. He
can fit in anywhere he chooses, be it on Earth or in the Colonies. He obviously doesn’t want to be found Wufei,
just let him go.”
Hilde gave
him a look that said she pitied him but understood and slammed the connection
shut before Wufei could say anything else.
He leaned
back in his chair putting his hand over his eyes. Wufei felt tired and drained after dealing
with both Noin and Hilde at once, mostly from Hilde though.
He could not blame Hilde for her
anger at him. He was always pushing her,
always making her relive her pain from Duo’s disappearance and never offering
to be a friend. If he was a friend, any
kind of friend he knew that he should call back and apologize and he promised
himself that was what he would do the next time he called, he always made that
promise. He would finally apologize to
her but somehow the words never came out.
Wufei looked over at the calendar
that was tacked up on his part of the wall.
He had a five day vacation coming up in a month. He decided he would spend it and take a short
trip to L2 after he cleared it with Une.
He would apologize in person and maybe then the words would come out
right. Hilde deserved no less for all
the pain he had been putting her through with each and every call he made.
He wrote a
reminder to himself to look up shuttle times to L2 and to also call Hilde ahead
of time to let her know to expect him.
He would need a place to stay; perhaps she could recommend one for him.
“Chang?” A
voice broke through his thoughts and he turned his head quickly towards the
door. “I’ve been calling to you for a
while now. What are you thinking about
that’s got you so occupied?”
“Nothing
woman,” He scowled over at Sally Po and her intrusion. “Don’t just stand in the doorway, either come
in or get out.”
Sally
merely smiled at his rudeness. She was
used to it and if Chang suddenly stopped she would have definitely known
something was wrong with the young Chinese man.
She knew that he was only rude to people he knew or liked so she took it
as a compliment most of the time.
Sally Po
entered Chang and Merquise’s office, shutting the door behind her and taking
Zech’s chair across from Wufei. He
watched her but made no comment about her choice of seating.
“What is it
Po?” Wufei said with a slight scowl as he watched her. “I’m busy here.”
“Lady Une
wants the two of us and Zechs too,” Sally gave a slight smile. “To be in her office tomorrow morning because
Relena is coming by to talk about Dorothy Catalonia. I have a feeling that we’re going to be asked
to join in the Princess’s crusade to free Dorothy.”
“I would
not be opposed to joining with Relena to speak out on Dorothy’s behalf,” Wufei
stated.
“That’s
good to know,” Sally said in relief. “I
wasn’t sure where you stood on that issue.”
“I thought
Une would have told you Po,” Wufei said with a slight
look of confusion that quickly passed from his face. “I’ve been to visit Dorothy in prison to
speak with her.”
Sally
looked somewhat surprised but Wufei did not make an issue of it. There was no reason to harass Sally about
what he had or had not done concerning Dorothy and her imprisonment and
upcoming trial.
“Good,”
Sally smiled. “She needs people to visit
her, people that she knows. I’ll be
doing a check-up on her in a week after I spend a few days with Marimeia.”
“How is
Marimeia?” Wufei asked curiously and out a general desire to know how the
red-haired girl was doing.
“She’s making
a fast recovery,” Sally smiled fondly.
“She has a strong spirit and she’s doing quite well. I imagine that by next year she’ll be able to
attend boarding school. Right now Une is
having her tutored privately while she’s in the hospital.”
Wufei nodded
in approval, “Keep me updated on Marimeia’s condition please Sally.”
“I will
Wufei,” Sally stood and left.
The young
man turned his thoughts inward again, thinking of his time serving
Marimeia. They had been confusing days,
all seeming to blur together except for the start of the rebellion. That he remembered all too clearly and some
memories can only be dimmed by acts of goodness.
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