"Captain Yuy..."
Heero sighed, and put down the wrench. "Yes Lieutenant?"
"Sir, communication from Captain Winner."
Heero frowned slightly, and began slithering back out of the access hatch beneath the main computer console. When he had emerged far enough to sit up, he took the radio his subordinate was holding out.
"Yuy."
/"Heero, how are you?" /
"Fine, Quatre. What did you need?" He couldn't help rolling his eyes at the former Sandrock pilot's instinctive need for polite small talk. Sometimes he was almost worse than Duo.
/"Right."/ Quatre's voice was rueful. /"Wufei and I got called back to Earth. The dedication ceremony for L6 is in a week and Une wants to go over the security arrangements again. Most of it is in place already, but with the continuing threats against several of the UESN Senators...."/
"I understand. How far did you get?"
/"We've double checked the remaining four main colonies in the L4 Cluster. The half of the Maganac Corps not setting up security on L6 are working their way through the resource satellites."/
"We're on the last two colonies of L3," Heero noted. "Trowa's team reported a recent failure to the environmental controls at X-18896, but there hadn't been time for the population to be affected."
/"That's good. I feel bad leaving you guys with the job of checking the other two clusters. But L4 has so many Satellites that the Maganac Corps won't be able to join up with you for at least a week."/
"We'll manage. Trowa and I may have to split up to cover the last two Clusters though. See if Une can spare a few more men to help with the L2 Cluster. That's going to be the difficult one, since most of those repairs will have to be done in full environmental suits."
/"Be careful."/ Quatre's voice changed slightly, and Heero could hear the apprehension in his voice. /"I've been getting a... well... a bad feeling lately."/
"About anything specific?" Heero couldn't claim to understand the empathic abilities of the other pilot, but he had been forced during the war to accept that they existed; and were very seldom wrong.
/"Not...really. Just mostly bad dreams, but I don't remember them when I wake up,"/ Quatre muttered. /"But the feelings are stronger when I think about L6."/
"L6?" Heero frowned. "But it's just being built to replace the old L5 cluster. The only people there are the workers and engineers."
/"I know. The parts are too new to be failing like at the older colonies, and there aren't enough people there to riot anyway. I don't think it's connected to this... but at the same time... I can't be sure."/
"Don't let Une badger you about budget and manpower. Do whatever you need to secure that Colony for the ceremony," Heero growled. "Trowa and I will try to finish with this and meet you there before the Senators arrive."
/"Thanks Heero. Tell Trowa... tell him I'm sorry. I know he was looking forward to going back to Earth for Christmas."/
"I will. Take care, Winner."
Duo shivered as he ducked into the shelter of the alley. It had started to rain again, the icy drizzle driving most of the Lost off the streets into what shelter could be found in alleys and hideaways. There were fewer abandoned buildings in Little Russia than there had been on L2, and many of the Lost simply huddled together under overturned dumpsters and boxes.
Crouching in a doorway out of the rain, he pulled the blankets Lowell had given him out of his backpack and curled up to wait out the storm. He'd given up trying to join any of the small groups of homeless; no one trusted anyone that they hadn't known for years.
Sighing, he leaned back against the doorway and idly studied the graffiti covering the wall across the alley. It was the usual jumble of gang signs, initials and artwork. He let his eyes skim over it, until one of the images caught his attention. Feeling a cold chill wash down his spine, he straightened a little and stared at the small image of three monkeys sitting on a chain link fence. It was the fourth graffiti image he'd seen since hitting the streets again. Now that they knew what to look for, the signs were starting to pop up everywhere.
This just gets weirder and weirder. He ran a hand through damp bangs. I hope Zechs and Doro can find out something about the other victims. I'm starting to get a really bad feeling about this...
Dropping his gear wearily next to the bed, Heero sank down onto the soft surface and stared at the vidphone. He had been dreading having to make this call since Quatre's call earlier that afternoon, and not just because it would mean a longer separation from his lover. Waiting isn't going to make it any easier. He finally reached over and keyed the number for Trowa's hotel room on X-18896.
/"Barton."/
"Trowa..." Heero said quietly. A moment later, the visuals on the phone were switched on.
/"Heero."/ Trowa smiled at him, then sobered when he saw the grim look on Heero's face. /"What's up?"/
"Winner and Chang got called back to Earth to finish preparations for the L6 dedication ceremony. Une is still worried by the threats to the senators that will be attending." Heero could see the moment Trowa understood what that meant as his partner's face grew still.
/"Do you want me to take L1 or L2?"/ Trowa asked with a sigh, but somehow that only increased Heero's feelings of guilt. I know I promised you we were going home soon...
"I was thinking I'd better take L1. I know for a fact that J had labs down there... and they may still be booby-trapped." He hesitated. "But I asked Une for more men to cover L2. It's going to be much more... difficult there."
/"Working in full environmental suits, yes."/ Trowa ran one hand through his bangs distractedly.
"Will you be okay?" Heero hadn't wanted to ask... but couldn't quite stop the question. He hated that it was even necessary to ask, but while Trowa might have forgiven Quatre for leaving him to drift in space and die...none of them would ever be able to forget it. It occurred to Heero for the first time, that he owed Duo a great debt for finding Trowa... and bringing him back to himself.
Trowa shrugged. /"We'll be working inside the colony. And I won't be alone. I'll be alright."/
"Take care." Heero reached out to touch the screen, wishing he could feel the warmth of Trowa's skin under his fingertips. "I promise we'll go back to Earth when this is over."
/"Yeah."/ Trowa managed a half-smile and a shrug. /"I'm going to hold you to that, Heero."/
"Trowa..."
/"I know."/ That time Trowa managed a bit more of a smile. /"Take care of yourself Heero. Good night."/
"Find anything?" Duo asked as he threw himself onto the couch. Dorothy threw him an amused look, pushing a box of donuts towards them as Lowell slumped into one of the chairs at the table.
"Nothing that makes any sense," Zechs growled as he emerged from the back room. "We have spent the last day or so interviewing the families of the other victims, and still have no idea what all the victims had in common."
"Maybe there isn't anything?" Duo frowned, sitting up and catching the donut that Dorothy threw at him. "Maybe they were all just in the wrong place at the wrong time?"
"Yeah... but they weren't all in the same place... so why were they picked and not someone else?" Lowell sighed.
"Did you guys find out anything?"
"Only that at least five different graffiti artists have started doing murals of those damned monkeys." Duo rubbed his eyes. "Two of them are really rather talented."
"You're sure it wasn't just one artist?"
"Yeah. Graffiti artists tend to develop their own signature style. It's considered bad form to use another's style."
"There has to be some connection between the victims... something that all of them had in common." Lowell took a bite of his own donut. "We just have to figure out what it is."
"What do you think we're trying to do?" Dorothy snapped. "Shit. Sorry, Lowell."
He waved her apology off. "I'm not criticizing... just frustrated."
"You and Duo have already figured out the first part of this..." Zechs moved to stare out the room's single window. "The answer is out there... just waiting for us."
"And you still haven't managed to locate any... witnesses?" Duo asked cautiously. Zechs went still.
"Not a single one," The older man said grimly. "Which is suspicious in and of itself. We should have been able to find at least one person who could give us some info."
"Hmm." Duo frowned. "That's weird. Maybe we should put more people out on the street looking." Solo and Treize have never had trouble finding the murder victims before... even when we couldn't find the body, we've found the ghost.
"We've got everyone that can be spared out there looking." Zechs glanced over and shook his head slightly at Duo.
Lowell looked puzzled by the exchange, especially when Dorothy abruptly changed the subject. "What did you guys find, other than artwork?"
"Not much," Lowell shrugged. "Everyone I spoke to clams up immediately at the first mention of monkeys."
"Same here."
Zechs turned back to the window and leaned his forehead against the glass. "We're going about this all wrong... I just don't know what else we should be trying."
"So tell us about the rest of the victims," Duo said, getting up to put a hand on the older man's shoulder. "Maybe we just need a fresh set of eyes." Everyone in the room suddenly winced. "Ugh... bad choice of words, there."
"Maybe." Lowell frowned. "Did the victims all have something in common like eye color?"
"No. We already double checked that angle," Dorothy shook her head. "About the only thing they all had in common was a lack of anything distinctive that they all had in common."
"Okay..." Duo rolled his eyes at the frustration in her voice. "So somehow we're looking for the wrong thing. If it's not a physical trait..." He glanced up at the map with the fifteen pins. "No common nationality, social standing...language. What about hobbies?"
"Nothing common to all fifteen. At least four of them volunteered in their various churches, two were members of animal rights groups, one sang in the community choir and one liked woodworking in his basement. I seriously doubt that the three homeless people killed in Little Russia had much in the way of hobbies..."
Duo leaned back on the couch, closing his eyes. There was something they were missing... he could almost touch it. What the fuck is the connection? I know it's there.
"So maybe they were all just in the wrong place at the wrong time..." Lowell muttered. "Maybe we're making this too difficult. They all had to have done something that made them a target..."
Done something... that... something about that....
"Seen something, heard something or said something maybe...?" Dorothy growled. "That would be obvious... but we have no way of knowing what it was. And since it obviously didn't happen in the same place each time..."
Done something... Duo suddenly froze, knowing the answer was close. The wino under the bridge...was afraid of having done something... having helped me. He said he wasn't a Samaritan... why does that suddenly sound so familiar...?
"Duo...?" Zechs spoke softly from nearby, and Duo could almost feel the older man crouching next to the couch. "What are you thinking...?"
"Samaritan... the old man... he was frightened of being called a Samaritan..."
"Samaritan?" Dorothy asked, sounding bewildered. "What...?"
"Father Maxwell- He gave a sermon once... about someone called the Good Samaritan. Helped out someone in trouble...or something. I don't remember." Duo groaned. "Dammit... I should have paid more attention when I was a kid...He helped someone out, and no one else would..."
"Isn't that mixing our parables now?" Lowell shook his head. "Going from the three monkeys to the Good Samaritan?"
"Yeah... maybe," Duo sighed heavily. "It's probably stupid."
"Maybe not..." Zechs leaned against the couch. "Maybe not a stretch at all. I remember that story now... the man was robbed and left on the side of the road. Because he was a tax collector, everyone pretended not to see him... or hear him... they crossed to the other side of the road to avoid him. Except this one man... the Samaritan. He wasn't anyone special... but he stopped to help the man and took care of him. Saved his life."
"So...you think that somehow all of these people did something that would make them appear to be...good Samaritans?"
"I... don't know. That... feels right... but..." Duo opened his eyes to look helplessly at his partner. "Ignoring the rules... the three monkeys...that has to be what the victims had in common."
"Did any of them have police records?" Zechs glanced sharply at Dorothy. "I don't remember any of them having any kind of record..."
"Only two." She stiffened. "In fact... most of them were described as being good citizens... the type to help someone in trouble out. Even the two who had a habit of getting mixed up in bar brawls tended not to be the people starting the brawl."
"So we have been going about this all wrong," Lowell suddenly laughed bitterly. "Shit."
"What?" Duo sat up enough to look at the man over Zechs' shoulder. "What are you talking about?"
"We've been trying to blend in... become part of the crowd." Lowell grinned. "We've been looking for the killer..."
"Bloody Hell..." Duo groaned. "Of course. We just need to make him look for us..."
"What are you talking about?" Dorothy said warily.
"Playing Superhero," Lowell shrugged. "If we start rescuing those in distress... sooner or later, we'll draw out the killer."
"I refuse to wear tights and go by the name Robin, but count me in." Duo grinned back at the man. "Ready to fight crime whenever you are."
tbc