The woman in me needs you to be
The man in my arms to hold tenderly
'Cause I'm a woman in love and it's you I run to
Yea... the woman in me need needs the man in you
-Lyrics to 'The Woman In Me' by Shania Twain
Crimson Ties Part 36
Sighing deeply, Maxwell buried his face into his sister's shoulder as his arms tightened around her. Inhaling the scent of her long, loose curls, he whispered by her ear, "God, it's so good to have you back, Anna."
"Aw," the Irish Infected smiled as she leaned back enough to have their eyes meet. "I've missed you something fierce as well, Duo."
Placing her feet back on the floor, she ran a hand through her brother's bangs and winked, "I do hope that you didn't think I wouldn't be here for your party. I wasn't about to miss it for the world."
Moved by that, the braided teenager laughed as eyes prickled with the threat of relieved tears. It was going on two weeks since he'd laid eyes on the redheaded Vampire. Now being back in her presence, he realized how much he'd actually ached to have her back home.
Looking to Heero as he neared, Anna giggled and rushed to close the distance between them. As they held onto each other in a a fierce embrace, the unruly-haired Vampire rained kisses on her face. "Welcome back," he breathed by her ear.
"The place hasn't been the same without you," Trowa grinned when he stepped up to have his turn in hugging his cousin. Placing a quick peck on her cheek, the Latin Infected told her, "Glad you're home safe." Quatre followed suit by making his way to embrace his friend.
Anna snickered as they broke the hold that she and the scientist had on each other to appraise the faces around her. "Well, if I could look forward to more receptions like this, I should start volunteering myself for more hunts," she smiled widely.
Her blue-and-gold eyes settling on her husband, her quiet chuckles came to an abrupt stop with a sharp gasp. Pushing himself off the door frame that he had been leaning back against, Wufei's smirk shifted into a wide grin as he approached her.
Physically trembling when he was near, the Irish Infected whimpered and turned back to check on Relena. Shaking her head, the Council woman laughed, "You don't need to hold back for my sake, Anna! Both of you make sure to make it known how much you've missed the other!"
Shoulders easing, the redhead sighed deeply and mouthed a 'thank you' to her friend before she launched herself at Chang. Catching her as her legs hooked around his waist, Wufei practically shone with his relief when their lips met in a fiery kiss.
Completely lost to the rest of the world, the reunited couple poured everything that they had into the contact... all of their love, need, relief and joy at being exactly where they were meant to be.
Relena folded her hands at her waist with a pleased smile as she sighed in content at watching her dear friends. Her golden eyes glanced over to catch Quatre watching her and their gazes locked. Blushing, the scientist ducked his head and gave her a small wave.
Finally breaking their kiss, Wufei opened his eyes and smiled at his wife and cupped the side of her face. "Love you," he whispered reverently. Tightening her legs around his waist, Anna beamed and leaned into his touch.
Shifting his arms, the scaly Infected caught his bride off guard and threw her over his shoulder as she let out a sharp yelp of surprise. "I doubt that any of you will want to witness my properly welcoming my wife back home," Chang grinned slyly to the others. "We'll resurface once I've had the chance to thoroughly see to that."
"Let's go," he told the redhead as he peered over his shoulder before he turned on his heels to carry her from the room.
Facing the others as she remained slung over his shoulder, Anna grinned wickedly to their family, "I love it when he gets all barbaric and demanding on me." That said, they disappeared out into the hallway with the sound of the front door opening and closing soon following.
His head shaking, Heero snickered, "That's my brother and sister." The rest of his family laughed heartily at the sentiment.
They really are too perfect for each other," Relena giggled. Looking back to the wintry scene that she'd helped create, she nodded firmly, "This is a good start in getting ready for the party."
"Yes, thank you for giving me a hand, dear," Midi replied, her head nodding. "You should run off to see Treize and Noin. We'll take care of the last of the arrangements tomorrow." Bowing her head, the Councilwoman headed out, quietly offering her salutations to Quatre and all of her friends along the way.
Mentally reeling, Duo's widened eyes locked on his cousin as he asked in disbelief, "What more could there possibly be? This is already amazing!"
Releasing a deep sigh, the 'mother' planted her hands on her hips to huff, "There's getting the food together, the finishing touches on the rest of the house that we haven't had time to get to, making the punch." Her lips curling in a smug grin, she stated, "I could go on all night if you like."
With a whistle through his teeth, Maxwell shook his braided head vehemently, "No, no, that's ok. You know what you're doing. I just don't want you-"
"No need to worry about it being too much," Midi cut him off, hand raised and a warm smile on her face. "You should know by now how much I enjoy doing these sorts of things." She was rewarded with a soft kiss to her cheek.
Grinning from ear-to-ear, Duo shook his head, "You're the best, cousin."
* * * * * *
Meanwhile, Wufei hadn't finished unlocking his home before he felt Anna's fangs sink into his scales at the back of his neck to send him into a euphoric high as she drank from him. Hissing through his teeth, he fought to focus on the task at hand and gripped the doorknob tightly to throw the barrier open.
Somehow managing to make it into the hallway, Chang had half the composure to kick the door closed behind them.
He was more than certain, however, that they weren't going to make it to the bedroom as he'd originally intended. It was becoming increasingly difficult to gather thoughts when they were flooded by the pleasure of filling his soul mate... that along with her nimble hand working away at the belt, button and zipper of his jeans.
Carefully extracting Anna from his neck so that he could set her down, the scaly Vampire claimed her mouth in another hungry kiss as he half-tore away her own clothes. Only parting their lips when needed in removing every article from their bodies, the Infected moaned and panted through their heightened passion.
"You have no idea how badly I've needed you," the redhead breathed when their naked bodies pressed close together and kissing him deeply again.
Lifting her into his arms, to carry her into the living room Wufei chuckled softly, "Oh, I think that I have a pretty good idea, considering how much I've missed you." Haphazardly making a 'bed' on the floor of blankets and pillows that they threw down to make things a little more comfortable, the foreplay resumed with fervor the moment they laid down.
Before long, Anna's nips and scratches became more desperate... rushed and painful even as he felt himself enter her. Taking hold of her wrists when she straddled his waist, Wufei urged softly up at her, "Hey, easy, love. I'm not going anywhere."
As though she had been doused by ice water, the Irish Vampire's eyes widened with a sharp gasp. "I-I'm sorry," she whispered brokenly. "I just..." her voice failing her, she shook her head and looked away when her vision began to shimmer.
"Shh," her husband said quietly, pushing himself to sit up and pull her into a tight embrace. Keeping an arm wrapped around, he turned their joint bodies so that she was the one lying beneath him. Smiling, he told her, "I just want us to take our time with this so that we can really enjoy it."
More than happy to oblige, Anna grinned and nodded as she relaxed into the slower rhythm that he was setting in his thrusts. The paced lovemaking sent the flames of their passion to rise to new heights and a deeper heat. Resuming their kissing, there was more time for them to worship every inch of their bonded with either soft touches, licks or bites. Their gasps, groans and whimpers grew.
Every pump of their hips brought them closer to the edge of their resistance. Then, when neither of them could hold on any longer, Wufei lowered himself to bury his fangs into the nape of his lover's neck. Back arching as she released a prolonged cry of pleasure, the redhead recovered just enough to plunge her own fangs into his scales to make a new mark as they both drank hungrily.
Falling into the waves of their mind-numbing orgasms that wracked their bodies, the Vampires clung onto each other with all of their strength remaining. Panting for air that only their minds thought that they needed, they stayed linked like that for a time before Chang reluctantly pulled out of his wife and collapsed onto his side next to her.
"Now you've been properly welcomed back," he snickered softly as he pulled his partner back into his arms.
Anna giggled as she sank against his scaly chest, tangling their legs together to bring them as close as they could possibly be in every physical way.
Despite her best efforts, the dark thoughts of the hunt... namely the tracking came back to her. Swallowing roughly, she stared out beyond her husband's shoulder and lost focus as she returned to that snow-covered clearing... so peaceful for harboring such horrible secrets of what had happened there.
Gently brushing the backs of his fingers along the side of her face, Wufei frowned deeply, "What has my Celtic Rose so troubled?"
Sighing, the redhead pushed herself up and pulled her legs to her chest. As she rested her head on her bent knees, she informed in little more than a whisper, "Noin and I tracked what happened to the last victim. Treize, understandably, wanted to know everything that she went through when she was attacked by the Rogues."
When their Preventers' Commander assigned his Anna and Lucrezia to join him on this last hunt, Chang had his concerns that they were chosen for their abilities in piecing a crime together. Sitting up, he brushed back a few strands of long, red curls from his wife's face so that he could see her shimmering eyes better when they locked onto his own. "Bad?" he asked softly.
"Horrible," the Irish Vampire breathed. Swallowing past a lump that had formed in her throat, she shuddered. "God, Wufei, I've never seen anything like that in a long time," she whimpered, tears spilling from her eyes. "That poor girl never stood a chance... the things those monsters did to her-" Anything else that she was about to say was cut off by the sharp sob that broke from her chest.
Throwing his arms around her, Wufei held her close as she buried her face in his shoulder. Slowly rocking her, he kissed her temple with a whispered, "Shh. We're going to get them and they're going to suffer for what they did. We haven't failed in a case of Rogues before and we're not going to start with these two."
Anan bit her lip and corrected hesitantly, "Five... at least that's how many we have confirmed now. There could be even more of them."
Onyx-and-gold eyes widening, Chang's back straightened. "Five," he repeated, the surprise and worry dripping from his voice. "Maybe more...?" Lowering her head, his wife nodded. Covering his mouth, the scaly Vampire sighed, "My God."
"We were going to bring it up at the briefing after Duo's party," the redheaded Infected sighed. "Our little brother has been through so much already, he deserves to have something to look forward to and enjoy himself for a change. Nothing is going to ruin this weekend for him, as far as Treize and all of us are concerned."
Releasing a long breath, her husband muttered, "He's already a little on edge ever since Lady Une assigned me to watching over him along with Heero last week."
It was Anna's turn to turn rigid and wide-eyed. "She thinks that Duo may be in danger?" she inquired anxiously. "From what? Who?"
Wufei shook his head, "The Commander wouldn't go into details. But the order came after she and Zechs made an trip to Athens out of the blue. They've been practically locked away in their homes ever since. Whatever it was that they discovered will be included in the briefing." Chewing on the inside of his cheek, he shared, "Trowa and Relena were also assigned to stay close to Quatre at all times as well."
A puff of air blowing from her lips, the redheaded Vampire hugged her legs closer to her chest. Planting her chin on her knees again, she frowned, "This is all becoming much more complicated than we thought it would."
If her heart were still beating, it would have been racing in her concern for Duo and Quatre. How and why they were suddenly in need of added protection could only be speculated until the next meeting. But Lady Une never acted out in giving such orders unless she was certain there was a reason behind it.
Hesitant, Chang muttered, "There's more."
"More?!" Anna exclaimed, her golden blue eyes gazing back on him. She laughed, "You've were pretty busy since I've been away, love! And here I was afraid that you'd be bored to tears, typing away at your computer until I returned."
There was no question in the scaly Infected's mind that he would have been blushing at that sentiment, knowing how well his bride knew him. Clearing his throat, shrugged, "Maybe at first I was like that, but not for long." He waved his hand in the air with an exasperated, "Anyway, Duo asked me to train him to become a Preventer."
Her eyes growing anew, the redhead breathed, "He wants-" Shaking her head, she demanded quietly, "What was your response?"
Taking a deep breath, Wufei replied, "I told him that becoming an agent was out of the question... but we came to a compromise. For a lot of reasons, I decided that I can train him in self defense." He ducked his head and prepared to scramble away as he had no idea how his lover would react to the idea.
Anna remained still, her enlarged eyes relaxing and blinking. After a moment's consideration, she stated, "That's... actually not a bad idea. It would only be right to give him a chance to defend himself against our kind. He'll have his disadvantages as it is, being a human, but we might be able find ways around that."
Pleasantly surprised that she was as accepting of the notion as she was, Chang sighed heavily as his body slumped with his relief. There was still one major problem with the whole thing, though. Swallowing roughly, he murmured, "Heero is not going to be happy."
"No, he won't be," the Irish Infected agreed. The corner of her mouth curling up, she nudged her husband and reassured, "You leave him to me. I can handle my dear brother. He'll be hard to completely win over, but Heero might see the reason in Duo's being trained by you once I've had a chance to talk to him."
Pausing, she suggested, "After the party, of course. This is Duo's time to be happy and I don't want anything spoiling that." Not about to argue, her scaly counterpart nodded firmly with a small smile on his face.
A wide grin spreading across her face, Anna raised an eyebrow and questioned, "So, anything else go on whist I was gone that I need to know about?" Gasping, she asked in a hopeful tone, "Meiran didn't spontaneously combust into flames, did she?"
His head falling back with his laughter, Wufei exclaimed, "You and I both wish!" Shaking his head when he calmed himself, he chuckled, "No, nothing else. You have the sum of it all."
Letting out a soft sigh, his wife nodded, "Good. All of these little issues can be worked out. After everything we've all been through as a family and agents, we'll get through this rough spell."
In complete agreement with that, Chang hummed an affirmative and pulled her back into his arms as he lowered them back onto the 'bed' beneath them. Giggling quietly, his Vampire Companion ran a hand and her eyes over his chest.
Few creatures saw his scales the way that Anna did. Most of their kind and humans alike would look at Wufei as though he were an abomination. But to Anna, his unique skin was breathtakingly beautiful. It kept the love of her existence safe. Therefore, she would never be able to consider those scales anything but exquisite.
He would never be cut again thanks to them.
A shudder running through her, the redheaded Infected forced that train of though to come to a screeching halt before her doubts returned. Her questioning their relationship had no place here... not when she was safe in her Wufei's arms... not with his loving smile and gaze on her.
Biting her lip, Anna closed her eyes and brushed soft kisses over his chest, sure to touch every scale along the way with her lips. Just managing to keep away the tears that tried to fill her vision when she looked back up at her husband and breathed, "I love you."
"You are my everything," Chang responded in kind. Leaning in, he pressed their mouths together in a sound kiss.
Hands roamed, breaths hitched and another dance began.
* * * * * *
The next morning...
Meiran glared heatedly as she stared into her closet. For the last day now, she'd silently contemplated over her wardrobe for the right dress to wear to the celebration at Heero's estate. She had a day more to settle on her attire, but she wanted her choice to be perfect.
What would have Heero wishing that he had her on his arm instead of that... boy?
What would be fitting of both a celebration and a funeral?
Something that wouldn't boast her grief and anger as everyone else celebrated, making her stand out more than she already would with so many eyes on her.
"There's no question about it, Treize. And we can't wait to tell Duo and our agents before something happens," Lady Une's hushed voice pressed. The comment was so soft it was nearly missed entirely.
Meiran blinked. Her interest captured to what had her cousin so upset, the raven-haired Infected hurried to peek her head out into the hallway to stare at the closed door at the end of the hall.
With a soft sigh, Khushrenada's voice whispered, "I agree. There is no denying through Jacob's reaction that the Rogues are after Companions. It's just... you know what that would imply. And they're incapable of doing something like this without leaving evidence that would lead to them."
Dark eyes wide, all that Meiran held onto was the first part of what he had to say... the one thing that mattered the most to her.
The Rogues were after Companions.
And here she was curious as to why Wufei was shadowing that mortal for the last week. Little did the scaly freak know that he was being watched as well by her. It took a Vampire to know how to evade a Vampire. And the beauty was not about to let her prey out of her sight whenever she could help it.
Gripping the edge of her door frame, Meiran's strong fingers cracked the wood under the strain. What an opportunity this wonderful news presented! If there was a tie between the disappearances of the humans and the Rogues, Duo Maxwell would be out of her existence forever without anyone knowing that she was responsible.
'No!' she suddenly stopped herself there. There was so much more that she could do first. Things that would make that braided nuisance wish that he'd never been born before he finally met his end. He needed to suffer long and terribly before he was removed from the face of the earth.
The deep frown of worry on Lady Une's face could be heard in her uttered, "If anything were to happen to Duo now... I couldn't even imagine what that would do to Heero after everything that has it took for them to come together."
Oh, but Meiran could imagine it.
Yuy would be devastated. Lost. Desperate to tie to another creature that could preserve his existence. And she would be there to help him forget everything about Duo Maxwell, making her the center of Heero's world as she always should have been.
Like everything else that she'd accomplished in her living and immortal life in destroying anyone who got in her way of getting what she wanted, Meiran needed to remain patient.
This was good... fantastic, in fact. Now she needed to gather the facts to come up with the right plan of attack.
As it turned out, the timing of her leave couldn't have worked out better. Space between both her families of Infected would only serve her better in accomplishing her goal.
Eliminating her threat was one thing. But what she would do to that boy would bring her nothing but pleasure to the rest of her existence in looking back at how everything good in his world had been taken from him before he drew his last breath.
This was going to be fun.
At the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs, the dark-haired Vampire hurried back into her room and began shifting the hangers in her closet.
"You haven't settled on an outfit for the party yet, cousin?" Relena questioned, arms folded as she leaned against the door frame.
Never turning her head to actually look on the other Infected to feign focus to her task, Meiran shrugged, "I have my choices narrowed down to a couple of options now. Perfection takes time and effort, dear. While I have natural beauty, I cannot rest on those laurels."
Rolling her eyes, the Councilwoman pushed herself upright and disappeared back down the hallway with a muttered, "Whatever."
Alone again, the vixen released a deep breath of a sigh. It would do her absolutely no good if she were to get caught listening in on her cousins. Quickly stepping from her room, she closed the door behind her.
It was time to hunt from the wildlife around. Coming up with such delicious thoughts of ruining that living was making her quite thirsty.
* * * * * *
Yawning on his way to the kitchen of his new home, Duo stretched his arms high over his head to work out the early kinks from his starting the day. At the sight Wufei, Trowa and Anna seated at the small table engaged in a quiet conversation while Heero and Midi worked together at making breakfast on the stove, he smiled warmly to himself.
He couldn't think of a nicer scene than seeing his family back together.
The first to spot him when he entered the room, his sister rose from her seat and bounded for him, greeting brightly, "Good morning, little brother."
Laughing as he caught her, Maxwell soaked up feeling of her arms wrapping tightly around his neck. "I have a lot of hugs to make up for," Anna grinned when she pulled back and placed a kiss on the end of his nose.
"I look forward to that," the living winked as he released the Vampire and appraised her.
Beautiful and sprightly as he remembered her, his sister was the smirking picture of the cat that just got the cream. And by the bite marks embedded in either side of her neck that matched Wufei's, that was more than a pretty literal observation.
Returning to the table to sit close to her husband, the redhead patted the empty seat on her other side. Duo shook his head in amusement and took up the chair. "So, how was the hunt?" he asked, unable to hide his anxiety over the Rogues.
Anna grinned, "You'll hear everything at our meeting and not a moment before. This is your weekend and we're all going to see that you enjoy it. No worries."
Only then really paying attention to how Wufei and Trowa were bent forward did Duo realize that they were threading crystalline snowflakes with thin twine to be used to hang them.
"Yes, we're not going through all of this for nothing," Barton grumbled, but the humor in his tone gave away how he was gladly suffering the chore. Chang, however, was glaring pretty fiercely at the innocent ornament that he was working on as he struggled to get the twine to cooperate with him.
The sight was downright comical, but Maxwell managed to contain his amusement to a private smile. Looking to the stove where Heero continued to flip pancakes and scramble eggs while Midi pulled a sheet of blueberry muffins from the oven, he blinked in surprise. "Uh, you know I tend to eat a lot, you two, but you look like you're about to feed an army," he commented.
Peering over his shoulder, his Vampire smiled, "Maybe not an army, but we are expecting guests for breakfast this morning."
Confused, Duo frowned, "Guests?" The sound of the doorbell filled the air and he turned his braided head towards the doorway.
Midi giggled, "That would be them. When Heero stepped away from the stove to have her take over, he bit his lip nervously. Resting a hand on his shoulder, the brunette reassured softly, "You'll be fine."
And just like that, the identity of the visitors was made crystal clear to Duo as his eyes grew in surprise.
Father Maxwell and Sister Helen had arrived.
TBC...
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