Blood, Sweat and Tears Part 4
As he slipped past the gate and into the waiting area of the Chicago National Airport, the braided running back peered over the anxious faces around. "Duo!" he heard the familiar voice call from the back of the crowd waiting to see their loved ones. Lifting his sunglasses to rest them on his head, the American smiled widely at the welcoming sight of the one that called for him making her way towards him.
Leaping into his opening arms, Hilde wrapped her arms tightly around him and kissed his cheek. "It's so good to have you back," she sighed deeply. "The kids have been going absolutely crazy without you."
With his own arms holding her tight, Duo chuckled deeply, "Good to see you, too, Hil. Sorry I've been away for so long, but it took a while to get the new place set up to both my own and Quat's liking." So as to clear the way for the other arrivals, they clasped hands and skirted their way through the crowd together.
On their way to the baggage claim, Hilde tilted her head and examined the bruises that she could see much more clearly on the running back's face. At her close proximity, the thin layer of liquid cover-up that was used did not hide the dark traces nearly as well as they did from even a short distance. Raising an eyebrow, she smirked, "I see that you're making friends with your new teammates."
Groaning, Duo lowered his sunglasses back onto his nose and kept his voice down as he replied, "I'll tell you all about it when we get home. This really isn't the place to be discussing it." The short-haired young woman just nodded and didn't press any further.
The drive from the airport was made in companionable silence. Driving into the city, they soon reached one of the more run-down areas of town. Finally, they pulled into the two-story apartment complex that they owned. From the nearly condemned homes and buildings around, a variety of loud music was playing and several people were talking in the streets.
Duo removed his sunglasses and pulled his two suitcases from the back of the car as the young woman held the front door opened to him. Smiling widely, Hilde called, "Kids, look who's home!"
Within seconds, five children varying races and aging from four to eight peeked out from different corners. Gasping and smiling widely, the group gave cries of 'Duo!' and ran towards him. Quickly lowering his cases and closing the door behind him, Duo bent down to his knees. Opening his arms, we wrapped them tightly around his greeters. "How are my little ankle biters?" he asked with a wide smile while rubbing the top of their heads.
From the room that had been knocked out to be turned into a living room, three teenagers no older than fourteen entered with wide eyes and elated smiles. Making his way downstairs, a young man with blonde hair and brown eyes smirked as he watched the braided running back take the time to hug each of the little ones. "Good to have you back, brother," he said warmly when he was finally able to get near.
Rising to his feet, Duo pulled the blonde into a one-armed embrace and grinned, "Thanks, Solo." When he tried to walk, he laughed down at the giggling children wrapped around his legs, "All right, kiddos. Just give me a minute to get settled in and I promise that I'll get more time to play with you."
A little girl with curly, brown hair kept her small arms around his right leg and pouted sweetly, "But you'll just go away again."
His heart breaking, the braided football player carefully extracted her from his leg to lift her up in his arms. Lightly kissing her cheek, he grinned reassuringly, "I'm going to be here for a few months, until it starts warming up again, Jamie. And when I go away again, it won't be for as long as this last time."
Jamie's big, green eyes grew as she gasped, "Really?" The other children chorused the same question anxiously and bounced on their feet.
"Really," Duo nodded firmly to the girl in his arms. As the smaller children cheered, one of the three teenagers moved close and gently took the little girl into his own arms.
The African American boy smiled, "Come on, Jamie. Let's get back to our movie so that Duo can relax for a bit. He just had a long morning with his trip." The girl nodded and settled into his arms comfortable.
Resting a hand over the back of the teenager's neck, Duo smiled gratefully, "Thank you, Marcus." Lightly pulling him into a hug, he told him, "After your 'Aunt Hilde' gives me a good drilling, I'll be right back." From where she was leaning against the stairwell, the said young woman smirked and rolled her eyes. The boy chuckled knowingly with a quiet, 'Okay.'
Finally able to get near, the remaining two teenagers approached. The girl, only thirteen and of Latin decent, grinned, "We'll keep them occupied for however long it takes." Behind her, the Asian fourteen-year- old nodded firmly with a smile of his own.
Embracing them and kissing their heads of dark hair, Duo told them gently, "I can always count on you, Flora and Tai. It shouldn't be too long."
Solo insisted on taking the suitcases and headed back up stairs with them. Gently resting a hand on the American's shoulder, Hilde smiled, "Let me make up some tea for you. We have a lot to talk about." Inwardly moaning at the thought of having to share the prior night's events, Duo silently followed her down the long hallway to the back two bedrooms that had been turned into a large kitchen.
Taking a seat at the large table that seated eleven, the braided young man sighed deeply, "Man, spring just is not getting here soon enough. The sooner that we break ground, the sooner I'll be able to sleep better at night. I don't know what I would do if it hadn't been for you and that husband of yours to look after things while I'm gone."
Hilde poured water into the tea kettle and chuckled deeply, "Well, we don't have too much longer to wait now. Believe me, I'll be thrilled when we can get these kids out of this neighborhood, too. It'll be nice when they can actually play outside without having to worry about looking over their shoulders." Starting one of the burners, she sighed deeply, "There were gunshots just a couple blocks from here from another drive-by."
Duo swallowed roughly and suppressed a shudder. Since his own childhood, he had seen the area deteriorate to the hell that it had become. As much as he wanted to find some temporary placement, his options were pretty few when it came to housing seven youngsters. Better to just put his eggs in the basket that he was weaving for something permanent. Thankfully, the agonizing wait was almost over.
Stepping into the room, Solo sat beside his braided friend and smirked, "Nice bruises you have, there. Who did you manage to offend in Pittsburgh in less than two weeks?" His short-haired wife took the seat across from him at the other side of the running back with an eager expression to hear his response.
With a deep sigh, Duo lowered his head a bit and answered quietly, "Heero Yuy, the quarterback. I was hosting a party last night to get to meet the team and I found him in my room looking through my things."
The young couple exchanged a surprised look before turning back to face their friend for the rest of it. Shrugging, the football player admitted, "I said something out of line about his parents and we went at it. I didn't know until after the fact that his parents had been killed in a car accident last summer."
As it all sunk in, Solo dry-washed his face with a muttered, "Shit. Sounds like it was one hell of a party, then."
"Well," Hilde piped in after biting her lip, "I'm not going to go into the riot act, since I am more than certain Quatre already handled that." Duo shifted uncomfortably in his chair, proving her theory right, but remained quiet. "But you apologized, right?" she pressed. When the running back did not so much as raise his head, her eyes widened with a shouted, "You mean haven't apologized to him yet!?"
Glaring at her, Duo replied, "No. I was waiting for an apology from him first, considering the fact that he was the one that stepped out of line first. He won't get anything from me until he says that he's sorry first."
* * * * * *
"If that son of a bitch is waiting to hear an apology from me, he better not hold his damn breath!" Heero yelled as he pulled the milk carton from the refrigerator. With the cut on his head closed off by a band-aid and a few bruises shining through on his face, he stormed towards the kitchen table.
Sitting across from him was the young woman whom for the last five years had served as a cleaning and cooking aid to the Yuys. When the man and woman of the house passed, she had insisted that she stay to look after Heero and had become like a second mother to him. Always a very prim and proper lady, the quarterback always addressed her as such.
A small, sad smile tugged the lovely woman's face as she inquired, "Even though you were the one to start the whole mess by going into his room? Had you kept your curiosity in check, he wouldn't have felt inclined to jab you in such a way."
Just when her young friend was about to open his mouth, she held up her hand and said sincerely, "Now, I loved your parents dearly. And I would never stand for anyone making such a crude comment about them. However, you know better than to just go through someone else's belongings without permission. Your parents raised you better than that."
Wincing, Heero sighed deeply and lowered his head with a quiet, "Yes, Lady Une. I didn't mean any harm. I just wasn't thinking clearly. You know that when I'm set in doing something, I don't let anything get in my way... even my own reasoning at times."
"Fair enough," Lady Une nodded, her smile warming. "You're just like your father. Bull-headed and hell-bent to getting what you want." Propping her folded hands onto the table, she stated, "And in this case, you want answers. Did you ever consider just asking this Duo where he went to school, or what his family is like?"
Heero gave a bitter snort as he poured the milk into the glass that he had waiting for him. Frowning deeply, he replied, "He asked me the same thing when he caught me. I think that the likelihood of his being willing to tell me anything is pretty much shot now."
Unable to help her deep chuckle, the brunette aid folded her arms and smirked, "And does it really matter where he came from, or what his family is like? Does your not knowing more about him other than what you know from the media during his career make a difference on whether or not you can work together?"
Roughly swallowing the mouthful of milk that he was in the middle of gulping, the quarterback considered his words. After a long pause, he lowered the glass once more and shrugged, "No. I guess that it doesn't, really."
Pleased with that, Lady Une raised and eyebrow and grinned, "So you are sorry, then? Seeing now that you went and broke a trust that you really didn't need to?"
Finally raising his head to meet her brown-eyed gaze, Heero laughed, "You really know how to kick a guy when he's down, you know." His dear friend's smile only grew as she nodded. "Of course I am," he agreed at last. With a sly smirk of his own, he added, "But I'm not about to tell him that. At least not right now... but I will eventually."
Rising to her feet, the young woman rounded the table and lightly kissed the top of his unruly head of hair. "I'll take that over nothing," she told him softly. "It is never easy to admit to our mistakes or shortcomings, but I know that you will do the right thing in the end like you always do."
At the small kiss, Heero swallowed past the lump in his throat and tried not to remember how his mother would do the same thing when she was still alive. Looking up to meet the eyes watching him, he squeezed the hand closest to his own as he spoke in little more than a whisper, "Thanks for listening, Lady Une. I needed that."
"My pleasure," she winked with that pleasant smile of hers. Squeezing the hand back, she whispered, "I'm glad that I can be here for you." That said, she patted his shoulder and took the milk carton from the room along with her.
Closing his eyes, Heero raised his head to rest against the chair back. Much as he hated to admit it, he knew that he would have to apologize to Duo the next time that he saw him. Until then, at least he had some time to decide just how the hell he was going to get the nerve to go through with it.
* * * * * *
"Men are so damned proud!" Hilde growled deeply, careful to keep her voice down so as not to have the children hear her swear. "You were looking for a fight, and you know it. Unfortunately, Heero gave you a reason to rustle his feathers. Why can't you just own up to your part in the fight and tell him that you're sorry?"
His violet eyes narrowing on her, Duo hissed quietly, "Because that asshole doesn't know what it's like to have to starve for days on the streets, wondering where the hell he was going to find shelter before the next storm came rolling in. He never had to freeze or beg. I can't stand people who have life handed to them on a silver platter and take all of it for granted."
Shaking his head, Solo frowned sadly, "You don't know if he takes it all for granted, Duo. You hardly know the guy and you're already judging him to be the same as the rich kids from these parts that laughed and looked down on us. Not every privileged person is spoiled and unappreciative."
Roughly folding his arms across his chest, the braided American huffed, "Sure they are, to some degree. While he might not come right out and act like he's better than anyone else, I know that he's thinking it. Same with all of those other pricks like Treize and Noventa."
"All right," Hilde finally gritted. "Let's just say that he is like all of those spoiled kids that walked with noses in the air. You still had no right to attack his parents the way that you did. Even if they were alive, that was a terribly low blow even for you. Family is one of the only things that you respect."
Pointing to the doorway, she reminded, "You would not have taken up eight children without their own families if you didn't appreciate how important it is for them to have someone that would look after them."
Knocked back on his heels by that, Duo sunk into his chair as if the young woman had physically punched him in the stomach. Solo remained still, but his brown eyes spoke of his own disappointment as they locked with the violet eyes that turned to him.
After a long pause, the running back took a deep breath. "You're right," he admitted softly, staring out at nothing as his stomach's wrenching returned at full force. "I was out of line for what I said and I deserved what came of it."
Both Solo and Hilde sighed deeply, their shoulders sagging as they sat back in their seats. "So you're going to apologize, then?" the young woman asked. While she had won the argument, she had no sign of joy of it. She hated having to hit her friend with such a harsh reality that he had crossed a line that he saw as sacred, but he needed to have his eyes opened.
Running a hand through his long bangs, Duo nodded, "Yea... eventually." Small smiles brightened his friends' faces at that. Quickly finishing off the tea that he had been nursing, he rose from his seat and announced, "I'm going to go catch up with the kids." Within moments of his departure, Solo and Hilde could hear a loud round of cheers of 'Daddy!' echoing from the living room.
The blonde young man began assisting his wife in clearing the table with a reassuring, "He'll come along, Hil. Of all of us, he had the worst experience before he was able to find someone that cared enough to take care of him."
"I know," the young woman sighed deeply. "I know. And when Sister Helen died that was the icing on the cake in his hating the world. The only time he's ever really happy is when he's here with the little ones. I just wish that he would find some kind of peace with everything that happened to him."
Walking towards the sink, Solo thought aloud, "He won't be at peace until he has them out of here. Then, he'll be able to breathe easier. The fact that he hasn't been able to put this place behind him certainly hasn't helped him cope with everything that he experienced while growing up here."
Gently lowering the tea cups that he was carrying into the sink, he wrapped his arms around his wife's waist and kissed her cheek. "By this time next year, we'll all be in our new place. We don't have much longer to wait."
Her smile returning, Hilde wrapped her arms around the tall young man's neck and nodded, "Yea. Then we can all finally move on." Leaning in, she kissed her husband soundly before pulling away to finish the dishes.
* * * * * *
Later that evening....
Quatre was just entering the house, his arms filled with grocery bags, when the vidphone rang. Muttering a small curse to himself, he quickly lowered the items onto the nearest couch and ran to answer. When he opened the screen, his eyes widened at the image of the caller. "Heero," he greeted with a wide smile. "This is a pleasant surprise."
Nodding firmly, the quarterback gave a friendly smile and replied, "Good to see you, Quatre. I was actually calling to talk to Duo. Is he home?"
With a wince, the blonde agent answered, "Actually, he is going to be out of town for the next couple months until the spring training begins. I could give you his cell phone number if you'd like, or I could pass a message on to him."
"A few months?" Heero repeated. 'Why the hell would he just skip town like that?' he thought to himself. 'He didn't seem the type to run and hide.' Maybe, with luck and some time before their next meeting, whatever damage was done would just sort itself out without his needing to apologize.
Shaking his head, the Japanese athlete finally said, "That's all right, Quatre. It wasn't important." And with a brief salutation, the call ended and the screen went black.
The Arab young man straightened himself and blinked in confusion. "Now I wonder what that was all about."
TBC...
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