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"Crimson Ties"Written By: SkyLark DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gundam Wing, or its characters.
I just love playing with them. Pairings: future 1x2x1, 5xOC, 4XM Warnings: Serious AU, Vampire Fic, Angst, Violence,
Sap, Romance Betaed By: ShenLong Deb Archives: http://www.gundam- wing-diaries. 150m.com/
gw/SkyLark/ gwSkyLark. htm and http://www.mizunoam y.bravepages. com/skylark/
skylarkfics. html "Crimson Ties" Removing his towels that from the box they had been
packed in, Duo smiled warmly to himself and headed to his private
bathroom with them. His own bathroom filled with his own things, he thought
to himself. No more sharing bathroom stalls as he had for so many
years following his parents' deaths. Walking into the muted yellow and tan-tiled bathroom's
doorway, Heero leaned against the frame with a small grin on his face
as he watched his Other carefully drape the towels in his possession
on the wall racks. In seeing the care that Duo gave the soft cloths,
the Vampire guessed aloud, "A present from someone?" Maxwell gasped sharply and spun on his heels with wide,
violet eyes. Placing his free hand over his pounding heart, the living
panted to catch his breath and snickered, "Jeez, 'Ro. If you're
going to sneak up on me like that, knock something over so I can hear
you coming, would you? If I was a cat, I would have lost three lives
there!" A sheepish smile curling his lips, Yuy raised his hands
and chuckled, "Sorry. I tend to forget how quiet my kind can
be, since we can hear each other." Shaking his braided head, the living smirked, "It's
alright." He lowered his head to appraise the deep red and purple
towels hanging from his other arm as he nodded, "And yea. These
came from Sister Helen as a going away gift when I left the Maxwell
Church for school." His gold-and-cobalt eyes warming, the Infected gazed
on the towels that were already hanging. "Then they're very precious,
indeed," he stated. Duo practically beamed at that, his head
nodding as he turned to finish draping the last of his possessions
around the room. When his would-be Companion walked up to him, Heero
rested his arms over his shoulders and touched their foreheads together.
"I am very much looking forward to meeting Sister Helen and Father
Maxwell this weekend," he grinned. "Anyone you hold dear
will be held no less by me." That sentiment resonated deep into Duo's core as he
returned the smile. Stepping back, he took his Vampire's hand and
led him back into his bedroom. "Well, in talking to them last
night, I know they're on pins and needles over meeting you, too,"
he snickered. Lowering himself onto his back atop the plush comforter
on his bed, the braided teenager pulled the Infected down to lie down
next to him. Ever since that first time that he'd slept the night
away in Heero's arms, he found himself wanting that closeness between
them more and more. And Yuy was more than happy to oblige every time the
mood struck his Other. Draping his arm that was not propping himself up on
his side, the Vampire asked, "Do you think they'll like me?" Violet eyes blinking at how nervous Heero had suddenly
become, Maxwell pushed himself up a bit. "Of course they will,"
he replied, his confidence solidifying his voice despite how quiet
the words were on account of his surprise. Tilting his braided head, he chuckled softly, "I
never pegged you as one who would worry about what anyone thought
of you. Besides, if you could win someone like me over, you'll have
them wrapped around your fingers." "It's a little different between me and other human
since you and I are bonded," Yuy snickered, sounding more like
himself. He shifted a bit, pulling his Other closer against him as
he continued, "And yes, I am concerned with what Father Maxwell
and Sister Helen think of me more than any other living." Drawing a deep breath, he shrugged, "Along with
raising you, keeping you safe all these years, I know how important
they are to you. I just want to make a good impression on them since
they're effectively leaving you to my care now." As he sank back onto the bed, Duo grinned, "Just
be yourself and you'll have nothing to worry about. 'Ro. They'll love
you. Trust me." He was rewarded with a loving smile and a soft
kiss to his forehead for that. Reluctantly pulling away, Heero sighed, "I shouldn't
chance being this way with you as thirsty as I am. It's been days
since I've fed. Nice thing of being with you now is that I can go
so much longer before I feel remotely hungry." Slowly retracting his arm from the slender waist that
it was holding onto, the Infected turned and rose from the bed as
he announced, "I better drink from one of those backup bags of
your blood that Anna stored before she left." "Okay," Duo nodded. "I'll hunt down 'Fei
and hang out with him while you're feeding, then." Content to know that his Other would not be alone, Yuy
nodded and hurried from the room to replenish himself. Silently missing having his bonded close, Maxwell got
to his feet and slipped out into the hallway to jump when he nearly
walked into his brother who was leaning against the wall just past
his door. His hand slapping against his vibrating chest again
with another startled gasp, the living snapped, "Damn it, 'Fei!
Would you guys please give me some warning to let me know when you're
around!? I'm not going to be much help to Heero if I die of a heart
attack before I become his Companion!" An amused smirk on his scaly face, Chang snickered,
"Sorry. It's hard to resist your reaction to that." He laughed
fully at the outright glare he earned with that sentiment. Slapping the teenager's back, he smirked, "No harm
meant, brother. I was not far off when my ears started burning with
your mentioning my name. Rather than sit and wait for you to find
me, I figured I would meet you instead." The Vampire gestured with his head back down the hall
as he stated, "I have a deck of cards waiting for us at the table
in the study." Leaning close to the human, he added in a near
whisper, "We need to talk." Violet eyes growing, Duo nodded and followed Wufei to
the designated room. * * * * An hour later, whatever needed to be discussed had still
not been brought up throughout the card games that Maxwell and Wufei
continued played. Ever the patient one, the living waiting until the
Infected was ready to talk about whatever he wanted to talk about. Wufei was the one who needed to get something off his
chest. And Duo knew that he wouldn't be helping either of them if
he pushed the matter... whatever it was. So, he continued to carry
on casual conversations through their rounds of rummy. "So, why does it take so long after a feeding for
Heero to come back?" the braided teenager asked as he reached
for another card from the deck to add to his hand. "And why can't
we be together when he is drinking? No one ever really explained that
to me before." His onyx-and-gold eyes studying the cards in his hand,
the scaly Vampire answered, "The distance between you is required
whenever he feeds because if you were in the same room when Heero
got a taste of your blood, he might not be able to hold himself back
from draining more from the source." Duo paled, nearly dropping his cards as he stared wide-eyed
at his future brother-in-law. The comment of him being at risk of
being sucked dry of his blood was spoken so nonchalantly that one
would think Chang was talking about the weather. Finally peering up to see the frightened expression,
Wufei chuckled, "You don't need to worry. Heero would never hurt
you. I said he *might* drain from the source. My brother has a way
of being overly cautious, even though Anna and I have told him many
times that he doesn't need to worry about going to such extreme measures
as this." Wincing, the Infected glanced away with his eyes as
he muttered, "Though he is the only Original that I know to have
gone without their Chosen for as long as he has. He might be right
to be extra careful." A grin returning to his scaly face, he waved his free
hand and insisted, "At any rate, even if he drank directly from
you now, he wouldn't take all of your blood. But you would be turned
into one of us. Until you've been transformed into his Companion,
he doesn't want to take the risk of that happening or we'd all be
in a hell of a lot of trouble by the breach of the Human-Vampire treaty." Shoulders shrugging, Wufei concluded, "Heero's
most likely off on a run to burn off his extra energy following his
drink. Once he's calmed down enough to trust his willpower, he'll
be back." Physically relaxing at that, Duo released the breath
he had been holding in a deep sigh. "Well, that's good to know,"
he murmured, running his free hand through his bangs to wipe away
the droplets of sweat on his brow. Grinning, the scaly Infected took out two cards from
his hand to replace them with two from the deck. "For what it's
worth," he began quietly when he focused back on the teenager,
"I'm glad that you're coming into our family." That... was one hell of a compliment coming from Wufei.
It said a lot in very few words. Maxwell beamed at his brother, "Thanks, 'Fei. I
am, too." Smirking, he snickered, "In your case, you're
just glad that you're not going to be the baby of the family anymore." Laughing, Chang nodded firmly, "I'll admit that
is a perk." When he composed himself, the Vampire folded his hand
of cards and set them down on the table. Folding his arms across his
chest, his humor completely evaporated. "You knew that reminding me of my promise to you
would get under my skin," he stated, a frown marring his face.
"Somehow, you figured that keeping my word would be important
to me. That's why you never brought up your wish to become a Preventer
again…you said what you needed to say." So this was what Wufei really wanted to discuss, Duo
thought to himself. Apparently that seed he'd planted had sprouted…
just as he'd hoped. Quickly setting his own cards down, the living couldn't
help the cocky grin that tugged his lips as he responded, "Guilty.
Has it really been eating at you that badly?" He made sure to
not have even the slightest hint of an apologetic tone in his voice. Losing his steam, Chang snorted and rolled his eyes.
"Every damn day for this last week," he admitted, half-groaning.
With a deep sigh, he lowered his head and grumbled, "Heero is
going find a way to have my head for this when he finds out about
it." Back straightening, Maxwell felt his heart begin to
pound in his chest as he stammered, "Y-you're going to train
me to become a Preventer, then?" "Don't get ahead of yourself here," Wufei
replied, meeting the violet gaze on him with a small smile returning
to his face. Their eyes still locked, he declared, "I'm agreeing
to train you so that you can defend yourself. There's going to have
to be that compromise so that we can both be happy- for me, I get
to keep my word and you'll get to see what life in the field is like
for us." Taking a deep breath, he leaned forward and stated clearly,
"But I won't agree to you becoming an active Preventer. Not when
you're still an unturned flesh-and-blood human. You would be in too
muh danger out in the field. Perfectly content with that, Duo raised his hands in
surrender. "You won't hear a single complaint from me there,"
he promised. As far as his being able to go out on hunts, he would
just have to prove himself... and wait some more for the right opportunity. Just having the chance to train in self-defense was
a huge step towards his ultimate goal. He would be patient, taking
in everything that he would learn along the way. Chang smirked, "Oh, don't thank me just yet. Don't
think for a second that I'm going to go easy on you. I wouldn't be
surprised if you only lasted a couple sessions with me." Never one to back down from a challenge in his life,
Maxwell's took on a more mischievous look. "I guess we'll both
see soon enough, won't we?" he shrugged. His amusement returning,
the scaly Vampire chuckled and picked up his cards to resume their
game. Cool and calm as he might have appeared as he gathered
up his own hand, Duo was practically performing back flips in his
mind. The plan that he'd laid out had worked beautifully. And now
that it was setting in, there was a bit of guilt on his part that
he'd used Wufei's honor against him to get his way. But something told the living that Chang was beginning
to look forward to their training. The small grin that remained on
the Infected's face as he studied his cards said as much. Besides,
if he remained completely against the notion, word or no word, he
never would have agreed to the compromise between them. And Duo was certain that Wufei would be more than happy
to put him through the paces, which was what the teenager wanted anyway. Struck by a certain realization, the human commented,
"You know, even with my being the baby of the family, you'll
always be the youngest Vampire to have been turned legally. That would
have to be pretty cool, knowing that you're the last of a whole race." Chang's eyes grew when they peered up at his brother.
At the haunted haze over them, Maxwell's own widened in fear. He'd
hit a nerve without realizing it. There were questions before, but
now he knew for certain that there was something terrible surrounding
the scaly immortal's turning. "Yea," the Infected breathed at last in a
flat and distant tone. "Pretty cool." Lowering his head
to gaze back at his cards, his free hand shifted so that he could
subconsciously rub his thumb over his thick, sparkling wedding band
of gold that was twined with silver forged in the shape of Celtic
knots. Swallowing roughly, Duo was finally able to breathe
when Chang physically relaxed again. Even though he'd heard from both
Heero and Trowa hints to how troubling the story around Wufei and
Anna was, their words did not hit home the way the ghosts in those
golden onyx eyes had. What in the world it was that could have transpired
was beyond the living. But he knew that now was not the right time
to press for answers. His brother already had too much on his mind
as it was. Those thoughts came to an abrupt halt when there was
a gentle knock against the door frame of the study. Snapping his braided
head to the sound, the living took in the sight of his smirking Vampire.
"Was that a good enough warning to you that I was
here?" Heero teased his Other before he approached the table.
Chang snickered to himself without looking up from his cards. Maxwell wasn't in form to respond as caught up as he
was in staring at Yuy. That near glow was radiating from the Infected
in his being fresh from his last feed. Strong and sure in his steps,
he was like sex walking... alluring and perfect in every possible
way. Finally remembering to close his jaw with an audible
snap from his teeth when they met, Duo blushed a deep red and shifted
his chair over to make more room on his half of the table. For all
of his efforts, though, he just couldn't tear his eyes away from the
striking vision that his Vampire made. Sliding a spare seat beside his Other, Heero kept their
eyes fixed on each other as the small smile on his face spread when
he sat close to him. Leisurely draping an arm around the living's
shoulder, the Infected winked a sparkling cobalt-and-gold eye in that
manner that made Duo's heart leap in his chest. "Your move," Wufei's announced, voice dripping
with the playful taunt that the loaded comment was meant to be. With a gasp as he returned to the world, Duo's wide
eyes focused back on the cards in his hand. "R-right," he
stuttered. Clearing his throat, he fanned his cards out to see them
better as he managed to keep his voice from shaking in a quiet, "Sorry." He made sure to keep his head lowered so that his cards
were all that he could take in. If he looked over at Heero, the teenager
knew that he'd be too distracted to ever finish the game. * * * * "A toast to our freshmen on surviving their first
semester!" Alex exclaimed, cup filled with soda in hand as he
stood at the usual table that he and his friends occupied in the campus
cafeteria. Blushing, Duo and Sylvia ducked their heads as the rest
of the students sitting throughout the room turned to stare at their
group. Quatre, Mueller and Catherine snickered while Trent put on
his best amused look as they all took up their own drinks to raise
them. Focused on the blonde girl across from him Alex smirked,
"We were worried about you, Syl, but you made it." Squeaking,
the politician's daughter did her best to sink under the table. As
he reached up to adjust his glasses, the junior laughed, "And
Duo, well, who would have thought of how things would work out for
you?" Closing his eyes, Alex held his arm out and proclaimed
dramatically, "May your future semesters be as enjoyable and
successful as this one was for you! These are the best days of our
lives, so live them up! And may you both continue to evade the dreaded
Freshman Fifteen since you still have another semester to go before
you're sophomores!" [1] "Here, here!" Quatre, Mueller, Catherine and
Trent cheered before they all threw their glasses back for a long
swig from their beverages. Amused laughter and head shaking coursed
through the cafeteria as the other students partook by raising and
drinking from their cups. Noventa's shoulders slumped as she groaned, "I'll
never be able to show my face again." Slipping back into his chair, Alex snickered, "Aw,
don't make that kind of threat, Syl. You have too pretty a face to
hide." As soon as the words left him, the upperclassmen's eyes
grew and it was his turn to blush. Clearing his throat, he quickly
picked up his slice of pizza and acted as though he hadn't said anything. The compliment did not go unnoticed, however. Beaming,
Sylvia straightened in her seat and smiled shyly as she returned to
her last cafeteria meal for the next two months. Catherine leaned close to Quatre and whispered, "I
do hope that those two get a clue at some point here." Winner
chuckled and nodded in agreement. "I'm really looking forward to your party this
weekend, Maxwell," Mueller grinned. "And thanks for seeing
that we were all invited to it." The others around voiced their
own appreciation. Waving a hand, Duo shrugged, "Of course I wanted
all of you there. This is easily one of the biggest things that could
ever happen to me, and I couldn't think of any one of you not being
there." He had no idea just how many people he was welcoming
to the Vampires' estate, Trent thought to himself. Keeping the dark
smirk from his face, the Hunter smiled, "Well, the thought means
a lot." At the end of their last lunch together until the next
semester, the band of friends exchanged hand shakes and embraces with
the anticipation of their reunion in two days for the party. Slipping
from the cafeteria and moving for the main parking lot, Duo and Quatre
were joined by their shadows when they were alone. Smirking at his cousin, the braided living asked, "You
sure you'd rather be bored waiting around on the two of us when you
could be back home helping Midi and Relena decorate, Trowa?" "Oh, I'll gladly sit around in trees and hide in
corners all day without any chance of action over discussing which
of the thousands of hues would work best as streamers," Barton
replied, a subtle shudder running through his body. Wufei joined in on the livings' laughter at the sentiment
as they had all seen the worried fit that the 'little mother' was
already working herself into that morning in her preparations. Thankfully,
Relena offered her services and guidance to see that her friend did
not go off the deep end when she realized how quickly the festivities
were approaching. Hands in his jean jacket pockets, Heero joined the group
and smiles as he stepped up beside his Other. That grin spread further
across his face when Duo leaned up against him. "Well, we better
check and make sure that we at least recognize our home after all
of these hours that we've left it to the girls," he chuckled,
wrapping an arm around the lithe waist of his Chosen. "Not a bad idea," Maxwell snorted. Mentally, he just hoped that his sweet cousin and friend
had refrained from making the arrangement overly feminine. Already,
he was envisioning a pastel horror of pinks, yellows, baby blues,
lilacs and any light shade the like that the two Infected tended to
lean towards in their wardrobes. When Heero pulled their car into their driveway with
Trowa and Quatre following right behind, Duo led the way into the
mansion. The moment he entered the main hallway, his breath hitched
in his throat and he froze in place. Delicately draped over the walls and railings that guarded
the stairway were twinkling white Christmas lights that provided the
only glow in the space. Their strands were draped by silver garland
that made the bright sparkles look like hundreds of stars glistening
in the heavens that had come down to the Earth. Violet eyes wide, the braided living slowly walked down
the corridor and into the living room. At the far corner, a giant
tree was decked from top to bottom with ornaments, lights and a beautiful
ornate angel at its peak. Tastefully hung garland and holly boughs
were tapered from the highest points in the walls. Even the drapes
had been replaced by thick, red velvet. Glowing with even more white lights that trickled down
from the ceiling like icicles, the whole room had been transformed
into a breathtaking winter wonderland the likes of which no mortal
could have ever hoped to step into even in a dream. "Wow," was all that Duo could whisper as he
stared in awe at the vision. Behind him, Heero, Trowa, Quatre and
Wufei stood in the doorway with just as much wonder on their faces.
Midi and Relena appeared from behind the tree, each
holding a box of bright-colored ornaments of various shapes and sizes.
Beaming at the sight of the dumbstruck boys, the brunette
Vampire lowered her box and hurried towards her cousin. "I do
hope that you don't mind our going with a holiday theme," she
said quietly and bit her lip. Finally breaking from his shock, Maxwell looked to her
and threw his arms around her tightly. "Mind it? It's perfect,"
he whispered. Letting out a deep breath of relief, Midi laughed and
returned the embrace. Pulling back, the teenager made sure to look
on his cousin as well as the Councilwoman when he told them sincerely,
"Thank you." Relena smiled widely and bowed her head. Trowa walked up to hold his wife from behind and rested
his head on her shoulder. Still taking in their surroundings, he breathed,
"I've seen the two of you do some remarkable things over the
years, whenever we've had a celebration. And I have to say that I
think you've outdone yourselves." At that, Relena set her box down as she smirked, "Well,
we can't take all the credit. We had help." Turning to the tree,
her smile grew as a familiar voice giggled. Instantly, Duo, Heero
and Wufei stiffened at the sound. Bounding into the open, Anna leaped into the braided
teenager's arms that had fallen open. Hooking her legs around his
waist and her arms around his neck, the redheaded Infected pressed
their foreheads together. "Hello, little brother," she greeted
before she placed a quick kiss at the end of his nose. Lost in her golden, ocean blue-eyes Maxwell let out
a howl of a laugh as he hugged her tightly back and spun her around. His family was whole again. He was where he belonged. Everything was officially right in the world. TBC [1] The Freshman Fifteen- the fifteen pounds (average) that freshmen in college tend to gain from stress and poor eating at school. Never gained anything then, but everyone I was friends with were always worried about it.
Chapter 37 |
