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" Kindegarten Heero"Written By: CalicOcat
Pairing: 1x2 Warnings: AU, OOC, Swearing, Death (*not* one
of the guys) Notes: This is a fusion with the movie "Kindergarten
Cop". Blame that pic of Heero with a ferret and the fact that
the "Kindergarten Cop" DVD was on a sale rack and caught
my attention. Feedback is appreciated. 'Thinking' "Speaking" *** Time passing or scene change ################################################# "Kindegarten Heero" Chapter 13 "Sorry, Uncle Duo. But I need the colour to be...
red!" Helen slapped down a Wild Draw 4 card and giggled. Heero leaned over and reminded her in a loud whisper,
"How many cards do you have left?" "Oops! Uno!" Duo gave Heero a mock-scowl. "Now, what'd you go
and do that for?" he grumbled as he picked up four cards from
the draw pile, adding them to the single card already in his hand.
"Now she's going to win..." Heero just grinned. "Who reminded you last time,
Helen?" He'd been a bit surprised by just how little prompting
the girl had required. But then again, the rules were pretty straightforward,
just basic colour and number matching really. And Helen had been positively
scornful of his suggestion that they should play one of her games
instead. She'd loftily informed him that those were only played when
little kids came to visit. *She* played grownup games. "Uncle Duo did!" Helen bounced a little in
her chair and urged, "Your turn, Mr. Yuy!" Shaking his head, Heero surveyed his cards. "You
said red, right?" "Yep!" she nodded. Heero played his red 7. Helen cheered and added a red 2 to the discard pile.
"Yay! I won this time!" "Yep, you sure did, sweetie. Now, let's see who
has the best score..." Duo quickly added up the points for the
three hands they'd played. "Uh oh, kiddo. Your teacher beat us
both. He's got 125 points, I've got 112, and you've got 97." His remark was greeted with a huge sigh. "Oh well.
Maybe we should play another game..." Heero smothered a snicker at the oh-so-innocent look
that Helen directed at her uncle. It had been agreed before they started
that they would play three hands or until her bedtime, whichever came
first. "Nuh-uh. No changing the deal, young lady."
Duo ruffled Helen's hair affectionately as he gathered up the cards.
"Nice try but it's almost your bedtime anyway. Say goodnight
to Mr. Yuy and go get ready for bed. I'll be up in a few minutes to
tuck you in." Helen pouted and opened her mouth to protest. She was
having too much fun to want to go to bed *now*. Her uncle raised one eyebrow and pointed towards the
stairs. "Bedtime. Now." "But Uncle Duo..." "Helen." Uh oh. That was Uncle Duo's "Don't make me say
it again" tone. If she pressed her luck, her trip to the funfair
might be in serious jeopardy. With the sigh of one greatly abused,
Helen muttered, "Goodnight, Mr. Yuy." On her way out of
the room, she took a slight detour to crouch beside Zero's cage and
whisper loudly to the napping ferret, "Goodnight, Zero." "You're very good with her," Heero observed
as Helen trudged up the stairs somewhat more loudly than necessary. "She's a good kid." Duo closed the Uno box
and set it aside. "Like all kids, she likes to test the boundaries
once in a while but as long as I'm firm and consistent, she doesn't
give me too much trouble. That's the way that her mom and I were raised
and I think we turned out okay." "You certainly did. More than okay, in fact,"
Heero responded with a warm smile. Duo ducked his head slightly and murmured, "Thanks." "Knowing you and Helen, I'm sure that Elisa was
pretty special too." Despite his determination that tonight was
just for Heero, the man, not Detective Yuy, Heero couldn't resist
the temptation to find out a little more about the elusive Elisa.
Not just because of the case but also because he genuinely wanted
to know all about Duo and his young charge. "Yeah, she was," Duo said with a wistful smile.
"We both miss her." Mindful of his determination to be as truthful as possible
with Duo, Heero offered quietly, "I was a teenager when my father
died and an adult before my mother passed away. I still miss them.
I can't imagine losing a parent at such a young age. Even though Helen
has you, it must be very difficult." "Yeah, it is. I love her and she loves me but I
can't take the place of her mom. And I wouldn't want to. I know Helen
worries about forgetting her mom. But Elisa knew that she was dying.
She made videotapes, wrote letters, bought and wrapped little gifts.
There'll be something from her for Helen at every birthday and Christmas
and special occasion right through till she starts college. And then
there's the engagement and wedding and first child things too. Elisa
was determined to be there for Helen as much as she possibly could
under the circumstances. Some of the stuff's in safety deposit boxes,
some's stored with friends. We didn't want it all in one place. This
way, if anything happened, like a fire or something, it wouldn't all
be lost." "That's... amazing," Heero said, stunned by
the woman's forethought. It sounded like a wonderful, loving legacy
for her daughter. Unfortunately, the detective part of him was also
wondering whether those stored items held the answer to the missing
money. "It's not the same as having her mom here but it's
the best Elisa could do." Duo shrugged. "And it's certainly
better than nothing, which is what Elisa and I had from our parents."
Glancing at his watch, he said apologetically, "Listen, I need
to go tuck Helen in. Be back in a few minutes." "Take your time," Heero assured him. He had
plenty of things to think about while Duo was gone. *** Helen sulkily rolled over, turning her back towards
the door, when her uncle entered her bedroom. She didn't want to be
kissed and cuddled right now; she was too busy being mad at Uncle
Duo. They'd been having fun; she didn't want to go to bed! Duo sighed and crouched beside the bed. He hated to
end Helen's evening this way; she'd been so happy... Firmly, he squelched
the temptation to give in and let his niece stay up later. She had
school tomorrow, albeit only a half day due to the funfair. Besides
which, they'd had a deal and he made a point of always following through
on things like that. Whether a promise was one of reward or one of
punishment, he always followed through on it. Empty threats and inconsistent
rules inevitably led to trouble; he'd seen it again and again in his
time as a teacher. So he stuck to his word, even when it meant one
very unhappy little girl. "Don't I get a goodnight kiss?" An indignant sniff was the only response Helen gave. "Don't *you* want a goodnight kiss?" Helen pulled the covers right up over her head, still
giving him the silent treatment. "I'm sorry you're upset, sweetie, but a deal's
a deal. Goodnight and pleasant dreams, kiddo. Love you..." Duo patted a blanket-covered shoulder gently as he rose
from beside the bed. He was almost through the door when a quiet,
still sulky voice muttered reluctantly, "Love you too."
A rebellious face popped out from under the covers and added, "But
I'm still mad at you! And I'm not going to sleep!" before disappearing
again in a flurry of bedding. *** "Helen set for the night?" Heero asked as
Duo returned to the livingroom. "Yeah, she's safely tucked in. Still pouting and
bound and determined not to actually *sleep*, mind you - but she's
in bed on time," Duo chuckled, joining Heero on the couch in
front of the fireplace. Heero gave a quiet snort of amusement. "So I take
it I can expect one tired little girl in class tomorrow." "Yep." Cautiously, still torn between his genuine desire to
know more about Duo and Helen for their own sakes and his need to
know more due to the case, Heero ventured, "When you were talking
about Helen's mother earlier, you didn't mention her father..." "No. I didn't." The flat tone was almost enough to make Heero back off.
Almost. "When I first started teaching Helen's class, I tried
to get to know a little more about the kids. You know, who their parents
were and what they did for a living. Helen was quite emphatic that
her biological father didn't matter... I gathered that the divorce
was somewhat... unpleasant?" Duo closed his eyes and leaned his head against the back of the couch. 'I promised myself that I'd tell him a few things and see how he reacted. Guess the time's arrived...' Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes and began, "Yes - and no." "See, Elisa wasn't exactly divorced. Just separated.
Her husband's a walking nightmare. Of course, she didn't know that
when she married him. She had no idea what he really was like. She
just saw the charming, debonair aristocrat who swept her off her feet.
"She was doing her internship as a nurse and he
was in the hospital - car accident or something, if memory serves."
Duo waved his hand dismissively, "Whatever. Anyway, before she
got sick, Elisa was gorgeous, really classy. She could wear something
she'd picked up on sale at Walmart and look like she'd just stepped
out of Sak's Fifth Avenue. So I guess it was natural enough that he
flirted with her. Sent her roses and all that crap. Bought her clothes
for a single occasion that cost as much as she'd make in a damn month.
She'd never had that kind of stuff before and she never questioned
where the hell all that money came from. So when he proposed, she
was..." Duo spread his hands and shrugged. "She was overwhelmed.
Said it was like something straight out of some fairy tale; the prince
choosing the pauper as his bride. But 'happily ever after' didn't
last very long." "What happened?" Heero waited curiously for
the response. He'd never understood why Khushrenada's wife would have
settled for a few million, let alone taken the risk of stealing it
from him. She'd have probably gotten just as much in a divorce settlement
and Khushrenada might've just let her go since he'd already moved
on to a new lover. "Couple of things. She found out that he was having
an affair. And she found out where all the damn money came from. Drugs. "So she grabbed her daughter and got the hell out
of there." Heero frowned. Okay, this all agreed with what they
knew about Khushrenada's wife. Except that there was still no mention
of the money. "She just left? Why not turn him in to the police?
Divorce him?" "She had a child to protect, remember? No real
hard evidence of his drug dealing connections, nothing to convince
the cops. No money of her own to hire a lawyer or anything."
Shaking his head, Duo said, "She couldn't take a chance that
he'd end up with custody of their daughter; she didn't want Helen
raised by a drug dealer. And she'd heard a few things about how he
handled 'traitors'; she didn't want to die." 'Okay, I can understand wanting to keep her daughter
away from Khushrenada. And without real evidence, there wouldn't have
been much that the cops could legally do,' Heero mused. 'Khushrenada
could afford far better lawyers; she'd have had very poor chances
of keeping custody if she filed for divorce... Running was probably
the only real choice she could see.' So - Duo's story made a lot of
sense and was probably pretty close to the truth, albeit a rather
vague version of it. But there were some definite flaws in the tale;
gaps that were obvious enough that his questioning them shouldn't
seem suspicious. "Her husband never came looking for her? Never
tracked you down while hunting for your sister?" Duo drew a deep breath. This was the tricky part. If
he was wrong to trust Heero, revealing this could cause a lot of problems.
Leia had done her best to ensure that he would have at least some
legal claim to Helen but it was highly debatable whether it would
hold up in court. "He had no reason to look for me. See, Elisa
and I weren't related by blood. We're siblings by circumstance and
by choice, not genetics." Heero managed to give an encouraging nod as Duo hesitantly
glanced over to check his reaction. He was simultaneously thrilled
that Duo was trusting him with this information and tempted to stop
the revelations being offered under such misleading circumstances.
Allowing Duo to continue felt like a betrayal. But he had to find
out as much as he could. This wasn't just about the case anymore,
sending Khushrenada to jail would also help to ensure that Helen got
to stay with Duo as her mother had wished. "Elisa and I grew up in the same orphanage,"
Duo continued. "Her husband didn't like her to talk about her
past so she didn't; it's unlikely that he'd remember the time or two
that she mentioned me. So when she and Helen joined me, Elisa changed
their names. It made sense for her to pretend to be my sister; everyone
would expect her to make me Helen's guardian. And it worked; no one
ever questioned that Helen would stay with me after Elisa died."
He gave Heero a nervous look. "But I don't know whether I'd have
any chance of keeping custody if Helen's father turned up. Elisa took
every possible precaution but..." He bit his lip and shrugged.
"I'd rather not have the issue ever come up. Best that this all
stays a secret. I just couldn't let things between us go any further
without you knowing the truth." Heero stood abruptly and walked over to the fireplace,
using the pretense of adding wood to buy a few moments to think. Duo
had told him even more than he'd expected. His own duplicity was eating
away at him; continuing to hide his own secrets was seeming more like
a betrayal by the moment. He had an ominous feeling that the future
of his relationship with Duo was being determined right here, right
now. 'This is it. Time to choose.' When Heero rose so abruptly from the couch, Duo was
immediately uneasy. 'Oh god. Please don't let me have made a mistake...
Either by telling him about Elisa and Helen or by reading too much
into our relationship...' He swallowed convulsively as Heero failed
to return after tending to the fire. Instead, the other man braced
one arm against the mantle and gazed into the fire. Watching the tense
figure, Duo queried anxiously, "Heero?" Closing his eyes, Heero took a deep breath and made
his decision. ~ * ~ |
