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"With A Childs Heart"Written By: Dùlin
Disclaimer : Not mine. Just playin', will give
them right back, yadda yadda ... you know the drill. And I'm broke.
Really. Rating : R Warnings : Post-EW, humor, yaoi romance and sap, bit of lime and implied lemon, language, violence, child abduction Pairings : 1x2x1, 3x4x3, 5xS, references to past 6x5 and 6x9 Author’s Note : an extra-special thanks to
Lisou-chan, my little sister, who agreed to lend her physical six-year-old
looks and part of her character to the little Alice in the fic. Well,
the truth is she nagged me until I accepted to have her being adopted
by Trowa and Quatre, so everyone’s happy now !
"With a Childs Heart"
Part 3 Duo got out of the cab in front of the Winner Mansion. “Come on, Hee-chan, one week of vacations in Quatre’s royal palace ain’t gonna kill you !” Heero grumbled something about work and reports and suicide bombers, but Duo cut it short. “You can type your fuckin’ reports here if you please, since you seem more interested in your laptop than in me anyway, but at least don’t spoil my fun !!!” he said angrily. “Sorry.” Duo gasped mockingly. “Don’t make me repeat it”, Heero said evenly. Duo stole a kiss from him. “Anyway”, he kept on, “Wuffers, Mil and Sally will be here too, so if you guys really wanna spend your time working, just do it ! I intend to have fun with Cat-chan, Tro and the kid. But you’re booked for the nights.” “Roger.” “Don’t do that here ! I don’t need to get all turned on by your sexy soldier looks just before Cat and Tro introduce us to their daughter.” Heero grinned and followed Duo down the alleyway. He had been most reluctant to come, but in a way, Duo was right. It had been a long time since they had all been together. But ‘vacations’ was just too much. Heero’s mind needed to work full-time. Well, not full-time, with Duo raving for attention, but most of the time yet. They stopped in front of the great doors, and Duo knocked. The door swung open, revealing a blond little girl apparently dressed up in her best outfit, and looking at them with a quiet smile. “Geez, an angel !” Duo chuckled. “Hi, Duo”, Alice said. “So that’s you they’ve taken home ? Miss Lizzie didn’t tell me that.” Alice just smiled more brightly. “Come in”, she said. “Daddy’s waiting for you.” Duo dragged Heero in, following Alice to the living-room. The little girl ran inside and flung herself into Quatre’s arms. “Daddy, Duo’s here !” “I can see that, sweetie”, Quatre answered, planting a kiss on her cheek. “Go fetch, Trowa, okay ?” “Okay !” And she zoomed out of the room. Quatre’s eyes followed her. He stood up and hugged Duo and Heero. Quatre was one of the only person on Earth and in space to hug Heero (apart from Duo). “So, you took Alice, uh, KittyCat ?” “Not really”, Quatre answered with a laugh. “She practically begged us to bring her back home with us. You know me.” “Yup, I bet you couldn’t say no !” “Well, Trowa was pretty much on her side too, so …” Duo laughed out loud. He threw himself on the big leather sofa. Quatre turned to Heero. “What about you ?” “Usual. Work, and trying to get the spoiled brat over here off my back”, Heero answered. “Hey !” Duo cried indignantly. “You weren’t really keen on having me off your ‘back’ last night !” “Duo, may I remind you that we have a child in the house now ?” Quatre said softly. “Don’t worry, Cat-chan, I’ll hold my tongue when she’s here. What’s her family name, by the way ? Barton or Winner ?” “Both. Barton-Winner. Trowa was quite okay for her to be called just Winner, but I insisted.” “You and Tro are lucky bastards, KittyCat. If anyone can bring some life in this house, that’s Alice. She’s a hell of a demon when she gets started.” “I’ve noticed”, Quatre chuckled. “She storms in my office every five minutes to show me something or to get me out. Quite difficult to have a serious meeting when she’s around. Not that I really mind the interruptions, but she’s very good at escaping Trowa.” He paused for a second. “She’s also quite good at escaping me when she doesn’t want to get to bed too. But unfortunately for her, I know how to find her back.” “Still working on that empathy thing, uh ?” “You’d be surprised to know how it has developed since Alice is here. It’s even a bit tiring sometimes, but I’m used to it.” Heero remained silent, watching his lover and Quatre speak animatedly with each other. Those two were on the phone almost every day, but no matter how many times they saw each other, they always had something to tell each other. They could talk for hours and hours. Alice came back in the living-room, followed by Trowa and Catherine. She was properly introduced to Heero and Duo. The Japanese young man felt strangely unsettled by the long searching gaze the little girl gave him. Now that he thought of it, it was exactly like the first time he had met Quatre. That strange feeling that the person in front of you knows exactly what is happening in your head. Except that this time, it was a six-year-old girl, and not a fellow Gundam pilot. Heero shook his head and sat in an armchair. He was following the conversation, but not stepping in. Alice was sitting on the carpet, playing with some kind of construction game. Of course, she was soon joined by Duo. They started to bicker joyfully over the game. The doorbell rang again about fifteen minutes later, and Trowa went to open it. He came back followed by Sally and Wufei. There was some chaos in the living-room while all of the adults were greeting each other. Alice watched them as they did so, quietly waiting for someone to pay attention to her. When it didn’t come, she poked her construction game, and scratched her finger. “Aow!” “What’s wrong, honey ?” Quatre asked, kneeling beside her. She held out her finger. There was a drop of blood at the end of it. “Oh”, Quatre said, “does it hurt a lot?” Alice bit her bottom lip and nodded. “Let me see this”, Sally said. “Sally is a doctor, Alice”, Quatre said. “She’ll help me heal that wound, okay ?” Alice nodded again. Quatre picked her up and went out, followed by Sally. Duo inspected the construction game. “It’s not that sharp”, he said. “Don’t worry”, Trowa smiled. “She did it on purpose.” “What ?” Wufei asked. “Little attention-getter, uh ?” Duo said, catching the hint. “It’s awful. She’s driving us crazy sometimes.” “Don’t tell me you don’t love it, I won’t believe you, Tro !” Trowa just smiled. “Honestly, why did you do that, Trowa ?” Wufei asked. “Quatre wanted it, I wanted it, we did it.” “Oh, come on, Wu, she’s cute !” Duo said. “I wouldn’t say no if ‘someone’ had the same idea any time soon” he added with a sideways look to Heero. “Shut up, baka.” was the only answer he got. He pouted and pulled on his most sad face. “Now that’s mean !” he moaned. “Should I also scratch my finger to get some attention from you ?” Heero grinned. “Try it”, he said. “Oh, I give up”, Duo said dejectedly. “Ya know I could hate you for this, Wuffy, the guy over here’s supposed to be my lover and he’s just screwing his laptop ! And it’s all your fault!” Fortunately, they were saved from other loud complains by Alice, who ran back into the room. She had a bandage around her finger and seemed to have completely forgotten about the pain. “Nothing life-threatening” Sally said as she came in with Quatre. “Thank God, we were so worried”, Quatre answered with a smile. Alice looked up at him and winked, which made everybody laugh. **** Two hours later, happy chatter was filling the room. Heero and Wufei were discussing some procedure points on terrorists’ rights. Sally was sitting near Wufei with Catherine and listening as Quatre and Trowa explained how they had adopted Alice. Quatre and Duo were both sitting cross-legged on the carpet with Alice, and helping her in her attempt to build a high pyramid with wooden cubes. It just looked like a happy family reunion. But Quatre was beginning to worry. Milliardo was late. It was very unlike him. The young aristocrat was always very punctual. Quatre remembered what Duo had told him about the terrorist threats. He tried to erase the dreadful scenarios that were beginning to play in his mind. Nothing bad could have happened. Milliardo could take care of himself. But he was three hours late. Alice was about to put another cube on her pyramid but she stopped in mid-air and shot a look at Quatre. “He’s going to arrive, Daddy. Don’t worry.” Quatre sighed. “I know. I can’t help it, sorry.” Alice gave him a bright smile and kissed him on the cheek before getting back to the pyramid. Duo stopped his own part of the construction. “What the hell are the two of ya talkin’ about ?” “Forget it, Duo”, Trowa said. “They spend their time doing this.” “No, really, guys”, Duo insisted. “That’s creepy enough when Quatre just steps in a conversation ya’re havin’ in your own head, but if you’re two to do that now …” “It’s nothing, Duo”, Quatre said. “I was just worried to see that Milliardo has not arrived yet.” “You’re right”, Heero said suddenly. “It’s not normal.” “Easy, Hee-chan”, Duo said. “It’s a bit too soon to alert Preventer that one of their commanding officer is missing.” Heero frowned, but for once, Wufei agreed with Duo. “He’s right, Yuy. Flights can be delayed. Let’s not make a fuss about it.” “He could have called”, Quatre said. Everyone fell silent. “He is going to arrive”, Alice said again. “If you say so, then I trust you”, Quatre said, his hand ruffling the curly blond hair. The doorbell rang just at that time. No one moved. “Now, ‘this’ is creepy”, Duo said. “She does that once more and I’ll believe she’s a Seer.” Heero raised an eyebrow. “I never knew you believed in that kind of things.” “I don’t. But you have to admit it’s strange.” “Uh, guys ?” Trowa interrupted. “Are we going to leave whoever rang on the mattress?” “ I’ll get it”, Quatre said. He almost ran to the entrance door. “Milliardo ! Finally ! I was starting to think something had happened to you.” “Well, something has happened to me, actually ! The shuttle was hijacked.” “What ?” “Quite unbelievable, isn’t it ? And by real amateurs. But I didn’t expect to be working today.” “Just come in. Wufei and Heero are here too, you can talk with them about that.” “Well, it’s not why I came here in the first place. Wasn’t I supposed to meet your daughter ?” “Yes, of course”, Quatre said with a smile. “We’re all in the living-room, just follow me.” The door of the living-room opened. Alice left her game, ready to welcome the new guest. But she could do nothing but gape. A very tall, very thin man with white blond hair and ice-blue eyes had just entered the room. He spotted the little girl, and made his way towards her. “Alice, this is Milliardo.” Alice looked at the man with wide eyes, unable to say a thing. “Gee, I think the girl’s in love” Duo joked. “Ouch!” Alice had just pulled his braid. She looked at Duo, her green gaze defying him. Duo grinned. “Oh, ya’re takin’ it that way, missy
! Let’s see if you can stand to be tickled!” “I want one”, she said, a pleading look on her face. Wufei grinned uneasily. “Thanks, Winner, really”, he said ironically. “You’re welcome”, Quatre answered in a laugh. “Believe me, Sal”, Duo said, finally getting up after surrendering, “ you definitely don’t want that one ! You are a little demon !”, he added for Alice. “Not true ! You said I was an angel !” Alice shot back. “Did I ?”, Duo asked mockingly. “Well, actually, you did”, Heero said. Duo rolled his eyes. “Hee-chan …”, he whined. “What ?” “Just let me deal with my enemies, okay ? You two grumpies talk about your terrorists, and I’ll get myself out of this alone.” “Whatever. But I would suggest you tie your hair correctly again, then.” Duo looked at his braid. Long strands had escaped during the fight. “Can I help you ?” Alice asked. “Sure”, Duo said, sitting back down on the carpet. It was beginning to get dark outside. Milliardo had come out on the terrace. He was looking down at his trembling hands, when a little hand caught one of his. He gave a start. Alice was standing in front of him, a grave look on her face. “Why are you sad?” Milliardo managed to smile weakly. “Because I had to do things I don’t like to do today.” “What did you do?” “I’m not sure Quatre and Trowa would agree for me to tell you such things.” “Why not ?” “You’re a little girl. One day, you’ll understand, but now it is too soon.” Alice looked disappointed but she didn’t add a thing on the subject. Instead, she merely devoured Milliardo’s face with big eyes. “What ?” the young man finally asked. “Are you married ?” Alice asked. “Why do you want to know that ?” “Because if you’re not, then you can marry me when I’m older”, Alice said with a bright smile. Milliardo laughed. “I’m a bit too old for you, Alice. But I’m honored that such an adorable young lady shows her appreciation of me like this.” Alice cheeks reddened a bit. She let go off Milliardo’s hand and ran back inside. She met Quatre on the way. “Where were you, sweetie ?” “Outside, with Milliardo.” “He’s still there ?” “Yes.” She paused, then added, “He’s sad, Daddy. And he wouldn’t tell me why.” “I know”, Quatre answered. “I’ll go see him. Just go to the bathroom and wash your hands, dinner is in ten minutes.” Alice left, and Quatre got out on the terrace. He went to sit beside Milliardo, looking out at the beautiful stars. “Are you okay ?” he asked softly. “I wonder if I’ll ever be okay again”, Milliardo answered. Quatre remained silent. “I had to kill one of them. The hijackers. He was just a child. I’m sure he didn’t even know what he was doing here”, Milliardo kept on. “I must be cracking up.” “Can happen to anyone. It’s actually quite a miracle it didn’t happen to you sooner.” “Why, Quatre ? Why do we have to do this ? Why is it every time you get one of them, and you think you job is done and you can rest, another one shows up who wants to mess everything up and you have to start killing again ?” “Because human beings are so easily corrupted, I guess. Or maybe it’s just fate. Allah only knows.” Milliardo smiled sadly. “I can’t believe in God anymore. Not after what I have seen and done.” “I can understand that.” Silence fell. “So, it’s over between Lucrezia and you ?”, Quatre asked after a while. “How do you know ?” “You two haven’t called me in a while, and you’re obviously depressed. I don’t think shooting down a terrorist can be the only reason for it.” “Always intuitive, I see.” “Actually, Alice put me on the way.” “Alice.” “What happened ?” “It didn’t work, that’s all. There was something missing from the beginning, I knew it, and she knew it, but we tried to fool ourselves. A bit silly, uh ?” “No. I would rather say a normal way to react to a nasty breakup.” “I see Wufei and Sally are getting along wonderfully well. I’m glad they found each other. I was not what he needed.” “You know what ? Heero, Duo and Wufei can’t stay long because of those terrorist attacks. I know you’re supposed to be working on that also, but why don’t you stay with us for a while ? You could do with a holiday, and Alice would be absolutely delighted.” “If it’s for Alice, then …” After a while, Milliardo added : “Thank you, Quatre. I think I need to see more smiling faces around me. You are very lucky to have found Alice.” “Yes, we really are. Just stay as long as you need.” “Thank you”, Milliardo said again. “Daddy ?”, a small voice interrupted. “Yes, honey ?” “You’re late for dinner.” “We’re coming right now. Go ahead, we’re
following you.” ~ * ~ |
