Disclaimers and warnings in first part
ADVANCED RESERVATIONS – PART 13
Once they landed, it was agreed that the group needed to split up. Alexi and David went to interview some people that worked for Duo, living in the apartment complex he had built. Wufei and Car would remain at the hangar to search the American’s plane, leaving Heero and Trowa to go to the apartment that Duo occupied when he was in this city.
During the drive, the two former Gundam pilots discussed random topics, trying to dispel the anxiety for the missing man. When the conversation turned to Wufei’s quick acceptance of Car as a temporary partner, Trowa had to chuckle. “Does he have a thing for redheads, or what?”
Heero smiled in return as they both recalled the Chinese man’s reaction to being paired up with the vivacious woman. Wufei had argued briefly , then finally relented with a faint blush, sending Car into a fit of raucous laughter. She had promptly grabbed Wufei by the arm and pulled him to the hangar which housed the American‘s jet. The four men had watched their departure with varying degrees of amusement, along with several lewd comments from Alexi.
Alexi had given Trowa the address and directions to Duo’s apartment, reluctantly sharing the information that, while Duo had an apartment in the building he had provided for his employees, he had not wanted to live there, stating that the American had needed some distance from his workers. No details had been given, and Trowa didn’t pursue the matter, feeling that now was not the time.
Heero let out a low whistle when they found the building that the braided man had resided in, looking up at the formidable structure. The building was obviously old, seeming to have survived the test of time with a type of grace, yet was still outlandishly garish. Trowa craned his neck in an attempt to see the top of the building, finally giving up when he realized that he couldn’t see past the many gargoyles that adorned the sides of the building.
“It’s hard to imagine Duo living in a place like this,” Heero mused softly.
Trowa had to agree, “It’s the exact opposite of his home in Los Angeles. He had that place designed to blend in and be comfortable. This place was made to stand out and screams of money. I can’t see him feeling at home here.”
“Maybe the inside isn’t as imposing as the outside,” the Japanese man offered, his face revealing his doubt.
Passing the doorman, they entered the building with a feeling of distaste, Trowa’s brow furrowing when he saw that the inside was just as bad as the outside, if not worse. There were large leather chairs that didn’t appear to be comfortable, large potted plants, and tacky pictures lining the walls, leaning toward modern abstracts.
“Can I help you gentlemen?”
They turned to the man sitting at the large desk, who was eying them with an evident sneer. His manner was self-important, obviously believing them to be beneath his notice, but since they were marring the scenery they needed to be dealt with. Trowa and Heero exchanged a look, both knowing that they could take this man down with little effort. The expression on Heero’s face said that he would be happy to dispose of the man if he proved to be an obstacle. “We need to get into Duo Maxwell’s apartment,” Trowa didn’t bother with any pleasantries, already knowing that any attempts to be polite would be ignored.
“I can’t do that without permission from Mr. Maxwell, unless you happen to be the police, which I seriously doubt,” he finished with an evil smirk.
Heero seemed to take unholy glee in producing his badge, sticking it in the face of the sneering man, “Not the police, just Preventers.”
They had the privilege of watching the man flounder for several minutes before he regained his wits, and his attitude. “You’re too young to be a Preventer. I’m not allowing you access into Mr. Maxwell’s apartment. You’re nothing but a bunch of hooligans.”
Trowa said nothing more to the guard, pulling out his cell phone. He quickly dialed a number and spoke a few words to the person on the line, explaining the problem. The reply made him grin as he flashed a thumbs up at Heero, the Japanese watching him with a raised eyebrow. “We should have some back up in a bit,” Trowa shared with Heero as he closed his phone.
Within minutes, a familiar figure strode through the doors, her expression full of purpose as she headed straight for the man at the desk. Heero and Trowa stared at the woman, surprised at the form their help had taken. The security guard was even more startled to see the well-known figure heading for him.
“I suppose you know who I am,” the woman stated without preamble.
“Y-yes, Ms. Noin. I know who you are,” the man stammered back in reply.
“Then you should also be aware of the arrangement I have with Maxwell,” her tone brooked no argument.
By the look on the man’s face, he clearly had no idea what she was talking about, but wasn’t about to admit that fact. He eventually straightened in his chair and nodded at her, not realizing how telling his expression had been. “Yes, ma’am, I am aware of the arrangement between you and Mr. Maxwell.” He emphasized the word arrangement while wiggling his eyebrows, making it sound perverted, not actually aware of the relationship they shared.
“Then you will let me into his apartment, along with these men. They are in the middle of an investigation , and it is imperative that we gain access into his residence immediately.”
The man no longer offered any resistance, unlocking a drawer and fishing around until he found the spare key, handing it to the woman that stared at him with impatience. “Bring it back to me when you are finished.”
Trowa and Heero didn’t speak, falling in step with Noin when she marched to the elevator. When they were well on their way, the black haired woman turned to them with a smile. “Sorry about taking over, guys. Une thought it would be more effective that way instead of trying to explain what was going on. That guys always been a total jerk, anyways.”
“Anything that gets us in Duo’s apartment is fine with me,” Heero stated with a shrug.
Trowa nodded, indicating his agreement. “What are you doing here, Noin? Did you just happen to be in the area?” He doubted this was the case, but needed to know what was going on.
“Actually, I was called here by Duo several days ago.” Seeing the confused looks she was receiving, she explained, “I’m his private investigator. He called me to do some checks on several people because he thought one of them might have something to do with the vandalism on his properties.”
“Can you give us those names?”
Noin nodded in response to Heero’s query. “When we leave here, I’ll take you to my hotel room. I have all the files there. You can see everything that I’ve found. Maybe there is something there that will help us locate Duo.”
“When was the last time you spoke to him?” Trowa wondered if he should share the information that he was in a relationship with Duo - at least he thought he was.
She gave Trowa an apologetic look, “Last time I talked to him was Monday morning. He was supposed to meet me later, but he never called or showed up. And I already know that the two of you are together, Une told me.”
Heero snickered at the startled look that crossed Trowa’s face. “You weren’t trying to keep it a secret or anything, were you? If you were, calling your ex and demanding a plane was most likely the wrong thing to do. Quatre’s a notorious gossip.”
After thinking it over for a second, Trowa shrugged. “It wouldn’t upset me if the entire world knew it, but Duo might not feel the same way. We haven’t had a lot of time to discuss the future.”
The woman grinned at him, her eyes lighting up with mirth, “I don’t think he would have a problem with it. I had my suspicions when he called me, since he managed to work your name into every other sentence. Une just confirmed it for me.”
With Trowa still grinning broadly at the information, they arrived at the top floor, Noin leading the way, since she had been here before.
She cautiously began to explain the motives behind the American choosing to reside in this ostentatious building instead of somewhere he would have been more comfortable. “When Duo began construction on his businesses and apartment building, several small things occurred that made him doubt his employee’s safety. In order to ensure they would be safe, he decided to move in here, even though he had added an apartment for himself in that building. In this place, there is much more security, so that would lessen the possiblity that anyone could get to him without him knowing about it. Not only is there the jerk of a guard downstairs, there is also a hidden room where all guests and deliverymen have their pictures logged, and there are several security cameras as well.” She pointed to one of the nearly hidden cameras as an example. Trowa had seen quite a few of these in their journey to the upper floor. “Also, all of the keys have to be specifically coded for each apartment, with a microchip that prevents them from being copied. Only the security desk has a spare,” Noin continued.
“How long ago was he having problems?” Trowa dismissed all the extra precautions, knowing that any system could be circumvented if someone worked at it long enough.
The woman keyed the apartment open with the card and stepped inside before she answered his question. “Over three years ago.” She shook her head, apparently understanding what his next question was going to be, “There wasn’t anything definite that we could find. Duo actually made the comment that he was being paranoid, but he would rather be paranoid than have his employees getting hurt.”
Trowa reflected that the decision was one that Duo would make, worrying more about his employee’s welfare than his own, and wished that his missing love would have shared his concerns when he had learned about the arson. He knew there hadn’t been enough time to discuss everything going on in their lives, but it should have come up . Trowa resolved to sit Duo down once they were reunited, and make sure that they had time to share all their hopes and fears, past, present, and future alike.
They began the search of Duo’s apartment, Trowa absently noting that the furniture was nothing like what he had seen in Duo’s Los Angeles apartment. If he had to guess, he would say that this apartment had come already furnished and had never been changed. It was proof that the braided man didn’t spend a lot of time here. Other than the furnishings, there wasn’t much in the space, everything neat to the point of obsession ,yet again. He assumed that with Duo’s personality and busy life that everything had to be kept neat if he had any hopes of ever finding anything.
After several minutes of searching the main living area, Trowa pushed open a door, letting out a cry of despair when he saw what had been concealed behind it. His eyes took in the carnage that lay before him, not noticing when his knees gave out, making him fall to the floor heavily.
He couldn’t take his eyes away from the scene, turning away only when he heard Noin’s voice in his ear, repeating the same phrase over and over. “It’s not Duo. Trowa, it’s not Duo, it‘s not Duo!”
He blinked slowly, pulling his eyes away from the blood and gore he could see strewn around the room, his eyes pleading the woman who was shaking him in an attempt to halt the onset of shock. “Are you sure?” Even he could hear the tremor in his voice, but gave it no thought, deeply disturbed by what he had seen. He knew that for as long as he lived, he would never forget the feeling he had experienced when he thought Duo had been killed and was lost to him forever.
“I promise you, Trowa, it is not Duo,” Heero’s voice was a calming influence, helping Trowa gather his shattered nerves. “If I had to guess, I would say it was a dog, or maybe a cat. Some sort of small animal, at least, but it’s rather hard to tell.”
Trowa didn’t have to ask why it was difficult to tell what species the animal had been before its painful demise. The amount of blood, bone, and tissue spread around the space told of a gruesome death. Not willing to look inside that room again, Trowa turned away, leaning on the wall outside the room to wait for Heero to complete his search of the space, Noin beside him with a supporting hand on his shoulder.
Heero finally came out several minutes later, placing a few items into small plastic bags, labeling them as evidence. When he saw Trowa staring at his actions, he shook his head. “I don’t think Duo is dead,” he stated bluntly. “More than likely, this was a warning, or someone letting out rage when they didn’t find the person they were looking for. I’m gathering the evidence in case we need to prove that this person was trying to harm Duo.”
“I don’t think there would be any problems proving that,” stated Noin, surveying the room once again. “Not only did this person do all this damage, they had to sneak around all the security in this building with the intention to do something once they got into Duo’s home.”
Mutually agreeing that they weren’t going to find anything else, they decided to leave, following the black headed woman back to her hotel. The ride was silent, each man lost in his own thoughts as Heero followed Noin in the car ahead of them. Trowa spent almost the entire time trying to banish the memory of the room they had left behind, his mind easily supplying the vision of Duo being hurt or punished. Not for the first time, he found himself attempting to send his thoughts to his lover, promising that it wouldn’t be much longer before they were together again.