Notes: My big thank you goes to my wonderful beta Lucid Nightmare!
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On the Run Part 5
A frown settling on his face, Heero dropped to his knees and started to run his hands through the midnight black fur of his dog. He could find no injury, nothing that would cause this much blood.
"What's wrong?" The soldier Heero talked to just a couple of minutes ago got up from his chair, and crouched next to the Enforcer.
Heero looked at him and blinked once in surprise. He didn't notice that the man was quite that huge while he was sitting at the table. "Nothing," the brown haired young man replied, wiping his hands off on his dark trousers.
The soldier frowned, deep wrinkles creasing his forehead under the bush of his salt-and-pepper hair. "Is it blood?" he asked, catching Heero's hand in his and turning it palm up to reveal the dark red smears.
The Enforcer froze, and had to fight off the natural reaction of breaking the man's arm. Noticing Heero's reaction, the soldier let him go. "Yes," the young man answered.
The older man waited for Heero to continue, but getting no other answer, he asked again. "Is he hurt?"
The Enforcer frowned at him. "No, he isn't. I think he went on a hunt." With that Heero got up, patting the dog on the head. Shinigami wagged his tail a bit, looking like the world's happiest puppy instead of the dangerous creature he was.
The soldier got up, too, the dark expression still marring his face. He scratched at his graying beard for a moment. "Would your dog attack a human?" he asked.
Heero narrowed his eyes a bit. "Of course." The man's eyes widened at the admission. "He is a watcher, to guard and protect, not some puppy to cuddle. If he wasn't able to attack anybody I order, he would be of very little use to me."
Before the man could ask anything else, Tosten returned, a sour expression on his face. He set the bowl of broth on the bar with a loud bang, leaving them alone again.
"And would he attack without you ordering him to do it?" The man wouldn't leave it alone.
Heero picked up the bowl, then turned to him again. "Yes, if he found it necessary to protect anyone, then he would attack. He is well trained." As if understanding what had been said about him, Shinigami wagged his tail again.
The soldier opened his mouth to ask something else, but Heero glared at him and he changed his mind. He stuck out his right hand. "My name's Rufus. I'm the captain of His Highness' personal guard."
Heero hesitated a bit, then shook his hand. He didn't bother to introduce himself, though.
Rufus raised his eyebrows, then his face was filled with amusement. "Suspicious, aren't you?" he laughed, resting his hands on his hips.
The Enforcer didn't deem it necessary to reply to that comment. Instead he slapped his thigh, giving Shinigami an order to follow him, then he headed for the stairs.
"Do you know why I asked about the dog killing a human?" the soldier called after him.
Heero stopped at the first step, but didn't turn around. Shinigami did turn around though, trying to look like the most carefree creature on earth.
"Because there are no animals big enough to bleed this much around here in winter, young man."
Not answering the implication, the Enforcer started to ascend the stairs. Shinigami wagged his tail at Rufus one last time, and baring his teeth, he threw a glance at Warrick standing in the kitchen door. Then he followed his master up the stairs.
Rufus watched them go, then turned to look at Warrick, who was now pale as a sheet. Horror was written in his features as he stared at the place where the black beast was standing just a couple of seconds ago.
"Hm, I wonder whom he hunted," Rufus mumbled under his breath, watching Warrick disappear into the kitchen.
~*~
"Come on! Push! You have to push!" Trowa ordered the panting, exhausted lifebearer, who lay limply in his mate's arms. Mil's body shuddered with another contraction, but the blond man could only groan. Trowa wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. This wasn't going well at all.
"Maybe you could give him another cup of that potion?" Treize suggested. He looked rather desperate as he sat behind his mate, supporting him and wiping his sweat-stained face with a wet piece of cloth. "He looked better after he drank it." He pointed at the now empty cup, sitting on the night table.
Trowa, who was kneeling between the blond man's spread legs, shook his head. "It's dangerous. It can give you more strength and energy temporarily, but it also makes the heart beat faster, which puts a lot of strain on the body. In Mil's state, it could kill him."
Crestfallen, the Count looked down at his mate and kissed the top of his head. Mil raised his glassy eyes to Treize and his lips that were bloody from him biting through them in an effort not to scream moved. "I'm... sorry..." he whispered, shuddering again, a keening sound leaving his throat as another contraction seized his body. He had no strength left to answer the call of his body.
Cursing Tosten to the ninth hell and back, Trowa looked the aristocrat in the eyes. "Treize, he has to push. He has to. The baby wants out. If that doesn't happen, they will both die." The healer hated the look of horror that settled on the Count's face. "If worse comes to worse, I can get your son out, but Mil..."
"Get the... baby out..." Mil whispered through his tightly clenched teeth. "Save... him!"
Trowa swallowed painfully and tore his eyes from the pain-twisted face of the lifebearer. This wasn't his choice.
"You coward!"
The healer's head shot up as he heard the Count shout. Treize was now looking down in his mate's confused face, rage written in his feature where just a couple of seconds ago horror and desperation ruled.
"You're nothing but a coward, Milliardo!" the aristocrat continued to shout. "You've been the captain of my personal guard! You've beaten Rufus in hand-to-hand! You've even defeated me in sword fighting!"
He shook with rage so palpable, that Trowa could almost feel it on his tongue.
"How dare you!! How dare you try to leave me alone here! We have fought side by side in the army! You even pulled me out of that damn sleigh when we got caught in the avalanche! And now you decide to simply DIE? No! Not in this lifetime! I won't let you leave me!"
Mil was looking at him, an indescribable expression on his face. But when another contration ripped through his body, his muscles clenched as he used all the strength he had left to push. He cried and screamed, almost removing himself from his mate's arms.
"That's it!" Trowa encouraged the other man. "Come on. Come on!"
The blond man was sobbing now, shaking like a leaf, but the soft murmurs of his mate coaxed him to reach deeper into his reserve, to use all he had to give life to their baby.
"I can see him! Only a moment now. Just a little more. Please!"
"I caaaaaaan't!" Mil screamed, the last ounce of strength leaving his body together with the miracle of new life.
Trowa was kneeling between the pale, trembling legs as the child left his bearer's birth channel and slipped into his waiting hands. Taking one deep breath, the wrinkled, slippery bundle started to cry for all he was worth, protesting against the harshness of the world. The healer lifted the child higher for the new parents to see, and smiled one of his rare, genuine smiles.
Treize laughed out loud with happiness. He squeezed his sweat-soaked mate tightly. "Love, you did it!" he couldn't stop laughing, feeling the strain and anxiety leave his body. "Isn't he beautiful, Mil?" When his mate didn't answer him, he looked down worriedly, but the clouds that started to gather on his face disappeared almost instantly.
Milliardo was sleeping the sleep of the bone deep exhausted.
~*~
The room was quite safe for the cracking of wood in the fireplace. Curled up, Duo was facing the wall, pretending to be asleep. He drank the broth Heero brought him, welcomed the black beast that was Shinigami... and all the time he was listening to groans, screams and shouts coming from the next room.
He could handle it, he really thought he could. But when he heard the first cry of the newborn baby, his heart seized and tiny, shaky sobs started to force themselves out of his throat. By the gods, he hated to be so emotional, to feel this way... But it hurt so incredibly much, knowing that he could have had the same thing if...
There was a warm hand on his shoulder. Heero lifted the covers and slipped under them, spooning behind his mate and bringing him close to his chest. In the safe haven of the Enforcer's arms, Duo let himself cry for his loss for the last time. For when he woke up, he would never look back again. It was time to let the past rest.
TBC...
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