Crimson Ties Part 28
Wufei typed away at his laptop at the table in his crowded living room. Occasionally glancing up, he made sure to moderate Meiran who was busy pacing at the other end of the space. Considering what was happening in his brother-in-law's home, the last thing needed was for her to go off in search of Heero now.
Thankfully, it seemed to Chang that he was not the only one babysitting her. In addition to Trowa and Midi, he had noticed every single one in Treize's family peering away from their conversations as if in turns to keep an eye on their dark-haired cousin.
Mentally smirking at that, the scaly Vampire resumed his work. Clearly, his Council friends had their own interest in watching Meiran's every move. Pulling up his reports, he opened his projector icon to finish his preparation for the upcoming meeting.
A few feet from the table, Noin wrapped her arms around the braided teenager as she smiled kindly, "I cannot tell you how happy I am to hear that you'll be staying with Heero. I have looked forward to getting to know you better for a very long time now."
Zechs stepped up when his wife fell back and extended a hand, grinning, "We all have. And it's a pleasure to finally have the opportunity to meet you, Duo."
Taking the cold hand into his own for a firm shake, Maxwell blinked up at the tall Speaker of the House. Merquise was one of the more popular faces displayed on the television reports of the Vampire Council in being the one to normally represent the board to the human public. Once again, the living was struck by awe at being surrounded by such an elite audience.
And they had all taken him in as one of their own even though they hardly knew him.
With a giggle, Relena lightly nudged the boy in his side. "You'd catch flies with your mouth like that," she smirked. Blushing, Duo blinked and closed his jaw that he hadn't realized was open until then. His teeth locked back together with an audible click.
Snickering, Zechs shook his head, "No need to think of us as anything more than friends and family, no other title matters between us." He waved his hand and requested, "You can forget about any of our responsibilities and roles beyond that."
Maxwell smiled widely, "Got it. It's really nice to meet you too, Zechs." It was as natural a thing as it could be for the name to roll off his tongue without referring to him as 'Speaker Merquise' as was the only way he knew the Vampire before.
Looking over to the couple seated closely together on the couch behind him, the living was given a pair of smiles and firm nods from Trowa and Midi. At that blessing, Duo turned to the blonde Infected beside him and grinned, "I'm not the only one who's going to be moving into the estates here before the next semester."
Relena blinked in confusion. "Oh?" she replied, tilting her head in interest. "I was not aware that there was another such arrangement made to house a second human. Was that part of your agreement to move in with Heero?"
"Actually, it was all Midi and Trowa," the braided youth answered, the corners of his mouth curling up all the more. "They offered Quatre a place with them since I didn't want to leave him behind on his own."
Stunned, the lovely Infected froze with wide gold-and-blue eyes. "Q-Quatre?" she breathed. Instantly, she spun to take in the amused expressions of her friends on the couch as they nodded in confirmation to her.
Behind Relena's back, her whole family beamed and gave their silent appreciation to the Barton's, knowing full well how their sister and cousin favored the young scientist.
Giddy, the Council woman bit her lip and threw her arms around Midi. As if splashed by ice water, she regained her senses and straightened herself back up in a snap. Clearing her throat, she collected herself to grin, "Well, that's certainly wonderful news." Trowa's head fell back with his laughter.
Treize raised an eyebrow and smirked to the brunette, "Knowing you, Midi, am I right in assuming that there will be a party to celebrate the special occasions?"
"I have my to-do-list here," she giggled as she removed a long sheet of paper from the pocket of her long, orange sundress to wave it in the air. "Of course, you will all be receiving invitations when the event is closer."
Standing, the 'little mother' made her way to Duo's side and wrap an arm around his shoulders, commenting, "As much as it is killing me, I am going to behave and wait to throw the bash after the boys have completed their finals. The dears have enough on their shoulders with their studies before then."
The teenager shook his head with a quiet snicker as he leaned into her touch.
Lady Une raised her glass of 'wine' and offered, "I'll be more than happy to help with the preparations, Midi." Both Noin and Relena made their own verbal bids in offering their assistance as well.
In the midst of the banter through the room, the front door opened by where Meiran was pacing. Blinking, the Vampire spun herself and hurried up to greet Heero back from the hunt at last. Her arms were open to take him in when she stopped herself cold the moment she laid her eyes on him in his entrance.
Pale skin practically radiating in health and a smile on his lips, Yuy stepped into the estate with a brilliance in his gold-and-cobalt eyes the likes of which she had never seen before. Strong and determined in his steps when he entered, he scanned the living room, completely ignoring the raven-haired beauty standing only a couple feet before him.
Any and all discussions in the living room came to a halt when Heero appeared in the doorway, everyone taking in the Infected and the startling changes in how easily he carried himself as opposed to before. Wufei, Trowa and Midi smiled while trying to contain their excitement in finally seeing their relative finally back to being himself for the first time in many decades.
For Treize and his family, there was no question to what the near glow from their friend meant. And they all slowly looked back to the startled living amongst them. Nearly dropping the glass of water that he had been sipping from, Duo stared wide-eyed at his Vampire when their eyes locked and his breath hitched in his throat.
Heero always had been beautiful to Maxwell from the moment they'd first met. But now... now seeing just how the Infected stood tall and bearing an untold strength, there was not a thing in the world that could compare to how glorious Yuy was.
"Well, I must give you my congratulations," Treize chuckled, breaking the long silence as he peered to the spell-bound teenager. "It appears that you are now officially a part of the family." His family all nodded with their merriment in the clear understanding that Duo had offered his blood to their friend...
...all spare for one.
Fists clenching and unclenching at her sides, Meiran was practically vibrating with her seething rage as the rest of the world seemed to completely forget about her. Her narrowing eyes homed on the living, she forced a few deep and calming breaths when her vision turned to red- the same red that she wanted to see pouring out of the boy when she claimed his life.
By Heero's drinking of his Other, his bond to Maxwell was all but sealed. The fact that the human had not been turned into a true Companion yet did not matter. He had just become an even bigger threat to Meiran's claim on her prize.
There should have been time... so much more time than this the beautiful Infected's mind screamed. How was it that her enemy had been so quick to not only allow Heero back into his world but to offer the one thing that would see that their tie strengthened all the more?
But there were no bite marks on the braided teenager's neck to say how such a thing was accomplished. Meiran had made sure to look for such a thing when she settled into the estate.
Once again, the door opened and Anna stepped inside. When she looked on the grinning redhead, the rest of the puzzle fell into place for the dark-haired Infected. Of course. The little bastard had drawn Duo's blood. As always, that bitch proved to be nothing more than a sharp thorn in Meiran's side.
Subtleties be damned. Meiran's eyes narrowed on her long-time enemy. Closing the door behind her, the Irish Vampire's smile fell away as she returned the heated glare on her tenfold.
While everyone else remained distracted in their watching Heero, Duo was the only to notice the private war taking place behind Yuy. Anna stalked up to Meiran, planting herself firmly in a wordless challenge to be moved.
Seeing the pair stand off, Duo's thought focused on their physical contrasts and thought of them as natural elements... Anna was fire and Meiran was ice.
They slowly walked around each other, their piercing glares remaining on each other waiting for the other to strike at any moment.
And it would be a fierce battle were it to break out.
Before a scene was made, the redhead dismissed her unwanted guest to stand beside her brother.
With that brush off, the whole encounter between the two female Infected only lasted a heartbeat, but for Maxwell, it seemed to go on for hours. Once his sister was smiling that bright smile of hers again and was safe by Heero's side, he was able to breathe again.
Duo's attention was drawn back instantly to his Vampire. Mentally, he chuckled. 'His Vampire.' It was a funny thing to realize that such a gorgeous creature was his... but he knew it to be true. Losing himself in those golden cobalt seas, he could feel the change in their connection. How it had strengthened in the short time that they'd been parted.
His lips curling up in a wide smile, the braided teenager was only all the more determined to make his intentions known to Meiran. Crossing the room, he purposely took his place close to his Other's side.
Yuy blinked in surprise and gave the teenager a warm grin of appreciation as he slipped an arm around the back of the living's lithe waist with a gentle squeeze as their eyes remained on each other.
Seething, the dark-haired took a deep breath to force a calmness as she rounded the pair and smiled, "Well, it's so good to see that you're back home safely, Heero. I do hope that you had a good hunt."
At the sound of her voice, Heero blinked and turned his gaze away from his Other to reply with disinterest, "Oh. Thank you, Meiran." The corner of his mouth lifting when he looked back at the grinning teenager on his arm, he said quietly, "It's good to finally be home."
Breath hitching in his lungs at that loaded statement, Duo's own grin spread further across his face and he gave the Vampire an affectionate nudge without another glance at the dark-haired immortal.
Meiran could feel the need to tremble coming on in seeing the start of something very deep in their locked gazes. It took a great effort on her part for her to shrug nonchalantly, "Well then, I best return home so that you can get to your meeting."
Turning, she gave her family a graceful curtsey and stepped lightly from the room. She kept her pace quick when she closed the front door behind herself, pulling in a hissed breath through her clenched teeth.
If her blood flowed normally in her veins, the Infected knew that she would be red-faced and radiating the same scorching heat that ran rampant from the very core of her being. It was disgusting how easily both Heero and Duo had dismissed her... all but completely ignoring her.
No one ignored her!
And in time, Yuy wouldn't be able to avoid her again, Meiran vowed. If this was how he was going to behave towards her, contenting himself with that human as opposed to her, then so be it! He would rue ever failing to give into her whims just as his Other and bastard sister would suffer for their interference.
To hell with the lot of them!
Patience... the Vampire told herself. She just needed more patience and space to work out the best plan of attack to move forward.
Yes, she especially needed space. Time away from the source of her ire would only help her think more clearly rather than her having to stick around and endure those long stares between Yuy and Maxwell.
Leaving now, knowing that there was to be a celebration welcoming that living into the family, would not look good. Meiran was aware of that. So, she would tolerate a bit more time around her enemies to keep up her air of acceptance and happiness when she felt neither of those things.
She could put up with this for a couple more weeks.
Then an extended vacation was in order.
Meanwhile, Back in Wufei and Anna's living room, Treize looked to everyone gathered and brought his hands together with a loud clap. "Shall we get this meeting underway, then?" he asked.
Everyone took up the seats around. Taking his Other's hand into his own, Heero gently led him to the main couch. Sliding closely beside the Vampire as they sat down, Duo focused his attention onto the joint Preventer Commanders that remained standing in the center of the room.
Anna moved to close the curtains to dim the room and took up the free chair beside her husband when Treize he looked to the scaly Vampire and requested, "Wufei, if you please." Nodding firmly, Chang typed a few commands into his laptop and the projector at the top of his screen came to life to shine onto the white wall behind Khushrenada and Lady Une.
His growing eyes blinking, Duo scanned the fourteen facial shots displayed before him, seven in the top row and another seven beneath it. The smiling faces all looked to be personal images and every person captured was different in age, race, gender and nationality. One of those individuals he recognized from the missing person's flyer to be the lovely and young Crystal Dawson.
In recognizing that so came the realization that the fourteen living shown were the known victims to have mysteriously gone missing. Swallowing roughly, the braided teenager roamed his gaze over the others.
Amongst the images, there was an African American man in his late twenties, an Asian woman in her mid-forties, a beautiful brunette in her early teens, a Latin male wearing a business suit that clued in to his success in life. Most startling, there were also two sweet children- a redheaded girl of no more than six years of age and a three-year-old boy maybe half that age with shaggy blonde hair.
Staring at those innocent little ones, Maxwell swallowed past the lump that had formed in his throat. He felt Heero's arm drape around his shoulders and he welcomed the supportive gesture as he wondered to himself if he'd made the right call in attending this meeting.
Lady Une peered away from the pictures to frown at her agents and family in attendance, "As painful as it is to be reminded of these missing souls, we cannot allow ourselves to forget them and why we do what we do."
Nodding, Treize folded his arms and stated, "We are no closer to knowing what had become of these victims, nor how many of our own we are looking at being involved in their disappearances. There is no link between even two of these living in any aspect of their lives for us to be able to predict a pattern that would help us intercept these Rogues."
His wife gestured to Heero, Trowa and Zechs in their corner of the room. "Is there any new information that you may be able to provide us with from your recent hunt?" she inquired. All eyes fell on the returned pack.
Zechs shifted in the recliner that he occupied. Resting a hand on his wife's leg as she sat perched on the armrest, he took a deep breath and informed solemnly, "We traveled north as far as Connecticut...." Biting his lip, he sighed, "Where we discovered that there is now a fifteenth victim." Gasps and mutterings filled the air as the Vampire and human alike turned to him with wide eyes.
"Like all of the others, the tracks of the attack were covered with precision," Barton added. "It even took us a bit of searching to notice the shift in the snow as little more than a divot in the landscape of the clearing where we found it in."
Meeting his brother-in-law's gaze, Heero informed, "The human blood had been cleaned away, but the scent remained preserved in the snow. Going on what we picked up from that, our recent victim is female in her early to late twenties."
Wufei's fingers were typing the information into his computer as he responded, "I can hack my way into the Connecticut police databases for any missing persons that fit that description. Considering how these bastards aren't going for easy, no-named targets, there will likely be a report filed somewhere. Just to be safe, I'll look through the neighboring states' files as well."
Anna hissed under her breath, "So the Rogues are challenging us. It's the only fair assumption to make since there was no way they could misinterpret our warnings that we were onto them by marking the territories around."
Frowning in confusion at that, Duo turned to his Vampire. Meeting the teenager's violet gaze, Heero explained in little more than a whisper, "We leave traces of our own blood that only those of our kind would be able to pick up in the secluded areas around the scenes of their crimes. Our blood makes it known to them that we're not about to tolerate their actions."
Maxwell nodded in understanding and focused back on Treize as the tall Infected gritted, "They're going to force our hand, confident that they can handle us. Howard will need to be notified immediately. Hopefully he'll have a few tricks up his sleeves that will be able to assist us."
"I'll get on to contacting him right away," Noin declared. The corner of her mouth curling up in a smirk, she chuckled, "Knowing the old man, he'll be chomping at the bit when he hears this." Other voices rose up in soft chuckles of agreement, heads nodding.
Only partially aware of the discussion and the rest of the conversations to follow, Duo could only stare at the images of Crystal and her fellow victims. Settling his gaze on the pictures of the youngest two, he swallowed roughly again. How any creature could harm such helpless children was something that he just could not fathom.
The braided living was so lost in his thoughts that he never heard Lady Une call the end of the meeting. It was not until his family and friends were rising to their feet and heading from the room quickly to oversee whatever tasks they'd been given that he blinked in surprise as he returned to the world.
Heero was watching him, his body fully turned on the couch to face him. A concerned frown on his face, he asked softly, "Are you alright?"
Nodding, Maxwell smiled sheepishly, "Y-yea. Sorry, this is all still a lot to have to get my head around right now. To know that these things are out there, taking people... kids..." Yuy bit his lip with a shallow nod as he reached to take his Other's hand, squeezing it.
Only Wufei remained of their family, still busy typing away at his laptop. Treize and Lady Une were the only others that stayed in the darkened room to keep an eye on their braided friend with an unspeakable sadness in their eyes.
Slowly drawing a breath, Khushrenada shook his head, "I am sorry that you have had to come to learn of this nightmare." Peering back at the glowing images displayed on the wall behind him, he sighed deeply, "The timing is horrible, considering how you so recently saw our kind as demons-"
"There are monsters amongst the humans as well. They kill, rape and do everything as vile as the Rogues," the teenager quickly reassured, a need rising in him to keep his friends from thinking that he would see them as no better than the Rogues that they were after. He grinned, "And I know the difference between them and the good ones of my kind every bit as yours."
Relief washed over the couple at that sentiment and Wufei came out of his focused spell. Flashing his Commanders an apologetic grin, he clicked a couple of keys, turning off the projector before he opened the curtains. Quickly returning to his seat, his feverish typing resumed, all of his focus back on his screen.
Catching the glow of the street lamps that poured through the window, Maxwell blinked in surprise as how dark it had become. Only then did he check the grandfather cloth to note just how late the hour was. He'd blanked out of the meeting for a couple of hours.
Heero and Duo rose to their feet as the Council representatives approached. Kissing the living's cheek, Lady Une smiled warmly, "We'll leave the two of you to settle in for the night. It's growing quite late and you must be exhausted, dear."
Try as he might, the braided youth couldn't completely stifle the yawn that broke from his mouth. "I guess I better get some sleep here," he shrugged when his hand fell from his lips. Grinning, he said sincerely to the Commanders, "Thanks for letting me sit in on this... even if I missed a good portion of it."
"Of course," Treize chuckled deeply as he shook hands with the boy. "You both have a good night." Pointing to Yuy, he gave him a pleased smile and complimented, "Nice work out in the field there, Yuy. I'm impressed, considering how weakened you were at the time."
Nodding firmly, the striking Vampire replied, "Thank you, sir." Their hands linking, the couple waved with their free hands as they headed from the estate.
Finally allowing the exhaustion that he'd been fighting to catch up, Duo put up little argument when Heero suggested they return to their home, where he should spend the night as opposed to driving back to campus.
Making good use of the extra clothes that Midi had purchased for him, the living changed into a pair of plaid shorts and a white tank top before he slipped under the covers of the bed. Dim natural light seeped in through his window to illuminate the room.
His new room. The one that he would claim for as long as he and Heero stayed in this estate.
As he stared up at the ceiling, Maxwell silently contemplated that when he heard a soft rap on the closed door. The knob turned so that Heero could peek his head inside as he asked, "Comfortable?"
"Yea," Duo replied, a small and tired smile on his face. A thought coming to him, he sat up and patted the free space on the bed beside him. Grinning widely, the Infected stepped inside and sat on the edge of the mattress without breaking their eye contact.
Even in the near pitch of the room, the teenager was able to see how absolutely breathtaking his Vampire was. And it was not only on account of how healthy he was after his feed, but how truly happy he was as well.
Biting his lip, Maxwell hesitated before he asked in a breath, "Do you love me, Heero?"
There was no pause on Yuy's part when he answered reverently, "Truly and deeply."
Duo felt his heart hammering in his chest. He already knew the answer before he heard the words, but it was so much more profound in hearing the proclamation from the Infected. And as elated as he was, he was also being torn in two.
"I- I..." he stammered, shaking his head in frustration before he sighed, "This is all still pretty new to me. I wish that I could tell you-" He was silenced by a cool and chaste, but firm kiss on his lips that left him gasping and wide-eyed.
Before his Other even had a chance to react- either to pull away or return the gesture- Heero pulled back to smile reassuringly, "It's okay, Duo. I understand, so there is no need for apologies or excuses. You don't have to feel pressured into anything that you're not ready for."
The Infected reached out to gently cup the side of the boy's face as he breathed, "I have waited nearly five hundred years to find you. I can wait on this. You couldn't be more accommodating than you have been and I thank you from the core of my soul for that."
Ducking his head, his hand fell away again and he snickered, "And my apologies for my forwardness. I've wanted to do that for... a long time now."
Still mentally reeling from the quick kiss, Maxwell stared at the beautiful creature before him. The slight chill from the lips against his remained as he chuckled quietly, "It's alright."
And it was more than alright, but that was as far as he was able to process at the moment.
"I'm just glad that my blood worked in healing you," Duo smirked.
Cobalt-and-gold eyes growing, Yuy whispered, "You had doubts that it would?" When the teenager blushed, the immortal chuckled and rested a hand against his Other's chest to gently push him back down against the mattress and pillows.
Stretching himself out to lay beside the living, Heero propped his upper half up to smile down at him as he gently ran a hand through the long chestnut bangs, pushing them from the violet eyes peering up at him. Finding how badly Maxwell was fighting to keep them open, he commended softly, "Sleep now. I know that you have questions on what you missed and we'll address them when you've rested."
Oh, his Vampire did know him well, Duo thought to himself as his eyelids began to close on him. But in his last struggle against slumber's grasp, he worried what kind of monsters would haunt him... what demons who hunted and killed children would lurk in his unconsciousness to take him with the other victims.
At the rising panic over that thought, the teenager's eyelids opened fully on him as he requested in a near plea, "Would... would you sing me to sleep?"
It had been something he'd silently wished to experience ever since Trowa had shared how his Infected sang to Anna during her turning. No doubt he had sung to their sister many times over after that fateful night. Now... now the living wanted it to be his turn.
The smile on his face growing, Heero closed his eyes and bowed his head with a quiet, "As you wish."
Duo had never heard the song that was sung to him before. It was a song ages old, he was certain of that. And in the end, the tune did not matter to him nearly as much as the sweet tenor singing it when his eyes shut away the world as he was gently escorted into a peaceful sleep.
TBC...
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