DISCLAIMER: Not mine, not making any money at this, just exercising my writing skills and my muses.

PAIRINGS: 1x2x1, 5xS, 3x4
WARNINGS: I’m sure this will be loaded with angst, as most of my fics are; for the meantime I am envisioning an action-adventure type of a fic though. Yeah, yeah, probably loaded with angst somewhere along the line. I think it’s going to be another looooong one.

NOTES: Blame the radio ads for FOX’s nighttime lineup for this fic – it kind of starts out like a blockbuster action flick, LOL! I am so deep in so many writing projects right now (3 fics and one original novel-length story), that I cannot promise how quickly I will be able to get parts to this fic out there. Hopefully the muses stay active and prompt me to write, like they were the day they begged me to start this one, even though I was knee deep into other things. Heh, muses are like that. I think I need to strangle mine, LOL!


Hunter the Hunted
IV
by Shira


Attempting to wipe the weariness away from his face, Wufei leaned back in his chair, stifling yet another yawn. It had become a very long, drawn out evening, and he was tired, hungry and getting to be a bit bored with the current conversation. Closing his bleary eyes, he sighed.

“So there is still nothing to go on then,” the Chinese man stated in response to the findings from Sally’s records search.

“Not with this name that we have, no.” Duo slouched back in his own chair as the two men discussed the problem at hand, accompanied by the hunted himself, and Sally. It was close to ten at night and the four were still at headquarters, trying to decide what the next move would be in trying to find out exactly what was happening with the recent threats on Heero’s life. “It’s a dead end. The guy that the phone is registered to doesn’t seem to exist, as far as we’ve been able to find out. Fictitious name, I guess.”

“Forensics was all over the remains of the car,” Sally added in a bland tone. “If there is anything of note worth finding, we’ll hear about it.”

Heero sat in silence, just listening to the conversation around him that was finally dying down.

“Well,” Wufei began as he straightened in his chair, “I don’t think there is anything any of us can do here now, so I, for one, am going home.” He then turned to Heero. “Are you sure you wont reconsider my offer?”

“Thanks, Wufei. I appreciate it, but no.” Considering that there had been two very clear and direct incidents now, both Heero’s and Duo’s safety were becoming a paramount issue, and so rather than send them back to their home, which for all anyone knew was under some kind of surveillance, Wufei offered his own home in the meantime. “I couldn’t put your family at risk like that.”

Wufei nodded his acknowledgement, secretly thankful that his offer, which was something that he considered to be necessary and diplomatic for his two friends, was denied. There were children at home now, and though he and Sally occasionally confronted very serious problems in their jobs, they made their best effort to leave the work at work in order to shield their young ones, at least for the present time, from the realities and coldness that the real world harbored.

“We’re going to get a room at the Holiday Inn,” the Japanese man added calmly.

“Hey, they have rooms with hot tubs, don’t they?” Duo asked wryly, trying to add a little off-color humor to the situation.

Heero said nothing, but only glared at his partner, a look that had no trouble conveying his question of how it was possible for Duo to think of such things at a time like this.

Raising an eyebrow, Wufei said “Charge it to the Preventer’s account.” Then after a pause, he cleared his throat and added, “The hot tub is on you though.” He turned to Sally just in time to see her hiding an embarrassed smirk.


Lying in the strange, hard, scratchy bed that night, Heero’s eyes were wide open, staring at the stuccoed ceiling of the hotel room. He was motionless, silent, and if not for the occasional movement of his chest, one would think he were dead. Duo lay beside him, feeling the tension ebbing off him, and finally rolled over onto his side. Propped on his elbow, Duo watched him for a long time before he said anything.

“Heero.”

There was no answer.

Duo sighed. “Is there anything I can say or do to help this?”

Again, silence. Then finally, “No.”

“Heero, don’t go closing yourself up like that on me, please? Let me be here for you. We’re in this together.”

Heero sighed. He turned his head so that he could see Duo’s silhouetted figure against the little bit of dim light peering around the curtained window and blinked back his emotion. “I’m trying not to. I’m just…”

“You’re scared, Heero. I know. It’s alright to admit that you’re scared.” Duo brushed his fingers against Heero’s arm, lightly touching him. “I’m scared too.”

“You don’t seem scared,” Heero said, dropping his eyes away to conceal the embarrassment that Duo couldn’t really see, though he felt it instead.

This time Duo sighed. “Well, I guess I do try to not harbor on it. I guess because it /does/ scare me, Heero. God, this is…this is just insane, really.” His statement ended with a chuckle. “Just completely insane. But it is all right for us both to be scared, you know.”

Unable to break his gaze from his longhaired lover, Heero just watched his shape in the dark, noticing an occasional glint from wet teeth as Duo spoke. Then Heero finally rolled over to face him, adjusting the covers so they wrapped around his neck. Closing his eyes, he whispered “I love you,” and smiling, the other man responded with the same. Feeling him snuggle down under the covers as well, Heero moved himself closer to Duo, then slid his arm over a hip, holding his love tightly against him as they both fell asleep.


The next day was Duo’s first day on assignment with agent Masterson, a two-year employee of the Preventers group and an accomplished agent himself. Though they had spoken on numerous occasions before in passing an at company functions, Duo had never had the opportunity to work on a case with him. As far as he knew though, the guy was intelligent, and friendly enough that they should get along all right, and as far as the current situation as concerned, being separated from working with Heero, intelligent and friendly would have to do. They were headed to Geneva that morning, hopefully for only a couple of days, to investigate the big jewel heist that had occurred there the previous weekend.

Duo was less than optimistic that he’d be back in that short a time frame, however, since investigations rarely went as quickly as estimated. Knowing this, he was somewhat edgy leaving Brussels. Even though he promised Heero that he would go without a fuss, he still felt uncomfortable leaving Brussels under the circumstances, and he knew that he would be spending his entire trip counting the days until he could get back. Even if it meant working non-stop, he would do his best to get his work done as quickly as possible so that he and Masterson could high-tail it back to Headquarters, and he could find out how things were brewing on the home front with Heero.

On the way to Geneva, the two men made polite talk, the other agent seemingly impressed that he was being given the opportunity to work side by side with Agent Maxwell, the Former Gundam Pilot. As Duo flew their small, private shuttle to the Geneva shuttle port, Masterson went on and on about what an experience it must have been to have fought a war with the Gundams, and how great it was that they would be working together. He was acting like a regular rookie, Duo thought, and though it was impressive to a lot of people that he was one of the five who eventually saved everything, the attention still tended to make him uncomfortable at times. Occasionally it was fun to be ogled over like that, but today Duo wasn’t really in the mood for it.

Dave Masterson was twenty-two, blonde, and a real looker that all the younger women in the office tended to fall for. He’d enlisted with the Preventers a couple of years out of High School, after dropping out of college half way through and looking for a purpose and a way to find himself. Turning Preventers into a career hadn’t really been his thought when he enlisted for the basic duty, but after a year, he decided that he was well suited for the job, and would continue on as long as he enjoyed it. Starting off as a rookie investigator, it was after only a year in service that he was raised up to agent, having proved himself as being a worthwhile and indispensable part of the organization that was a natural when it came to the stealth and prowess that the job frequently required. He was also a whip in the brains department, making him very desirable for agent status because he could take care of himself without losing his composure, and get himself out of tight spots without botching his entire mission.

After quite a drilling about the whole Gundam pilot thing, the conversation turned to another subject; one that Duo was anticipating would eventually come up between them.

“So I heard about what’s been happening with yourself and Agent Yuy,” Masterson said finally. Duo bristled. He wasn’t really sure if he felt like talking about it and being reminded that he was here, flying to Geneva when Heero was off to somewhere else.

“Yeah, some crackpot out there has some vendetta I guess. Comes with the business.” Duo kept his eyes pinned on his instrumentation panel, avoiding the other man’s look.

“God, I’d be scared shitless if it were me! I mean, I know it’s nothing unusual to be a good guy and have a bad guy have it in for you but…”

“It is scary,” Duo said, opening up a little, having tested Masterson’s tone first. He wasn’t in the mood to get into an argument with anybody about anything regarding Heero and his apparent stalker, but sympathy he could take. Sympathy right now was a welcomed thing as he suffered his private anxiety. “Real scary. Have to constantly be watching your back.”

“I bet,” Masterson added as he readjusted in the passenger seat of the tiny craft. “Must be like working 24-7, I guess. Can’t let your guard down at all.”

This time Duo said nothing, concentrating only on his flying, and his thoughts of what Heero was doing at that very moment. Here he was, at Heero’s request, partnered with Masterson and on his way to Geneva like he agreed to, to investigate the jewel robbery. Heero was assigned elsewhere, and Duo’s feelings about the entire situation were already changing, as were their original plans. Initially, Heero was to stay in Brussels and see what developed of the original attack that Saturday morning, but now, with the second attack, Sally and Une sent him out of the city as well, in a sort of working-hiding.

“So, I wonder why Une split you guys up?” Duo had missed an entire few minutes of Masterson’s conversation with himself as he wondered about Heero, catching only the last part.

“It was Heero’s idea.”

“Really?”

Duo nodded. “Said he was afraid something was going to happen to me. Wanted me out of the city while the issue is investigated.”

“Hmmm,” Masterson hummed aloud. “Oh, right, you two are…”

“Yes.” Raising an eyebrow, Duo watched for a reaction from Masterson out of the corner of his eye, but there wasn’t one.

“OK. That explains a lot then.”

“Does it?”

The other agent smiled. “Well, sure.”

“How so?”

“Well, I guess if my girlfriend worked with me, I’d want to do the same thing. To protect her, you know.”

Duo thought for a moment, remembering Heero’s words to him the afternoon they argued over sub sandwiches in his office. “Yeah, I guess so,” he sighed. He flipped a couple of switches on the instrument panel, letting his thoughts wander again.

“Cares a lot about you.”

“Huh?”

“I said he cares a lot about you, if he is willing to go to such lengths to make sure you are out of the danger zone.”

Opening his mouth to speak, Duo stopped himself momentarily. “Yeah, I know he does. I’m just…worried about him too, ya know? With me out here and him wherever the hell he’s going. I’m just uncomfortable with it all. I’m humoring him right now…but only for a couple of days. A week at the most. I’m not going to leave him by himself that long to deal with this without me.”

“He didn’t tell you where he was going, huh?”

“Nope. Said nobody was to know, other than him and Sally and Une. Heh, I guess they want to see whose trail this psycho follows – mine or his – since technically they haven’t proven that it’s actually him that’s being pursued. Just as well might be me that’s staring this gun in the face, for all any of us know.” Duo smirked, though he was being completely serious.

Masterson made a comical face, squinting his baby blue eyes. “Oh Christ, I sure as Hell hope not! I promised them back in Brussels that I’d bring you back in one piece! I don’t want to have to face the wrath of Agent Yuy if I don’t!” The two agents got a chuckle out of the joke, just as they were preparing the shuttle for landing in Geneva.

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