"Mmm�" Duo groaned out loud; the body sliding against his was slick with sweat and hard with muscle, pushing him up against the wall of the club. A harsh metal beat was pounding through his bones, bleeding into the need and desire threading through him and driving him to clutch desperately at the man pressed against him. His lips parted to the other's tongue, hips tilting and rubbing their leather-clad crotches together as hands groped their way down his back to his ass, pulling him further into the contact. A low chuckle resonated through the other's chest as Duo moaned, pushing back into the contact, and he felt a light tug on his braid as fingers skimmed his waistband. It sobered him like a dash of water to the face, a wrenching dislocation of shock passing through him, and suddenly Duo thought he might throw up.
"�No�" He shoved, hard, all arousal dissipated into panic and shame as the guy stared at him incredulously, twisting away as arms reached insistently for his waist.
"I can't," Duo found himself mouthing stupidly, shaking his head desperately. "I can't, I'm sorry, I can't�"
The guy tried to move in on him again, blond hair swinging around a square jawline, and Duo ducked away in panic, retreating back into the bouncing, swinging melee on the dancefloor, still helplessly shaking his head.
The bar was easy to find, past writhing couples and gyrating dancers as the music switched down to something low and dirty; Duo ordered tequila, forgetting in his agitation why he didn't usually drink the stuff, and slammed down the first two shots without pause.
"Fuck!"
Another shot of eye-watering liquor, and he felt a sympathetic and familiar hand on his shoulder as he sank his head onto his folded arms. Hilde. Duo looked up at the rows of optics behind the bar in resignation.
"What the fuck is wrong with me?"
Neither the alcohol nor the ear-shattering music had any answers.
It was the grating buzz of the phone that finally wrenched him out of alcoholic oblivion, the sound stabbing through his head like particularly self-satisfied knives. Duo groaned, swallowing back a surge of nausea as he lifted one heavy arm, patting around the nightstand for the handset. Finding it, he brought it to his ear, only for the irritating buzz to shrill through his skull again, reminding him to push the talk button.
"�Maxwell."
"Duo, you're needed at HQ." The voice was cool and precise; in his hung over state it took a moment for Duo to really process it.
"It's too fucking early in the morning for this shit, Heero." A slit-eyed glance at the clock showed that it was only a quarter to nine; Duo couldn't actually remember what time he'd gotten to bed the previous night, but that he had woken up here was probably thanks to Hilde. He hoped he hadn't done anything stupid, like� oh God� coming onto some random guy then freaking out� Shit!
"We've got a new witness in the Ibsen case; she's at HQ now. Duo, get out of bed."
"�fuck. All right, all right, I'm on my way�" Flailing at the covers, Duo managed to worm his way towards where he estimated the edge of the bed to be, only to miscalculate and tumble to the floor with a resounding thud. "Ow, my head! Shit! Heero, you need a lift?"
"I'm already in. Bring Hilde � I'll put the coffee machine on for you." His partner's voice was crisp and efficient, yet still held a glimmer of amusement. It felt like torture to Duo, whose stomach was currently rebelling against the very idea of movement.
"K," he croaked, staggering to his feet and suppressing the dry heaves. "We'll be there in twenty."
"Hn. Give it forty; you sound like shit, Maxwell."
"Appreciated, Yuy." But the sarcastic tone was lost on Heero, who had already hung up. Duo made a disgusted face, fumbling with the buttons on the handset and connecting the short-range intercom. "Hey, Schbeiker!"
Grumbling and static came from the earpiece, and then: "This had better be good, Duo, or I swear�"
"HQ want us in forty." He winced as a particularly vicious oath ripped through his already tender aural nerves, and decided that the first order of the day would definitely be some aspirin.
"It's a fucking Saturday," Hilde was complaining. "I'm gonna skin someone if this is a joke�"
"Yeah, you and me both, babe." Duo rubbed at his forehead, wincing at the light that was streaming in through his living room windows. "Outside in a half-hour, yeah?"
"Yeah, whatever�" Hilde was still grumbling in a mixture of English and German as Duo hung up, tossing the phone onto the couch and stumbling towards the kitchen.
Twenty-five minutes later, freshly showered and dressed and with the painkillers just starting to kick in, Duo snapped off the elastic on his braid, draped his tie around his neck and dashed out of the apartment. Thirty seconds after that, with a groan, he was back, snatching his car keys from the hook by the door and galloping down the stairs, heavy boots making surprisingly little noise on the treads.
Hilde was leaning nonchalantly against the passenger door of his car, perfectly proper in Preventer uniform trousers and shirt, jacket slung across her shoulders. Duo tossed her the keys with a resigned sigh.
"You'll have to drive Hil, after last night."
With a whoop of glee, she flung herself across the bonnet of the little black MG, snatching open the driver's side door and crowding behind the wheel. It was a rare occasion indeed that Duo would allow anyone to drive his 'baby'; he had restored the car himself from scrap and parts, modifying the engine, and was intensely possessive of it. "One scratch, Hilde," he warned in a deadly serious voice, but she just laughed as she started up the engine.
"Relax, Duo. It's only Park Street and the Midtown; what could possibly happen?"
Duo groaned pitifully, wrapping both arms around his head and slumping down in the black leather bucket seat. "Now you've tempted fate�"
They made it to Preventer Headquarters without incident, despite Duo's misgivings, although there were heavy streams of traffic heading both into and out of the city. Inching forwards along the Midtown Avenue, the imposing buildings of the central complex seemed to grow slowly above them, grey and bleak yet giving the impression of watching over the city above which they crouched, a protective monument. Taking the familiar slip into the underground garage, they parked up and took the lift up to the office floors, Duo slipping his ID card into the security slot to announce and authorise their arrival.
"So why are we here?" Hilde wasn't looking at him, her eyes fixed on the glowing numbers above the doors. Her posture appeared casual and relaxed, but to anyone who knew her well the signs of annoyance were easy to read in the almost imperceptible tapping of her fingers against her thigh.
"Witness on the Ibsen case, apparently." Duo shrugged; he had known better than to question Heero over the phone.
"What?" Hilde protested, her eyes narrowing as a pinging sound announced the opening of the doors "That's got nothing to do with me! And you and Yuy were only assigned on casework; what the fuck's going on here?"
"A question I'd like answered too." Duo controlled his surprise as they came suddenly face to face with Lady Une, surrounded by an entourage of security agents and lawyers. Hilde flinched a little.
"Sorry, Commander."
"No need." Une waved the apology away briskly. "They're waiting for you in conference room three, Agent Shadow, Hellfire." With a crisp nod, she stepped past them into the lift, the lawyers and security men scrambling to follow her as the doors began to slide shut.
"Well." Duo blinked, turning to Hilde. "I swear, she gets scarier in inverse proportion to the time of day."
The door to the interview room opened before Hilde could reach for it, and they both started, suddenly confronted by one of the Preventer Agency's most feared operatives.
"Finally," Dorothy Catalonia observed in a cool and irritated voice, turning to re-enter the room. Following her, Duo was brought up short by the intensity of the glare his partner fixed on him from the low office chair where he sat, to one side of the central table.
"You're late," Heero grated harshly, scowling at Duo.
Duo shrugged easily. "Traffic, Heero, I can't help it any more than you can." He settled himself carefully into a seat, mindful of his still-queasy stomach, and swiped the datareader out from under his partner's nose. "What've we got?"
"Andrea Levy." Heero's hand darted out and snatched the palmtop back, pulling up a file before handing it back to Duo.
"She works as an office cleaner on an industrial estate outside the city," Dorothy interrupted coolly. "A secretary found her this morning, tied up in a broom closet."
"And this has what to do with our case?" Duo scrolled through the data, taking in the picture of a middle-aged blonde woman, statistics and identifying marks� She seemed pretty clean, the picture of a model, hardworking citizen. "I take it this wasn't just an office break-in?"
"Apparently, her attackers were loading something into an Ibsen truck when she happened upon them," Heero said quietly. "They were fairly heavily armed, from her description."
Duo steepled his fingers. "Interesting� Where is she now?"
"The MO's examining her." Dorothy glanced at her watch. "She should be done soon."
"OK," Hilde interrupted just as her sometime partner was about to continue. "Just why are we here?"
"Yeah, Dotty," Duo put in, grinning maliciously as her eyes flashed at the nickname. "Ibsen's our case."
"Une assigned us as your backup, Maxwell. Obviously you weren't�" her eyes flicked over him dismissively and she turned away, "�entirely suitable for such a potentially high-profile case."
"Dorothy." Heero's voice was a warning growl, and the female Agent sniffed, sitting down sideways on a chair and crossing her legs delicately.
Duo rubbed his forehead surreptitiously. "Damn, I hate mornings," he muttered to himself, then was distracted by a ping from the corner. "Coffee!" He almost upset his chair in his haste to get to the machine, pouring himself a mug and draining it black despite the temperature of the liquid. Hilde sauntered up and pushed him away from the machine, taking another mug from the rack and adding a large shot of creamer before pouring her coffee.
"Leave some for the rest of us, Duo," she reprimanded as he grabbed the pot from her, sloshing another dose of caffeine into his mug. Already his stomach was rebelling against the speed with which he had swallowed the first lot, and he returned to the table slowly, breathing carefully.
"I really, really hate mornings," he whispered to himself, slouching down in his seat as Heero and Dorothy, both far too neat and shiny-looking for this time on a Saturday, compared case notes in quiet voices. Hilde settled beside him, cradling her own mug between her hands and inhaling the steam reverently.
"So, Duo, are we going to talk about last night?" She didn't even look at him, just murmured the question almost under her breath. Still, Duo was sure he could see their partners' ears pricking up at the telltale hint of gossip.
"No." His response was harsh and immediate, and Dorothy looked up in surprise although Heero made no sign of even having heard. "Leave it, Hil."
There was a knock on the door, and Sally Po poked her head around the frame. "Everyone's here? Good." She stepped aside, ushering a small, dumpy woman into the room. Duo recognised her from her photograph, and sat up, narrowing his eyes as he made a quick sweep of her figure and came up with a multitude of bruises and a barely-controlled nervousness and fear, along with a slight favouring of her left ankle.
"Please, sit down," Dorothy indicated a pair of chairs with a gracious wave of her hand, and Sally helped the woman to settle in one before taking the other. "Mrs Levy, I'm Dorothy Catalonia, and these are my colleagues Hilde Schbeiker, Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell. We're Preventer Agents, and we'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind."
The small woman shook her head, her eyes downcast. "That's fine." Her voice was a little hoarse, as though she might have been crying or even screaming.
"Good. Before we get into what actually happened, how serious are your injuries?" Dorothy glanced to Sally questioningly.
"Mrs Levy has a sprained ankle and some severe contusions to the face and limbs, as well as lacerations at the wrists and ankles where she was tied," Sally stated calmly.
"Right." Hilde glanced quickly between Heero and Dorothy, then turned to face the older woman. "Mrs Levy, how about we start at the beginning? What were you doing in�" she glanced down at the notes� "De Garre Industrial Park last night?" Unobtrusively, Heero tapped a few keys on his datareader, sliding it across the tabletop to the centre.
"I work there." The woman was twisting her hands together, fiddling with what looked like a wedding ring. Duo wondered why, if she had a husband, he wasn't here with her now. "I clean the offices at Barrow Systems after hours � that's usually from five through till eight. I finished up late yesterday, because some of the company directors had a meeting that ran late and I had to wait for them to leave."
"Right, so what time did you leave the building?" Heero asked crisply.
"About nine-thirty, I think. There's a bus stop at the front of the estate, and I was in a hurry because I didn't want to miss the bus and be any later." She paused, fiddling with the ring some more. "I cut across the car park and behind the Guilds' building, and they were there�"
"Behind the Guilds' building?" Duo asked when she paused again, taking a quick swig of his rapidly cooling coffee and setting the mug aside.
"Yes � it's empty, the company went into receivership a few years back. I know I shouldn't have been there at that time, it's not much more than an alleyway, but I was in a hurry�"
"It certainly wasn't your fault," Dorothy murmured. "What happened next?"
Mrs Levy looked distressed. "Well, I heard noises as I turned the corner. I thought it was delinquents, or�" she blushed� "the working girls, you know, but there was a van � one of those blue Ibsen Shipping ones you always see at the spaceports." Duo exchanged a meaningful look with Heero. "And there were men � one of the loading bay doors was open and there were lights in the building. They were carrying crates � putting them into the van. The driver was just standing and watching, with some others � they were carrying guns." She looked down at her hands, talking more quietly. "It scared me � it was too like some things I saw in the war, and I�" She swallowed, hiding her face. Duo looked away as Sally put a careful hand on the woman's shoulder.
Hilde leaned over the table, murmuring something about coffee, and Mrs Levy nodded shakily. Duo adjourned to Heero's side of the table while the woman regained control of herself, shuffling through the papers his partner had laid out to see if they had a map of the industrial estate. As Hilde handed over a mug of steaming coffee and a box of tissues, he made a mental note to get hold of one, as well as Ibsen's shipping manifests for this week, even if he had to have Heero hack their database.
"OK?" Dorothy asked. She had both hands flat on the table, her posture loose and consciously relaxed, as though she was making an effort to put their witness at ease.
"Yes." Mrs Levy nodded. "One of the men saw me, and he shouted � they all pointed their guns at me, but one of them � he said not to shoot. Two of them� got hold of me, and� made me walk over. I struggled a bit � I was scared, and wanted to run, but they hit me, and tied my hands up."
"Did they say anything to you?"
"The one � he seemed to be in charge. He asked me questions, and� made them check to see if I had weapons." A brief expression of disgust crossed her features. "They didn't seem to know what to do � I heard one of them say they should kill me, and I got scared � I tried to run, and then I think one of them hit me � I don't remember anything else. I woke up in the cupboard at work, when Sylvia screamed."
"That was when she found you?" Heero's expression was neutral as he glanced across at Duo.
"Yes." Andrea Levy nodded.
Duo took the hint. "Mrs Levy, can you describe the man who appeared to be the leader?"
"Well� he was tall, dark-haired. I don't know about his eyes, it was dark. There was a line� I think he had a scar on his face, running over his eyebrow like this." She drew one finger across her temple in illustration.
"What about his clothes?" Hilde asked.
Mrs Levy frowned. "Just something dark � a jacket and trousers. They were all wearing that, except the driver."
"The driver?"
A nod. "He was wearing a blue polo shirt, with the shipping company logo."
"Good." Duo smiled rather wolfishly. "Did any of them say anything that stuck in your mind? Any names, anything that might be important?"
"They called the leader 'Sir'�" she trailed off, in thought. "Before they saw me, when they were loading the truck� he was calling to them, telling them to bring the next load quick or they'd be late and 'the boss' would be angry." She shook her head. "That's all."
"OK." Duo tried to smile reassuringly. "What about their weapons? Were they uniform � all the same?"
"They had pistols, and those� like soldiers have, on a strap across their backs."
Heero and Duo exchanged a glance. "Assault rifles?" This was more than a little disturbing; they'd been investigating the Ibsen Shipping line for relatively minor smuggling charges, and hadn't expected to encounter that kind of armament.
"I don't know." Mrs Levy frowned in agitation, silver-blonde brows wrinkling over worried blue eyes.
Duo looked at Hilde. "Can you get the CA-mil handbook?" She darted out of the room towards her own office, and Duo turned back to their witness. "We're going to show you some pictures � do you think you could pick out the kind of weapons the men who attacked you had?"
Mrs Levy looked at him for a moment. "This is important, isn't it young man? I'm sorry, Agent�"
"Duo Maxwell." He smiled, although it was a little forced. "Don't worry about it. Yes, this is important, although I'm afraid we aren't able to give you any details."
"That's fine." She laughed shakily just as Hilde slipped back into the room with another datareader in her hands. "I'm not sure I'd want them..."
"Here." Hilde gave Duo the datareader, and he quickly brought up the rifle pages.
"Have a look at these." He passed the screen across the table, and the woman picked it up and examined the pages of graphics, scrolling through them, pausing a few times.
"Like that." She finally pointed to one of the pictures, a generic model M72AR that had been much used during the war by the Alliance. "But black � not grey."
"Thank you very much, Mrs. Levy." Duo pasted on the familiar grin. "Hopefully, we'll be able to catch these guys soon."
"I hope so too." She rubbed her bruised face ruefully. "Is that all?"
"Just one thing more." Dorothy's soft voice startled Duo a little; he looked at her curiously. Her eyes were intent on Mrs Levy's face, with a strange light in them. "The men � did any of them have any kind of distinctive accent?"
She had to think about it, but after a while she shook her head. "Nothing I can remember. They sounded local."
"Thank you." Dorothy uncrossed her legs and sat forward. "Is there anyone we can contact for you?"
"I'm a widow � I live alone, while my daughter's at university." Duo noticed that she was twisting the wedding ring on her finger again. "Doctor Po was good enough to let me call her � she should be arriving soon."
"That's good." Hilde glanced around, then pushed her chair back from the table, signalling that the interview was over. "There's a waiting room on the ground floor, Mrs Levy � it's more comfortable there, and I think we have work to do here�"
Sally rose with the woman, taking her arm gently to help her walk. "Be careful on that ankle � I've strapped it, but you don't want to put too much stress on it for a few days. I'll help you downstairs�" They made their way out of the room slowly, Sally still talking quietly. "If you don't mind me asking, were you widowed recently?"
"No, it's been five years now; Jonathon died in the war�" Although the two women had left the room, Mrs Levy's voice was still quite clear, falling like a bombshell upon Duo's ears. "A Gundam attack�"
It felt almost like the shockwave of an explosion, as though something had detonated in his heart, turning his blood to ice and his vision to swirling blurs. All that really stood out was Heero's face, stark centre in his eyes and suddenly pale as a ghost.
"Oh, God�" Duo didn't realise until he'd spoken that his hand was suddenly gripped in his partner's, their fingers entwined and gripping tightly atop the bare wood of the table.
"Ohh�" Hilde exhaled noisily somewhere off to the side. "Um, we're just� going to get� something. OK, guys?" And she dragged a protesting Dorothy out of the conference room without another word.
"Heero?" The word came out on a gasp, and Duo winced. "Are you�?"
"I'm all right." His partner shrugged, but Duo could see that it was a little forced. "It's been six years � we all know what we did wasn't particularly pleasant, and people died."
"Way to remind us about it, though." Duo sighed, head drooping and beginning to ache again. "I just hope� we made a difference, Heero. We stopped a war, remember that."
"Can you say it was worth the lives?" Heero shrugged again, shaking his head and seeming to relax as much as he ever did. "It's over, we can't change anything now. We have a job to do�" He didn't release Duo's hand, though, and for a long moment they simply stared at each other, indigo eyes meeting dark-blue�
The moment was broken by the noisy re-entrance of Hilde, carrying an armful of notes as well as a plate of doughnuts. "Hey guys, we brought snacks," she announced cheerfully; apparently she had decided to pretend the previous incident hadn't happened. Duo's head snapped around, and he released Heero's hand as though it burned, flushing slightly.
"Thank you." Heero spoke quietly and with dignity, though his expression was still a little troubled around the edges.
"Let's get down to business." Dorothy scooped the datareader off the table, stopping the recording. "Do we want to go out there and look around?"
"They've probably scarpered." Duo shrugged, regaining his equilibrium and picking up a stack of papers, flipping through them. "I'm surprised they didn't kill her, honestly; they have to have known she'd talk."
"Maybe they were interrupted," Hilde suggested. "I think we should get out there as soon as possible."
"They might not have left," Heero pointed out quietly. "We can't assume anything � they might have laid a trap, and be counting on the woman's story to bring us in."
"I don't know what they'd gain from that," Duo muttered, grabbing a reader and bringing up the highest-resolution map of the area he could find. "Either they're there or they aren't. I say we go in ASAP. Check the place out and call for backup if there's anything we can't handle."
Heero glanced around the table, then nodded grimly. "Dorothy, Hilde, get a search permit and body armour. Duo, weapons and camo � you're first in. I'll get coms and support set up. Let's go."
"Fuck." Duo fumbled with the buckles, straps tangling in his hands as he twisted around to try and see them better.
"Here." Slender fingers swatted his hands away and made short work of the cinches, tucking the straps through the buckles and pulling them tight. Duo rolled his shoulders in the armour and made a face.
"I hate this stuff."
"You're not going in without it." Heero's voice was adamant, though he wasn't looking their way, and Hilde looked up, startled.
"It restricts my movement," Duo complained, trying to stretch within the confinement of the Kevlar plates and coming up short. "I was gonna try and case the roofs, check for occupants that way."
"You know the rules, Duo."
"Yeah, yeah, heard it all before." Duo waved him away, shrugging into a black bomber jacket and zipping it up so that the bulk of the padding hid the armour. He had taken the time to change out of Preventer uniform before they left, in case their target was still occupied, and was now wearing his familiar, comfortable black jeans and boots.
Heero had climbed into the back of the minivan, where his laptop was set up, and was poking around with various pieces of equipment. "Here." He handed Duo a wristcom, then what looked like a short, stubby gun attached to a pocket datareader.
"IR detector? Fancy," Duo remarked admiringly. "How good's the range?" He flicked on the screen, then pointed the gun at Heero, then Dorothy, then the building across the road. Fuzzy blurs of colour showed on the screen, reds and oranges and blues. "Well, it's something anyway. We ready to go?"
"Keep the com on," Dorothy said, settling herself back into the driver's seat and thumbing on the radio. Hilde grinned, plonking herself down in the back and taking out her gun, starting to clean it.
"Good luck."
"Yeah, like I need it." Duo waved a hand dismissively and exchanged nods with Heero, turning and heading out away from the vehicle. Almost immediately his mind slipped into 'mission' mode, something he'd never been able to completely lose. His thoughts cleared, his body tensed, and he was suddenly alert to every sound and movement around him. They had parked the car two blocks away from the abandoned Guilds' building � a small warehouse and packing plant, which had once been used for storing paper goods before shipment. Duo made the walk with every nerve screaming at him, the open area behind him itching at his shoulderblades and only the knowledge of Heero's presence at his back reassuring him.
It being a Saturday, there was very little movement in the industrial estate, only a few cars parked outside various office buildings. There had been a garage near the main road doing a desultory trade in licence inspections and tyre changes, but this far into the place nothing much was happening.
The target building was on a side street, out of the traffic of the main estate, and Duo made the turn carefully, checking the area before moving out. Nothing seemed to be stirring as he ambled up to the main entrance, though he noticed that several of the panes in the ground-floor windows had been wiped free of dust and grime. A couple of shadier corners bore scatters of condom packets on the ground, testament to a thriving trade in the darker hours. Duo shuddered; it was almost like coming home, if L2 could ever have been said to be a home. Only there, a place like this would have been considered upmarket.
"No activity at the front of the building," Duo whispered into the wristcom, not halting his motion or surveillance. He paused near one cracked pane and listened intently for a few seconds. "No sound either. I'm going round the side."
"Confirmed." Heero's voice sounded tinny and threadlike, coming from the tiny speaker. Fleetingly Duo wished they'd had the time to get hold of proper earpieces and throat mikes, but this was considered a low-risk mission in comparison with other operations still going on. Keeping up the casual pace, Duo turned the corner, moving into the narrow alley that Mrs Levy had thought to take a short cut through the previous night.
The area was utterly deserted. Looking around carefully, Duo noticed a few tyre tracks in muddy areas, but most of the ground was concreted. The loading bay doors were closed and padlocked, though there were signs of grease at the hinges. Duo took a quick look around, then stepped closer, setting his ear close to the cold metal.
There didn't seem to be a sound coming from the warehouse, and certainly there was no heating on inside. Shrugging, Duo pulled the IR gun from his pocket and flicked on the screen, doing a quick scan of the building. All cold. "Well, fuck," he muttered � the body armour had been a waste of time after all. He lifted his wrist, speaking into the communicator.
"You might as well come on over. The place is locked up tight and cold as hell � there's no one here."
"Confirmed." Heero's voice was cool and precise. "We're on our way, Shadow."
"I'm at the back of the building." Duo let his hand fall to his side, looking at the grimy brick fa�ade of the warehouse consideringly. The shutter door of the loading bay seemed to be the only way in, if they didn't want to be observed. Given the state of the front of the building, Duo doubted that whoever had been using the place had wanted to be seen, either.
Hilde was the first to arrive, jogging around the side of the building closely followed by Heero, who had a communicator in one hand.
"Porcelain's guarding the car." Heero peered at the padlock on the shutter door. "Can you get into that?"
"Easy." Duo sniffed dismissively, pulling a slender rod from the lining of his jacket. "I was just waiting for you." He went to work on the padlock, probing for the tumblers, and soon had the spring-catch forced open; with a click the hasp sprang open and the heavy lock fell into his hand. Heero produced a plastic bag and deftly scooped it up, stowing it away in a pocket of his uniform jacket.
"We'll have the lab check for fingerprints." He lifted his head, analysing the heavy metal folding shutter. "I'll open it. You two cover me."
"I'm pretty sure there isn't even a mouse in there, Heero," Duo remarked, but took up a firing stance anyway, drawing his gun and sighting along it at head height as Heero got into position. Hilde moved behind him and to the left, aiming lower.
"Ready?" Heero didn't wait for their assent but gave a great heave to the shutter, grunting as it resisted being moved and applying more force. There was a squeal of protesting metal and then quite suddenly the door was moving smoothly in its track, sliding back into the wall, and Heero was stumbling, off-balance.
"Well-maintained," Hilde remarked. Duo gave a single glance to the empty interior of the warehouse � whatever machinery had been there previously was gone, and all that was left was an empty space and some stains on the concrete floor � and offered his partner a steadying hand.
"Careful, Heero�" He felt his eyes widening as they locked with Heero's for a moment, then the Japanese man looked away, regaining his balance and pulling out his own gun.
"�Thank you."
"Come on, let's have a look�" Hilde was bouncing in place, impatient. Duo was the first to move forward into the huge warehouse space, gun held loosely at his side and eyes flickering around the area. Big square room� stairs down, and doors at the far end � presumably to the office area. No cover in here� He sniffed, something tickling at his senses, then sneezed, an explosion of swearwords jumbling to fit through his vocal chords.
"�motherfucking sons of� Heero, do you smell that?"
Heero lifted his head, sniffing delicately at the air, then his eyes narrowed. "Nitrates."
"RDX." Duo holstered his gun with violent motions and shoved his hair back from his face. "I know that smell. Fuck, and it's fairly recent too � someone's been cooking up in here in the last few weeks."
"Explosives?" Hilde had crossed to one wall and was bending down, examining something. "There's traces of something here�" she sniffed noisily. "Smells ammoniac."
"Shit." Duo tugged on his braid in frustration. "OK, let's check the offices, but carefully."
Heero gave him a long, level look, then sighed, motioning with the barrel of his gun. "Go on. Hilde, check out the stairs."
"Right." Duo ignored the others, sauntering over to the nearest door, plain unvarnished plyboard in the cream-painted brick wall. He laid an ear to it, then, hearing nothing suspicious, pulled a penlight from his pocket and shone it around the crack between the door panel and the frame. "So far so good�" He grasped the handle gingerly, and gave it a quick turn. There was a slight squeak as the rusty latch engaged, but no other sound, so he eased the door open, keeping himself behind it, then carefully peered into the opening.
The sound of his laughter brought Hilde up the stairs and Heero back from examining the mechanism of the loading doors. "What? Duo, what is it?" Hilde stared at him curiously as Duo sagged against the wall, still laughing.
"I found the john," he managed at last, jerking his thumb to the toilet door he'd opened so carefully. "What's downstairs?"
"Looks like a lab setup." Hilde shrugged. "Smells even worse � all cleared out, though, just a few bits of broken glassware. I found a few of these on the floor." She held out her open palm, a tiny pellet of innocuous-looking yellowish grey material offered for Duo's inspection.
Duo swallowed. "Holy shit, Hil." He picked the thing out of her hand carefully, and sniffed at it gingerly. "Whoahh, yeah, RDX. Feels like C4� Heero, you got another baggie? Damn, Hilde, you're lucky this stuff's shockproof. If it was TNT�"
Heero obligingly provided a specimen bag, and Duo carefully slid the explosive pellet inside it; it would need to be studied, and even if the stuff was supposedly inert under normal conditions, there was no way he was going to take chances. He didn't know how the hell Heero could stand to just calmly tuck the bag away into his jacket pocket as though stashing dangerous materials on his person was still something he did every day; it had been five years since they had been terrorists�
Rolling his shoulders to shake off the nerves, Duo continued to the other door, checking the edges and the keyhole as before, then pressing his ear to it for a long moment. "Well, here goes," he said, taking a deep breath and reaching for the handle, turning it slowly.
A soft click made him freeze, his eyes widening, then as it was repeated he spun, grabbing hold of both of his friends and dragging them into motion.
"Fucking move!" Duo screamed at the top of his lungs, bursting into a desperate sprint towards the doorway. The distance across the warehouse seemed to stretch to impossible lengths, and even as Heero and Hilde recovered their wits, putting on a burst of speed alongside him, Duo was sure he could hear the soft, accelerating clicking noises from the rigged office behind him. Come on, come on, come on, he prayed as the loading bay doors grew slowly closer � far too slowly, it seemed as though he was moving through treacle. He focused his gaze on the patch of wintry afternoon light outlined by those doors and just ran, knowing that even if they got into the alleyway they were still in danger; the closed-in space would contain the force of the explosion and concentrate it. He wondered how they'd rigged the place, whether they had just wanted to take out the offices or raze the whole setup. Dimly he heard Heero yelling into his communicator, shouting instructions to Dorothy to get out of the area, and wondered where the other agent found the breath.
They were halfway down the alleyway when the warehouse exploded.