|
"When Love Bites Back "Written By: Hemlock Inyx Disclaimer: This chick does not own any of the
Gundam Wing characters because they belong to Bandai and Sunrise.
I am borrowing them for this fict and will return them in good (if
somewhat sticky) condition.This fict is written out of love and not
for profit, don't sue. Thanks and enjoy! Rating: NC 17 Warnings: yaoi, lemon, alternate universe, vampires,
violence, suicide, mild-ooc Pairings: 2x5, past: 1x5, 2xH, 2x3 Summary: He wanted one taste of passion…
Duo Maxwell’s sexy voice seduced him every night
with his late-night radio talk show. So Chang Wufei couldn’t
pass up the chance to be his personal assistant—despite Duo’s
insistence that he was a vampire. Vampires didn’t
wear faded jeans. And they were dark and brooding, not vibrant and
fun. Yet…with one glance of his silver violet eyes, Duo could
hypnotize him. With one nibble of his passionate lips, he could bend
him to his will. Duo insisted Wufei had nothing to fear from him.
But why then was Wufei so conscious of his exposed neck? " When Love Bites Back "
Chapter 12 Three thugs wearing ill-fitting dark suits were no match for an English schoolmistress. Swinging her umbrella by her side, Mrs. Billingsgate sailed forth and inspected the men as she might have inspected three teenage miscreants who had slunk into her office. Her stern and unyielding gaze caused the men to glance at one another and shift from one foot to the other. "Please inform the curator that Mrs. Billingsgate from the London Billingsgate School for Girls wishes to have a word." Wufei touched the shoulders of two teenage girls with what he fervently hoped was a teacher-like gesture. "Did you know that Michael Jackson has a rock collection?" he asked, watching the thugs from the corner of his eyes. The girls brightened. "I believe Michael has a moon rock," Wufei added. Or was it a moon walk? "I wonder if the museum has any?" He led the girls to a dusty case and peered inside at some very ordinary looking rocks. One of the thugs went off in search of the curator. The other two studied the group carefully, then appeared to lose interest. They ogled the girls for a minute, then walked toward an arched corridor, reaching for packs of cigarettes. Wufei's shoulders sagged with relief. So far so good. Now he was free to examine his surroundings and decide what to do next. The museum's dismally inferior collection was housed in smudged glass cases or protected behind glass-encased shelves. Wufei couldn't imagine why. He didn't notice anything that might be considered remotely valuable. While wandering through a series of small dimly lit rooms, he noticed several doors marked with signs in three languages stating No Admittance. He guessed at least a couple opened to staircases leading to a basement or the upper stories. Wufei badly wanted to explore that basement and those upper stories. But he thought about the thugs, lurking somewhere in the building, and decided that even for someone who had consorted with vampires and ridden a Harley, challenging three muscled henchmen was not a good idea. Defeated and feeling cowardly, he rejoined Mrs. Billingsgate's students. Mrs. Billingsgate herself still waited impatiently for the curator to answer her summons. "Look," one of the girls exclaimed, "diamonds! This entire alcove is filled with diamonds!" Wufei peered into one of the cases. Even to his untrained eye, it was apparent the lumpish specimens were low-grade industrial stones. The shelf exhibits were equally as disappointing. He was about to return to the main room when he noticed a display set apart from the other. This was a single deep shelf cut into the wall, protected by panes of glass thick enough that the stones behind were distorted in appearance. Made curious by the extra protection, Wufei leaned forward to inspect the display. To him, the small oval rocks looked like dirty lumps of cloudy glass. They were unremarkable enough that Wufei would never have noticed them had someone tossed them into the street. Pulling his glasses from his pocket, he leaned close to a faded page framed against the wall. The explanation was printed in Hungarian, French and English.
Financial gain, however, was always uncertain due to the lack of success in cutting the Vlad Diamonds. Shattering occurs on cutting, eliminating all possibilities for commercial or industrial use.
"I'll be damned," he murmured in wonder, staring awe-struck at the careless pile of stones. They had hidden the crystals in plain sight. And the council's arrogance was warranted. Wufei would never have bothered to glance past the first worthless displays if Mrs. Billingsgate's girls had not drawn him deeper into the alcove. Based on the quality of the other exhibits, he had assumed there was absolutely nothing of value on display in the Mineral Museum. He was wrong. The crystals were priceless. Quivering with indignation, Mrs. Billingsgate swept into the alcove like a brewing storm. "Come along, girls." She cleared the small room with a gesture of her umbrella then levelled an angry stare at Wufei. "You were misinformed, Mr. Citadella. The Mineral Museum is without any value whatsoever, and a disgrace!. The curator--" her expression twitched toward contempt "--is a rude, graceless creature who couldn't distinguish quartz from granite if he were struck over his empty head with a lump of each!" "A definite disappointment," Wufei agreed, glancing back at the Crystals of Change. His heart was beating a mile a minute, his palms were moist and his nerves raced along the surface of his skin. He wanted to smash the glass, grab the crystals and run. If he'd had something heavy enough to break the protective glass, he would have given it a try regardless of the thugs. Summoning all his willpower, he made himself do the sensible--and safe--thing, and follow Mrs. Billingsgate and the girls to the door, then out to the sidewalk. In case someone watched from the windows fronting the upper stories, he plied Mrs. Billingsgate with questions about the curator in order to tag along with the group until they reached their tour bus which was parked around a corner and out of sight of the museum. After Mrs. Billingsgate departed in a huff, Wufei boarded a city bus and collapsed in one of the seats. If he had been alone or with Duo, they would never have found the crystals. They would have wasted time trying to discover what lay behind the No Admittance doors, guessing the crystals were locked in a vault. He was trembling with excitement and he couldn't wait to tell Duo what he had discovered. * * * * * * * "I don’t know," Duo said, frowning and rereading the inscription Wufei had recorded in his notebook. "If the Vlad Diamonds are indeed the Crystals of Change, they're as rare as kryptonite. Would anyone hide something that irreplaceable in plain sight?" Wufei pushed away from the room service table and stood, stretching. He had dined on kettle goulash, fish soup and had finished with a melt-in-the-mouth cherry strudel. He poured another glass of Tokay Aszu, billed as the wine of kings and the king of wines since the middle ages, then joined Duo near the window. The lights twinkling on Buda Hill reflected on the dark surface of the Danube like bright jewels. "I've had most of the day to think about this, so I'm a little ahead of you," Wufei said, tucking his notebook back into his jacket pocket. This was one of the moments when he wished with all his heart that they could kiss like ordinary people. It would have been comforting and wonderful just to sit on the suite's sofa and cuddle and kiss and hold each other. "If the crystals were hidden in a deep vault somewhere," he said, trying to focus his mind on the business at hand, "and if something happened to the members of the Council of Six--say they all got trapped on a sunny beach somewhere--" he looked up at Duo "--then the crystals would be lost forever." "Agreed," Duo said, frowning. "If the council members are united in their opposition to making the crystals available to vampires who no longer want to be vampires, then why keep the crystals? Why not toss them in the ocean and that's the end of it?" "That's an interesting point." "My guess is at least one member of the council, maybe more, isn't ready to cut off all retreat. The council has shown themselves unwilling to make the crystals available or even to admit their existence... but they aren't willing to destroy them. I'm guessing they've also considered the possibility that the guardians of the crystals could meet with an accident." "Trapped on a morning beach, I believe you said." A shudder constricted Duo's shoulders. "If something like that happened, how would any of you ever find the crystals if they were locked in a vault somewhere? The secret would be forever lost. And they had to consider the possibility that a mortal might discover the crystals, mistake them for ordinary rocks and throw them away." Duo poured a glass of Tokay and waved it beneath his nose, inhaling the aroma. "I see where you're going with this. You're suggesting the council has given the surviving community a fighting chance to find the crystals. Not a very good chance," he added sourly, "but a chance. The crystals are protected, but they're in the open where they might be discovered." "It's a balancing act," Wufei agreed. Sitting down, he crossed his legs and steadied his wineglass on one knee. "Weighted in the council's favour. If I hadn't seen the deed to the museum, we would never, and I mean never, have found the crystals. It's possible to find them without a huge piece of luck, but very unlikely. You'd have to be a vampire who wandered into the Budapest Mineral Museum and stayed long enough to stumble over this small exhibit and then guessed the truth about what you were seeing. What are the chances of that happening?" "About one in a gazillion, I'd guess." "I'd say that's an optimistic estimate." Duo nodded, his gaze travelling slowly along the curve of Wufei's legs. "Grab a jacket. We'll steal the crystals, then come back here. I plan to celebrate by making love to you the rest of the night." The sultry promise in his electric eyes caused Wufei's stomach to go weak. A thrill of anticipation shivered up his spine. He blew him a smile and a kiss, then rose on wobbly legs and started toward the suite's closet. Things would be so simple if they didn't have to worry about the crystals or the council or IV. What was he thinking of? Things would never be simple between him and Duo. When the business with the crystals was concluded, they would have to discuss the obstacles that loomed between them, problems as large as the universe. "Sometimes when I think about you and me, I'm happier than I've ever been," he said quietly, drinking in the sight of Duo. He looked like a modem day pirate, wearing jeans and a loose sweater, his gold earring swinging in front of his braid, a sexy grin on his lips. "Other times I want to cry." Duo started toward him, his gaze fixed on his lips; then they both froze in shock as the hotel room door burst open. Four men darted inside with vampire speed. Zechs Merquise closed the door behind them. His blue eyes scanned Wufei, then dismissed him. "I believe it's customary to knock," Duo said coldly. The tips of his canines extended slightly to press against his lip. But all of the vampires' fangs were showing to some extent, Wufei noticed, shrinking against the entry wall. These were not the cordial vampires he was accustomed to, like Quatre and Relena and Cathy Bloom. These were scary vampires. Although each of the four men appeared to be in their early to mid-forties, their great age lay revealed in parchment skin and deadened eyes. Zechs Merquise's cheeks had a hectic flush as if he had recently fed, but the skin of the others was a lustreless white. Each was in superb physical condition. What made them frightening, even terrifying, was the ruthlessness behind their deadened gazes. These were men who had survived the long centuries by permitting nothing to stand in their way. The warm side of their natures had cooled while America was still an infant. These were not men who used the IV blood banks. They preferred the original source. One of the men narrowed his gaze on Wufei and it occurred to him that he could hear his heart flying around inside his chest, could probably smell the blood that pounded in his ears. The menace in his expression caused a sudden chunk of icy fear to form in his stomach. "Who is this man?" "This is my Renfield. Renfield, I believe you've met Zechs. This is Alex, and Mueller." When Duo turned to the fourth man, a look of cool respect gleamed in his eyes. "This gentleman is Treize Khushrenada, President of the Council of Six." The men gave him a cursory glance then returned to Duo. Now Wufei noticed that he had backed into the living room of the suite, drawing the men away from him. "I'm pleased to see you again, Treize. It's been a long time," "This is not a social call." Zechs stepped forward, shoulderblade-length blonde hair swirling around his shoulders. "You stole our records from the Blanc et Cie," he hissed. "And you sent him--" he flung a pointing finger toward Wufei "--to break into our safety-deposit box!" "As long as Blanc et Cie had our files, the Marchalt family could blackmail us by threatening exposure if we didn't keep our funds in their bank. At the very least we could all be exposed as criminals. Faking deaths and so on. That concern is ended now." Khushrenada clasped his hands behind an old-fashioned frock coat. "You must return the files." Wufei swung his gaze toward Khushrenada. If he'd had to make a guess, he would have guessed Khushrenada as the oldest. He was a handsome man with sandy hair and pale eyes, taller than the rest who deferred to him. Unlike the others, his shoulders were stooped, and an air of great weariness overlay his features. Duo leaned against the window overlooking the dark flowing Danube. He crossed his ankles and folded his arms over his chest. "It makes sense to keep our records in our own hands instead of leaving them in the control of a third party," he said in a level voice. Zechs shoved past Alex and Mueller. "Right now one of our people is in your Denver house destroying your computers. You'll pay for your arrogance, Maxwell. We aren't finished with you!" Khushrenada continued to regard Duo. "There are backups, of course." He sounded tired, annoyed that he had to deal with this problem. "You can make this easier on all of us by telling us now where the backups are hidden." Wufei had a sudden horrifying vision of these ancient vampires appearing in his mother's backyard where one of the backup sets was buried. Sweat popped on his brow and he thanked God they couldn't actually read minds. "I'm sorry, Treize. IV is the future. That's where the files belong." Zechs moved forward another step, his blue eyes glittering. "You know about the crystals, and the museum." "I know the crystals exist," Duo said carefully, not glancing at Wufei. "And yes, I intended to search the museum.'' Wufei's mind raced. Obviously the elders didn't realise he had already been to the Mineral Museum and located the crystals. His stratagem of joining Mrs. Billingsgate's group had worked. The curator and the thugs had not mentioned his visit. "You can search the museum from the rafters to the cellars and you won't find the crystals," Mueller snarled. "Mueller is correct." Khushrenada let a silence develop before speaking again. "We're willing to overlook your outrages, Duo, if you are willing to return our files and return immediately to the States. Forget the crystals." "Or?" Duo's chin came up and his eyes were stones. A shrug lifted Khushrenada's frock coat. "Or we'll put you to death." Wufei gasped and sagged against the closet wall. His eyes widened until they ached. Silently he begged Duo to accept their conditions. If the decision were his, he would have babbled the location of the backup discs and dragged him out of the room and into a taxi headed for the airport. "For a century I believed the Crystals of Change were only a myth," Duo said levelly, speaking to Khushrenada. "Now I know they exist. I can't forget that, Treize. If the crystals reverse vampirism, they should be made available to those of us who wish to regain our mortality." Zechs Merquise whirled and appeared beside Wufei. He gripped his shoulders and wrenched him to face Duo. "Is this what you yearn to return to?" he asked with a sneer. "Do you want to be a shell, Maxwell? A fragile pitcher that deflates with a puncture?" His fingers were like steel on his shoulders, pulling him back against the cold length of his body. Wufei could not have resisted if he had tried. His super enhanced strength and his own paralysis rendered him immobile. Zechs drew back his hair and murmured in his ear. "You know I can drain the blood from your body in mere minutes, don't you? Your heart is fluttering like that of a frightened bird." Wufei tried to scream, but his dry lips would not respond. A hot dual sting pricked his throat. And he realized with horror that Zechs was drinking his blood. His knees collapsed and he sagged against him with a moan of helplessness. A blur shot across the corner of his vision. When the smear of color steadied, Duo was standing in front of him and Zechs was sprawled in the centre of the living room floor. "Touch him again, and so help me, I'll--" They were on him in an eye blink. Zechs sprang from the floor, fangs fully extended, his fingers like talons. Alex and Mueller leapt into the fray, fists flying. Duo put up a good fight; for a brief time he gave as good as he got but he was outnumbered. While Wufei watched in gasping, wide eyed horror, the elder vampires bashed Duo to the tile floor, then chained his wrists and hobbled his ankles. Alex and Mueller hoisted Duo between them and carried him out the door of the suite. "Please!" Wufei directed his appeal to Khushrenada, the only one of them who seemed to him to retain a hint of humanity. "Where are you taking him? What are you going to do?" Khushrenada's pale eyes followed Alex and Mueller out the door. "Return to Denver, Renfield. Wrap up Maxwell's affairs and close his house. Your services are no longer required." "But--" The speed with which they exited left him reeling. Wufei fell into the nearest chair and pressed a shaking hand against his chest. His heart was beating so violently, he thought it would fly from his chest. "Good night, Mr. Chang." A tiny gasp of shock scalded his lips as Zechs Merquise stepped out of the shadows. He smiled at him, and touched a fingertip to a drop of blood at the comer of his lips. He sucked the blood off his finger. His blood. "We shall meet again," he promised softly, staring at the thin stream of blood leaking from the puncture wounds he had left on Wufei’s throat. Before Wufei could speak, he, too, had gone. He blinked, gasped and then passed out. * * * * * * * Wufei spend the rest of the night in the lobby of the hotel, sitting beneath the brightest light he could find and facing the registration desk. He couldn't be certain the desk clerk was not a vampire, but he didn't think he was. He also didn't think he'd be much help if the elders returned, but it made him feel better not to be alone. By the time the first rays of dawn stained the eastern sky, Wufei had calmed enough to think through the night's events. His first frantic instinct had been to telephone the Hungarian police. But he'd replaced the phone a second after he'd picked it up. First, he didn't speak Hungarian. Second... what would he tell the police? That four ancient vampires had kidnapped a younger upstart vampire? Because he had stolen computer files from a Paris bank and intended to steal some crystals from a Budapest museum? Not a good idea. For a while it puzzled him that the elders hadn't taken him, too. But upon reflection he believed he understood why the elders ignored him. These were men who did not, could not, understand the twentieth century. They were the original chauvinist pigs, so to speak. It wouldn't occur to them that a mortal man might be a threat. Or even be significant. In their eyes Wufei was merely a minion, incapable of independent thought or action. Once Duo was removed, he would be like a body without a head. Cramped and exhausted, Wufei stood and stretched, then crossed the lobby and stepped outside into the rising sun. Closing his eyes, he lifted his face to the sunlight, letting its radiance pour into him. Standing in the morning sunshine, he felt his strength and courage return. It also helped to know the vampires were asleep in their lairs. Until sunset, at least, he could move freely and he was safe. He hoped to heaven that Duo was. When he thought about him, anxiety exploded through his heart. Wufei fervently wished Duo would agree to give the council the vampire files, promise never to think about the crystals again, grovel a little and beg their forgiveness. But he wouldn't. He was so damned stubborn, so committed to IV and the progress and hope it represented. "Where are you?" he whispered, sweeping a despairing gaze along the buildings edging the shores of the Danube. He could be anywhere. In any of the hundreds of picturesque castle ruins, or in a restored fortress, or in the cellar of one of the massive Gothic churches, or in someone's basement lair, or, or, or. He grew dizzy just thinking about the possibilities. And frightened again when he felt the anxious solitude of being alone in a strange country where he didn't speak the language, didn't know a soul, couldn't read the street signs. Even so, he decided after a minute, the elders had been wrong to dismiss him so indifferently. There were things he could do, things Duo would want him to do. But damn, he was sick of adventure and excitement. What he wanted most was to go home and find a nice dull life to slip into. That's exactly what he planned to do, but first… "Oh, God." Moaning and muttering under his breath, Wufei totted back into the hotel and up to his room to shower, dress and grab some breakfast before he returned to the museum to steal the crystals while he tried to figure out how to rescue Duo. "I must be seriously crazy." Or seriously in love. * * * * * * * The Mineral Museum looked exactly as it had yesterday-ancient and forbidding. Wufei loitered in the entrance to the subway stairs, sipping a cup of muddy coffee and watching the museum door. Two tour buses were parked in front of the handicraft shops, and pedestrians strolled the sidewalks, moved in and out of the subway entrance. No one entered the Mineral Museum. Although it was only ten-thirty, Wufei had already had a busy morning. He had moved from the Ramada Grand Hotel to an apartment on Kiss Aron utca. After dropping his luggage inside the tiny flat, he had dashed out to do a little shopping in a district far removed from the tourist centres. In a dim and depressingly stark clothing store, he had purchased shapeless pants, clunky lace-up shoes, a gray sweater that a bag lady would disdain, a neck scarf exactly like those he saw worn around him and an umbrella. The nondescript outfit made him practically invisible to those who brushed past him. No one paid him any attention. After finishing his coffee, he dropped the cup into a trash receptacle, then gripped the handle of his new cheap umbrella. Tucked inside was a fireplace poker that he had brazenly stolen from the Ramada Grand Hotel. Holding the poker against the stem of the closed umbrella, Wufei made himself step away from the security of the busy entrance to the train station and he slowly walked toward the museum's entrance. The image of yesterday's thugs rose in his mind, and he started trembling as he pushed open the museum's heavy door and stepped into the musty dim interior. But no thugs waited in view of the entry. He thought he was alone, until a man wearing dark slacks, a white shirt and a guard's cap put down a magazine and stood behind a desk he hadn't noticed until now. He said something in Hungarian that ended in a question mark. Wufei shrugged and tried not to look guilty or furtive. "Erehay offay Evertray and Inkybay," he said, giving him a helpless smile. Even on the wildly remote chance that the guard spoke kid's pig Latin, "Here for Trevor and Binky" wouldn't make sense to him. His expression darkened toward exasperation and he muttered something, then waved and returned to his seat and magazine. "Ewseray ooyay ootay," Wufei said, smiling, waving his umbrella and edging toward one of the display eases. Moving slowly around the glass cases, he stopped here and there and pretended an interest in what looked to him like cheap crystals and ordinary lumps of rock. The guard glanced up once, then appeared to forget him. Wufei slipped into the next room. He hadn't realized how certain he was that the crystals would be gone until he stood in front of the glassed-in shelf and felt his heart explode with relief. Gasping for breath, he leaned against one of the cases of industrial diamonds and waited for his pulse to stop pounding. It wasn't going to happen; his heart was going to continue racing and his hands were going to keep shaking until this craziness ended. Visions of a Hungarian jail reeled through his mind. Bread and water. Spotlights in his face. Maybe torture. "Stop this," he whispered, wetting pale lips. "Think about Quatre. You made a promise. No more suicides like Quatre." Bending, Wufei slid the heavy poker out of the umbrella and gripped the handle in both hands. "This one's for you, Quatre." He couldn't believe he was actually going to do this. Wufei swung the poker as hard as he could, putting the full force of his body into the swing. The impact of metal smashing thick glass rocketed up his arms. For a fraction of a second, Wufei heard the shattering of glass and it sounded as loud as an explosion. Then an alarm shrieked in his ears. Operating on automatic, he thrust his hand into the hole he had smashed in the glass, grabbed at the crystals, then spun and ran. He collided with the guard as he skidded into the main room. Grabbing his shirt with one hand, he jabbed a pointing finger back toward the alcove. It wasn't hard to babble. "Ackbay erethay, erkjay! Ogay!" He shouted over the piercing wail of the alarm. The guard shoved him aside and raced toward the alcove. Wufei ran like hell for the door, dashed outside, then slowed to a rapid walk. Two minutes later, shaking so hard he could hardly force one foot ahead of the other, he disappeared into the subway entrance. Within another three minutes, he was seated inside the train, anxiously searching faces out of the window. If the guard was among those on the platform, he didn't spot him. Still, Wufei waited through two stops before he felt safe enough to reach a trembling hand into his pocket and withdraw the two crystals he had snatched. They were small oval shaped stones, no larger than his fingernail. Wufei stared at them and tears gathered in his eyes. "We did it, Quatre. We'll get these analyzed and reproduced for those who want mortality and a chance to die with dignity." At least that was the first step that came to mind. However, if all six of the crystals had to be used together in some kind of arcane ritual, then everything he and Duo had been through was for nothing. It didn't bear thinking about. The possibility was just too depressing. Dropping his head back against the window, Wufei closed his eyes and clenched his fists. If only he could be certain that Duo, his love, his heart, his life, was alive and safe. Worry blinded him. ~ * ~ |
