08-Aug-2000
Title: The Master
Author:vonceia (vonceia@yahoo.com)
Archive: Possibly at GW Addiction http://www.oocities.org/fenris_wolf0/
Category: line challenge from Alma Gomez,yaoi, crossover.
Rating: R for language
Pairings: Implied
Spoilers: Series, Romeo Must Die
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing characters and universe are the property of the copyright owners. Our stuff is ours. No money being made here. As with all our fics so far, while our goal is to stay as in character as possible, any discrepancies are our mistakes.
Feedback: Any and all comments, feedback, critiques welcome, be they short or long.
Line fic challenge: "Hi guys,while shopping at my fave comic bookstore, I found this pin that was so cool I had to buy it! and it says: "When you fuck with me, you fuck with the master" (LOL, cool huh?)Okay, that is the line challenge. Duo, Quatre or Treize can't say it, I don't think it fits Trowa (unless someone is messing with the lions!). This has to be said by Wufei, Heero or Zechs. Brownie points if Wufei says it!! Enjoy!! Alma"
He stood in the doorway arms folded, with one leg propped against the frame like a statue. He was dressed in black, full pants, black sleeveless tank top and a black vest with red piping formed into twin Imperial dragons, which faced each other in front. Tattooed along his left arm was the image of another dragon, this one breathing fire. The other arm was imprinted with the outlined face of a beautiful young woman and the word 'Nataku' scripted beneath.
The neighborhood was quiet, too quiet. Eyes looked out through shaded windows down to the street in anticipation. The trouble had been coming for weeks, months. It all revolved around the kids shelter and recreation center run by former Gundam pilot Duo Maxwell. It was nothing that Duo couldn't have handled by himself over time, but his position as Director kept him focused on operations and keeping food on the table, the lights on and heat for the building. When told of the problem, his first reaction had been to attempt to drop everything and go meet the trouble head on. He had been quietly, yet firmly reminded of his many duties, the most important of which was his effect on the many young, impressionable minds and hearts that resided at the Maxwell's Second Chance Center. He had also been reassured that the problem would be taken care of and that he would be informed when it was over. Duo hadn't liked it and was on the verge of saying just how much, when another unrelated emergency caught his attention.
"You're gonna do it, aren't you?" a voice said, and his head turned fractionally.
"Yes," he said, quietly.
Ali shook her head and walked closer. She had her signature 'get real' expression firmly in place. Long black hair, draped across cafe au lait colored shoulders as she crossed her arms in an almost matching gesture. "Duo's gonna be pissed," she said, glancing down the street, then turning the sleepy brown eyes to him.
"Probably," he answered looking up at her. "You should leave."
Ali was a beautiful, black girl and Duo's assistant. She was tougher than she looked and more vulnerable than she would ever admit.
"Talk to the hand," she said, raising a palm. "I know who's comin'."
"That is why you should not be here when your father's second arrives. He will not understand."
Ali looked at him. "They know where I am. They know where I live. Besides, this is a little more than a brawl. I wouldn't put it past my Father to send his guys to try and shut this place down, but this doesn't feel like his work. Something else is involved. He's a negotiator first and Duo hasn't mentioned an offer for the property. Also, Daddy wouldn't authorize running down children in the middle of the street. He might be a bad guy, but he's not evil," she said, shuddering as she recalled the incident.
The children had been crossing the street when a van had appeared out of nowhere. Running, they had made safely to the other side, when the van suddenly turned towards them on the walkway. It had been nothing of miraculous that two of them survived without injury as the van's front bumper had narrowly missed them.
Ali looked up, realizing that she had spoken about 'him'. She narrowed her eyes, seeing the slightest of smiles appear on her friend's face.
Ali raised both hands. "Oh no you don't... Damn.. You did it again! I've told you a million times. I have family problems. My father is a thug, a hoodlum, and the fact that I've had advantages as a result, does not justify or redeem him in my eyes whatsoever.," she said, realizing that she was reciting her personal litany again. Ali sighed deeply. "And I'm preaching to the choir, here. Right?" she said, then looked up seeing a black car sliding down the street. Her expression changed. "Company," she said, quietly.
"I know," he said, then looked down.
Out on the street, the big black car rolled to the curb and stopped in front of the Maxwell's Second Chance Center.
The tension in the air was palpable. From a high window, Heero Yuy checked his equipment and sent a signal to Trowa Barton on the rooftop. Two other signals were sent, received and acknowledged as Heero gripped the handle on his gun.
"Heero, there's a van and two bikes in the back. Eight guys. Professionals, suits," Robby, the eldest boy living in the Center said. "They have big guns and a briefcase. Quatre says that some of them are moving behind the Center. Says, Trowa will take care of 'em."
Heero nodded. "Hn," he remarked. "Got it. Now go and tell Colin to wait fifteen minutes and call the police, " Heero said. "And tell Mrs. Simmons thanks for the use of her apartment. Good job, Robby."
Robby, who was all of thirteen, smiled brightly. Then, he moved off to complete his mission.
After a few minutes, the doors to the big black car opened and six people stepped out. Three were a part of the gang that the residents of the Center knew well. They were three older boys who called themselves the Problem Child Crew. They had targeted the Center and harassed the residents, using intimidation and threats.
It had been little trouble to take care of them, but they had been persistent and in the end had gotten their egos, reputations and butts bruised. The target of the Crew was the diminutive man who had moved from the doorway to stand on the walkway. It wasn't bad enough that the little man had gotten the whiney kids of the Center to stop fearing them, but to beat them down in the middle of the street went over the line.
Colin, the gang leader, stepped forward coming to stand behind thier previously unseen benefactor, Malcolm Blake and his partner Vincent Roth.
Blake was in the employ of Ali O'Day's father, Issak O'Day. He was O'Day's right hand man and ran the day- to-day business affairs. Blake's tactics were often brutal and ruthless. He had authored covert deals with the Alliance and the OZ during the war. Using O'Day's control of the streets and ports, nothing moved without Blake's command. Secretly, he patted himself on the back for his shrewdness in finding and forming an alliance with Vincent Roth. Together, they had plans on eliminating O'Day and using the property the Center stood on, as well as the surrounding neighborhood, to build an expensive gambling and resort. They planned to use the guise of 'improving the quality of the neighborhood as well as increasing the worth of the Colony in general' as fodder for the press. Only two things stood in their way, Maxwell and his friend, the Chinese man.
"Mr. Chang," Blake said, removing the dark glasses from his face. His brown eyes scanned the young man, taking in the well-toned muscles as well as the apparently calm demeanor. "We'd like to speak to you for a moment. I am Malcolm Blake."
Dark, exotic eyes looked up at the Black, well-dressed man. "What do you want to talk about Mr. Blake?" he responded.
Blake glanced around the street, then back to him. "I know that Mr. Maxwell owns the Center. My associate and I would like to know if he would be interesting in selling it?" he asked.
"Mr. Maxwell is not here. You will have to ask him, but I doubt it." he said, tilting his head up. "Do you wish to own it for yourself or is Mr. O'Day interested in the property?"
Blake smiled. "Ah, yes. Ali works here," he said. "No, I'm afraid this is a personal purchase."
At the mention of her name, Ali stepped outside.
"The Center is not for sale, Blake," Ali said. " Find another place to branch out."
Blake chuckled. "Good afternoon Ali," he said, as his eyes drank in her form. "And are you speaking for Maxwell, now?"
Ali said nothing, but looked at him coolly.
"That's what I thought," Blake said. "Do yourself a favor. Go home to your Father. I'm off the clock and I can't be responsible for you getting hurt out here."
"Don't..." Ali began, feeling her temper rise. Chang's raised hand stopped her.
"What are you proposing, Mr. Blake? Why would Ali be in danger, if were are only talking?" he asked.
Blake took a deep breath. He shrugged. "Well, Mr. Chang, it seems as though a few young men, whose dignity you have stolen, wish a challenge. You and Miss O'Day *might* be in some danger from them."
Ali looked up at Blake, her eyes narrowing. She looked to his partner, Roth, then back to Chang and held her tongue.
Vincent Roth was in for the thrill. He looked at the alliance with Blake as a proving point to his wealthy father. During the war, he had kept low key and did not volunteer for anything. His only ambitions were to enjoy life, spend his father's money and do this scheme so that he could cram accomplishment down his father's throat. The idea of a fight, or better, a killing only excited him. It hadn't taken Blake any time at all to convince him to follow along.
Colin, the Problem Child Crew leader, stepped forward. He stood nearly six feet and his features spoke of a mixed heritage. He came to stand in front of Chang, while the other two, Han and Manuel took up flanking positions to the left and right.
"And what about these three?" Chang said, ignoring the young men.
Blake smiled. "Oh, they're applying for a new job. I'm hiring them as my personal guard, that is if they're good enough." he said.
The three young men smiled and inched closer.
"Ali, will you check the back door for me?" Chang said.
Ali nodded. "I'll be back," she said and moved inside. Almost in a panic, she ran to the back door as she realized that someone could easily slip inside.
Trowa Barton checked the back of the Center. Moving quietly, he saw two men at ground level planting what he recognized as explosive charges. Moving over the side of the building, he worked his way down to the next landing. Uncoiling a rope he'd placed there, Trowa went over the side, swinging down and finally landing a few feet away.
One of the men heard a slight movement and glanced up. He had two seconds to try and distinguish a face, before a fist came from nowhere and landed a solid hit to his face. The man reeled back from the blow and dropped like a stone unconscious to the ground.
The next stood and swung a blow of his own. He felt satisfied when he saw Trowa's head snap to the side, then doubled over when he felt Trowa's answering punch to his gut. Another blow to the back of the neck, sent the man down and out as Trowa Barton breathed heavily.
He looked up when the back door to the Center opened.
"Hi," he managed, seeing the young woman's expression. "You must be Ali, Duo's assistant. I'm Trowa. Looks like you've got rats."
Ali smiled. "Yeah," she said, relieved. "Big ones."
"Let's get them and thier explosives inside. Can't have these guys destroying Duo's hard work." he said, moving to lift the first of the men up.
"No we can't," Ali agreed, her eyebrows raising at the word explosives. She looked up at the emerald eyed young man, noting the length of hair across one eye. She smiled, recognizing him by descriptions she'd had to pry out of Duo over a number of months. "Heavy Arms, right?" she said.
Trowa smiled. "Some time ago, but yeah," he said, hoisting one of the men up and dragging him inside. Ali busied herself with collecting the blocks of C-4 disarming the charges.
"Looks like you know your way around C-4," Trowa remarked, noticing the way she handled the stuff.
Looking up at Trowa, Ali winked and tapped the side of her nose for confidentiality.
Moments later, Quatre accessed his personal comm. "Heero, two down and packed in the Center and two awaiting police escort in the van. Two unaccounted for, but we're re-coning now. How's Wufei?" he asked.
"Looks like he's about to have his fun," Heero replied. "I got Blake and Roth covered."
"Great. The police should be here in a few minutes," Quatre said.
Heero nodded. "Yeah, right," he said, softly. "Find the other two," he said simply.
"Doing it now," Quatre said and cut the connection.
He turned back to the three young men before him. "If this is what you wish to do, then you are weak," Wufei said, clearly.
The leader, Colin, looked at him with wide eyes. He frowned. "See, you're always trying to fuck with somebody's head, man. Always goin for the psyche. Not this time. See, like I told you before... we are the best! So when you fuck with us, you fuck with the best!"
"Your battle has no meaning," Wufei said. "This is pointless. This man does not care if you live or die."
"See.. China man, that's where you got it wrong," Manuel said, moving closer. "You forgot to ask, if we gave a shit in the first place."
The others chuckled and Wufei looked up at the third, Han. "And do you feel the same?" he asked.
Han blinked, then nodded. "Hell, yeah!" he chimed in. "And now we're gonna fuck you up."
Wufei dodged as a fist flew at him. Catching the young man's arm, Wufei used the youth's own forward motion to assist him to the ground. That movement led into another as the other two stepped forward to do damage. Kicking out, Wufei caught Manuel in the stomach, doubling the taller boy over.
Out of the corner of his eye, Wufei caught the glint of steel and then felt a sharp blow to the back. Turning, he saw a section of pipe in Han's hand. He had to move quickly as the youth brought the pipe around to hit him again.
Han swung and missed several times before Wufei caught his rhythm. He knew that the others would not stay down long and that he had to disarm Han before situation got much worse.
Blake leaned against the car watching the Chinese man move. He admired Wufei's speed and agility. Unlike the young boys, he could tell that there was something different about Chang. He was far older and more experienced than he looked. Whatever the outcome, Blake thought that Chang might make a positive addition to his new organization. If not, he thought, there were always other alternatives . His had touched the gun hidden inside his coat.
Wufei saw the pipe rise again and moved. He kicked the hand that held the metal hard. Moving closer, he struck out landing a blow to the youth's chest that dropped him like a stone. Looking up, he saw Manuel attempt to stand, then fall back to the ground. Colin was up, however and moved in very fast.
Colin struck out, surprising himself at landing a lucky blow to Wufei's chin. He saw the Wufei's head move with the punch and it gave him confidence. "Yeah!" he crowed. "Didn't I tell you, you're fuckin with the best, when you fuck with me?!" He moved in again, raising his fist to strike again.
Five blows rained down on Colin in rapid succession, dropping the proud young boy to the ground. Wufei went to one knee, grabbing a handful of Colin's clothes and pulled the young man up. "And didn't I tell you, when you fuck with *me*, you fuck with the Master!" he hissed in Colin's ear.
Another movement caught Wufei's eye and he got to his feet and launched himself at Malcolm Blake. Striking Blake in the solar plexus with the heels of both hands, Wufei saw the man and the gun in his hand fall to the walkway. Obsidian eyes turned to the trembling form of Vincent Roth. "Touch your weapon and my friend will shoot you in he head from across the street. Your name and fortune will not protect you," he said.
Roth looked across the street and saw no one.
"Look up," Wufei advised. A small smile appeared on his face as a red dot of light appeared in the middle of Roth's forehead and another in the center of his chest.
"I'll just take this," a familiar voice said, as Vincent Roth found his arms pulled up behind him and his face on the hood of the black car.
"Who the hell." Roth began, as he felt his gun plucked from his coat.
"Oh yeah! We haven't been formally introduced. Duo Maxwell, at your service. Now, I don't know if you knew this or not, but I don't allow firearms around my kids. Gives them ideas," Duo said, barely paying attention to Roth. He looked at Wufei. "You all right?" he asked, concerned.
Wufei nodded. "That and pissed off," he answered.
Duo grinned, but the concern was still in his eyes. Removing his comm from his pocket, Duo flipped it open. "All clear," he relayed. "Let the parade through."
"Got it, Duo," Quatre's voice returned. "The kids are all safe and the police just towed the van plus occupants away. We're looking at a 98% chance of a conviction rate here."
"Thanks, man," Duo said. Looking down at his captive, he added, "You backed the wrong horse, buddy. I've been talking to your dad. He's not too thrilled with what we had to tell him. Don't think you'll be getting that inheritance after all."
Roth wriggled, but did nothing more.
Trowa appeared in the doorway. He moved to retrieve Malcolm Blake. "I got this one," he said, hauling the man up from the ground. Duo, we got two guys in there with enough C-4 to take out half the neighborhood. They're taking a little nap right now."
Ali pushed past Trowa and moved to Wufei to conduct her own examination. She took a much relieved breath seeing Duo standing there. "This is gonna cost you," she said. "Bomb bait is not in my job description," she said, then turned to Wufei. "Are you all right?"
Wufei frowned. "I am fine, woman," he said long-suffering. "How does that man of yours put up with you?"
Ali licked her lips and smiled. "Do you *really * wanna know?" she asked, then kissed Wufei's ear.
Wufei growled and blushed.
"I'm telling," Duo called out as a couple of men from the neighborhood walked up.
"Anything we can do to help?" one of them asked.
Duo smiled, feeling a sense of relief and affirmation. He knew what the neighborhood was capable of, especially in time of crisis. To outsiders it appeared desolate and hopeless and the people no more than savages. "It's the people and their hearts that matter," he had told the officials in a meeting earlier that day, "Not their clothes or how they look." The second chance was becoming a reality.
Wufei went to check on the three boys who were beginning to come around. Several of the Center kids appeared and he directed them to help the young men inside and help them clean up.
The leader, Colin looked up at Wufei. "Why would care?" he asked.
Wufei smiled. "Life is precious," he said. "And that man over there is trying to make it better for those who need a little help. Now are you going to remain a problem or part of a solution? He could use your help, but you have to be strong."
The young man looked up at Duo, then back to Wufei. "I can do it," he said.
Wufei nodded. "We will see. You've got a good arm. Be here at 6am every Tuesday and Thursday and we'll work on it."
The young man shook his head. "You're a trip, Chang," he said. "Blake was gonna pay me a lot of money."
Wufei shrugged. "None of which he'll be able to spend where he's going," he said, standing.
"Good point, Master Chang," Colin said.
"Come on. Inside with you," Ali said.
"I think you might want to wait here a minute," Duo said, walking up.
Ali looked up at him with an arched eyebrow. A moment or two later, another car pulled up to the curb and several people got out. Ali's eyes widened and a huge smile formed on her face. "Ok, you are redeemed," she said and kissed Duo's cheek quickly then ran to her boyfriend. "Lian!!" she called out excitedly.
"So that's her father?" Wufei said, seeing the tall black walk around the car to greet his daughter.
Duo nodded. "Yeah, apparently Lian and Mr. O'Day have worked out their differences," he said, draping an arm around Wufei's shoulders.
"Good work, Master Maxwell," Wufei replied.
"The police are here late, as I predicted and the press is right behind them," Heero Yuy said, walking up with one little girl on his hip and a small boy clutching his leg. "Have you seen Quatre or Trowa?" he asked.
"Here, Heero," Quatre said, popping his head out of the doorway. "Wufei, you ok?" he asked.
"Fine," Wufei said, leaning against Duo.
"Except for that metal pipe to the back," Heero said, moving into the Center. He transferred the little girl, Missy, to Quatre, then picked the little boy up. "What's rule one, Toby?"
"Always be armed," little Toby replied, rubbing his eyes and yawning.
"Hn," Heero remarked with a little nod.
Duo looked over at Wufei. "No comment," he said.
Wufei shrugged.
"Hey, a lot of things are happening around here, today. It's a start. I just wanted to say thank you for protecting my dream."
Wufei looked up into the violet eyes, once again struck by the total openness of Duo's expression. "I am honored to have done so," he said, bowing to Duo.
"We'll talk later, after the press leaves, about that 'fucking the Master' thing. Sounds intriguing," Duo remarked.
The End
Vonceia
Please send comments to: vonceia@yahoo.com