Chapter 26

Yeah, I know, it's been a while, but I've got a HP/HL x-over bubbling in my brain (It's a Kinda Magic - also on ), my original novel and I have essays to write! How come I can churn 4k of words out for a chapter of 'Til Death, and struggle to write a 3.5k essay?

The door swung shut with a final clunk behind Duncan and his teacher, and Duo turned expectant eyes on the Sargent, schooling his face into one of his more innocent expressions. Not the most innocent - that usually gave away the fact he was entirely guilty - but one erring on the edge of what he'd heard referred to as cockney-street-urchin-cheerful, whatever that meant, with a helpful air. "So, Sargent Quinn, how can I be of service?"

The man seemed to pause for a moment to stare at him, before taking a seat in the chair that Adam had just vacated and lifting the tablet to his lap to tap at the screen. "Firstly, Mr. Maxwell, can you confirm your name and address?"

Rolling his eyes at the formalities, he rattled off his name, address, presumed date of birth and confirmed that yes, he was in fact, the one who was stabbed, hence why they were in a hospital room and he had bandages wrapped around his chest. Then it came to the more awkward bit, explaining the circumstances that caused that stab wound.

"Well, I only arrived in Brussels recently, so I thought I'd have a look at some of the sights, you know? I mean, it's fun working in Preventer and all, but you need a little downtime, right?" He ignored the scowl that Dragon was aiming at him, grinning disarmingly at the police officer, "I was lagging behind them after a club on the west side and this guy just jumped me. I'll admit I attempted to defend myself, I was a soldier and a Gundam pilot, so kinda goes with the territory, but the guy stabbed me and I went down. I remember Mac and 'Fei trying to help me, and Mr. Unas turning up, then it all kind of goes blurry and..." He spread his hands, "Can't remember anything 'til I woke up here." He wasn't entirely surprised to see the scepticism on the man's face, after all he wasn't sure he'd believe his own explanation. It was the truth, even if he'd had to word the bit about the club carefully and he was pretty sure it was dancing on the edge of his own rules.

A few moments of tapping at the screen later, and Quinn's lips were a narrow line. "Which club were you leaving?"

Ah. And now they had a problem. He had no idea what Mac and Adam were going to say on this one, although the fact they knew he wouldn't lie meant they'd probably say Duality. Except that he wasn't exactly leaving it. "Um..."

"Duality. We were leaving Duality."

Thanks 'Fei, he resisted the urge to shoot the Chinese man a grateful look, instead keeping his eyes trained on the Sargent in front of him who shot his friend an irritated glance instead.

"Thank you, Mr. Chang. I'll get to your statement after Mr. Maxwell's. This man, did you get a description?"

Oh, yes officer, the Immortal was tall, blond and carrying a sword. "It was kind of dark, and, as I said, he jumped me. I was a little busy to take in the guy's eye colour."

If it was possible, Quinn's lips narrowed even further. "And you have no idea why this man, as you say, 'jumped' you?"

Apart from the fact that I have this weird quirk that means Immortals find me a extremely tempting target? "No, no idea." At least me, rather than any of the other Immortals leaving Duality, he added silently, allowing a touch of challenge to enter his still cheerful violet gaze.

"You mentioned that you defended yourself. Do you normally walk around with weapons?" The man's eyes darted around the room, coming to rest on the hilts of the swords still partially hidden by the bed. "Such as swords?"

Ever since I discovered that it was the best way to get rid of people targeting my head, yes. "I'm a Preventer. I have a licence for my weapons." Well, technically his official licence had been for only the weaponry that he actually needed to do the job, so the grand total of one pistol, but he'd been into the computer systems and added the daggers, garrotte, and swords a few days ago on his lunch break, along with a few other bits and pieces that could some day be of use.

"And you carry them while socialising?"

He managed to resist rolling his eyes. Just. "I'm also an ex-Gundam pilot. It's kind of a habit. And," he continued over the officer's open mouth, "if I hadn't had them, I would likely be dead right now and you'd have a murder investigation on your hands instead." Not that they didn't, they just didn't know it.

The glitter in the man's eyes warned him that he wasn't going to like what he said next. "So, Mr. Maxwell, you weren't out in an area of Brussels with no clubs to socialise in apart from one that I've never heard of, in order to satisfy some... urge... left over from the war? And one of your victims managed to stab you in self-defence?"

It took him a few moments to realise that his mouth was hanging open and Chang's eyes had turned into obsidian stone. Forcing himself to snap his mouth closed and push back the swirling anger that was tempting Shinigami up from the depths took more willpower than it should have. "Hey, look here buddy, if you knew anything about the war and Gundam pilots, you'd know that Duo Maxwell doesn't lie. And I definitely don't go hunting people for some sick urge!"

"I believe you missed the part where Duo stated that he was the one who was stabbed while defending himself." Dragon's voice was cold.

"Well, you would say that, Mr. Chang. You are also a Gundam pilot after all. I wouldn't be surprised if..."

The superior tone was cut off as Wufei unfolded himself from his seat, the tension in his body making it very clear that he was restraining himself from any action that would support the idiot's words. "Sargent Quinn, if you are about to say that Mr. Unas and Mr. MacLeod were somehow roped into supporting a false statement, then you are sadly mistaken. If you were about to say that I was also involved in hunting people for some form of vile pleasure, then you are also sadly mistaken. I would recommend that you return to your office and be prepared to be summoned to speak to your superiors as if you think you will get away with making those implications, you are, finally, also sadly mistaken."

"So now you're abusing your position as Preventers to threaten my job?"

"Actually, while you are perfectly entitled to your... opinion, on myself and my fellow ex-pilots in private, it should not affect your job and your job is to take a report from a victim and investigate it. I will only be informing your superiors that you are allowing personal petty prejudices into your work."

Quinn's eyes were fixed on the Shenlong pilot, although the man seemed to have very little control over his emotions, the anger and fear evident in his face and eyes. He'd been watching the man's face cycle through an amusing series of colours while his colleague spoke, from red to purple to white and back again, trying to distract himself from the simmering anger that was burning a icy white in his mind.

"Personal... Petty..."

How the man ever rose to the rank of Sergent he didn't know, but he did know that if 'Fei had his way, the spluttering officer wouldn't be staying there for too much longer. He watched with interest as the man seemed to rally then, standing in order to tower over both of them. Not that that tactic would work - they'd been the shortest soldiers in the whole war, save maybe Tro.

"Now, you listen to me, boy," Wince. "you Gundam pilots may have helped save Earth from the Colonies, but we aren't in a war any more and you can't go running around like you own the place, doing whatever you want with people's lives..."

That was quite enough he decided abruptly, reaching out of the bed towards the side table. He wasn't going to get a lecture about his - very decent, if he had to say so himself - morals from someone who couldn't even be bothered to get their facts straight. Catching 'Fei's eye, he motioned the other man into silence, letting the police officer carry on his annoying little rant for a few more seconds, long enough for the door to swing open and for Doctor Syxe to hear every word the man said about how 'little boys' should 'put down their toys' and not use Earth as their 'playground'.

The fact the words 'murdering', 'killing' and 'violent' had also been in those phrases obviously hadn't been missed by the doctor as his eyes flickered between the bed and the policeman. He had the vague thought that he should be insulted by the implication that he had anything to do with the man's vitriol, but it was overwhelmed by relief at the appearance of someone to deal with the idiot in a way that didn't involve supporting his point with a gun or listening to 'Fei's calm, logical and somewhat boring reasoning for hours. It was Q who had been the good one at talking them out of situations, he'd usually been the one to talk them into them.

Syxe's expression reminded him rather forcefully that the man was a Preventer, not just a doctor. "Is there a problem here, Maxwell?"

No, no problem at all, he thought dryly before pulling his hand away from the alarm button. "I think Sergent Quinn was just leaving, actually."

"Did he require an escort?" the doctor's calm voice belied the anger in his eyes as he raked them over the other man. While not particularly tall, the man was slightly more broad than the average man, alright, slightly overweight, and had greying hair at his temples, which seemed to give him an air of authority that the braided pilot couldn't help being faintly jealous of. Not that he particularly wanted gray hairs, or was likely to get the things with the whole Immortality business, but it was the principle of the thing.

Yep, turning Immortal at seventeen would have definitely come with some major disadvantages.

He wasn't entirely surprised when 'Fei slipped off the bed with a polite, and yet, to those who knew him, slightly predatory smile. "I'll escort him. I need to make a phone call anyway."

Syxe didn't look convinced, and neither did Quinn, but the appearance of Mac and Adam at the door, along with that of the other policeman, suddenly made the room rather full and the Sargent turn to his subordinate with an irritated growl.

"Hitu, we're leaving."

"Sir?" The constable started at the abrupt tone, his hand still holding out the tablet he was about to offer the other man.

"I believe we have all the evidence we require," Quinn replied viciously, causing all three newcomers to look at him in surprise. "I will be investigating your... case, Mr. Maxwell. Personally."

Great. Just what he needed. Another enemy. And this one couldn't be dealt with by application of sufficiently large quantities of weaponry. He'd known from what's-her-name in Paris that not everyone viewed the Gundam pilots as heroes, but it somehow seemed that hearing it in his own hometown was so much worse. Damn. When did he start thinking of Paris as his home town anyway?

The sound of the door closing as all but the two Immortals left the room stopped his musing and he lifted violet eyes to see curious brown and faintly amused green-copper ones looking at him.

"Can you at least tell me that giving a simple police statement didn't cause any problems?"

He met the hazelnut eyes with a wry grin. "Well, the giving it didn't. It's not my fault the guy was as bad as, erm, the woman in Paris who had that crush on you?"

"Nuala? Agent Panther?" the Scot asked, although he had a feeling that Duncan hadn't missed the irritated glance from the other Immortal as he tacked on the female Preventer's alias."The guy didn't have an interest..."

"Ew. No," he was quick the cut off that thought before the sometimes oblivious Highlander had finished it. "I meant he shared her love for Gundam pilots. Such as myself."

Adam was now looking slightly confused now and he sighed. "She and Sargent Quinn are both individuals who have an irrational hatred of the five of us. Well, OK, so we did kind of ruin areas of various cities and destroy several transport networks and stuff, but it was war and it happens. You guys know that right?" he waited almost nervously for their nod. He'd never had any issues with what he'd done in the war, well, save a few minor nightmares and a tiny little problem with needles and guns being aimed towards him, but for some reason he really, really hoped that the two Immortals would understand.

The almost synchronised nods, Mac's firm in calm acknowledgement and his teacher's slight tilt with an almost wry quirk of his lips, sent a frightening amount of relief through him. He had the sneaking feeling that while the other two men had never been in a giant war machine with beam weaponry, they had both played large parts in whichever combats they had taken part in, either in a front line or strategic way. Actually, come to think of it, it was a good thing he'd taken Adam out of the war when he did - knowing what he did of the man now, he wasn't entirely certain they'd have won if the highly intelligent Immortal had remained in his position in OZ.

"So, Panther hated me 'cause I, well, not me personally I don't think, destroyed a bunch of historic architecture, although I'm not entirely sure what the fuss is about, I mean it looks nice but, it's just a building..." Both of his companions winced at that. Right. Mentioning destroying history around guys that probably saw it being built in the first place. Bad idea. "Anyway, Quinn seemed to think that I fought for Earth, and, yeah, in the end I did, but," he shrugged, Adam and Mac knew the real story, "and he had this idea that this whole thing with me getting stabbed was 'cause I'm apparently basically a murdering bastard who only got hurt 'cause I went hunting for someone to kill and they attacked me in self-defense."

Duncan blinked as he wound up his little speech, the Scot's eyebrows furrowing. Adam just looked incredulous. "He thinks you have a form of post traumatic stress disorder that makes you go out and kill people?"

"No, he just thinks that kids who fight in wars can't actually go on to be normal useful members of society, and us Gundam pilots are insane." He sighed, the anger fading from him as he leaned back against the pillows and his mind finally registered the persistent ache coming from his injury. "Bet he boycotts Winner Enterprises or something. And I'd hate to think what he'd make of Heero."

From the looks on the other men's faces, he could tell his usual tactic of joking about the issue wasn't entirely working, but it was at least stopping the righteous indignation from flaring up further in the Highlander's eyes.

"I assume Chang and the Doctor 'escorting' the man out was to make the man well aware that that kind of opinion wasn't welcome?" Adam asked, the surprise in his face having given way to a more calculating expression.

He nodded. "Well, hopefully in a subtle way. I don't really want Preventer getting a rep for criticising the local law enforcement even if he has got 'personal petty prejudices' as 'Fei put it. I'm sure Sally or Syxe can check the police report when they attach their medical report for anything bad, and if the guy tries to cause trouble again, I'll deal with it."

A yawn somehow forced its way out of his mouth then and he found himself snuggling further into the sheets without really thinking about it. He was too tired to be angry. "Don't worry 'bout it. If I can put up with Adam's views on the Earth and Colonies, then one guy's views on my suitability to be out in public without a muzzle is easy."

"I'm sorry." Mac's quiet words made him look over to the Immortal in surprise. "If I'd told you where Dragon and I were going then you wouldn't needed to follow us, dammit. And if you didn't know about..."

"If he didn't know about that," his teacher cut in smoothly, "then he would likely be dead." The long suffering look the older man shot his friend clearly said that the Highlander should stop feeling sorry for himself. "Now, as a doctor, I would suggest that we let Maxwell get some rest. He's been through hell the last few hours and unless you want him to have a relapse or similar..."

The Scot had nice lips. Even if they were narrowed a bit. Kissable in fact. Adam's weren't bad either. That was the last thought he had before sleep overwhelmed him.

God, he hated pain meds. Especially ones that snuck up and hit him over the head. Very especially ones that didn't show that effect for an hour or two after he'd taken them. They gave him an annoyingly clear appreciation for how OZ mobile suit pilots must've felt when 'Sycthe turned up behind them.

Dragging himself out of the drug-induced slumber, grateful that he'd always been good at shrugging off the effects quickly, he rubbed his eyes to remove traces of sleep-gunk from them. A moment later he was automatically scanning the room for danger and grinned as he saw the slim line of his laptop on the side table with a note tacked on the top.

The grin faded abruptly when he scanned it.

The good news was that if he pressed the call button, a nice warm, hot meal would be provided, although given it was a hospital, albeit the Preventer one, he didn't hold out much hope for the quality, throwing that news into the uncertain state between good and awful. The bad news was that Mac had asked Heero to help him get into the flat to recover the laptop, given that the Wing pilot was probably the only person actually capable of getting through the multiple layers of security that they'd both put onto the flat.

Not only had both the Highlander and the Japanese man seen the search that he'd been running on Adam's photograph - and several of the results - when Ice had accidental knocked the mousemat, but so had the man in that picture and he was not exactly, well, 'not very happy' were the words Duncan had used.

What was even worse was that he knew for a fact that he'd locked the computer down securely before leaving his flat with several fail-safes. There was no way in hell that he'd have left it wide open normally, let alone while running a probably illegal search on an Immortal who he knew perfectly well would likely, and now probably was going to, kill him permanently for it.

Someone had hacked into his system. And he had no idea who. Shit.

A/N:

A few questions:

1) Would anyone be interested in a 'Til Death universe ficlet on Christmas with Duo, Methos & Duncan? :)

2) Would people prefer that I do The Big Plot Reveal (and if ANYONE can guess it I'll be amazed! Although there's a few hints... See the title...) and then do the 2nd part in a separate 'book' called 'Forever and Ever' or keep it all in one?

3) Finally, are my speech scenes OK? I'm worried I'm moving them along too quickly without a realistic amount of dialogue...

4) Review? Please? :)