[In my head there's only you now
This world falls on me
In this world there's real and make believe
And this seems real to me]
--- Lyrics to 'Let Me Go' by 3 Doors Down
Life... Really Part 19
Over the hazy horizon, the golden sun rose to begin an already warm morning. As the rays peeked through the drawn shades of his bedroom, Heero quietly began to stir. In his movement, the thin sheets draped around his bare waist followed his hip. Opening his cobalt eyes, the Japanese youth smiled warmly to himself as he watched his sleeping lover, wrapped safely in his arms.
Between the prom and their lovemaking, the young couple had been rendered too tired to change into anything more than the sheets at their hips. Heero certainly was not complaining over that as he enjoyed the wonderful view that graced him in his waking. In their lovemaking, there were no longer any barriers of shyness or fear, it was just as passionate and filled with need as their own emotions for each other were. It had been a breathtaking experience for the two of them.
As the events of the previous night replayed in his mind, that small smile brew a bit on his lips and he snuggled closer to the cat-eared teenager. His right hand lazily ran through the long strands of hair that was cascaded around him like a blanket. In his sleep, Duo smiled and purred deeply as he nuzzled the side of his face against Heero's bare chest, his tail wrapping a bit tighter where it was draped protectively around his lover's waist.
Leaning down, the Japanese teenager placed a soft kiss on the sleeping youth's head. With a quiet hum, Duo blinked his violet eyes open. Looking up with his eyes heavily lidded, his smile grew at the sight of his lover smiling warmly at him. "Morning," he mumbled with a small yawn that had snuck up on him.
Heero chuckled deeply and replied in kind, "Good morning." The long-haired teenager suddenly leaned up to capture his lips before he could say anything further. With a soft moan, Heero returned and tried to overpower the kiss as it deepened. When they finally parted, he closed his cobalt eyes with a contented sigh, pulling the smaller teenager towards him more.
"Can we just stay like this for a few days?" Duo asked in a tone that was meant with as much humor as it was filled with longing. No sooner had he finished his question than his stomach started grumbling loudly. Opening his eyes, the cat-eared boy grinned sheepishly, "With a few breaks for food, of course."
With a deep chuckle, Heero smiled, "As much as you know that I would love to do nothing else, I have to make sure that I check up with any assignments that my mother may have sent while we were out. The last thing that we need right now is for her to be suspicious that I wasn't here working all night last night."
At the mention of the red-haired woman, Duo had to suppress the shudder that threatened to run up his spine. The thought of what she would do were she to ever learn of their relationship was a frightening prospect. There had not been a day that went by that he did not recall the terms that she had lied out to him if he wished to stay in her home.
Over the last few months, Duo had already broken one of those agreements, not to mention any number of any terms that had not been suggested without being voiced. Somehow, he doubted that she would be very pleased to learn that he was involved romantically with her son.
While he knew that Danielle would never accept him as anything other than some strange creature burdened upon her, Duo still hoped to one day change her perspective. He also knew how important it was for Heero to please his mother. He would never want to get in the way of that.
Resigning himself to small sigh, the long-haired teenager replied, "All right." Sitting up a bit, he smirked mischievously, "can I at least talk you into a shower first?" Returning the playful grin, Heero pulled his lover's face towards his own for a passionate kiss offered in response.
* * * * * *
"The plan is in motion," Dekim leered darkly, sitting back in his leather seat behind his desk. With a nod to his accomplice sitting across from him, he stated, "Please tell your son and his friends that I thank them for their assistance."
Satisfied, Jacob smirked, "I will be certain to pass that on. He was as surprised as I was when he saw the images that had been passed to him. It was quite a risk that they took in hopes of not being caught. It is quite unfortunate for them that some of those students in attendance are still friends with Muller."
Dekim folded his hands together before him and chuckled deeply, "Well, now that our little 'gift' is in the process of reaching its destination, it will not be long before they realize just how unfortunate they are. We best be prepared for when that moment arrives." With that, the two scientists rose from their seats, eager for their hunt to finally come to an end.
* * * * * *
With a small smile, Danielle nodded adieu to her client after discussing his nephew's situation over breakfast. This case they were meeting over was going to be a challenge to make the charged party appear innocent in his charges of drug endorsement. However, as the nephew of one of the great Senators of Colony D14, the young woman would make certain that he would come off as model citizen.
Yes, Danielle would have yet another prosecutor's head reeling when the words 'Not Guilty' were versed by the jury. She certainly was not the most sought after lawyer throughout Earth and the Colonies without earning it. The trial was months off, but she was already setting a plan into motion as she returned to her hotel room.
After stepping into the doorway of one of hundreds of rooms that she had stayed in over the years, Danielle kicked off her black heeled shoes and padded over to the living room table. Opening her laptop to turn on the monitor, she went about starting a cup of tea while the computer woke from its rare slumber.
When her tea was finished, the red-haired lawyer took her porcelain cup back to the table with her. Sighing deeply, Danielle smiled to herself and took a sip from her soothing drink before returning to her work, setting her thin wire-framed glasses into place. First order of business was to go over any new mail that had arrived. Patiently opening each new message, she replied to each sender.
The last message that awaited Danielle was sent without any way of tracing the sender. The subject line of the email simply read, "While you are away..." the fact that there was no name or return address showed that someone intended this only for her to see. Normally, she would just delete messages in not recognizing the return address or sender, but something about this just seemed different.
Her cobalt eyes narrowing, in thought, curiosity got the better of her and Danielle opened the letter to find several attachments without titles and no further text from the sender. Moving her mouse up to the first attachment, she clicked the mouse twice as a large image opened on her screen. With a sharp gasp, the teacup in her hand fell away, shattering on the hardwood floor at her feet.
* * * * * *
Later that evening, Heero and Duo were assisting Noin in clearing the table following their dinner. After sharing their experience at the prom, Duo's 'parents' both seemed to be more relieved in knowing that the two boys were able to have such a good time with their friends. "Well, I am happy that after all of your planning it all seemed to pay off," the young maid smiled as she inserted a few plates into the dish washer.
"I never would have thought that a simple dance could be that much fun," Heero admitted with a small grin of his own. "I'm glad that I got to go to the last one before graduating."
His cat ears drooping a bit as a thought came to him, he asked, "What are you going to do when you do graduate, Heero? I mean are you going to stay here or live on campus at Wayne University?"
Lowering the last bowl into the dish washer, Heero smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry. I told my mother that I plan on commuting so I'll be staying here while I go to school." Relief filled Duo's eyes and his smile returned. Grinning to herself, Noin stepped out of the kitchen to give the boys a bit of privacy.
Heero draped an arm around his lover's waist to pull him close. "I don't plan on being away from you any longer than I need to be." Biting his lip, Duo threw his arms tightly around Heero's neck to give him a firm kiss.
The sound of the phone ringing startled the two of them apart. Looking at the clock, Duo frowned, "It's a little late for Quatre or the other to be calling." With a nod, Heero's own confused gaze revealed that he had already thought the same just as the call was picked up in the living room. Lately, their friends were the only people to ever call the residence.
Slow footsteps approached the kitchen. Zechs stood in the doorway with a very grim expression on his face as his uneasy gaze fell on the two boys still locked in their embrace. Just the concern in those eyes alone had been enough to send a chill down Heero's spine. Something was clearly very wrong. Clearing his throat, the tall man announced quietly, "Heero, it's your mother. She would like to talk to you."
At that proclamation, both Heero and Duo's eyes widened in worry as they tensed in each other's arms. Taking a deep breath, the Japanese teenager finally nodded. Gently rubbing his lover's stiff back, he made his way through the kitchen door. The cat-eared youth followed after, nervously biting his lip.
Without saying a work, Zechs moved to the front door and took up his long, black chauffer jacket. Duo stopped in the living room entrance where his 'mom' was pacing nervously. When the braided teenager joined her, she forced a smile and opened her arms out to him. Biting his lip, the boy all but fell into her embrace looking for support in what was shaping to be a very bad situation.
Too preoccupied to notice what was going on around him, Heero stepped into the living room. Sitting before the opened vid phone, he swallowed hard in meeting the fiery glare of his mother that met his gaze. He had to swallow again before trusting his voice enough to greet, "Hello, Mother. How is your trip-"
His words were cut off when his mother raised a hand up to stop him, her heated gaze still locked on him. Danielle's words were short and clear as she stated, "I am simply calling to make certain that you and that thing stay at the house for when I arrive. Zechs is now on the way to pick me up from the spaceport." The sound of the front door closing filled the air. The heavy sound felt to the boy as if it were a nail being hammered into his coffin.
Already, Heero's mind was swirling with what could have possible caused his mother's obvious distain. What was more unnerving was that whatever it was, it was enough to make her feel the need to return home so that she could talk with him personally. The only other time his mother saw the need to return from a business trip early was when Duo had changed into a teenager. Obviously, this surprise meeting was to discuss the cat-eared boy again, if his mother wanted to be certain that he was still around when she got home.
That was when a chilling realization hit him....
She knew.
In some way, somehow, his mother learned that Duo was not confined to the house as she had ordered when she came to her terms of agreement for him to stay. Why else would she need to call ahead to be certain that Duo was still home as well? If she truly believed that he never stepped outside, there would have been no need for her to call in advance to be sure of it.
Peering out of the corned of his eye, Heero could see the color draining from both Duo and Noin's faced from where they stood listening in the doorway. Obviously, they had come to the same conclusion that he had. Focusing on the reddening face on the monitor, he was certain he was a few shades paler, himself. With a firm nod, he replied quietly, "We'll be here."
Danielle's face remained set in a fierce scowl while she announced, "I will be there in less than an hour." With that, the monitor went black at the disconnection of the call.
All but falling back against the couch, Heero could feel beads of sweat forming against his brow. He knew better than to attempt rising to his feet right then. He could already feel his knees trembling. Duo was suddenly sitting beside him, his own body shaking and tears in his violet eyes. "H-how did she find out," he whispered in a broken voice.
Reaching up, Heero ran a hand through his love's bangs to give him some kind of comfort. He could only manage to whisper back with a shake of his head, "I don't know." He swallowed hard and repeated in little more than a breath, "I just don't know."
Duo began to shake again. Sensing the rising wave of panic rising in him, Heero took hold of his shoulders and met his watery eyes. "Let me take care of this," he stated in a voice that was suddenly very steady. "You don't have to say anything in your defense. I'll handle her."
With a small whimper, the braided boy clung onto his lover tightly. "I'm so sorry," Duo sobbed against Heero's chest. "I'm so sorry I'm putting you through this."
Gently kissing the top of the braided head against his shoulder, Heero wrapped his own arms tightly around his best friend. With a watery smile, he spoke quietly, "Hush, little one. You did nothing that I did not want to have happen, myself. I'll take care of this." He swallowed hard again, pausing before concluding, "Somehow." That was a very big 'somehow', he realized... and that was only if there actually was a way to diffuse the situation.
Placing a hand over her mouth to suppress her own cry, Noin looked away from where she watched in the doorway. Their own little 'family' that they had made was slowly falling apart. For years, she and Zechs had to stand on the sides and watch the lady of the house control the lives of everyone living in that house. When she arrived, there was no question that she would use that control to its fullest extent.
* * * * * *
Danielle ignored the robotic voice greeting her as she stormed into the house not long later, a black folder in hand. Her cold eyes fell on her son when she stepped into the living room. Scanning the area, she snapped, "Where is he?" she couldn't even bring herself to utter his name through her seething rage.
Without flinching, Heero met her gaze calmly from where he sat on the sofa and replied simply, "Upstairs. I thought that you might want to discuss what is wrong with me, first."
Nodding sharply, the red-haired woman answered, "Very good." With that, she called out to the folia, "Zechs, Noin, close the doors to the room." The young couple went to the two entrance ways on either side of room, closing each of the double doors without hesitation.
The tall chauffer stepped into the dining room, where his lover was biting her lip beyond the closed doors. Normally not one to listen in on a private conversation, Zechs stood by Noin, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as they stood waiting to ride the impending storm out.
Opening the folder that she brought with her, Danielle took a seat before the table that sat between her and the teenager at the couch. Removing a stack of prints, she threw them onto the wooden surface. As the images fanned out before him in what felt like slow motion, Heero's cobalt eyes widened in terror.
The pictures were large, close-up shots that had obviously zoomed in on by personal photographs. In every shot was an image of Heero and Duo together from the night before at the prom. Several shots revealed them kissing deeply. This... this was not something that Heero had been prepared to defend and the icy dread of the situation caused the blood to drain from his face.
Picking up an image of Heero and his date laughing together, Danielle raised an eyebrow and pointed to the 'girl' in the image. "She seems very familiar to me," she commented in a deep tone. Looking to the picture, she hissed, "Perhaps you can refresh my memory on where I have seen such a pair of violet eyes before."
Heero's mouth opened and closed in several vain attempts to say something. Finally, his weak voice replied, "Mother, I... I can explain."
Danielle slammed the photograph back onto the table with the others and shouted, "Explain what!? I had set one very clear rule that was to be abided by if that creature was to stay in my house-he was never to be discovered! Not only did you break that rule, you have been involved with him! What more is there to explain to me!?" By the time she was finished yelling, her face was nearly as red as the suit she was wearing.
Unable to move or even think through his haze of shock, Heero remained frozen on the couch. His head lowered, he desperately tried to think a clear thought at that point. Shaking her head, Danielle threw her arms up in the air and laughed bitterly, "Well apparently, you have nothing further that you need to explain to me!"
Taking a deep breath, Heero's mother folded her hands and growled deeply, "You know that distractions from one's work are inexcusable! Friends, dances, excursions outside of work are nothing more than just that-distractions."
Her head tilted and she frowned deeply, "That time I called when I could not reach you, and the occasion you had to leave our business trip early, were your excuses then just cover-ups as well then!? You were partaking in things that took you away from you work and lying to me?"
When the boy could not answer, let alone meet her eyes, Danielle yelled, "After everything that I have done for you over the years, to see that you have everything you could ever want in your future, this" she emphasized her statement by taking up one of the images where the boys were engaged in a fierce kiss. The young woman's voice rose as she shook the photograph before the boy, "This is how you repay me!"
Closing his eyes, Heero could feel his heart about to pound out of his chest. This was all wrong. She was never supposed to find out about his relationship with Duo. Even trying to defend the fact that Duo's true identity was never actually revealed to anyone outside of the house was a lie. The fact that the cat-tailed boy was out of the house at all was a direct violation of the rule that had been clearly set and agreed upon, whether or not the boy's strange secret was revealed or not. There was no chance of defending against this.
Slowly, Danielle rose to her feet, glaring down to her son as she stated, "I am going to go upstairs and demand that that... thing is removed from this house! You'll see that I do not make idle threats when I set rules!"
His head snapping up, Heero was quickly to his feet. His cobalt eyes were wide with fear as he cried, "Mother, please don't!" Whatever happened, he was not about to allow his mother to send his lover away to fend for himself.
Just as his mother turned to reply, the sound of the slam of the front door suddenly closing caused the two of them to jump at the unexpected sound. Heero's heart jumped into his throat and he found himself pushing his mother out of the way to open the double doors that led to the folia. When both Zechs and Noin rounded the corned with their own eyes filled with concern, the Japanese boy moaned, "Duo."
Running to the front door to throw it open, Heero sprang to the front porch, scanning the two sides of the street. "Duo!" he shouted. Even with the aid of the street lights, it was impossible to tell which way the braided youth had taken. There were too many winding alleys and other streets. His eyes narrowing, he went back into the house to call Quatre and the others in hopes that his lover might be on his way to see one of them.
As her son walked past, Danielle had a triumphant smile on her face, her arms crossed against her chest. "Good riddance," she smirked. Heero froze where he stood, his back rigid. "I am not about to let that thing back into this house to ruin everything that I have been working towards when it comes to my son's future."
"Mother, shut up!" Heero shouted, spinning to meet her stunned eyes. Feeling his own face now burning with the rage that his mother had shown, he glared heatedly at her. "His name is Duo! You refer to him as anything else and so help me, I'll hit you!"
Danielle's wide eyes finally blinked as she came out of her stocked state. Neither Zechs nor Noin seemed able to move at that point, their own shocked gazes locked on the teenage boy. Slowly walking towards him, the red-haired woman said quietly, "Heero, please, you don't really mean that."
Taking a step back out of her reach, Heero's eyes just narrowed further. In a low growl, he warned, "Try me." A small sound that he could not quite make out escaped his mother's parted lips.
Quickly changing his plan of calling his friends, Heero knew that he could not trust himself to stay in that house and hold back his seething anger towards his mother. Turning on his heels, he grabbed a blue wind breaker from the closet went out into the cool night air, slamming the door behind him.
Still taken aback by the turn of events, Danielle finally came to her senses and ran towards the door, yelling, "Heero! Get back here!"
Just before she could reach for the doorknob, Zechs stepped in her path. The tall man folded his arms and glared down on the woman of the household. Meeting his glare, Danielle cried, "Zechs, get out of my way!"
Raising his arm to point to the living room, the chauffer ordered in a deep voice, "Sit down, Danielle." It was the first time in the many years that he had worked for her that he ever addressed the woman by her first name.
"How dare you take that tone with me and tell me what to do!?" Danielle snapped indignantly. Her fists clenched at her sides, the fingernails digging into her palms. She always had control. She always had control over every situation. How was everything suddenly getting out of hand!? "It seems that you have forgotten that you work for me!"
Bending at the waist until they were at eyelevel, Zechs replied smoothly, "And apparently you have forgotten that only I know where the keys to the vehicles are. Unless you want to go running after your son on foot, making enough of a public display of yourself that the whole town will be talking about you having, then I suggest that you. Sit. Down."
With a sharp gasp, Danielle's eyes widened. Zechs had somehow taken the upper hand in this argument, using her pride against her. Taking a deep breath, she stalked into the living room and took the spot on the couch that her son had occupied. The tall man sat in the chair across from her. "Now," he began, "There are some things that need to be brought to your attention."
* * * * * *
Quatre's eyes widened when he opened the door to see his friend standing there, panting heavily and looking as though he had just finished running a marathon. "Heero?" he frowned deeply. "What's wrong?"
Swallowing hard when he finally caught his breath, the Japanese boy asked suddenly, "Is Duo here?" The desperation in his eyes and voice suddenly concerned the Arab more than his friend's appearance at such a late hour.
The blonde teenager shook his head, "No. I haven't seen him since last night when we got back from the prom." Stepping out of the way, he made room for the other boy to enter as he offered, "have a seat so that we can talk about this. I'll call Relena, Trowa and Wufei." With a grateful nod, Heero followed his friend into the living room.
* * * * * *
Duo wiped at his eyes again as he quickly walked down the long alley he had used to escape, adjusting his baseball cap to stay on snugly. He couldn't stay with Heero. All that Heero ever wanted was to make his mother proud and he was getting in the way of that. He was better off fending for himself when he was a kitten, or whatever he was years ago. How could he be anything to Heero when he didn't even know what he was?
No. It was better this way. Even if it was killing him.
Looking over his shoulder, Duo never noticed the tall man that stepped out of the shadows in front of him. Suddenly walking into the broad chest, he stepped back a few paces. When he looked up to the smirking face that watched him, his heart suddenly began racing. "Hello... Duo, is it?" the white-haired man greeted in a deep voice.
That voice... the one that Duo had heard in his nightmares. The voice that he was always running from. It found him.
His violet eyes wide in horror, Duo turned to run in the other direction when a second person appeared to grab a hold of him. Before he could cry out, Duo felt a piece of cloth bring pressed tightly against his mouth and nose, muffling his voice. He struggled as best he could with two people holding him as he tried not to breathe in the fumes from the cloth at his airways. Before long, his arms and legs fell heavily.
Darkness claimed Duo just as the voice's deep chuckle filled his ears.
TBC...
Back to SkyLark's Fanfictions Page