Reunion with Destiny
Part 7
Kari all but ran into Andrew as she bounded down the hall towards the security room.
"Shit!" She yelled as she instantly halted, causing Sally and Wufei to bump into her. "Sorry Andrew, but Duo is
missing." She said and noticed the worry and concern cross his face.
"Have you checked with security?" He asked, a little angry at the thought that his boss could have just disappeared.
"We were just headed there." She said as she took off again. "We will fill you in when we find anything." She yelled
behind her as she ran off with Sally and Wufei again in tow.
"Wait!" He yelled at their retreating forms. "The others have arrived!" He yelled as he ran after them. At those
words, Kari, Sally and Wufei halted again and waited for Andrew to catch up.
"What others?" Kari asked.
"Master Quatre and Mr. Barton are waiting in the library, and surprisingly, Howard arrived with them. He went out
for a ride through the grounds." He said as he took in the looks of surprise at the mention of Howard.
"What is Howard doing here?" Sally asked, know that he was the only one Duo seemed to allow near him since his
withdrawal from them. "Why don't you fill us in as we walk to the security office?" She said with a smile.
As they continued on their way, Andrew told then the little info that he knew, which wasn't much.
"So he didn't tell you why he just happened to show up now?" Wufei asked, somewhat suspicious of the older man.
Maybe more like jealous of him for being able to remain so close to Duo all these years.
"No. I never ask that of him. The Master has welcomed him whenever he appeared at the doorstep, so I didn't think
to ask." Andrew said in a dignified manner.
"That is okay Andrew." Kari said. "We will go talk to him once we figure out what has happened to Duo."
"Fine, but he has gone out for a ride on the grounds. He may be gone for a while." He said.
"That is okay. We will just talk to him when he returns then. If you see him before us, please tell him we wish to talk
to him." Sally said.
"I will do so. Well, I must attend to our guests in the library. I will await your findings." He turned and headed
towards the kitchen.
The others finally came to the security office to find it unoccupied. "Where is everyone?" Kari asked to no one in
particular, sat down at the console and started punching up the recorded videos from inside and surrounding Duo's
room.
"There." Sally said looking over Kari's shoulder at one of the screens monitoring the outside. "That has got to be
him, the long hair gives him away, but who is that with him?" She asked while Kari took control of that camera and
zoomed in. There was a collective gasp.
"Kisama!" Wufei growled. "It's Yuy with him."
"So that is the infamous Heero Yuy." Kari said with a quirk in her voice. "So how are we to go about this?" She
asked, turning her attention to Sally.
"What do you mean by 'us'?" Wufei glared at Kari, feeling like he was missing something.
"Kari works for us Wufei," Sally said watching to see what kind of reaction she would get from her husband. Sally
only knew about the arrangement due to the fact that she had worked with Kari at the Preventer's hospital, where
she learned about Une's plan to plant her in Duo's circle. There had been rumors going around that Heero had
become a highly paid assassin/hacker of sorts after his 'disappearance'. No one knew for certain as most all tracks
were squeaky clean. Too clean, and if there was even a speck found, it seemed to point to Heero in one way or
another. Noticing his confusion, she tried to elaborate as much as she could without getting reprimanded. Une still
wanted to keep the pilots out of it. They needed to be neutral in this.
"She was brought in as extra help in case Duo tried anything." She saw the look of understanding in his eyes and
gave him a slight hug.
"So Une was afraid that he knew what Heero has been up to. Is that what you are saying?" He smirked at the
shocked looks he was receiving. "You honestly didn't think I would be that oblivious to how certain files would just
'disappear' from the computer, or how you" looking directly at his wife, "would 'disappear' to see Une, or set up
social lunches around the time these files would go missing?"
"But.how did you figure it out?" Sally looked at her husband in a whole new light. She knew he was far from stupid,
but she thought they did a good job covering their tracks.
"Most all of those files were sent to me by an anonymous source, saying that there was a cover up. I didn't believe
it at first, but then I started to look for them in the system and they had either been locked or deleted in full."
"Who sent them to you?" Kari asked trying to get into the discussion.
"That I still don't know. All traces came to dead ends." He said sadly. "I am still not as good with computers as Yuy.
He always knew how to cover his ass." He chuckled.
"So you are thinking that it was Heero that sent you all the info? Why?" Sally asked.
"That, I wish to find out from him, and I also what to find out why someone would go to all the trouble to make
these 'hits' look like he did them." Quickly continuing before they could interrupt. "I think that he may have been
responsible for a couple, but I think that most were done by a copycat. I do know that the hacking definitely had to
have been his doing. There is no one I have yet met that can compare to his ability. He is still considered the best in
the world. I think that Heero performed the first few 'hits' reported, but the rest after that all seem to be missing
his signature."
"And what would his signature be?" Kari looked at him with a smirk on her face. She had the feeling that they
agreed on this one after her conversations with Sally and Une about the ex-pilots.
"Clean kills. No loose ends whatsoever. Most of the kills that occurred later all had some sort of loose end that
could, eventually, be traced back to someone with the same physical description as Heero. He would never allow
that, no matter how lax he may become. It just isn't his nature."
"So what are you saying? That someone figured out he did the first couple then decided to take over? Why would
someone want to frame him?" Sally asked still slightly stunned that he had found out about all this and had already
come to a similar conclusion they had.
"I think that whomever had hired him to do the first few hits hired another hit-man with similar attributes to
continue after he gave it up. Either that, or it is true that he did all of it and we were meant to think otherwise." He
said with a sigh. "I hope that our original thoughts are the correct ones. Either way Heero has a lot of explaining to
do."
"Well maybe we should go talk with Quatre and Trowa and see what they know. They must have found out that
Heero is back to have appeared here." Sally said.
"I wouldn't put it past Andrew to call him up about this." Kari added. "Well, shall we?" She said motioning towards
the door as she stood.
"What a time for a reunion." Wufei spoke, his voice full of uncertainty at what the coming events may be. They all
exited in silence, their thoughts focused on the impending confrontation.
Heero held on tightly to the center of his world with his life as they flew through the forest towards the house. He
tightened his grip on the longhaired boy's waist, closed his eyes and nuzzled his neck, inhaling the unmistakable
scent that was all Duo. He was in heaven. His closeness to Duo was definitely causing other parts to stir. Not that
he was fighting it, but things were still unsettled and that bothered him.
Suddenly the horse began to slow and stop. Pulling himself back to reality, Heero looked up to see someone
approaching on horseback.
"K'so!" He sputtered and leaped off. Turning to face Duo, "Go on and see who it is. I will follow through the woods."
Duo had no chance to respond before Heero dashed into the forest.
"Damnit! Now what?!" Duo urged Shinigami forward at a slow pace. It didn't take him long to realize who it was.
"HOWARD!" He yelled and waved at his old friend, urging Shi faster to greet him.
Howard looked up, hearing his name called and saw Duo headed his way. /Well he seems mighty cheerful. I wonder
why?/ He thought with a slight smirk on his face before returning the wave and urging Peace to speed up.
Heero was still trudging through the overgrowth along the path, keeping up with Duo while making as little noise as
possible. This got easier as the storm moved in and rumbles of thunder were heard. /What is Howard doing here?/
He thought as he sat in the brush once Duo and Shi caught up with Howard.
"What brings you here?" Duo asked Howard with a large grin plastered on his face. He was so happy to have Heero
back he didn't care if he looked like a fool at the moment.
"Things are a little slow right now, so I thought I would take a break and visit. I am sorry to show up uninvited. I
didn't realize you were having a reunion." Howard said with a smirk still on his face.
Shifting nervously under the look of his longtime friend, "What are you referring to?" /How would he know that
Heero showed up here? Did he have something to do with Heero being here?/ Howard's face took on a look of
understanding. Duo couldn't figure out why. "What is going on Howard? You look like you are about to tell me
something I don't want to hear." Duo searched his friends face for an answer.
"Duo..." Pausing for a moment to organize his words before continuing. "Your friends are all at the house. I
figured..."
"What! What is everyone doing here?" /Shit. Andrew must have called in about Heero showing up this morning.
Not good./ Seeing Duo lost in his thoughts, Howard knew best to snap him out and tell him what he knew.
"I ran into Trowa and Quatre at the shuttle port. They gave me a ride here." Howard paused knowing that it wasn't
his place to say anything, but he knew Duo hated surprises, so he continued. "They said that Heero had shown up
here." Seeing the look of worry and surprise on the youth's face, he plowed through the rest of what he needed to
say. "They are concerned for you. Please don't take their arrival as something horrible. You should talk to them.
After all, you have cut just about everyone out of your life for so long and they are your friends."
Heero felt the need to leave when he heard that the others were here. He didn't want to see them right now,
especially if Wufei and Sally showed up. /I came here to be with Duo, not for an interrogation./ He thought to
himself, but was snapped back to reality at the next words that came from his love.
"Come out Heero." Duo called out into the forest. "It is inevitable that you will see them at some point. We might as
well face the firing squad together."
Heero reluctantly walked out of the woods to face Howard. "Howard."
"Nice to see you again Heero. Didn't think you were still with the land of the living." Howard joked with the dark
haired boy.
"So who all is here? Has Wufei and Sally shown up yet?" Duo asked dryly. He definitely wasn't too happy with the
idea of guests, especially now that Heero had reappeared in his life. He didn't want to waste time explaining things
to the others until he had a chance to speak with Heero.
"I don't know. Andrew didn't say anything to me, but then again he isn't one to just offer information." Howard
chuckled. "I still think Andrew reminds me of the butler from that old cartoon you liked to watch Duo. What was it
called?"
"Are you talking about Batman?" Duo chuckled at that thought. "I never really thought about it, but I guess that I
would have to agree with you that Andrew is a close twin to Alfred."[1]
Heero just stood there watching the two of them crack up. /Still the same after all these years. Some things never
change./ He thought to himself shaking his head at their antics.
"What?" Duo asked seeing Heero shake his head.
"Baka." Heero said with a slight quirk of the lips.
"Well you certainly haven't changed Heero. What have you been up to?" Howard asked after catching his breath. He
watched Heero and Duo exchange looks and realized that he had stumbled upon them at a bad time. /They must
have been trying to catch up before I showed up./ "Well, it looks like I interrupted you. I am sorry for that."
"It's okay Howard. We were just headed for the house to catch up, but I am glad we ran into you before we
stumbled upon the others. I thank you for the warning." Duo said then turned back to Heero and offered his hand
to help him back up on Shi. Heero took the proffered hand and hoisted himself up behind his fey beauty, wrapping
his arms tightly around his waist.
"We should head back to the stables. It looks like it could rain at any time." As soon as Heero uttered those words
the clouds broke, drenching them instantly.
"That looks like a good idea. Too bad we didn't do it sooner." Howard chuckled as he turned Peace back towards the
stable and took off running, knowing the horse wouldn't spook to easily from the lightning and thunder.
"Shall we?" Duo asked, turning to face Heero over his shoulder.
"Hai." Answered Heero, and lightly pressed his lips to Duo's, hesitant of the response. Duo was more than happy to
turn it into a full kiss. Heero pulled back and nuzzled into Duo's hair, inhaling the scent that was distinctly Duo.
Both were oblivious to the rain pouring down on them. All that mattered was that they were together again.
As they took off down the path to the stables, Duo barely heard Heero's whisper. "Aishiteru." Thinking it his
imagination he paid little attention, but filed it away for later retrieval.
Kari, Sally and Wufei entered the library to find Quatre and Trowa drinking tea.
"Wufei! Sally!" Quatre put down his cup and walked over to embrace his friends. "I figured that you would show up.
Have you seen Duo?" He asked already having the feeling that the answer was no.
"No we haven't." Sally said looking to Wufei to see if she should continue.
"He went out horseback riding." Wufei said looking out the window noticing the rain. "He should be back soon with
it having begun to rain."
"So who is your friend?" Quatre asked referring to Kari.
"Hi." Kari said extending her hand. "I am Kari Tagatz. I am the resident physician and friend of Sally's."
Quatre shook her hand. "Were you at the wedding?" He asked. "You do look familiar."
"Yes, but we met only for a brief moment. I was on call that weekend, so I wasn't able to stick around for very
long." Kari said with a smile. She really hated having to miss out on all the festivities of the day.
"So what are we going to do about the current situation?" Trowa asked. He still didn't know what he was going to
do when he saw Heero.
"What do you know of the situation?" Wufei asked, wondering if they too were sent information about Heero's
'occupation' during the years he was missing. He locked his gaze on Trowa, who nodded in understanding, but it
was Quatre who spoke.
"Shall we all take a seat?" He said gesturing towards the sofas and chairs in the room. "This may take a while." He
added with a smile. Seating themselves, Quatre poured them each a cup of tea and began to tell what he knew. "We
have been searching for him ever since his 'disappearance'. We had no luck what so ever for a long time, but then
after a year of dead ends, we started to get strange emails. They were mainly excerpts from newspapers of
different assassinations that occurred in the Colonies and here on Earth. At first I thought they were indirect
threats against me, as all those assassinated were wealthy dignitaries or businessmen. But after further
background checks of all the victims, we found that they were all at one time supporters of OZ, White Fang,
Alliance, or Barton's group. Some were also recently known as leaders or supporters of up and coming terrorist
factions." He paused to take a sip of his tea and see what the others' responses were to this information.
"We noticed that too, but what about the connection to Heero? Did you find any connection?" Sally asked.
"We started to make a connection when.." Quatre looked between Wufei and Sally for a moment as if he were
checking to see if they would agree with him on what he was about to say. "Well, there seemed to be evidence
pointing towards him, but that didn't make any sense. Heero would never leave a trail. It is against all his training to
do that." The nods of the others told him that they had come to the same conclusion.
"That is what I figured, but how do we not know that he was purposely leaving a trail? To make us think that it
couldn't be him?" Wufei said knowing that the only answer to that would be from Heero.
"Only Heero can answer that. Hopefully he will show up soon so we can ask." Trowa added.
"He is already here on the grounds." Wufei said.
"Where?" Quatre asked, then knew exactly where he was. "He's with Duo." It was said more as a statement than a
question. His only answer was three nods.
Howard dropped off Peace back at the stables and ran to the house, remembering to remove his shoes before
entering. Mira was standing close by to make sure this happened.
"Sir. Your friends are in the library. Andrew asked me to tell you that they wish to speak with you." Mira told him
while handing him a towel to dry off.
"Thanks Mira. I want to go take a shower before I see them." He said as he headed upstairs towards his usual
guest room.
Notes
[1] - This was courtesy of Diane. She brought this up when she beta'd the earlier parts of this story. I thought it
would be funny to throw it into the story, and I think it fits as something Howard would say. This is dedicated to
her for all her help and patience in dealing with me. ^_^
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