Author's Note: No excuse for how long this has taken. Too much going on in life, but since writing is my escape and solace, I should never let it lapse for so long. I will do better, for anyone who's hanging in there and still reading this.
"The farm isn't the same without grandpa and Thunder. I miss the sound of that old dog baying while he's on a scent, and my granddad's calls and whistles to keep him in line. I miss...a lot of things. Had a bit of a run-in with the local minister, who wanted Ephraim buried in the Christian cemetery beside grandma and my mother. But I know grandpa always wanted his final resting place to be here on this farm. I took him and Thunder up to the ridge where they always went to watch the sunrises. Buried them in the dead of night, so no local busybodies could mess things up. It was pretty hard chiseling through the frozen ground with a pickaxe, but once I got down below the frost line, I was able to dig a proper enough grave to suit them both. And to Hell with anyone who doesn't like the way I did it. As granddad always said, 'the Bartons take care of their own.'..."
--excerpt from the private journal of Samuel Barton
Smoky Hills Part 46
Into the Mystery
When the shrill ring of the telephone interrupted Trowa and Quatre's impromptu make-out session, the green-eyed man muttered a curse.
"I should get that," he sighed, running a thumb over Quatre's lips.
"Hm," Quatre replied noncommittally.
"Hm," Trowa echoed, leaning in for another kiss.
But the caller was persistent, and when the phone kept ringing, Trowa pulled away again. "Sonofa--!" He got up, pausing to put a warm hand on Quatre's shoulder. "Wait here. Won't take me a minute."
He grabbed the phone and glared as if the speaker on the other end could actually see him. "Barton residence!"
"Chang here," came a curt, irritated reply. "I need to speak to Yuy."
"He's out," Trowa said equally irritably. Then he brightened, and an evil gleam entered his eyes. "On a date," he threw in smugly.
"A date?"
Was that a hint of jealousy Trowa detected? He smiled to himself. "Yes, Chang, a date. And I don't plan to wait up for him. I'll leave him a note that you called."
"Wait!" Chang snapped out hastily. "Just--tell him I've ruled his suspicious death case a homicide. The victim died of blunt force trauma. I found shards of rock embedded in the back of the skull from repeated blows to the head, and I expect to match them to samples my crew collected from the bluff today."
"Whoa," Trowa breathed. "Really? You think they found the place the murder happened?"
"I can't be sure yet; but I trust Heero's instincts. If he believes the murder took place on that bluff, I fully expect the evidence to support such a conclusion."
"Yeah, me too," Trowa said quietly. "Heero knew from the start there wasn't any way this was some kind of accident. When we found that first bone, he knew."
"As I said, his gut feelings are rarely wrong," came the firm reply.
Trowa almost snorted aloud, reflecting that Heero's ill-fated relationship with Wufei hadn't been much of a testimonial to his instincts. "Okay, well, I'll leave him a detailed note about your findings," he told his brother's ex-lover. "I'm sure he'll call to discuss them. Maybe tomorrow."
There was a momentary pause. "A date? With whom?"
"None of your business."
"Look, Barton, despite what you think, I do care about Heero. I think I have the right to ask who's in his life--"
"No you don't!" Trowa snarled. "You gave up that right when you dumped him."
"That's between Heero and me," came an icy reply. "It's up to him to decide how much he tells me--not you."
"He's not going to tell you jack shit," Trowa insisted.
"That just goes to show how little you know about our relationship--he told me everything--"
"That was before you broke his heart!" Trowa retorted. "I think you'll find things have changed--drastically."
"I'll be the judge of--"
"God, there's that ego again!" Trowa sneered, his voice dripping with disdain. "Get over yourself, Chang. Heero did."
He hung up the phone with a resounding crash, and stomped back into the kitchen where Quatre looked up in surprise. "That--didn't sound good," the blonde said carefully.
"Oh, shit. Sorry," Trowa said contritely. "How much did you hear?"
"Um--I wasn't trying to listen--" Quatre said hesitantly. "I didn't hear much of the conversation--just the tone of your voice. But you sounded pretty angry at the end there."
"I was. Some people need to learn when to butt out of people's lives."
Quatre smiled wryly. "I know that feeling. Between having dozens of sisters and an overbearing father, I know it well."
Trowa's temper cooled as he looked at the blonde, and he leaned in for a quick kiss. But he pulled back just as quickly, and gave a smile of his own. "I want to hear all about your family. I want you to be able to tell me anything and everything."
"I'm sure there'll be plenty of time for that when we take our trip to the museum," Quatre pointed out. "Like I said, it's a very long drive." His gaze drifted to the darkness outside the kitchen window. "Speaking of which--I should probably head home. I'm not as familiar with these back roads as Duo, and I always worry about deer jumping out in front of the car. It's happened a lot around here."
"I wouldn't want anything like that to happen to you!" Trowa asserted quickly. "Much as I'd like you to stick around, you do have a bit of a drive home." He pulled Quatre to his feet and into his arms for a lingering kiss. "I'd offer to take you--but Heero's got the car tonight."
"That's sweet, but unnecessary," Quatre assured him. "I'll be fine." He smirked up at the auburn-haired man. "Of course, I wouldn't mind if you wanted to walk me out. It's pretty dark out there."
"I'll protect you," Trowa promised. "From everything except me, that is."
They headed for the door hand in hand.
"I need protecting from you?" Quatre asked coyly as they stepped out onto the porch.
"Absolutely," Trowa answered, tugging him close for another kiss. "I'm seriously considering keeping you here permanently."
"Really?" Quatre teased back. "And what would you do with me?"
"Whatever you wanted," Trowa replied, running his fingers through the silky blonde hair.
"Oh--so I wouldn't be your slave, hm?" Quatre dared to flirt still more. "Catering to your every whim?"
Trowa blinked, his errant thoughts not having quite made that leap yet. But it sounded pretty damned inviting. "I never had a sex slave before," he mused with a smirk. "But I think I like you better just like this. Equals."
Quatre smiled brilliantly at him. "Trowa Barton, you know exactly the right things to say, don't you?"
"I just say what I feel," Trowa admitted, realizing this might be the first time he'd done that with a potential lover. Usually he was much more guarded about what he shared. He shook his head with a bemused smirk. "You have a strange effect on me, Quatre." He pulled away and tugged on his hand, heading towards the car. "C'mon and let's get you on your way before I say too much."
"I like what you have to say," Quatre pouted. But he let himself be ushered to the car.
Then he was behind the wheel, and Trowa was leaning in the open window for a goodbye kiss, and before he knew it, he was starting up the engine and driving off, still a bit amazed by how well the visit had gone. He'd hoped to get closer--but hadn't expected so much outright progress.
"Go me," he said with a dreamy sigh, flipping on the headlights as he left the glow of the front lights of the house.
Just as he did, the high beams flashed across the side of the big barn, and in an upper window, Quatre saw the gleam of two big, greenish eyes. He gasped aloud, and nearly jerked the steering wheel hard enough to go off into the grass beside the driveway. But then he quickly corrected himself and managed to keep the car straight as he pulled past the barn and headed down the dark, forested lane towards the road.
"What the fuck was that?" he muttered, realizing his hands were shaking a little.
A cat, he thought to himself. It had to be a cat, right? What else would be in a musty old barn, peeking out a window?
Even as he considered the possibility, he knew the eyes had been too big and too far apart to be an ordinary barn cat.
"Okay," he said in his most soothing voice. "There's a reasonable explanation. I'm tired. I imagined it." He nodded to himself. "That's it. Duo said he saw something in that barn, and it just gave me ideas. Power of suggestion."
Granted, that didn't explain why he'd see strange, glowing eyes when he was so totally fixated on Trowa. The last thing on his mind would have been Duo's ghost tales.
He rubbed a hand across his eyes as he pulled out onto the road. "Just need a good night's sleep, and I'll be right as rain," he told himself.
~*~
Meanwhile, back at the farm, Trowa watched the taillights of the car disappear into the darkness, and smiled dreamily, letting his mind wander back to the feel of Quatre in his arms and how very good those lips had tasted. He couldn't wait for more.
A restless yowl from the barn made him jerk his head up sharply and tear his thoughts away from the pleasant daydream.
"Okay, Leon!" he called. "Coming!"
He decided to do his late night check of the lions right then, rather than waiting for Heero to get home. For all he knew, his brother might get luckier than he did, and not come home at all.
He strolled across the yard and pulled the key from his pocket, unlocking the padlock and letting himself into the dark interior of the barn. But before he could reach for the light switch there was a low growl and something slammed into his chest, knocking him to the ground. He struggled, feeling a heavy weight settle on his midsection, and then caught a whiff of sour breath just as a raspy tongue began licking the side of his face.
"S-Sandy?" he managed to squeak out breathlessly, hoping it was her and not Leon pinning him to the ground.
He was greeted with a sort of purring growl, and managed to get an arm free and push at the large creature. "Get off!" he gasped out trying to sound stern.
The weight eased, and he was able to sit up, and finally disentangle himself and stand.
He felt a big head rub against his side as he staggered over and fumbled to turn the lights on, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw the lioness standing looking smug and docile.
"Jesus!" he breathed, his heart still racing. "Damn! You took years off my life you silly cat!"
Sandy sat in place and looked quizzically at him, half-raising a paw as if hoping a cute trick would settle him down.
"Silly," he chuckled, gradually regaining his composure.
He looked around the barn, wondering how on earth the big cat had escaped her cage. The door was ajar, when he knew full well he'd closed and locked it earlier.
His gaze immediately flew to Leon's door, and he let out a relieved gust of air when he saw it was secure. "Good thing you weren't the one who got out," he sighed, approaching the big lion, who was standing by the bars watching Sandy.
As if to prove his concerns were well-founded, Leon let out a low growl and swiped at him with a paw before withdrawing to the other side of his pen.
"Surly old thing." Trowa walked back to Sandy's cage and checked the latch, making sure it functioned properly. "Come over here, Sandy."
The lioness walked right up to him, and at a gesture went into the enclosure, settling onto her sleeping mat.
Even as he relocked the cage, Trowa was pulling out his cell phone and dialing Cathy's number.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Cath, it's Trowa. Say--you didn't happen to stop in to say 'bye' to Sandy and maybe leave the cage unlocked, did you?"
"Trowa Barton! You know better!" she declared. "I did stop in to give her a goodbye kiss, but I never went near the door. Why?"
He scowled at the lock. There was no way that cage could have come unlocked and unlatched on its own. "Is Sandy some sort of escape artist?"
"Not that I know of," Catherine answered. "Why, Trowa? What's up?"
"Nothing much. Just--she got loose inside the barn just now." He shook his head. "Maybe Heero checked on her before leaving for his date or something." But he didn't believe it even as he said it.
"I thought you guys kept the barn locked, too," Catherine said with concern. "There's no way someone else could have gotten in, is there?"
"Not that I know of," Trowa shrugged. "Look--sorry to bother you so late. I'll ask Heero about this when he gets home. I'm sure there's a perfectly normal explanation."
Normal indeed.
After bidding Catherine an absent-minded good night and hanging up his phone, Trowa looked around the barn warily, deciding the only reasonable explanation was that the latch on Sandy's door hadn't been shut properly when they first locked her in. "Maybe we should invest in a more sophisticated latch."
As he went to the cooler for a couple of evening snacks for the two big cats, he recalled the box he'd set down when Catherine and Sven arrived, and he looked around for it.
"What the fuck?" he muttered, seeing it nowhere in the immediate area. He was quite sure he'd placed it somewhere near the stairs.
"I'm losing my marbles," he sighed, wondering if he'd imagined the whole thing. But then he felt a weight in his pocket and reached in to retrieve the handful of marbles he'd recovered along with the box. "Heh--literally," he chuckled.
Stuffing the marbles back in his pocket, he grabbed the flashlight and headed back up the stairs, nearly tripping over the wooden box on the top step.
"What the--?" he blurted. "I know I didn't leave this here!"
He grabbed the box and brought it back down, looking accusingly over at Sandy. "Did you maybe help yourself, kitten? There's nothing in this box for you, I'm quite sure." He looked down at the box as he spoke, and his eyes widened as he read the letters carved onto the top for the first time. "Samuel! Shit--this must've belonged to my great-grandfather!"
Trowa ran his fingers over the carving, a smile curving his lips. "Ephraim said he used to play out in the barn and the woods all the time. Must've hidden his treasures up in the loft."
He was momentarily torn--thinking maybe he should put the box back where he'd found it, out of respect. But then curiosity won out and he decided it couldn't hurt to have a quick peek at the contents first.
"G'night Sandy--Leon," he said tucking his treasure under his arm and heading for the door. "Stay out of trouble."
He made certain the barn was securely locked when he left, so that even if either cat managed to escape its pen it would be contained inside the sturdy structure, and then he made his way to the house, eager to see what was in Samuel's box.
~*~
It was close to eleven by the time Heero and Duo arrived back in Smoky Hills, after taking a somewhat scenic route home. Heero had been in no hurry to end their pleasant night out, and Duo had cheerfully pointed out landmarks along the way, filling in the long drive with anecdotes about the area.
Heero could have listened all night long.
When they pulled into the driveway of the house Duo and Quatre shared, the long-haired man sighed wistfully. "I had a great time," he told Heero, turning towards him as he put the car into park.
"I did too," Heero replied, tempted to try for a little make out session right there in the car, if only to annoy Quatre, who was sure to be peeking out through the blinds. After all, he'd resisted the impulse to park somewhere on the way home and indulge.
"You wanna come in for coffee or something?" Duo toyed with the end of his braid in a gesture Heero found increasingly endearing.
"You have to work in the morning. I should let you get some rest," he said reluctantly.
"I s'pose so," Duo conceded, equally reluctant to part company.
"Besides, I plan to start some interviews tomorrow, so I'll need my wits about me as well," Heero added.
"Y'gonna grill Otto and Trant?"
Heero just smiled patiently. "I'm going to grill anyone and everyone who might have information about the case. Trust me; I will find out what happened to Solo."
Duo nodded. "That'd be good." He leaned over to brush a kiss on Heero's cheek, but the Japanese man turned to meet him and drew him into a more lingering embrace.
When they parted a few moments later, Duo groaned in disappointment. "Damn, Yuy. I think we fogged up your windows." He gave a wicked smirk. "Wanna see if we can make 'em all foggy?"
"I do," Heero said a bit hoarsely. "But maybe in a more private location sometime?" He jerked his head towards the porch, where they could just make out the twitch of the curtain over the kitchen door.
Duo grinned unrepentantly. "Quat's just gonna have to learn to live with this, 'Ro. I totally plan to keep seeing as much of you as I can."
Heero smirked back. "That sounds kind of--voyeuristic. Won't I get to see you, too? All of you?" His smirk widened into a grin at the furious blush that suffused Duo's cheeks, and he brushed a thumb over the warm skin, thinking how innocent and vulnerable it made the braided man look. "Good night," he said quietly, stealing a quick kiss and then getting out of the car and going around to open Duo's door.
"What did I say about the door thingy?" Duo asked as he climbed out.
"I'm just being polite," Heero insisted. "I'd do the same for any passenger in my car."
"Uh-huh." Duo tried to glare, but couldn't quite carry it off. "Thanks again for a nice night," he said with a sigh. "An' don't worry about Quatre. Once he gets to hang out with you and Trowa on Friday, I'm sure he'll back off. He just needs to get to know you better."
"As I said before, he's a good friend," Heero pointed out.
He got back in the car and watched as Duo pattered happily up the steps and into the house; then he put the car into gear and headed for home.
Despite the enjoyable evening he'd just had, he found his thoughts jumping ahead to the next day's agenda. He planned an early start, figuring on heading down to the police station to set up for interviews.
"Ralph's gonna love that," he muttered to himself.
He really didn't care much what Ralph liked or didn't like; or even Tsubarov, for that matter. They'd obviously bungled the investigation years ago; so he had no compunction about stepping into their territory and taking over.
And it wasn't just because of Duo. He'd have had the same determination if it had been a total stranger's body found in those woods. That was part of what had made him a good detective at one time--his need to find answers and to hold murderers accountable for what they'd done.
And maybe, in part, he needed to prove to himself that he was still a good detective.
He sighed, turning onto the dark, narrow road leading up towards the farm.
And then he slammed his foot down on the brake pedal as a deer bounded into the road just a few yards in front of him.
"Shit!" he snapped, yanking the wheel to the side in time to avoid the started animal, and then bringing his vehicle to a halt. "Goddamn!" he breathed, clutching the steering wheel in a death grip, while his heart pounded madly.
Nothing like a near miss to get the ol' adrenalin flowing!
The deer, for its part, looked frantically around, taking in the sight of the gleaming headlights, and then gathering itself and leaping off into the underbrush.
"Sure," Heero croaked out, gradually regaining his composure. "Just leave the scene of a near-accident." He ran a shaky hand through his hair, and looked around for more deer before taking his foot off the brake and putting the car back into motion.
He was hyper-vigilant after the close call, and so as he turned into the driveway to the farm, the flicker of motion in the bushes on the side instantly drew his attention. But instead of a russet deer hide, he glimpsed a tawny, low-slung figure slipping along the edge of cover and off into the darkness beyond the range of the headlights.
He blinked once or twice, slowing the car to a crawl and trying to peer into the gloom to see exactly what it was. But he knew the shape of a lion too well to be mistaken.
Shit! If Sandy or Leon had gotten loose...
Heero drove straight up to the barn, hopping out of the car and checking that the building was securely locked. And when he found that it was, he frowned and scratched his head.
"Mountain lion?" he wondered aloud, glancing back down the driveway rather warily. After the tracks he'd found behind the barn, he had little doubt that there were pumas in the area. And he strongly suspected that Leon's presence was making them either curious or territorial.
"Just what we need," he muttered, leaving the car parked by the barn and heading for the house.
It appeared Trowa had gone ahead to bed, as Heero suggested before leaving; the house was dark save for a light in the hallway. Thor and Balder emerged from the living room, where they'd probably been lounging on the forbidden couch.
"Hey guys," Heero sighed, ruffling the fur on their shaggy heads. "How 'bout I take you out in your pen to stretch your legs one last time tonight?"
They followed eagerly, bounding out the door when he held it open and exploring their fenced yard as if seeing it for the first time again. Heero leaned in the doorway watching them with a faint smirk, until they'd done their business and then wandered back to him.
"All right fellas; time for bed." He closed up the house and went upstairs with his two shaggy companions flanking him.
"I don't know what we'll do with you two when the time comes for Duo to spend a night here," he commented as they entered his room and Thor headed straight for the bed, while Balder checked out the thick rug by the hearth. "There's not going to be room for the four of us, and frankly if I have to choose between you and Duo to share my bed, he's going to win hands down."
Heero unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it over the back of a chair, before walking to his bureau and running a hand over the badge lying there waiting for the morning's agenda. "Not sure I'm ready to be using this again, boys," he told the dogs in a slightly gruff whisper. "But I guess I don't have much of a choice."
Balder approached him and nuzzled the hand that hung at his side, and out of habit, Heero's fingers curled around the shaggy ears.
"I know," Heero sighed. "It'll be okay." He scratched the base of Balder's ears with a little more intensity and the big dog groaned happily. "You always make things okay," he told both of the dogs.
Thor looked up from where he'd been snuggling into the comforter atop the bed, and cocked his head, as if to ask what was taking the others so long.
"Coming," Heero said with a chuckle, stripping off the rest of his clothes and climbing under the covers. Balder clambered up beside him, and he nestled between the two dogs, even though he knew that before morning, they'd have moved to lie on the smooth wood of the floor. They always did. The bed was a bit too warm for the fur-covered monstrosities, and most mornings Heero found them stretched out by the hearth, or already awake and looking out the window. But he still found their presence comforting.
And he didn't have to worry about embarrassing himself in front of them when he woke in a cold sweat after a particularly nasty nightmare. While Trowa had been a good sport about it, he'd hated having his brother see him like that. In front of his two faithful hounds, it didn't seem to matter if his hands shook, or if he took too long to catch his breath and regain his composure.
"Love you two," he murmured as he began to drift off towards sleep. "Still gonna give Duo your spot in my bed--but I love you guys."
TBC...
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