[Fic] GW500 - 315 - ink, Invisible
Title: Invisible
Author: cailamaia
Pairing/Characters: 2+3+2 friendship, some hints of 1+2+1 and 3x4
Rating: PG for some swears
Warnings/Kinks: post-EW, Duo POV
Word count: 2081
Disclaimer: I don't own them; I just like to mess with them on occasion.
Notes: ~ Thoughts ~
This time last week, I'd thought things would be dull right now. But the universe heard me and decided to be perverse. Here I am, sitting in a dingy dive of a bar, sipping at a beer, waiting for Tro to make an information drop.
We'd gotten a tip last Thursday -- anonymous, of course -- that there was a hidden explosives research lab hidden in the city somewhere. Underground.
A bit of digging by our counterespionage group turned up enough hints that this was true to warrant getting someone inside. As our resident chameleon, Tro got tapped. I guess Une remembered his performances during the wars. Tro has a talent for being invisible.
And so, with enough information gathered at last two days ago, Tro was briefed on his cover, and tossed to the figurative four winds. While I know he can take care of himself, there will always be a large part of me that dislikes it when any one of our inner circle is sent off on a solo mission. I've always felt like that, through both wars and to the present. It's too easy for something to go wrong, and without a safety net or contact ... well.
A flicker of movement in the mirror above the bar catches my attention.
~ Finally. He's late. ~
He drifts over to the bar, totally nonchalant, and perches on the stool beside mine. No eye contact is made, and he orders a beer. He looks odd with his hair styled differently. It feels so surreal to be able to see all of his face. I would never have recognised him if I hadn't seen him use this style before. It feels... off somehow.
His beer in hand, he salutes the bartender with it, pays, and, as he moves to put away his wallet, subtly palms a piece of paper to me. This is what I've been waiting for.
As he walks off to find a table to finish his drink and casually watch the other bar patrons, I toss back the rest of my own drink, and leave. It's high time I left. Heero and Quatre will be waiting anxiously for news of either one of us.
Standing, I have to fight off a slight feeling of dizziness. I've been sitting here for too long and drinking a beer on an empty stomach was probably not the best idea. Oh well. I've felt far worse at times in my life.
Leaving a reasonable tip on the bar, I make for the door, resisting the urge to glance back over at Tro. Heero is waiting for me a few blocks down the well-lit street, at a different bar, with transportation. The scrap of paper was burning a hole in my pocket, but I had to resist the urge to pull it out and read it until I was back at HQ with the others.
~ Wonder how he spent his time. Hopefully he managed to resist glaring at everyone in his bubble of personal space and leaving a big impression like last time. ~
When I walked into the place, I glanced around. It was a lot nicer than the last. But, oddly, Heero was nowhere to be seen.
~ The fuck? Where'd he disappear off to? ~
This was unexpected. I'd been under the impression that he'd be impatiently watching the door. But none of the tables facing the door had a large ring of empty space around it... or a grumpy Heero.
A second glance around the bar finally revealed where he was.
Somehow -- and I would dearly love to know how! -- he'd gotten suckered into playing darts against the bar's resident champion. And, wonder of wonders, they were currently tied. I was impressed -- by the bar champ, not Heero. I knew Heero's hand-eye coordination was by far and away above average. So, it appeared, was this guy's. It was almost tempting to try to recruit him as a sharpshooter.
I shrugged mentally and sidled up unobtrusively to watch.
Of course, my presence didn't go unnoticed for long. After the next round, Heero bowed out -- with the scores still tied -- and turned to me.
"You're late, Duo."
I grinned unrepentantly. "Sorry. Traffic was a nightmare." Everyone standing around watching Heero play darts snickered, knowing that there was almost never any traffic in this part of town. With a shrug I continued, "Lost track of the time. I'd have been here sooner, but I had to catch up with an old friend I ran into out of the blue." I gestured to the grinning darts champ, "I see you've finally met your match."
"Hn. He's good, but I still think he's cheating."
The guy made a face, giving the impression that he got accused of that fairly often, but said nothing. I couldn't help it. I laughed. ~ Now it all makes sense. Heero had to know how he was doing it... ~ "Not everyone who is as good as you is cheating, Heero."
"Come on."
"A moment." It wouldn't do to act anything less than casual and stand out, now that we were about to head out. Turning to the guy Heero'd challenged, I offered a hand. "I don't believe we were properly introduced. Duo Maxwell."
"Darren Walker."
"A pleasure. Mind showing me how you managed to score my unbeatable buddy here to a standstill?"
He smirked. "It's all in the wrist. A little flick, and," picking up a dart, he casually flung it at the board. It stuck quivering in the bullseye. "it flies like a dream."
"I think I'd like to see that in more detail sometime."
"Here, 7pm Sunday?"
"Works for me. See you, then, Walker."
"Bring it on, Maxwell. And bring your buddy, here. I want a rematch."
"Hn. We'll see."
Heero hadn't outright rejected the idea. Interesting.
"Right. Come on, then, Yuy. Let's get out of here. It's high time we got going. Otherwise we'll get reamed."
He said nothing, simply gesturing for me to precede him. A last half-salute to Walker and the others, and we left.
Once we were safely in the nondescript little sedan he'd brought, Heero asked, "Did you make your contact?"
"Like I told you in the bar, I did."
"And?"
"Dunno yet. I haven't looked at the note he slipped me. You know Une frowns on that."
"Hn."
"Let's just get back to HQ. Quat's waiting for us to get back, and that way we can all look at the note without anyone feeling left out."
Heero shrugged at me. "Fine."
The rest of the drive passed in silence. I was distracted by the prospect of finally finding out what Tro wrote to us, and spent the time staring out the window at the passing scenery. My silence -- unusual as it was -- seemed to be putting Heero on edge. I could see the tension in his shoulders in his reflection in the window.
Thankfully the drive was not a very long one.
When we pulled into the parking garage at Preventers, I was half expecting to see Quatre waiting for us there. Once we'd swiped in, the elevator doors opened, and Heero punched the button for the 11th floor.
It turned out that I was half right. He was camped out by the elevators on our floor.
"Duo! Heero! What happened? You're late. Did you make contact?"
Laughing, I made shushing motions with my hands. "Slow down, Quat."
"You'd do the same if it were Heero."
I spared my long-time partner a sidelong glance. He seemed to have taken the statement at face value. "Or any of you three. You know that."
I wasn't quite ready to have my feelings for him revealed. I wasn't sure I ever would. Heero had never given me any hints that he was interested, after all.
Quatre frowned thoughtfully at me. "I suppose."
"Alright, come on, then, you two, and let's see what Tro's trying to tell us." Turning down the hallway, I led them to the well-lit office Heero and I shared.
Pulling the piece of paper out of my pocket, I set it on the desk and it was immediately snatched up by Quatre.
His eyes widened as he unfolded it. "What -- ?"
"Problem, Quat?"
"It's blank."
"What?! Please tell me you're joking!"
"Duo." Heero was giving me a measuring look. "Are you sure that's the piece of paper Trowa handed you?"
"Damn right, I am! I had nothing else in my jacket pockets!"
We exchanged a look, before I ventured, "So what the hell does this mean?"
"Normally, he would just use code," Quatre mused, "... unless this is his code?"
Heero looked skeptical. "A blank piece of paper?"
"Well," I drawled out the word, "it could mean he found nothing."
Quatre leapt to his lover's defense. "I doubt that he found nothing. He always manages to turn up something."
"Fine, fine. So he found something, but can't tell us?"
This time Heero shot down my little theory. "That makes no logical sense. There was no one at the bar who saw you pocket the paper. Trowa would have noticed a tail. And so would you, when they would have followed you. So it makes no sense to leave the paper blank."
I held up a finger. "Ah, but it does if he didn't want to be seen writing it."
That got their attention. Heero nodded slowly. "Possible."
"But what would he do to get around that?" I mused to myself. "How do you write a note and still have a blank piece of paper...?" My eyes widened as a thought hit me. "Guys, I know the concept is archaic, but what if he used invisible ink?"
Heero snorted. "That outdated pre-colony technology? No one uses that."
I grinned. "Precisely! It's so outdated that no one would think to look for it."
Quatre was staring at me with a look of mingled astonishment and amusement. "You might just be onto something there, Duo. How do we make it appear, though?"
"Not sure. There're a variety of different kinds[1,2]. And I have no idea what Tro used, or even if my hunch is right."
"Heero," Quatre turned to face him, "can you do some quick searches and find out?"
He shrugged. "If you think it's worth the time. I'm not quite convinced."
"Do it."
"Fine."
Some five minutes later, we had a few ideas to try. Based on the types of invisible inks that Heero'd turned up, we reasoned that Tro had most probably used one that would show up when heated. Most of the others would be hard to explain away having. But something innocuous like a bottle of water with a bit of sugar in it could be overlooked. Quatre dispatched me to find a heat source.
~ Where the hell he expects me to find that, though, I have no idea. ~
I eventually managed to buy a cigarette lighter off one of the security guards downstairs in the lobby. It was worth the few credits.
When I returned, Quat was impatiently tapping his fingers on my desk. He looked up sharply when I entered, holding up the lighter with a flourish.
Heero eyed it. "Just don't burn the paper."
"I know, I know. Hand it over, Quat, and let's find out if I've guessed right."
He reluctantly did as requested. Carefully, I held the lighter flame a few inches below the paper. A few seconds later, like magic, writing started appearing. I smirked at Heero. Oh, how I love being right.
Moving the page back and forth until all of the writing was revealed, I glanced down at what was written. "And this is in code. But I think I recognise the cipher. Looks like one of the new ones Une asked for that I haven't quite got memorised yet."
Quatre raised an eyebrow at me. "You're slipping, Duo."
"Oi! We just got those codes two days ago!"
Heero joined in the verbal fray. "Barton had time to memorise it."
I pretended to stagger. "You wound me."
All Heero did was hold out a hand, expectantly. "I'll decode this and pass it on to Une. It's her call what to do with the information."
Much though I wanted to disagree, he was right. ~ But with any luck we'll get to blow some shit up tomorrow. ~
~*~*~*~*~
Notes:
[1]Wikipedia - invisible ink
[2]The Very Visible Battle Over Invisible Ink
Author: cailamaia
Pairing/Characters: 2+3+2 friendship, some hints of 1+2+1 and 3x4
Rating: PG for some swears
Warnings/Kinks: post-EW, Duo POV
Word count: 2081
Disclaimer: I don't own them; I just like to mess with them on occasion.
Notes: ~ Thoughts ~
This time last week, I'd thought things would be dull right now. But the universe heard me and decided to be perverse. Here I am, sitting in a dingy dive of a bar, sipping at a beer, waiting for Tro to make an information drop.
We'd gotten a tip last Thursday -- anonymous, of course -- that there was a hidden explosives research lab hidden in the city somewhere. Underground.
A bit of digging by our counterespionage group turned up enough hints that this was true to warrant getting someone inside. As our resident chameleon, Tro got tapped. I guess Une remembered his performances during the wars. Tro has a talent for being invisible.
And so, with enough information gathered at last two days ago, Tro was briefed on his cover, and tossed to the figurative four winds. While I know he can take care of himself, there will always be a large part of me that dislikes it when any one of our inner circle is sent off on a solo mission. I've always felt like that, through both wars and to the present. It's too easy for something to go wrong, and without a safety net or contact ... well.
A flicker of movement in the mirror above the bar catches my attention.
~ Finally. He's late. ~
He drifts over to the bar, totally nonchalant, and perches on the stool beside mine. No eye contact is made, and he orders a beer. He looks odd with his hair styled differently. It feels so surreal to be able to see all of his face. I would never have recognised him if I hadn't seen him use this style before. It feels... off somehow.
His beer in hand, he salutes the bartender with it, pays, and, as he moves to put away his wallet, subtly palms a piece of paper to me. This is what I've been waiting for.
As he walks off to find a table to finish his drink and casually watch the other bar patrons, I toss back the rest of my own drink, and leave. It's high time I left. Heero and Quatre will be waiting anxiously for news of either one of us.
Standing, I have to fight off a slight feeling of dizziness. I've been sitting here for too long and drinking a beer on an empty stomach was probably not the best idea. Oh well. I've felt far worse at times in my life.
Leaving a reasonable tip on the bar, I make for the door, resisting the urge to glance back over at Tro. Heero is waiting for me a few blocks down the well-lit street, at a different bar, with transportation. The scrap of paper was burning a hole in my pocket, but I had to resist the urge to pull it out and read it until I was back at HQ with the others.
~ Wonder how he spent his time. Hopefully he managed to resist glaring at everyone in his bubble of personal space and leaving a big impression like last time. ~
When I walked into the place, I glanced around. It was a lot nicer than the last. But, oddly, Heero was nowhere to be seen.
~ The fuck? Where'd he disappear off to? ~
This was unexpected. I'd been under the impression that he'd be impatiently watching the door. But none of the tables facing the door had a large ring of empty space around it... or a grumpy Heero.
A second glance around the bar finally revealed where he was.
Somehow -- and I would dearly love to know how! -- he'd gotten suckered into playing darts against the bar's resident champion. And, wonder of wonders, they were currently tied. I was impressed -- by the bar champ, not Heero. I knew Heero's hand-eye coordination was by far and away above average. So, it appeared, was this guy's. It was almost tempting to try to recruit him as a sharpshooter.
I shrugged mentally and sidled up unobtrusively to watch.
Of course, my presence didn't go unnoticed for long. After the next round, Heero bowed out -- with the scores still tied -- and turned to me.
"You're late, Duo."
I grinned unrepentantly. "Sorry. Traffic was a nightmare." Everyone standing around watching Heero play darts snickered, knowing that there was almost never any traffic in this part of town. With a shrug I continued, "Lost track of the time. I'd have been here sooner, but I had to catch up with an old friend I ran into out of the blue." I gestured to the grinning darts champ, "I see you've finally met your match."
"Hn. He's good, but I still think he's cheating."
The guy made a face, giving the impression that he got accused of that fairly often, but said nothing. I couldn't help it. I laughed. ~ Now it all makes sense. Heero had to know how he was doing it... ~ "Not everyone who is as good as you is cheating, Heero."
"Come on."
"A moment." It wouldn't do to act anything less than casual and stand out, now that we were about to head out. Turning to the guy Heero'd challenged, I offered a hand. "I don't believe we were properly introduced. Duo Maxwell."
"Darren Walker."
"A pleasure. Mind showing me how you managed to score my unbeatable buddy here to a standstill?"
He smirked. "It's all in the wrist. A little flick, and," picking up a dart, he casually flung it at the board. It stuck quivering in the bullseye. "it flies like a dream."
"I think I'd like to see that in more detail sometime."
"Here, 7pm Sunday?"
"Works for me. See you, then, Walker."
"Bring it on, Maxwell. And bring your buddy, here. I want a rematch."
"Hn. We'll see."
Heero hadn't outright rejected the idea. Interesting.
"Right. Come on, then, Yuy. Let's get out of here. It's high time we got going. Otherwise we'll get reamed."
He said nothing, simply gesturing for me to precede him. A last half-salute to Walker and the others, and we left.
Once we were safely in the nondescript little sedan he'd brought, Heero asked, "Did you make your contact?"
"Like I told you in the bar, I did."
"And?"
"Dunno yet. I haven't looked at the note he slipped me. You know Une frowns on that."
"Hn."
"Let's just get back to HQ. Quat's waiting for us to get back, and that way we can all look at the note without anyone feeling left out."
Heero shrugged at me. "Fine."
The rest of the drive passed in silence. I was distracted by the prospect of finally finding out what Tro wrote to us, and spent the time staring out the window at the passing scenery. My silence -- unusual as it was -- seemed to be putting Heero on edge. I could see the tension in his shoulders in his reflection in the window.
Thankfully the drive was not a very long one.
When we pulled into the parking garage at Preventers, I was half expecting to see Quatre waiting for us there. Once we'd swiped in, the elevator doors opened, and Heero punched the button for the 11th floor.
It turned out that I was half right. He was camped out by the elevators on our floor.
"Duo! Heero! What happened? You're late. Did you make contact?"
Laughing, I made shushing motions with my hands. "Slow down, Quat."
"You'd do the same if it were Heero."
I spared my long-time partner a sidelong glance. He seemed to have taken the statement at face value. "Or any of you three. You know that."
I wasn't quite ready to have my feelings for him revealed. I wasn't sure I ever would. Heero had never given me any hints that he was interested, after all.
Quatre frowned thoughtfully at me. "I suppose."
"Alright, come on, then, you two, and let's see what Tro's trying to tell us." Turning down the hallway, I led them to the well-lit office Heero and I shared.
Pulling the piece of paper out of my pocket, I set it on the desk and it was immediately snatched up by Quatre.
His eyes widened as he unfolded it. "What -- ?"
"Problem, Quat?"
"It's blank."
"What?! Please tell me you're joking!"
"Duo." Heero was giving me a measuring look. "Are you sure that's the piece of paper Trowa handed you?"
"Damn right, I am! I had nothing else in my jacket pockets!"
We exchanged a look, before I ventured, "So what the hell does this mean?"
"Normally, he would just use code," Quatre mused, "... unless this is his code?"
Heero looked skeptical. "A blank piece of paper?"
"Well," I drawled out the word, "it could mean he found nothing."
Quatre leapt to his lover's defense. "I doubt that he found nothing. He always manages to turn up something."
"Fine, fine. So he found something, but can't tell us?"
This time Heero shot down my little theory. "That makes no logical sense. There was no one at the bar who saw you pocket the paper. Trowa would have noticed a tail. And so would you, when they would have followed you. So it makes no sense to leave the paper blank."
I held up a finger. "Ah, but it does if he didn't want to be seen writing it."
That got their attention. Heero nodded slowly. "Possible."
"But what would he do to get around that?" I mused to myself. "How do you write a note and still have a blank piece of paper...?" My eyes widened as a thought hit me. "Guys, I know the concept is archaic, but what if he used invisible ink?"
Heero snorted. "That outdated pre-colony technology? No one uses that."
I grinned. "Precisely! It's so outdated that no one would think to look for it."
Quatre was staring at me with a look of mingled astonishment and amusement. "You might just be onto something there, Duo. How do we make it appear, though?"
"Not sure. There're a variety of different kinds[1,2]. And I have no idea what Tro used, or even if my hunch is right."
"Heero," Quatre turned to face him, "can you do some quick searches and find out?"
He shrugged. "If you think it's worth the time. I'm not quite convinced."
"Do it."
"Fine."
Some five minutes later, we had a few ideas to try. Based on the types of invisible inks that Heero'd turned up, we reasoned that Tro had most probably used one that would show up when heated. Most of the others would be hard to explain away having. But something innocuous like a bottle of water with a bit of sugar in it could be overlooked. Quatre dispatched me to find a heat source.
~ Where the hell he expects me to find that, though, I have no idea. ~
I eventually managed to buy a cigarette lighter off one of the security guards downstairs in the lobby. It was worth the few credits.
When I returned, Quat was impatiently tapping his fingers on my desk. He looked up sharply when I entered, holding up the lighter with a flourish.
Heero eyed it. "Just don't burn the paper."
"I know, I know. Hand it over, Quat, and let's find out if I've guessed right."
He reluctantly did as requested. Carefully, I held the lighter flame a few inches below the paper. A few seconds later, like magic, writing started appearing. I smirked at Heero. Oh, how I love being right.
Moving the page back and forth until all of the writing was revealed, I glanced down at what was written. "And this is in code. But I think I recognise the cipher. Looks like one of the new ones Une asked for that I haven't quite got memorised yet."
Quatre raised an eyebrow at me. "You're slipping, Duo."
"Oi! We just got those codes two days ago!"
Heero joined in the verbal fray. "Barton had time to memorise it."
I pretended to stagger. "You wound me."
All Heero did was hold out a hand, expectantly. "I'll decode this and pass it on to Une. It's her call what to do with the information."
Much though I wanted to disagree, he was right. ~ But with any luck we'll get to blow some shit up tomorrow. ~
~*~*~*~*~
Notes:
[1]Wikipedia - invisible ink
[2]The Very Visible Battle Over Invisible Ink