Crimson Ties Part 7
As soon as Heero's bike hit the trail leading beyond the campus, he looked over at the redhead riding just behind him and smiled warmly, "I've missed you terribly, sister. It's good to have you and Wufei back. "
Beaming, Anna replied, "I missed you something fierce, too, dear brother." Her smile faltering, she asked, "Did the supply of my blood that I stored for you help at all while I was away? I've been worried about how you've been holding up."
Though his lungs did not need the air, the clan leader took a deep breath out of pure instinct. Slowly turning his head back to meet her gaze again, he informed, "Its effect is still weakening every time I drink it... little by little but enough for me to notice it."
Her still heart sinking, Anna swallowed roughly. "I was afraid of that," she muttered, staring down at the concrete road ahead of her. "Here I was hoping against hope that I could still be of help to you..." She couldn't go on any longer when her voice cracked to a sharp whimper as tears filled her eyes.
"Anna," Heero whispered, a deep frown etching his own face. Pulling aside onto the grass and stepping off his bike, he let it fall as he waited for her to stop beside him. Easily scooping her from her seat, he pulled her into a tight embrace. "Your presence is more than enough for me," he whispered in her ear and placed a kiss on her temple as she latched on just as fiercely.
It wasn't fair. Burying her face against his shoulder, Anna struggled to keep herself from falling into an abyss of frustration and guilt. After how Heero had saved her... it wasn't right that she was no longer able to return the favor now that he was in danger.
Maybe the fact that it was his strand of infection that flowed through her that made her so intensely connected to him. But there was more to it than that, and they both knew it. They were as good as naturally born brother and sister as far as they were concerned and there was nothing that they wouldn't do for each other.
And now he was slowly dying and there was nothing that she could do about it.
It just wasn't fair.
Pulling back, Heero cupped the sides of his sister's face to wipe away the tear trails from her cheeks. "I wanted to wait until we were home to tell you," he smiled, running a hand over her curly hair. He rested their foreheads together when the damp blue-and-gold eyes peered back up at him and said, "I found him."
The other Vampire gasped and her mouth fell open as she reeled away from her brother. "Him, him?" she breathed as the dark dread that had sunk into her bones suddenly broke. Shaking her head, she asked, "The boy from the alley? Your Other?"
With a firm nod, her brother smirked, "The very same. And he's right."
Her tears instantly drying, Anna laughed and leapt at him to throw her arms around his neck as she shouted, "Oh, thank God!" Bouncing on her feet when she stepped back again, she clapped her hands together and questioned in a rush, "What's his name?! What does he look like?! Does he still have those violet eyes!?"
Snickering, Heero rested his hands on her shoulder and promised, "I'll tell you everything when we get back home. Things are... complicated with the whole situation, but I'll explain." Lightly cupping the side of her face, he added, "And I want to hear everything about the hunt that you and Chang were on."
Content with that, the redhead grinned, "Deal. That works out better, anyway since Wufei will want to hear all of the details of your discovery, too." Rushing to gather her bike up again, she mounted it again and winked over her shoulder, "Race you back home."
Before an eye could blink, she was gone.
Yuy shook his head in amusement, "Good to have you back, sis." Picking up his bike to get back into its seat, he was off on her heels in a bolt.
* * * * * *
"Hey," Quatre smiled as he returned 'home' from his last lesson. Finding his roommate lying on his mattress staring up at the ceiling, he removed his backpack to set it aside and asked, "How were your classes today?"
With his head pillowed on his folded arms as he continued to look upward, Duo shrugged, "They were fine. Nothing really new or exciting for me to report there."
At the almost glum tone in his friend's voice, the Arab turned towards him to frown, "Is everything all right? You seem down about something."
Blinking, the braided youth sat up to put on a grin as he replied, "Yea, everything's fine."
"Fine," Quatre repeated, raising an eyebrow. Shaking his head, he smirked, "You never use that word to describe everything, so something's on your mind." He moved to sit at the edge of his bed to face the other teenager and folded his arms. "Is it something you want to talk about?" he offered.
Laughing, Maxwell sat up and shook his head, "I told you I'm fine, man. Let it go. You're worse than a nagging mom." With a sigh, he stood and grabbed a pack of cigarettes from his desk drawer. "I need a smoke... or twelve. Maybe a walk, too," he announced on his way to the door.
Winner blinked as his braided friend headed out, closing the door behind him. "Yep, something's definitely up," he muttered to himself, rubbing the back of his neck. Whatever was bothering his roommate, he wasn't about to press the issue until he was ready to bring it up on his own.
Now having the room to himself, the blonde scientist headed for his cubby to resume his personal 'assignment.' There was still much work to do if he was going to get ahead. And moments of having alone time to focus on the task were few and far between, so he was going to use every second of it while he could.
* * * * * *
Duo never showed up at dinner that night.
And when it was getting dark out, there had yet to be a sign of him anywhere.
But it wasn't until well past the braided youth's usual time of calling the Maxwell Church had come and gone that Quatre really began to worry.
There were few rituals that his roommate stuck to no matter what. And his Wednesday night check-in with Father Maxwell and Sister Helen was one that he never missed.
Chewing worriedly on the inside of his cheek, the Arab secured the dishes that he had toiled with for the hours of his friend's absence. As much as he wanted to continue to decipher the unique samples, he needed to be sure that Duo was okay.
Once his desk drawer was locked, he hurried towards the closet for a light coat when he jumped at the sound of the door opening. Panting at his start, Winner glared at his roommate entering their room and cried, "By Allah, where the hell have you been?!"
The braided teenager froze in the doorway, violet eyes wide and blinking in surprise. Ducking his head, he smiled sheepishly, "Um... I got a little lost on my walk and wasn't paying attention to the time until it started getting dark." He noticed the jacket in the blonde's hand as he stepped in to close the door behind himself and frowned sincerely, "Sorry for worrying you."
Sighing, Quatre gave a small smile and tossed the coat aside. "Well, I'm just glad you're all right," he shrugged. Even from feet away, he could smell the heavy cover of smoke in his friend's clothes and hair. Clearly, he'd smoked his whole pack of cigarettes during his walk.
Duo ran a hand through his bangs and grinned, "Other than getting to see more of the sights around than I'd planned, that bit of fresh air was nice." Sniffing the air, he winced, "At least, that's for the fresh air that I wasn't killing with my smokes. I should take a shower before I turn in,"
A hand reaching back, he removed the end of his braid and shed his long-sleeved shirt while his friend kept a concerned eye on him. Moving towards his closet, he untwined his hair and heard himself say, "I had no idea that Heero had another Vampire as a Companion. She stopped by the library to see him when he finished his shift."
Taking up his shower bucket, Maxwell berated himself for bringing up the one thing that he did not want to have to think about. He's spent the last few hours trying to get the image of the striking redhead from his mind. The last thing that he wanted was to remember how perfect she and the librarian looked together... how in love they were with each other.
Yet he just couldn't seem to let it go.
Quatre's jaw fell at the strange statement, his eyes narrowing again in confusion. "Heero doesn't have a Companion- human or Vampire," he replied.
His free hand waving in the air he shook his head, "You had to have met her, or at least known about her. And why wouldn't she be his, I mean she's perfect in about every way imaginable. You should have seen how they were together. They were like two love-struck kids."
That came out a little more bitter than he'd intended. Shaking himself mentally, he worked fast to change his tone by adding nonchalantly, "Not that it's any of my business, or that I care, for that matter."
Shaking his head in frustration, the scientist frowned, "For the life of me, I have no idea who on Earth you're-" Cutting himself off with a wide gasp as his eyes grew, he sat at the edge of his bed and questioned, "Wait... did she have long, curly red hair? Blue eyes?"
"Yea," Duo nodded, stopping along his way past to leave the room. The corner of his mouth curled up in a smirk and he laughed, "See, you do know about her."
A wide, relieved smile spread across Quatre's face as he looked away, breathing, "Anna's back. Then Wufei's home safe as well." Realization set in quickly and he snapped a shocked expression back at his roommate, "Wait, you think that she and Heero are..." He cut himself off when he all but fell over, laughing hysterically.
Dumbfounded, the long-haired teenager glared at the blonde. "I don't get what's so funny about that," he commented.
Wiping a stray tear that was rolling down his face, Winner managed to calm himself enough to exclaim, "Anna is Heero's sister, Duo!"
Nearly dropping his bucket of supplies when his arms fell heavily at his sides, Maxwell stammered, "S-sister?"
Throwing his arms in the air, Quatre shouted, "Yes! She's the only Vampire that he turned, making her his only blood tie. Of course they love each other! They've always been very close." Unable to help himself, he snickered, "She's been away for weeks, so she must have not wanted to wait for him to return home to see him again. You only saw an innocent reunion between them."
It was as if a weight rose off of Duo's chest and he was able to breathe again. Still blinking his enlarged eyes, he muttered, "Oh." That would certainly did explain Heero's reaction to the female Infected and how they latched onto each other as well as the affection in their eyes.
Well, now he felt like a complete idiot for acting the way he had for the last few hours... and all over something that he didn't really care about in the first place. Or at least he couldn't have cared as much as he did.
Tilting his head, the blonde grinned, "Was that what had you so worked up all this time?" When that fiery glare returned to burrow through him, he instantly regretted his question and sobered quickly.
"Don't be stupid," the other teenager snapped. "I told you earlier that nothing's wrong." Not a lie, he told himself. He just wasn't willing to say how close his roommate was to guessing what had been eating at him.
None of it mattered, this whole whether Heero had a companion or not. The whole thing was a ridiculous thing for him to have been at all concerned with in the first place.
Before he gave his friend any time to really paint the wrong picture, Duo shook his head and laughed, "You really like to over analyze things, pal. Must be a part of your being a scientist and all." Turning on his heels towards the door again, he waved, "I'm off for that shower. Try to not read too much into that."
As his roommate stepped out and the room was closed off again, Quatre smiled to himself. Things certainly had taken an interesting turn with this development.
Of course, he would keep his analyzing to himself.
* * * * * *
Thursday. Duo's lightest day of classes, none of them requiring that he go to the library.
But he went, anyway.
In fact, as soon as he finished his last lesson, he rushed through lunch and left his backpack in his room to head to the glass-walled building. With a light bounce in his step and a wide smile on his face as he walked through the opening doors, he removed the hood of his windbreaker that he'd used for protection from the light rain falling outside and headed straight for the librarian's station.
Heero had his back to him, using the furthest computer and scanner to check in a tall stack of returned books. Looking up, he blinked in surprise and smiled, "Hello, Duo. To what do I owe the honor of your stopping in like this?"
Still grinning, the braided teenager popped his folded arms up on the edge of the desk and replied, "Nothing this time. I wanted to make sure I caught you to say thanks for the heads up on that pop quiz from Professor G."
"Ah. Glad I could help," the Infected smirked as he resumed his work. "Did you ace it as you expected?" taking up the scanner, he ran it over the barcode of the book spines to have a high-pitched 'beep' fill the air.
Duo snorted, "Of course." Closing his eyes, he stretched and sighed, "I always keep up in my lessons, as any good ward of the state should. Don't want to see the government financial support to disappear on me."
Such was his usual response whenever asked about his studies, only now hearing the beeping of the barcodes being scanned come to an abrupt end, he opened his eyes wide in remembering his audience. Heero was still, wand in hand as he watched Maxwell with what could only be described as a profound sadness in his blue eyes.
Forcing a laugh, the braided Living waved his hand and said, "Sorry. I didn't mean for that to come out, it just came out of habit. It's not anything I want to bother you with, and I don't want or need pity."
Heero swallowed roughly, fighting with the surge of emotions that were running through him and put on a small smile. "Maybe that would be something you may feel more comfortable sharing with me another time," he offered, "with the promise of my not pitying you."
"Yea. Maybe," Duo shrugged. Shaking his head, he changed the subject by saying, "That was a cute redhead you left campus with yesterday."
Not even missing a beat as he continued to check in the next stack of books, the Vampire chuckled, "That would be my sister, Anna. I was going to tell you about her and the rest of my family yesterday before we were interrupted."
Tilting his head, Maxwell stated, "Quat told me how she's your sister. And I've been confused by that. Since she looks nothing like you, she would be your sister because you turned her. But you would have had to have made her your Companion as opposed to one of your own kind according to the law."
Heero's lips curled up and he set aside the last book from the pile. Leaning towards the teenager, he all but whispered, "No law was broken. Her turning took place long before the pact between our kinds was forged decades ago. Clearly, you're underestimating how old I really am."
Violet eyes growing, Duo straightened himself and mulled over that statement. Really, he never did give a lot of thought to really knowing the Infected's personal life, including his age and such. But now, he found himself wanting to soak up some of those details. Every day, he seemed to want to know more.
Peering back at the clock, the Infected noted the time and grinned. "I'm about to go on break in a couple minutes," he announced to his visitor as he faced him again. "If you'd like to join me, we can talk."
Were this more than a week or two ago, the very thought would have repulsed the braided teenager. Instead, he smiled, "Sure. I'll meet you in one of the free lounges, then." Spinning on his heels to go off to the back rooms, he waited until he was hiding amongst the book shelves to smack his forehead.
Just what in the hell brought that on? Who was be becoming lately?
* * * * * *
The rain continued to fall beyond the lounge that Duo had dubbed his little meeting place. Shedding his windbreaker, he set it on the armrest of the long, red plush couch with its back to the glass wall and up one of the seat cushions. His body rigid, his fingers drummed anxiously against his knees.
Never before would he ever imagined that he would willingly be awaiting the company of a Vampire... with great anticipation at that. It was becoming more and more difficult to tell who he was lately, when compared to who he was not long ago.
Before, he never would have given though to being almost jealous of an Infected before that Anna appeared to have had Heero wrapped around her slender fingers. Only now was the living able to admit that he actually was envious after a lot of consideration. It explained the relief that he felt when he found out that the two were merely siblings.
He never would admit such a thing aloud, of course. And with any luck, Quatre would forget about his little episode the night before. The last thing Maxwell needed was to have his roommate coming to conclusions that even he wasn't ready to accept.
These strange feelings were far from any others that he'd ever dealt with in his life. Practically locking himself away in the church shielded him from any such emotions.
And yet those thoughts vanished when Heero stepped through the doorway. A smile spreading across his face, the teenager did his best to will his heart to slow when its pulse quickened at the sight of the Vampire that seemed to have the ability to look into his very soul with those haunting cobalt eyes of his.
It was something that Duo was still getting used to- this feeling naked in front of someone who really knew so little about him. Though they'd never shared more than a few brief conversations, it was as if the Infected could read everything about him... as if there were no secrets that the living could keep from the beautiful creature.
Returning the smile with a smaller one of his own, the librarian closed the door behind him before he walked over to the couch. That simple move that sealed them off from the rest of the world had Duo's throat tightening to the point that he needed to swallow roughly so that he could keep his breath steady.
The Infected took up the cushion at the far end of the soft, a clear sign that he didn't want to make things uncomfortable for the living by being too close to him. The braided youth rewarded him with an small nod of appreciation.
Heero leaned forward to prop himself up with his arms rested against his legs. After a long moment of the two staring into each other's eyes, he opened the conversation by asking quietly, "I suppose that you've heard how my kind originated through a strange mutation brought on by early experiments in curing tuberculosis?"
Nodding, Duo responded, "I know that there were medics and scientists that brought the change onto a couple hundred people back in 1560, not really knowing what they were working with at the time."
"That's right," the Vampire smirked. "In some ways, they were on the right course of curing the disease by making the lungs not need air to breathe since they were attacked the most by the disease. But, they never expected the lungs to completely seize up along with the heart, kidneys and every other life-supporting organ... yet the host was still alive."
Already all too aware of that history lesson, the braided teenager shrugged, "Everyone knows about that. Hell, even when I couldn't give a damn in understanding your kind, I knew all about the Originals that were the first of the Vampires."
With a deep chuckle, the Infected's lopsided smirk only grew and he replied, "Yes, I had no doubt that you were well aware of that unfortunate lot of poor people that had been used as lab rats."
Craning his head towards his Other, he kept hold of those widened violet eyes on him and breathed, "And I'm one of those Originals."
TBC...
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