Human beings in a mob
What's a mob to a king? What's a king to a god?
What's a god to a non-believer? Who don't believe in anything?
We make it out alive All right, all right...
No church in the wild
-Lyrics to 'No Church In the Wild' performed by Devlin, Ed Sheeran & Labrinth
That Which Mends Part 4
"I must say that you have the most innate ability of reading people I've ever seen in any student as young as you over the course of my many years teaching psychology, Heero."
"Thank you, Professor Lowe. It's something I've always had, so it only seemed right to put it to use in helping others solve problems in their lives."
"Ah, and that it will. However, there is one very important element to assisting those who need such guidance that you're not quite grasping."
"...Oh? What would that be?"
"The human factor, the emotional side that comes with counseling others. I appreciate that you cannot become too invested in any case that you would suffer transference of patient's problems... but you cannot be completely shut off from basic feelings, either... especially your own."
* * * * * *
Heero was in the campus cafeteria for breakfast long before most of his fellow classmates would bother to roll out of bed to run across the sprawling grounds to their morning classes.
For all intents and purposes, he didn't need to be up at all since his first session didn't start for another three hours. But, he was a creature of habit and breakfast was an important tool in starting one's day.
This particular day, however, was starting off differently from the moment he stepped into the dining hall's doors to gather up a light meal.
Off behind the counters where servers were still filling trays with food, several heads were ducked and muttering quietly. Though he couldn't make out the conversations as he crunched on his cereal, there was no doubt that the conversation was a tense one if the psych student had deducted by the tones he was able to pick up.
A few tables away, the only other early partakers in the room were huddled together as they scanned over their phones and digital tablets furiously. Like the cafeteria staff, they were deeply engaged in their own murmured discussion.
Frowning to himself, Yuy reached for his own phone to search through the daily school bulletin and world news reports, but nothing jumped out as anything to cause concern. Nearly exhausting his resources, he turned then to the local digital paper when he first article made the reason for the tension all too clear. In bold, black letters, he read:
'Police Respond To Bloody Scene At Drexel Hill'
His heart dropping into his stomach, Heero's shoulders fell heavily along with his jaw as his cobalt eyes grew. Feeling the color drain from his face, he read over what little information the reporter had from the taped off scene as uniformed officers worked late into the night to investigate a missing student's room.
There were only a couple of eyewitness comments that mentioned blood and their classmate's phone that had been left behind. Besides that, there were not many more details included due to the ongoing investigation...
...but there was one piece of the puzzle that struck a chord.
Further down the article was a snapshot of a young man of twenty-one years with curly, red hair, green eyes and a smirk of a grin with a name at the bottom that he didn't recognize.
While there were a lot of details lost to Yuy when it came to the night of the party he'd attended, he vividly remembered that face amongst the crowd. And he recalled that the vanished Thomas Klein had hovered around the bar.
An image of the black car came rushing back to send a shockwave of fear down from the top of the upcoming psychologist's head to his toes. While there was nothing of interest on the street where the vehicle had been parked, it was within two miles of Drexel Hill.
Shooting to his feet, Heero turned his phone off and hurriedly cleared his tray to all but run from the cafeteria.
His body moving on instinct rather than rational thought thanks to his swirling thoughts, he found himself in his car and starting the ignition before he realized he had reached his vehicle. Forcing himself to calm his breathing, he closed the driver door and concentrated on driving out of the main facility complex's parking lot.
He should have called the cops. But then, who would believe anything he had to say? Hell, even he wasn't sure that he wasn't overreacting.
In the end, there was only one place he could go where he would be heard and understood. And it was a good thing he had paid attention to the road during the one and only trip he'd ever made there.
* * * * * *
"Who the hell are you and what have you done with Agent Scythe?"
Spinning in his chair, Duo kicked his feet up to prop them on the edge of his desk as he leaned back and folded his arms behind his head with a smug grin.
"Good morning, Lady Une," he greeted in a chipper voice. "What wrong? A guy can't come in early to start his day at the office?" Waving a hand over himself to display the green work shirt, black pants and brown tie he wore, he added, "I even got in uniform and all just for you."
Briefcase in one hand and a cup from her favorite coffee shop in the other, his lovely Commander ignored his question and frowned deeply, "What did you do?" Her brown eyes growing, she shook her head, "Never mind. I need to finish my dose of caffeine before I hear it."
His smile turning downward, Maxwell huffed, "Why does everyone jump to the assumption that I did something wrong when I'm trying to do the right thing like showing up on time for work?"
The corner of her mouth curling up as she walked past him for her sealed off office, Lady Une replied, "Your track record, Duo. We know better from your track record."
She called back over her shoulder, "Team meeting in forty minutes. Congratulations on getting here first to inform the others." Stepping into her room, the door whooshed closed behind her.
With a shrug, the braided agent reclined further back just as the chimes of the elevators filled the air at their arrivals to the floor in close succession. Some familiar voices exchanged 'good morning's and friendly banter before his fellow teammates rounded the corner to freeze in shock at the sight of him.
"I should have taken the bet against you," Quatre spoke up first when he was able to move his slack jaw. Beside him, Trowa chuckled deeply.
A wide smile brightening her face, Anna stepped towards the knot of desks as she said, "Mornin', Duo. How was it to wake up at dawn for the first time in... ever?"
Maxwell groaned, "Every bit as horrible as I imagined it. How you people voluntarily get up this early is beyond me." Gesturing to the redhead, he smiled, "But a promise is a promise and I take my word to you seriously. Besides, I'd owe you a lot more than flowers for talking Lady Une down if I was late for yet another team meeting."
Lowering her latte cup and briefcase at her spot linked between his and Wufei's, Downs mouthed a sincere, 'Thank you.' She brushed down the front of her tan, knee-length skirt before lowering herself into her chair and booted her computer up.
Across from her, Wufei was setting up at his station when his friend's violet eyes fell on him. "Maxwell," the Chinese agent acknowledged with a firm nod. "Nice to see there's hope for you yet." Winner and Barton snickered as they took to their own linked desks, completing the cluster of their team's workspace.
"It's your fault for not seeing it sooner," Duo smirked. "Now, don't go expecting this every day for me. Today's an exception to my rule of waking before my body's damned good and ready to deal with whatever we're handing."
Glancing at the clock on his monitor, he righted himself in his seat and announced, "Lady Une wants us in her office in about thirty minutes. She seems to be in a good mood and we got what we needed from our insider, so this should be a smooth briefing with her."
Chang sighed as he typed away at his keyboard. "Good. Then all we have to worry about is decoding that data," he stated. "I think its safe to say everything is going as it should for this case so far."
That was music to Maxwell's ears, his smile growing in relief. Already, he could feel himself well in the clear after his mishap while he was undercover. He didn't have a thing to worry about now.
* * * * * *
Fifteen minutes later...
Heero walked past the sliding front doors of the federal building and moved straight for the receptionist desk. Recalling the name of the beautiful young woman typing at her computer, he opened his mouth before she had time to fully meet his gaze and urged, "Catherine, I need to see Duo Maxwell right away."
Blinking widely in surprise as well as recognition of her visitor, the redhead behind the protective glass walls rose to her feet and opened the window over the check in counter. "I know he has an important meeting first thing this morning that he can't be called away fr-"
"This is urgent," Yuy insisted, racing around to the window. "And if his meeting has anything to do with the case he's working on, he needs to hear what I have to tell him. Would you please try and see if he can see me?"
At the word 'case,' the receptionist's eyebrows raised. Then, taking in the genuine concern written on her guest's face, she nodded, "Okay. I'll call him. Make yourself comfortable, Mister..."
Breathing in relief, the scholar told her, "Heero. Just Heero. Thank you, Catherine." Still on edge, he shoved his hands in the pockets of his blue wind breaker and rounded the desk to sit at one of the couches that made up the waiting area. Removing his cell phone, he scanned through pages to arm himself with what he needed.
The redhead returned to her chair and rolled over to her phone. Biting her lip, she picked up the receiver and dialed the four digit extension of the braided agent. After two rings, the call was picked up and her friend's voice asked, "What's up, Kit Kat? I really don't have time to chat, so it-"
Clearing her throat, she looked away from the visitor at the couch and replied, "Heero's here to see you, Duo. He says it's urgent."
A dead silence was her only response for a few breaths before she pressed, "Duo?"
Still, there was nothing from her coworker.
Leaning forward in her chair so that she disappeared behind the counter, she informed softly, "The poor guy looks like he's seen a ghost and told me that whatever brought him here might have to do with your case."
"Fuck me," came over the line in a panicked murmur.
At his own desk, Maxwell covered the end of his receiver and his mouth over it as he whispered, "I can't deal with this right now."
Eyeing his teammates as they were busy and spread throughout the floor in the final preparations for their meeting, he kept his voice low as he half-groaned, "Lady Une's gonna have my head on a platter if she gets any wind of this."
Catherine warned, "What will happen if he goes to the police to talk to them instead? You can't run the risk of word of the Preventers getting out to the public in any sort. It would compromise your investigation."
Her frown returning when she peered over at her guest, she said, "However you got him involved in whatever you guys are looking into, you owe it to him to hear him out. He's holding it in well enough, but I'm telling you something has him scared."
Dropping his head onto his desk, Duo let out a frustrated moan. Not only was he in the rare situation of having to face one of his conquests, he was going to have to do it when their encounter was centered around what was potentially the biggest case of his career... in front of his Commander.
But there was no way around his feeling bad for having the student worried about... whatever it was if it did involve the case.
Reluctantly concluding that there was no way out for him, Agent Scythe sighed deeply, "I'll be right down." Not waiting for a response, he hung up and sprang from his desk to hurry for the elevators.
Lifting their heads from their private conversation a few feet away by the printer, Wufei and Anna blinked in confusion as they watched his retreat. "If I'm not back by the time the meeting starts, stall for me," the braided agent requested before they could get a word out. Pressing the down button for the lift, the doors opened to him right away and he slipped inside.
Heart pounding in his ears, Maxwell weaved his way through the main corridor and the swinging glass doors after the receptionist desk. Yuy was on his feet and walking towards him so that they met in the middle of the waiting area as he asked, "What's going on, 'Ro?"
Sensing his transgression's rush to move him along, Heero informed, "I think your contact who slipped that chip in your drink was killed over the weekend."
Instantly freezing mid-step, Duo's violet eyes widened. "What?" he breathed.
Yuy held up his cell phone to reveal the mug shot of his classmate from the digital article. "Does he look at all familiar to you?" he inquired, though his tone made it more of a statement than a question since he was certain what the answer would be.
Every nerve seizing at the picture of the face that he remembered from the party, Maxwell's face paled as he reached out to hold the phone with a whispered, "Holy shit." Slowly lowering the screen to take in the anxious scholar, he swallowed roughly. Without warning, he shot his hand out to grip one of Heero's wrists.
"Come on," he offered, pulling his charge behind him to the blocked off doors. Looking to the receptionist, he announced, "I'm clearing him through, Kat." His friend nodded and pressed a button below her desk to bring the glass doors to open for the pair without the need for a swipe of the agent's access card.
When they stepped into the elevator, Duo released his guest and returned his cell phone. During the climb, he tapped his foot nervously while he looked to the digital numbers of the floors they climbed and muttered, "Comeoncomeoncomeon."
The doors widened just enough for them to make their way onto the seventh floor. Automatically turning the corner, Maxwell picked Chang out as he stepped out of his office and called curtly, "Fei!"
Caught off guard by his yell, the Chinese agent spun to face his teammate in his tracks and turned to shocked stone at the sight of the college student accompanying Duo.
Nearly dropping the papers in her hand, Anna's mouth fell open in her own surprise over their visitor's presence.
Frowning in confusion, Trowa and Quatre stopped sorting out the reports at their desks to observe the scene unfolding before them while centering on the new face amongst them.
Quickly recovering, Wufei's eyes glared in irritation as he stormed for his friend. "What the hell is this all about?" he hissed under his breath. "We are about to go in to meet with the Commander of our unit to go over the details of a high priority-"
"We have a situation that needs to be looked into," Duo advised, cutting him off. "We might have an even bigger case on our hands than we first thought."
As the conversation went on beyond their earshot, Barton slowly walked up behind his partner to lean over behind him. "Think we have time to make a bowl of popcorn?" he asked softly by the other agent's ear. "This is going to be quite the show."
What light banter he started with the intention to lighten the mood was completely forgotten when their team leader turned towards them with a stricken expression on his face that was almost immediately replaced with determined focus.
Pointing at the blonde, he rushed towards his desk as he ordered, "Quatre, pull up everything you can from Austin County's police records on the current Drexel Hill from as far back as the initial call in early this morning."
He kept the bark in his voice as he commanded his other teammate, "Barton, work with him to use every database we have access to and dig into the person of interest from that missing person file- Thomas Klein. I want whatever you can get your hands on from his background down to his library checkout history if there is one."
Fixed to their tasks, the pair separated and swirled their chairs towards their computers to type at lightning speed.
Having been close enough to the hushed discussion between Duo and Wufei, Anna took it upon herself to oversee their uneasy guest. "Hey, Heero," she soothed with her natural smile that somehow managed to calm him no matter what was happening in his world that had been turned upside down.
Lightly draping an arm around his shoulders, the redhead ushered him away as she suggested, "Let's hang out in the rec area for a bit while the guys get Lady Une up to speed on what's going on."
Yuy swallowed roughly, but gladly went along with her.
Up until that moment, he hadn't realized how much he needed having that simple contact to make him feel secure. In fact, it was so needed that he unconsciously leaned into her arm for more of that solace being offered to him.
Funny, considering how not only was he one who never relied on such gestures, but he had only known the young woman briefly and under the most odd circumstances.
As though she had read his fear that had only slightly recoiled, Downs lowered her voice so that only he could hear her promise, "You're safe. Nothing's going to happen to you. No need to worry any more, okay?"
"Okay," Heero heard himself reply, actually believing it as he spoke it. His nerves steadying at that release, he breathed out a long sigh as his shoulders dropped. A small grin curling his lips, he told her sincerely, "Thank you."
Anna smiled and gave him a wink as she continued to walk them away from the rest of the team. Biting her lip, she glanced over her shoulder to wearily eye her lover and best friend that they were leaving behind to handle the mess that they had been pulled into.
The door to Lady Une's office opened to her as she emerged onto the floor. "I called a team meeting and I find myself without a team to meet with," she complained loudly so that her words carried to her agents that she now found occupied and not in her room as they should have been. "Let's go, people."
Brown eyes falling on the unfamiliar young man with Anna, the Preventer's head supervisor began, "And who gave clearance to-"
"Sorry, Commander," Chang broke in as he and Duo abruptly closed in on her, blocking her vision of their company.
The Chinese officer frowned, "There is serious cause for concern regarding the investigation that's just been brought to light that can't wait to be looked into. Gesturing to his braided teammate, he stated, "We need to speak with you privately to fill you in on everything."
Uncomfortable as he was in having to 'fess up to his actions, Maxwell had come to terms with the simple fact that it needed to happen. Shifting on the balls of his feet, he gave a subtle nod and fought back the churning of his stomach.
Her eyes still narrowed, Lady Une waved for them to fall in step behind her as she led the way into her office. Folding her hands together on the edge of her desk when she took her seat, she bore down on the agents that set themselves in the chairs before her as her door closed behind them.
"Alright," she drew out, "I'm only going to say this once. Neither one of you are going to want to know me if you leave anything out of this discussion, so be sure to not forget a single detail of whatever you're about to tell me."
Taking a deep breath, she locked onto Duo and demanded, "Now.. Start from the very beginning."
TBC...
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