The Wedding Date Part 19
While they were waiting for the car to arrive, Milliardo gathered Quatre and Trowa, as well as Relena and her fiancé. He tasked Relena and Wufei with handling the guests, while he and Edward would interrogate Dorothy as to Alex's whereabouts and intentions. Heero volunteered for that task, but the blonde monarch knew better than to allow him near the scheming woman who'd caused so much chaos.
Instead, he put Heero in charge of himself, Trowa and Quatre. As a group, they came up with a search plan, so they wouldn't be wasting time looking in the wrong places, or duplicating their efforts.
They started by calling the airport to see if a Duo Maxwell had shown up looking for a flight out. The first agent they spoke to was less than cooperative, explaining that such information was private. But when they dropped the Peacecraft name, they were given the (ahem) royal treatment. The head of security himself promised to contact them immediately if anyone by that name checked in.
Next, they called the Sanc police, asking them to be on the alert for anyone matching Duo's description who might be on foot somewhere between the palace and the airport.
Then they scanned the map for all possible routes to the airport, and ended up splitting into three separate cars to cover the most possible highways.
By that time, Milliardo had wheedled Alex's cell phone number out of Dorothy, before turning her over to palace security to be held until they determined if there was a crime to which she might end up an accessory.
Silvia told them all she knew, and saved herself a similar fate -- although Milliardo promised he'd be checking to see if it was still an acceptable practice to exile someone from the kingdom for crimes against the crown.
Had Heero been there to see her face drain of color, and to watch the woman prostrate herself before her monarch, he might have almost cracked a smile. But he was miles away by then, driving the Bentley at nearly the hundred-mile-per-hour speeds he'd teased the valet about.
Luckily, Milliardo had personally contacted the police to instruct them to clear the way for the three search vehicles, or any one of them might have been stopped a number of times.
Sometimes it was good knowing a crown prince¡
But all the royalty in the world couldn't speed up the search, and Heero went through two tanks of gas and hours of driving before he admitted that a street by street search was futile.
He couldn't stand to go back to the palace and admit defeat -- to just wait for word of what might have become of his love. But he finally pulled over and turned the car off, allowing himself a moment to rest his head on the steering wheel and give in to the despair that had gripped him since the search began.
His cell phone rang, and he jumped and scrambled to answer it. "Yuy! Did you find him?"
"Not yet," came Quatre's weary voice. "I've stopped back at the palace for coffee and a bite to eat. Perhaps you should join us --"
"No!"
"Heero -- he's probably fine. He might have just taken a long walk so he could think things through. He'll probably find his way back any time now."
"We've had a whole police force out looking," Heero reminded him. "If he were walking on any public thoroughfare, they'd have found him by now."
"So maybe he's walking on a nice little lane, or in a garden."
"In the middle of the night?"
"Heero -- just come back for a quick break. You need it."
"No, Quatre. I can't. It's my fault Duo ended up here; I can't just leave him on his own."
"What choice do you have?"
"I -- don't know," Heero admitted. He sighed, closing his eyes, and rubbing them with his fingertips. "Did Milliardo call Alex's cell?"
"There's no answer. It's apparently turned off. But I think he's got the police working at triangulating on its location."
"Let me know if they have any luck. If we find Alex --"
"I don't want to know what you plan to do to him, Heero. I'm a lawyer."
Heero managed a hoarse chuckle that very nearly turned into a sob. "I'm going to the airport to look. I know they said they'd call -- but maybe he got there without being noticed."
Quatre's sigh conveyed how thin a hope that was. "Good luck," he said simply.
Heero shut his phone, and started up the car again, fighting a creeping exhaustion and growing sense of hopelessness.
He was more than a little surprised he made it to the airport in one piece. He was almost too tired to see straight by then. But he parked in the short-term lot, and headed inside, figuring he could buy coffee at a vending machine and maybe keep himself functioning for a few hours more.
After a cup of vile-tasting liquid, and a trip to the bathroom to splash cold water on his face, he checked with each and every ticketing agent, security guard, and vendor in the entire airport -- asking if they'd seen a strikingly handsome man with a long, chestnut braid.
But no one had, and it was approaching dawn when Heero finally admitted defeat and headed for the exit -- debating whether to call Milliardo to send a limo, or try driving the expensive sports car in his ragged condition.
He was nearly there when the glass doors slid open and Duo stepped inside, looking rumpled and weary. He almost didn't believe his eyes, gritty and stinging as they were.
"Duo --?"
The braided head shot up, and Duo took two steps forward, before catching himself and coming to a halt. "What do you want?" he asked warily.
"Are you okay?" Heero asked breathlessly, ignoring the obvious tension, crossing the lobby in three strides, and pulling a resisting Duo into his arms. "Where have you been? I've been frantic! God, are you all right?" He pushed Duo to arm's length, studying the shocked expression on the pale face. "Duo?"
"Wh--what's it to you?" Duo demanded breathlessly, sounding like he'd been trying for pissed-off, but failed.
"I love you. That's what," Heero blurted, kissing him desperately.
Duo squirmed in his grasp, wedging his arms in between and forcing a few inches of space between them. "No you don't!" he accused.
"Yes, I do."
"'S that why you kissed the pink princess?" Duo demanded, regaining his bluster a bit.
"I kissed her on the cheek -- to congratulate her on her engagement," Heero said evenly, keeping his arms securely wrapped around Duo so he couldn't bolt again until they'd settled things.
"Yeah? And I'm supposed to believe --?" Duo stopped in mid-sentence, his face transitioning from angry and hurt to just plain bewildered. "Engagement?" he asked quietly.
Heero nodded, smiling mysteriously.
"T-to who?" came a hesitant query.
"Someone other than me," Heero replied patiently, and when Duo seemed to relax a fraction, he explained. "We were wrong, Duo. She had no designs on me. This whole time --"
"Seriously?"
"Seriously." Heero felt the tension in the lean shoulders easing, and he dared to pull Duo up against his chest again, smiling when the other man relaxed, leaning into him. "She only wanted to get me alone to tell me about Edward, her true love."
"Huh. Go figure." Slender arms wrapped around Heero's waist, clinging tightly, and then a timid voice spoke up. "So -- everything you said before --?"
"All true," Heero assured him.
"And what you said a minute ago?"
"Which part?"
"The 'I love you' part --"
"Also true," Heero said quickly. He felt a shiver run through the body pressed up to his. "Are you -- okay?"
"Great," Duo sighed, burying his face in Heero's shirt.
Heero heard a faint sniffle, and tightened his grip. "Sure you're okay?"
"Mm-hm. Jus' had a really long night --"
"I know the feeling," Heero said with a quiet laugh. "I was out of my mind with worry. When Silvia said Dorothy sent Alex after you --"
Duo stiffened, raising his head from Heero's chest and looking up at him with a mixture of disbelief and fury. "She what?!"
"You heard me," Heero said darkly. "The two of them had plotted to get Relena and me together, not realizing Relena had no interest in me that way at all. I don't know exactly what Dorothy and Alex were up to, but --" He paused, seeing a flicker of distaste cross Duo's face. "Love? Did -- something happen?"
Duo shrugged one shoulder, relaxing against Heero again. "Nothing much," he hedged.
"Did Alex -- find you?"
"Gave me a ride in his convertible," Duo answered.
"Shit." Heero instantly feared the worst. "Did he --?"
"Tried," Duo admitted.
"Tried." Heero almost held his breath. "Failed?"
"Let's just say that by the time he comes to, he'll have a jolly time trying to untie himself from the toilet in the cheap-assed hotel room where I left him." Duo smirked devilishly. "According to him, no one there listens to screams and yells -- so I figure no one will bother helping him. Assuming he can get the gag off --"
And then Duo was "gagged" by Heero's mouth over his own.
The prolonged kiss was followed by several more, along with murmured reassurances strewn with threats of what was going to happen to Alex when Heero got his hands on him.
Duo snickered at some of the more colorful ideas. "Much as I'm enjoying these plans we're hatching, I'm fuckin' worn out, 'Ro. Any chance we could sack out on a bench for a few hours until our flight?"
"I've got a better idea. Let's go back to the palace, indulge in that decadent hot tub, sleep half the day away, have a lavish meal, and then let Pargan bring us back here for a late flight out, hm?"
"Tryin' to seduce me again?"
"Would I stand a chance?"
Duo gave a husky laugh. "Let's just say, you won't end up hogtied face-first against a toilet." His eyes went soft, and his smile turned gentle. "Did I mention I love you?"
"Love you, too," Heero sighed, feeling like everything was suddenly all right with the world.
OWARI
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