Crimson Ties Part 13
Quatre was not in the room when Duo entered. A note had been left on the washboard that his friend was working in the lab late that night and not to worry. It was a pretty common practice for Winner to take advantage of having the equipment to himself.
And truth be told, the braided teenager was grateful to have some time alone after his night with Heero and his family... more specifically after what had transpired between him and the Vampire just minutes before.
Once his bearings of Midi's stew were secured in his personal refrigerator, Maxwell turned his stereo on for some music before he fell onto his mattress. Staring up at the ceiling, his mind continued to wrap itself around the startling thoughts rising up from the deepest recesses of his consciousness.
He reached up to run his fingers over his lips, still feeling the hint of the chill on them from where Heero's mouth brushed against them. Moving the back of his hand, he ran it against his cheek that the librarian had slipped his own fingers over.
That closeness... that almost... intimate moment between them sent another shudder through Duo's body. Never before would he have allowed any Vampire that near him. And yet... there was a part of him that wanted Heero even closer.
One slip forward and they would have been kissing. But, that was the last thing that the braided teenager ever wanted to have happen.
'Who the hell are you kidding?' a voice in his head taunted. 'You wanted him to kiss you.'
Groaning, Duo threw his arm over his closing eyes and hissed, "Fuck off." The voice chuckled deeply, but refrained from saying anymore to bury itself in the back of his mind where he locked it away again.
Slowly pulling his arm back, he sighed deeply and thought more on Heero's family as a means of not thinking of the unruly-haired Vampire any longer than he should. Trowa, Wufei, Midi and Anna had all proven to be every bit as kind and decent as Quatre had described them.
While on one hand it was a relief, there was still that nagging desire to hate their kind that had hoped they'd justify his anger towards them. Only now, that desire was diminishing from how deeply it ran in him before.
"It's easier to hate than it is to love."
Midi's words washed over Duo again, taking hold as he really got a good look at himself and how ugly his own hatred was. He needed to work on that, to work that anger and despise away with understanding and appreciation. It was officially time to peel back the biased opinions and let go of the darkness that surrounded him.
And he needed to accept other changes in him, too... namely his feelings involving Heero. There was a reason why he always gravitated towards the Infected, even longing for his presence. And, yes, he couldn't completely deny that maybe he actually did wish that they'd kissed.
Those things would all be have to be looked at more closely. Eventually.
Hearing footsteps approaching the door, Maxwell looked to the door as it opened to admit his roommate. With a grin, he greeted, "Hey, Quat."
"Duo," the blonde smiled with a firm nod. Closing the door behind him, he shed his backpack and kicked off his shoes as he smirked, "I didn't receive any calls from you demanding that I pick you up at Heero's to bring you back, so I take it you had a good visit."
With a snort, Maxwell sat up on his bed and admitted, "It wasn't bad. Actually, I enjoyed myself." Quick to raise a finger and an eyebrow, he chuckled, "Now, don't start going smug on me or say you told me so. It was dinner and a few nice conversations to sum it up. "
...Except for that almost kiss. But he wasn't about to mention that.
Quatre sat on the edge of his bed, grinning, "More than you would have thought yourself capable of tolerating not long ago, I'd say that it was a pretty big step in the right direction." Folding his arms, he leaned back against the wall behind him as he complimented, "I'm proud of you for going through with it."
Sincerely appreciative of that, Duo smiled, "Thanks." Propping his reclining head up on his bent arms, he questioned, "How'd it go at the lab? This is the latest you've ever stayed there, must have been something big you were working on."
Running a hand through his blonde hair, the scientist answered, "Oh, I was able to make a pretty big breakthrough in something that I've been set on for some time now. I just couldn't tear myself away until I was finished."
Duo was not the only one who was skillful at omitting the whole truth. Only wishing that what he was hiding was good news, Quatre was doing his best to keep himself from panicking over his revelation. Something... very bad was happening. And he couldn't begin to discuss it until he'd had a chance to speak to his Infected friends first.
"Well, glad you figured out whatever you figured out," the braided teenager chuckled. "I'm sure if you tried to explain it to me, it'd fly way the hell over my head."
'Not exactly,' Quatre thought to himself. But, the fewer who knew about this the better. That was why the family had trusted him to the task of comparing the samples that they'd provided. The last thing that he was about to do was betray them... especially knowing what was at risk if the information should get out.
Since that was a particularly unpleasant train of thought, the blonde changed the subject all together by announcing, "I was successful in making a new friend of one of my classmates. Catherine Bloom is one of the more popular girls on campus and I was actually able to keep casual enough talk with her over the weeks without scaring her off. She's going to be joining us for breakfast tomorrow."
Throwing a pillow at his roommate, Duo laughed, "Good for you, pal! I knew that you had it in ya!" He shook his head, "I couldn't be prouder."
Winner chuckled deeply and threw the pillow back, complimenting, "Just learning from the best."
Far too exhausted after his day, Maxwell let him off the hook of a witty retort and moved to the back half of the room to strip down to his boxers as he informed, "Well, I'm going to call it a night." His cross pendant shining against his bare chest, he hopped into bed and pulled the covers over himself.
Not even the bright overhead light was enough to keep him awake when his head hit his pillow. From the other half of the room, he only heard part of his roommate's 'good night' before he drifted off into a world of cobalt and gold.
* * * * * *
As Heero had expected, Anna was anxiously pacing the floor while the rest of his family looked on in amusement in his living room when he returned home moments later. Spinning on her heels, the redhead pressed, "So?"
Snickering, her brother shook his head and patted hers on his way past as he answered, "So, I walked him to the front door of his dormitory and bid him a good night." He took up the recliner beside Wufei, adding, "Though he did allow me to get quite close when I said it without pulling back. I can't help but feel good about that, considering how big a step that must have been for him."
Midi was grinning from ear-to-ear as she wrapped her arms around her husband on the couch that they shared. "Oh, that that's wonderful," she giggled. "I already love him like a member of this family. I do hope he will come around again soon."
"Dear one, I cannot think of anyone who would want to stay away from you for long," Trowa smiled, pressing a kiss against her temple. He received an embarrassed slap to the arm for that, knowing that the brunette would have been blushing if she were still able.
Sighing, Heero's body sagged in his chair as he scanned the faces around and told them sincerely, "I can't thank you all enough for making Duo feel so comfortable. Somehow, I doubt that this visit would have gone as well if you hadn't taken the time to make this go as smoothly as it did." The corner of his mouth curling up, he commented, "I'm sure that, in time, he might even come to love you all as much as I do."
Wufei smirked and lightly nudged his brother-in-law in the arm, replying, "The pleasure was ours. If there's any way we can continue to make his transition to accepting our kind easier, you have but to ask us." Tilting his head, he grinned, "Already, it's pretty easy to see that he's special."
The smile on his own face growing, Yuy nodded firmly, "That he is."
Rising from the couch, Trowa held his hand out to Midi to assist her to her own feet. "We will give you your privacy for the rest of the night, then." With a deep breath, he informed, "I received a text from Quatre that we need to all be together by first light to receive a call from him. He didn't elaborate on why, but the urgency in his message was clear."
His eyes growing, Heero sat up in his seat and thought aloud, "The blood samples, perhaps? Maybe he was able to make his findings."
"We will find out soon enough, I suppose," Barton shrugged. Hand-in-hand with his wife, the tall Latin waved to the rest of their family as they headed out with passing pleasantries for the rest of the family.
Of course no one wanted to dwell on what may or may not be with the results of their friend's work. There were too many things riding on whatever Quatre found to start making assumptions without his clear confirmation or denial of their concerns.
All that they could do was wait for the call.
Wufei stood and nodded to his wife, "Let's give our brother his space." When Anna pouted, he smirked, "I know this was a big night, but you'll have plenty of time to grill more details out of him when he's had time to recover from his being so close to Duo without acting. Having been in his shoes before, I know how excruciating and tiring that is."
Slowly rising, Heero flashed Chang an appreciative grin and walked towards the redhead. Chuckling when the grinning Vampire threw her arms around his neck, the unruly-haired Vampire scooped his her up and spun her around once. "Love you," he whispered. "I promise we'll have that talk, little sis."
"I'm holding you to that. And I love you, too," Anna giggled as she was lowered and stepped back. Pecking her brother's cheek, she winked, "You found yourself a good one in Duo. I guess that good taste in mates runs in the family."
Lightly swatting her rear as he walked past her, Wufei snickered, "Come on, love. Flattery will get you everywhere." Heading out with her husband, the redhead leapt onto his back to have him carry her out.
Shaking his head in amusement, Heero sighed to himself. If he was lucky, he and Duo would have what his dear sister and brother had. For over a century, he'd lived in quiet envy of the pair since their connection and now he actually had a chance to experience the same deep love and happiness.
For the time being, though, that was all going to have to be put on hold. Depending on the outcome of Quatre's call, what time he could potentially spend focusing on tightening his bond with the braided living might be compromised just when there'd been so much progress between them. All that he could do was hope that they'd been wrong.
...but he had a terrible feeling that they weren't.
* * * * * *
She knew that she had seen those violet eyes before. They stared back at her now, from the glow of her monitor in a color picture from an old clipping.
The file was easy enough to find online. Any and all occurrences with the yearly Harvests were required to be public knowledge as part of the pact between the Vampires and the Humans.
And there was no bigger news than the death of two parents that had left behind their young son. Changes had been made immediately following the tragedy to keep the background checks even more fail safe from something like it occurring again.
Someone would just have to really want to find it to go through the proper channels in finding the report. And there was no one more desiring of having their hands on it than she.
Chuckling to herself, Meiran took the pages from her printer and sealed them in a manila envelope. As she sealed off the contents, she reached for a marker and wrote 'Duo Maxwell' in plain, block script on the front of her ticket to ridding the teenager from her existence.
It was so simple. Clearing her name of this as even a classmate of the living's could have been the deliverer.
The plan was perfect.
In a few short days, there would no longer be competition for her destiny with Heero.
* * * * * *
Early the next morning...
Bowing his head to the crew of the private hanger, he smiled and waved to them as he approached the jet waiting for him and his family. His steps keeping a steady, quick pace, he looked over to his wife and took her hand in his to squeeze it. "I very much look forward to being home again," he sighed.
A warm smile tugging her lips, his beautiful bride of centuries nodded, "As do I. it's been far too long since we've been within the presence of our dear friends." Biting her lip, she frowned, "I do hope that Meiran had not been too much of a nuisance to Heero in our absence."
"She is nothing if not persistent," he snorted. Shaking his head, he shrugged, "Why else does she always insist on staying home whenever we have to report to Council? I do hope that one of these decades she will get over her infatuation. Every clue has been given to her that Heero is not interested and it is his right to choose whom wishes to become his Companion."
When they reached the jet, the pilot stepped forward from the staff around to stand smartly and saluted the couple. The taller of the two smiled, "Welcome, Chairman Khushrenada and Lady Une. It looks like we'll have clear skies for smooth sailing and the whole flight into Virginia. And I do speak for the whole crew when I say that it is an honor to have you aboard." Behind him, the grinning co-pilot and flight attendants nodded enthusiastically.
Treize smiled sincerely, "That is most appreciated." Matching his grin, his lovely wife lowered her head before they turned to look on the rest of their family. "Ready to go, Relena? Zechs? Noin?" the Council head asked.
Brushing back her shoulder length hair, the youngest of their lot spoke for her brother and sister-in-law by replying, "That we are, cousin."
"Good," the Original smirked. "Let's go home, then."
* * * * * *
Heero and his family were standing around his living room in a ring around the central table where his cell phone sat. All mentally reeling at the news just passed onto them, they gave each other concerned glances.
After a long, tense silence, Yuy took a deep breath and finally asked, "And there is no question to the results of your tests, Quatre? There are no other possibilities that could have brought on another conclusion?"
"No," the voice of their friend sighed deeply over the speaker phone. "I ran every single diagnostic that I could to try and come up with another determination, but there is no doubt of what was discovered. I understand the sensitivity of this and so I wanted to wait until you were all present to hear it as soon as I had a chance to be alone in telling you. Duo will think I'm off at my morning prayers if he wakes up before I return to our room."
There was another long pause before the scientist said quietly, "I'm sorry that I couldn't give you another answer."
With a small smile, Trowa reassured, "You've done more for us than you know, Quatre. The results of your tests are not your fault. Because of you, we now know what we're dealing with and can act on it accordingly. We are in your debt."
Sounding a bit brighter, Winner replied, "If there's anything else I can do, I'm always here. And you can trust me to keep this silent, given how sensitive this information is."
"You're a doll. I owe you an extra hug and Midi a feast for a king the next time you're over here," Anna grinned, Midi nodding as she hummed in agreement. "I knew we picked the right brainiac for the job." The blonde chuckled on the other end of the line.
Wufei concluded, "We have a lot to discuss as far as our next steps here. We'll be in touch again soon, but if we need to take you up on the offer for further assistance, we'll let you know. For now, try to not think any more on this."
At that, Quatre's voice responded quietly, "Okay. Heero, I'll see you on Monday."
"Very good," Yuy responded. "Try and enjoy your weekend." A few parting words from the lot and the clan leader reached down to disconnect the call.
Straightening himself again, Heero ran a hand through his thick hair and sighed, "I can't say that I'm exactly surprised. We all had a pretty good feeling that this was what we were up against."
Midi wrapped her arms around her waist as she shuddered with an almost whispered, "But to have the confirmation now only makes it that much worse." Shaking her head, she frowned, "Treize and his family will be home soon. They'll need to know about this immediately."
"I'll call Howard as well," Anna offered. "We're going to need the old man's services now more than ever." All of the heads around nodded as a backing of that suggestion.
All that decided, Trowa announced, "That is as far as we can go with our plan of attack for the time being until we've spoken to Treize and the others. We should head to their houses to intercept them as soon as they arrive."
His eyes narrowing, Heero grumbled, "Great. We'll have the pleasure of Meiran's presence, then." From the corner of his eye, he could see his sister tensing up at that prospect as well. And with good cause, as the two female Vampires never did get along.
Wufei gave his brother-in-law's back a slap and smirked, "Don't worry. There will be enough of us around to keep her from tormenting you. We shouldn't have to deal with her for long as her clan left Washington the first chance they had this morning."
If anything, there was a little relief in that for Yuy. Having had to deal with Meiran and her ways for centuries, he only tolerated her out of respect for the Khushrenada's and Merquise's as she was part of their families. Were it not for them, he and his own family would have had nothing to do with the selfish, mean-spirited Infected.
Many times, Heero got the impression that her own family had challenges in dealing with her means of using the status of her 'birth right.' But one brought into a family, that member was a permanent fixture as their survival depended on the feasting on blood from those with the same blood tie.
And Treize, along with his whole clan, were too kind to send Meiran off to wither away if she could not find a Companion of her own. Unfortunately, her sights were already set on her desired mate, and he wanted none of it.
"Fine. Might as well get this over with, then," Yuy said, his tone resigned as he took the lead out of the room.
* * * * * *
Following his very public display of leaving with Heero, Duo kept a very low profile throughout the weekend. His trip to the cafeteria on Saturday morning alone to meet Catherine Bloom was uncomfortable enough, what with all the stares from the student body that he contented himself to eating off campus with Quatre and sticking to his room to complete his assignments ahead of schedule.
Good news really did travel fast, but none more so than on a secluded college campus, it seemed.
When Monday came around, it took every bit of doing on the braided teenager's part to not go to the library at its opening hour to say hello to Heero. Chastising himself for acting so suddenly like a puppy, he forced himself to wait until he would see him later that afternoon before Literature.
Throughout the course of the day, the eyes continued to follow Duo. Alex, Mueller and Trent lightly teased him over his 'celebrity' status over breakfast, noting how even the upperclassmen were buzzing with the gossip of Heero, the most private of Vampires, leaving campus with their friend.
Much like the rest of his day on campus, glances were cast at him during his morning classes. Everyone who stared had a look of wanting to talk to him, to ask questions but not knowing how to broach the subject. It was all very unnerving for Maxwell.
Then came along good old Sylvia Noventa, right on cue as he walked for the mail room after lunch. Running up to his side as he headed for the administration office, the blonde girl exclaimed, "I couldn't wait for class to talk to you!"
Snorting, Duo played dumb by asking, "What's so important that you needed to chase me down when we're going to be in class in less than an hour?"
"Oh, you know very well," the Senator's daughter scoffed. "The whole school is talking about your getting into Heero's car after class on Friday.
Pausing to smile in appreciation when the braided teenager held the office door for her with a dramatic bow, she picked right back up as they walked on as she demanded, "What were the two of you up to? When were you going to tell me that you were close enough to head out together?"
Maxwell shook his head, laughing, "It wasn't a big deal, Syl. He invited me out to his estate to meet his family. Quatre's been there before, so there's nothing special about my being offered the chance to have dinner with them."
He held a finger up to have the stewing girl wait when they reached the half-door of the mail room and reached in his jeans pocket to remove his student ID to pass it over to the clerk that greeted them. Waiting for the young man to return from checking his slot, the braided teenager smirked, "Everyone's making way too big a deal out of nothing."
Sylvia huffed, planting her fists on her hips to look every bit like a child about to defend that there really was a Santa Clause. "I still say there's something going on," she insisted. "Maybe you really are too blind to see it, but I can tell that you're not being completely honest... either with me or yourself, or both."
Opening his mouth to retort, Duo stopped himself when the mail clerk returned with his ID and a manila envelope. His eyes blinking in confusion as he accepted the mail, he frowned as he noted a lack of return address... or his own full address on the front. Only bearing his name in a block script, the strange envelope felt thick.
"That was waiting by our front door this morning," the clerk informed. Shrugging, he stated, "We have no idea where it came from."
With a slight nod, Maxwell replied, "Thanks." Heading away from the door to leave the building, he examined the envelope as Sylvia checked her watch and cursed under her breath.
Half-complaining, the girl announced, "I have a couple things I need to take care of before class." Facing the braided living, she smirked, "But don't think for a moment that you're off the hook with me. I'm going to get to the bottom of what's really going on with you and Heero." That said, she hurried off.
Stopping in the middle of the cobblestone street, Duo turned the envelope in his hands over and shrugged. "Well, only one way to know what's in here," he told himself.
Easily tearing away at the seal, he reached in to remove the contents inside.
TBC...
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