Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ 1 Blood on the Window ❯ Between the Lines ( Chapter 28 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

December slid smoothly into January, and we started the new year off with a bang, having a splendid party at the house which seemed to include half the bar-tenders of the city with a few of Jesse's other actual friends, and January bled slowly into February, only showing itself by the light of the melting snow.

Kayla and I were nearly inseparable-and we all realized suddenly that Trowa and Hilde were a couple. I do mean we all, with the possible exception of Hilde herself. She'd never tell us, however, and the plan of Trowa moving in with her was set into motion, ear-marked for mid-June so he didn't have to subject Alexia to another sudden shock while she was in school.

During the months, Heero and I had several more jobs, and Wufei finally moved out of my room.

Relena seemed to be in heaven. She laughed all the time, and for most of first month after Heero had finally asked her to marry him, she was connected to his hip. Heero didn't mind this, he seemed to glory in it.

I knew something had to go wrong.

I grinned as I stared out my bedroom window at Miguel and Wufei, who were making out against Miguel's car.

It had taken me an age to finally persuade Kayla to let me meet her family, so she'd arranged a special supper with them on her last visit. I would be leaving with her early on Wednesday, we'd stay the evening, then start home. I knew I could actually make the drive with no issues, even if I were the driving the entire way, but Kayla was all worried about getting a motel room, so I was going to just crawl along with that plan.

It wouldn't hurt me to get away from everyone for one night.

Wufei had finally pulled away from Miguel, and suddenly I realized he was watching me with a curious tilt to his head.

I laughed, turning away from the window-I'd started staring at them with my contemplation.

"Duo?" Alex called, shoving the door to my room open to blink at me, "Duo, can you make me some hot-chocolate, please?"

"Of course." I muttered, following her back into the hall. Trowa was still at work, so I was pretty much playing baby-sitter. Relena was somewhere around the house, but I wasn't completely sure where. Heero had gone to deal with some bills.

"I have show and tell tomorrow," she said to me, her small face creased in an expression of serious thought, "What do you think I should bring?"

"Ooh," I muttered, moving around her as we reached the bottom of the stairs, "That's a tough one."

"I know…because I already brought the dolly that Lea gave me-and the dolly Relena got for me…and the card set Uncle Quatre got for me…" she was very concerned, "I was going to ask Maestra if I could bring a movie for us all to watch, but she had to talk to Brad's parents at break, and then she was talking to another teacher and Daddy said I shouldn't interrupt…and then I thought I could bring my Halloween dress, but I wore that at Halloween, and all my friends have seen it already…"

"Wow." I muttered, actually thinking over her possessions, then stopping to meet her eyes in the kitchen, "What about that necklace I got you for Christmas?"

Her eyes went wide, "I could lose it, Uncle! I don't want to take it to school! I run around at recess…and it could break!"

Wow, she really had thought about it. I smiled at her, considering this, "I don't know, then…maybe the one your Daddy got you? I know you've worn it to school before."

"But I did wear it to school before." she protested, sitting at the table, "Everyone has seen it."

I met her eyes, considering that a moment, "Just take the necklace I got you. We can put the box it goes in into your backpack, and then you can wear it to school and put it in the box before recess."

"And then it wouldn't break!" she squeaked, getting excited, "And I could ask my teacher to watch it really close so nobody steals it, because I know this one girl got her necklace stealed when she left it on her desk."

"Oh, that would be bad." I agreed seriously, starting to run water into a pot, "So maybe you could keep it on under your shirt?" I glanced at her, "That way it didn't get stolen and…"

"And then it wouldn't be out when I was running!" she squeaked again, rising out of her seat, "And I can wear the one…um…the one red shirt with the kitty on it!" she giggled, "And that way the necklace would match!"

The necklace was a ruby set in a simple silver setting. She was absolutely in love with the thing, and I hadn't realized how much she'd like it when I picked it up. I'd gotten Lea a sapphire to match it.

"Wouldn't it match, Tio?" Alex asked worriedly, "It's a…um…a ruby, right?"

"Yep." I agreed, smiling as I took a cup from the cupboard, "And that would match the kitty shirt…"

She giggled, "That you got me."

I blinked, remembering suddenly that I'd gotten it for her when I'd first arrived on Earth.

She giggled more, "And then a pair of blue-jeans," I loved how precisely she spoke her words, "And my black shoes with the red on them…"

"And I think it's warm enough now for you to wear the red jacket your dad got you."

"Not yet." she said seriously, "I got cold the other day, brrrr," she ran her hands over her arms to illustrate, "I have the black one, though." she muttered, considering it, "And it's warmer. I was wearing it in the snow."

"Yeah." I agreed, smiling slightly, "That's a good idea."

She nodded as she thought about this, then stood up and came across the room to stand next to me, looking up to me expectantly.

I smiled, leaning down and pulling her into a hug, picking her up as I stood again and situating us so I could lean against the counter, "Did you have a good day at school?"

"Yeah." she replied, "We played girls chase boys at recess."

I laughed-completely not expecting that. It occurred to me that in her world, recess was important.

She giggled, "We played boys chase girls the other day, but it started getting rainy so we had to go into the gym."

"That sucks."

She nodded, then smiled, "But I got to color!" she squirmed out of my arms, "Um…I'll be right back." she darted from the kitchen.

I chuckled to myself as I turned back to the cocoa, measuring out the powder before pouring the liquid into the glass.

"You really will make an excellent father."

I jumped, turning to blink at Relena in surprise. I hadn't heard her coming down the stairs, and she hadn't been in the living room when I'd passed it.

She giggled, moving up behind me and looking hopefully at the amount of water in the pan.

I chuckled, pulling out another glass and measuring more powder, "How are you?"

She smiled, nuzzling against my back-and listening to my heartbeat?

Okay, Relena was insane, no biggie…

"I'm happy." she muttered,, running one hand along my arm and sighing contentedly, "Everything is very right."

I turned to blink at her when I felt a tug at my belt-loop. She wasn't even looking at me, she was focused off across the kitchen.

I had to wonder what it would look like.

As if to fulfill a prophecy, the front door opened, then closed, "I hate dealing with those places sometimes," Heero muttered, stopping to listen a moment, "Hey, Lexia," he added.

Alex started giggling again-she seemed to do that whenever Heero called her by his new nick-name for her, "Hi, Tio." she returned.

"Where's your aunt?"

"She was going into the kitchen when I went upstairs." Alex replied seriously.

I grinned, turning to look over my shoulder at Heero as he blinked at his fiancé, then met my eyes.

"What did they do?" Relena asked, moving instantly into his arms and kissing him.

"It's just all the fake pleasantries that annoy me." he explained, pulling off his jacket and nodding toward the cup, "I don't suppose I could impose?"

I took Alex's cup to the table and passing Relena hers, "Sure…just give me a few minutes."

"All right." he smiled at me, disappearing into the living room, "Why are Miguel and Wufei still out front? They were there when I left."

"I think Wufei's trying to give Miguel frost-bite or something." Relena said with a giggle, "They keep making out."

"Yeah. They didn't stop until I got out of the car."

Relena giggled more.

"Miguel has that tournament thing tomorrow," I reminded them, "He's leaving in a few hours."

"Shouldn't he be leaving now?" Heero was startled.

I shrugged, "I didn't ask for details."

"Huh…"

The front door flew open and Alexia set her cup down hurriedly, sliding from her chair to run into the living room, "Daddy!"

"Hey, Baby…where are your uncles?"

"In the kitchen."

"Did you have a good day at school?"

"I had fun," she conceded, then giggled, "We played chase."

"She's already leaving details about boys out of her stories," I muttered to Heero with a grin, "I wonder what will happen when she's old enough that it makes a difference."

Heero grinned at me.

"All right," Trowa muttered, setting his girl down and looking up to us, "I have a huge favor to ask you guys."

Heero accepted his cup of cocoa from me as he looked to Trowa while I pulled out another cup to make some for Trowa.

"What's that?" Relena asked him, her tone curious.

"You know that Miguel has his tournament tomorrow, right?"

"We were just discussing it." Heero agreed.

"Well, I want to go with him."

We all blinked at him.

"I haven't got to see him at any of his lead up shit and I used to watch him all the time." Trowa swept on in a quick explanation, "Wufei has no interest in watching him fight, so he's just been going to these things alone…mostly because he hasn't been telling me when the matches were." that sounded annoyed. "So I wanted to help him drive down there, watch the match, and we'll be back early on Wednesday…but…" he ran one hand through Alexia's hair as he studied her, "She has school."

It hung there-the un-asked question. Mainly because he hadn't asked it, just let us know what he needed.

"Oh," he muttered after a moment, smiling at his little girl though his eyes were disappointed, "Well…"

"I'll watch her," I informed him, "But I leave at six on Wednesday morning."

"I won't be back until ten," Trowa muttered, suddenly looking worried.

"Are you coming, Tro?" Miguel demanded suddenly, coming into the house, "I have to leave like…ten minutes ago."

"I know…just a minute," Trowa threw over his shoulder, "Go pack me some shit."

Miguel started up the stairs.

Trowa looked back to Heero and Relena, ducking his head slightly, "Can you guys…" he left it hanging.

"What's up?" Wufei asked, frowning toward the stairs as he entered the kitchen.

"Tro's going with Miguel for this tournament," I explained, "And I'm watching Alex…until Wednesday. He won't get home until ten and I leave at six."

"I can get her off to school." Wufei offered, "You'll just have to give me a run-down of her mornings."

Trowa laughed, suddenly seeming almost boyishly excited as he threw his arms around Wufei for a quick hug before disappearing upstairs.

Wufei blinked after him, obviously startled.

Alexia tugged at Fei's pants until he looked at her, "My daddy likes boxing."

.

"It's so cold!" I muttered, crawling under the blankets with Duo and pressing myself against his warm body.

"Jesus!" he muttered, jumping slightly away from me.

I laughed evilly, snuggling against him more.

"You're freezing!" he protested, and I could feel him forcing himself not to move.

I laughed more, pulling the blankets tight against me. It had occurred to me as he complained that I was only wearing boxers. Part of the reason this had occurred to me was because he was wearing pajama pants and he almost felt hot.

"You're a pain in my ass." he informed me.

"Willingly."

He snorted, finally able to relax against me, wrapping an arm around my waist-and resting his hand over my heart, on top of that, he had his nose in my hair.

I didn't know if I should move.

"Now you're all tense." he muttered, pressing his lips to where my neck met my spine as he ran his hand over my side lightly, "What's your issue?"

"Duo," I said seriously, "Think about it, huh?"

"Hm…I'd rather not." he nuzzled my neck and lay still again.

"You're not sleeping, are you?" I muttered finally, trying not to be turned on. I had a feeling he wasn't thinking about what he was doing.

His only reply was a heavy sigh down my back.

For the first time in my life, I wondered about Duo.

.

"What's your problem?" I demanded of Wufei, who was nearly jumping away from any contact with Duo. He looked like he hadn't slept well, but I knew he'd slept with Duo-and this jumping away was something else entirely.

He looked at me, then nervously across the room at Duo, who was completely oblivious. I couldn't tell for certain if Duo's not noticing was feigned or not. He'd gotten that one down early on, so I could never actually tell when he wasn't noticing something.

"What'd he do?" I muttered quietly to Fei, pulling him into the kitchen with me, "You seem awfully jumpy."

"I slept in there last night," Wufei whispered, "And he…"

"What are you two whispering about?" Duo demanded of us as he came into the kitchen, running a hand down Wufei's side as he past and moving to the fridge.

And it clicked.

I stared at Duo in something like awe. He'd do these things before Lanni got ahold of him, and it was so ingrained in his personality, he'd probably done them after Lanni had gotten ahold of him. This had been what I was referring to when I said he was really as mad as they said. It wasn't anything specific, there wasn't any one facet of his personality that had really changed. He was still the Duo we all knew and loved but he was the Duo I knew and loved, too.

I laughed.

Wufei jumped away from me, backing away from both of us, staring between us in something like fear.

"What's up?" Duo asked, moving across the room to Wufei, flashing me a look of interest as he pulled Wufei to him, "You've been jumpy all night, Wufei…what's your problem?"

"You are!" Wufei said almost helplessly, staring up at Duo-who was completely paying attention to him, "You're acting…different, Duo…not…not…"

I laughed evilly again, trying to stop myself-seeing Wufei giving up to Duo…it was hilarious on several levels. Like the one where he didn't realize he was giving up.

"And you." Duo said, focusing completely on me and walking toward me, "Why are you laughing like that?"

I gave ground without even thinking about it, backing away until I hit the counter, grinning at him, not looking away from his eyes.

He stopped about a foot in front of me, his head cocked to one side like he was trying to figure me out.

"I don't see how this stresses you out." I informed Wufei without looking at him, "I'm having the time of my life."

"But you don't want to fuck him." Wufei replied easily, starting toward the door of the kitchen, "You don't snuggle with him on the couches."

Duo turned to look at him and he fell instantly silent, not moving.

"But it's exciting," I muttered, laughing when he'd focused on me again, "You can just…feel…the testosterone."

"Which is what the problem is." Wufei agreed sardonically. "You're not into guys, Heero. I'm sure for you it's like a child on sugar. It's something else entirely for me."

"You used to run from him." I muttered, thinking back to our teen years, to when we'd all stayed together on base after the wars.

"And you've always been insane." Wufei replied, taking the moment to dart into the living room.

"I'm beginning to realize something," Duo muttered quietly to me, closing the space between us so he was staring into my eyes, "And by the way you're acting, I can tell it's true."

"I love when Shinigami comes to play," I whispered, suddenly understanding why Wufei was acting the way he was-something was different about Duo now, "Shinigami fascinates me."

He laughed an evil laugh-and tilted his head. For a tenth of a second, I had the heart-stopping thought that he was going to kiss me. Not me, precisely, but my throat-and that was not so happy a thought.

And he was gone, disappearing into the living room without a backward glance.

I ran my hands over my arms, blinking slowly as I thought. It had been years since I saw him like that, and he'd been normal yesterday. He hadn't gone to see Kayla because he was the technical baby-sitter for Alexia, and Kayla hadn't come over. Other than Wufei sleeping with him, I had no idea what may have caused his change of attitude, and that didn't make sense. I'd heard him talking to Alexia as he got her ready for school, and he'd sounded completely normal.

Anymore…I couldn't remember what the triggers for it were. I'd called him Shinigami, but that wasn't even right. There was no death involved in his attitude…

Cheshire Cat.

Had he shown this side of himself to Jun? Is that why Jun was so convinced he was a nut-case? To hear him talk about that night, he'd been completely sane and logical, but…

Wufei darted into the kitchen again, moving to me quickly, then bodily hauling me away from the counter to stand behind him as he started digging into a cupboard.

Duo smiled at me as he came in, raising an eyebrow at Wufei.

"It's a temporary condition, Fei." I muttered, not moving out of Duo's path-it was the least I could do. I had a feeling this had been what had taken him that night at the Jacob Leigh concert, and I was beginning to suspect there were certain levels of logic to it.

Duo sighed, realizing he'd lost his quarry, moving to sit at the table and study me.

"I'm curious now, Du-chan," I muttered, moving across the room to sit next to him, knowing that I'd keep his attention if I made him think, "Last night…you were normal, but…honjitsu…"

He thought about that a long moment, "Today?" he asked me finally.

I raised an eyebrow at him and nodded, "Honjitsu…you've been acting…off."

"You said yourself," he started.

"But that's not even right." I cut him off, "Shinigami is the god of death. You're not doing any killing. Actually, you're just terrorizing Wufei."

Mentioning the guy brought Duo's instant attention to him.

Wufei busied himself at the sink.

"You're not going to make me step in, are you?" I asked him in amusement, "Because you know I'll do that for my friends."

"You already have stepped in," he reminded me in amusement, focusing on me again, "I'm not stupid, Heero."

"No, but you're distractible. What did you do to him last night?"

"I didn't do anything to him!" Duo protested instantly, turning to frown at Wufei, "He came in the room and was freezing cold, but then he wouldn't relax."

"You had your arms wrapped around me in your nose in my hair!" Wufei replied, instantly riled, "And then you were like…kissing my neck!"

Well, that would bother Wufei, wouldn't it?

Duo frowned at him, about to protest more…then started to laugh, thinking, "I did, didn't I?"

"Yeah." Wufei snapped at him, a bit annoyed, "Then you were running your hand over my side…you really don't think about what you do to people, do you? I mean, honestly! You know you can turn me on with a look, and you go and do shit like that?"

Duo laughed more, sounding a bit evil.

"You're not serious?" I muttered to Wufei, "Not a look?"

Wufei flipped me off, turning back to the sink.

I choked back my own laughter, meeting Duo's eyes.

Duo grinned at me, crossing the room to stand against Wufei's back, bending his head down so he was muttering into Wufei's ear. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but he had his hands on Wufei's hips and was rocking them both from side to side-when Wufei relaxed against him, I became very curious to what Duo was saying.

"Okay?" Duo asked finally-and it looked like he'd kissed Wufei's ear, "All right?"

"All right." Wufei breathed.

Duo stood there a moment longer, then turned and walked out of the kitchen.

I stared at Wufei, who was thinking as he leaned against the counter, "What was that?"

"Nothing." Wufei replied.

"Dude," I added, looking toward the front of the house where Duo had just disappeared out the front door, "What did he say to you?"

Wufei turned to smirk at me.

I stared at him in irritation a moment, then turned to chase after Duo.

"You don't want to know what he said, Heero." Wufei called before I could pull the front door open. His voice was knowing and very amused, "Just take my word for it."

I moved back into the kitchen, studying Wufei. He looked extremely happy, and the way he was thinking…

I sat in my chair again, staring at the front door-and watching as Duo moved back into the living room. His eyes flashed when he looked at me, and he started upstairs.

"What did he say?" I demanded of Wufei.

Wufei started laughing.

.

'You have no idea what I'm feeling…you have no clue how appealing you seem to me.' that part of Duo's commentary hadn't been very comforting as he rocked me against his body with his hands on my hips. 'But it's not the way it seems. I just want to touch.' That was the most reassuring thing he'd ever said to me, but the next bit had been better. 'My mind's not where it should be.' that in and of itself would have been nothing, but he'd ran a hand down my inner right thigh as he said it-with his fingertips, no less.

I studied Duo again; I was sitting against his side as he watched tv.

'But if I start doing too much again…like that night at Burn…you just have to tell me to stop.' that one had given me pause, but he'd ignored it, 'You don't know what I'm feeling…you're so much a comfort…you always make me feel better. I like being with you. Don't be scared of me, tell me off. Tell me when I'm doing something I shouldn't.' Talk about your sweet nothings.

Duo turned to smile at me, his eyes curious.

I smiled back at him, sighing and leaning against his shoulder again. I hadn't had to say anything at all to him the entire time. I would have been more jumpy if he hadn't explained to me that he didn't know exactly what he was doing.

'I'm not thinking about what I'm doing…I just…I…I think I should probably go see Kayla.' that'd had something of a giggle attached, 'Don't you think? I think she'd have fun…but Fei, I'm still me. I'm still Duo. You just have to say when. You just have to tell me to stop. I'm not thinking…you don't know what I'm feeling…'

I wanted to know what he was feeling.

'Just tell me, okay?' he'd ran his lips over my ear with that one, 'All right?'

'All right.' my words had seemed to release him from something. He stood there, his lips against my ear, then turned and walked away-out the front door.

Heero's reaction was on the milder side of hilarious.

He turned to nuzzle me, but I pulled my head away, knowing that if I let him, he'd have me turned on in moments. Hell, his entire little reassuring chat seemed on the verge of foreplay. The fact that he was openly familiar with my body was enough to drive me insane. I really did wonder about him. My own pleasure at being petted by male or female was nothing to bat an eye at. I was openly bisexual and found as much pleasure in men as in women, but him? He was supposedly straight, which I truly believed, but he had these habits with me. He had these…

I blinked at his hand when it tucked slightly under the waistband of my jeans at my hip, "Um…"

"Hm?" he rested his head against me.

I felt horrible for the electric tingle of excitement his touch caused. His hands were almost hot. I had a boyfriend. I shouldn't be letting him do these things…but the guy was gone…and it felt good.

And Quatre wondered why I wasn't ready to settle with forever and always…

.

Wufei was relaxed enough that he fell asleep, which amused me endlessly.

I could feel my heartbeat-smooth and strong, I could feel my own strength. I knew for a fact that Wufei enjoyed being dominated, and that it excited Heero almost as much. I knew that I could dominate Heero, and Wufei was something like putty in my hands.

I knew I shouldn't be doing this stuff…not that I cared. I'd been annoyed that Kayla had said she couldn't come over because of work, and then Wufei and Heero had been off talking when I put Alexia down for bed. This had required me lying in the room with her until she'd fallen asleep. I'd gone to sleep and was actually sleeping when Wufei had pressed his cold body to mine, and…well, it'd felt kinda nice to have him cooling me off.

I couldn't figure out why I was so hot. My body temperature was actually up a few more degrees than normal. It wasn't to the point of fever, but it was warmer.

I changed the channel, relaxing my cheek against Wufei's head again and changing the position of my hand, sliding it into his pocket instead.

I could feel that he was on the verge of waking up.

I chuckled to myself, pressing my fingers into his leg.

He woke up at that, pulling his hips sharply away from my touch as he sat up, "What are you doing?" he demanded.

I grinned at him when he met my eyes, "What do you mean?"

He blinked at me a moment, then started to slide forward on the couch-obviously about to stand.

I caught his belt-loop, not wanting him to leave, "Where are you going?"

"To the bathroom." he replied, reaching back to disengage my hand, darting away from me before I could grab again.

I caught him, however, when he started for the stairs, "Why aren't you using the downstairs bathroom?"

His eyes flashed briefly, "Is that your business?"

"I'm making it my business." I replied easily, grinning at him again.

"Hm," he detached my hand from his jeans, stepping back out of my reach, "Too bad you don't always get your way." he muttered, then started up the stairs.

I laughed evilly.

"I am so going to make Miguel kick your ass." Heero muttered, standing in the doorway to the kitchen with his arms crossed as he watched me.

I stood from my seat and crossed to stand directly in front of him, amused that he didn't alter his position, "I'd like that."

"I know, so would I." he smirked up at me, "Tro'd have an issue about it, though…and probably Lexia as well."

I studied his eyes a moment longer, then frowned, "Do I have a fever?"

That one startled him. He raised his hand slowly to my forehead, watching my eyes the entire time-he really didn't trust me?

He blinked, "I think you do." he muttered, then studied my eyes, "How do you feel?"

I smirked at him.

He studied my eyes a long moment, then looked at the ceiling, "That's why you're fucking with him."

"What?" I demanded, not following that.

He met my eyes again, straightening completely, "I want you to go lay down."

"No."

"I'm not giving you a choice." he muttered, pushing at me and turning toward the kitchen, "I'll get you some ibu for now…that should help."

"I'm not that hot," I protested, glaring at him.

"You are, actually." He replied, meeting my eyes seriously, "You're like…one-hundred and one. Go get the thermometer. Go lie down. Now, Duo. I'm not above forcing you."

I glared at him a long moment-until he started at me.

He smirked at me, turning back into the kitchen and grabbing the bottle of pills off the top of the fridge and getting a cup of water. He didn't say any more to me as he started at me, and I gave him ground, not sure what to really think.

"What are you doing?" Wufei asked suspiciously as I reached the top of the stairs. He was actually in the room…the fucker.

"You're really observant." Heero informed him, "He has a fever."

"What?" Wufei was taken aback.

"Why do you think he wants to be with you so much?" Heero demanded, "I know he does that kind of thing normally, but he was acting odd about it today."

"I feel fine." I snapped at them both.

"Right. Get in there." Heero chased me into the room, passing me the bottle of pills and glass of water before dragging Wufei out of the room and closing the door.

I glared at it a long moment, then set the cup down and opened the pills.