Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Edulcoration of Duo Maxwell ❯ Siblings ( Chapter 27 )

The Edulcoration of Duo Maxwell - 27/?

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Warnings: AU, yaoi, coarse language, violence, angst, citrusy situations, suggestive dialog, significant (read that as major, MAJOR) deviation from Pretty Woman script as I see fit. Gratuitous insertion of red herrings throughout.

Spoilers: None for GW, quite a bit for Pretty Woman.

Disclaimer: I don't really need to be Captain Obvious here, do I? No ownership, no money being made, yadda yadda. Written for fun, not profit.

Archived at:

http://www.gundam-wing-diaries.150m.com/gw/Mookie/gwmookie.htm

an d

www.mediaminer.org (under pen name MookieNH)

Edulcorate (verb) - To free from harshness (as of attitude); to soften

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Chapter 27 - Siblings

Milliardo Peacecraft walked over to his sister's side of the table then turned to face Heero. He leaned toward the seated man, placing his hands flat on the table.

He stared into his eyes for a moment, then straightened. "Relena, get your things. We're leaving."

She started to protest, and he cut her off with a resounding "NOW!"

She flinched at his angry tone, and realized that he was staring at her hands, which were still grasping Heero's. She pulled them free as if Heero's touch burned, and her eyes swelled with unshed tears. "I'm sorry, Heero," she whispered.

"He'll be a hell of a lot more than sorry if he did more than...THAT," Milliardo seethed.

First she wanted to protest their innocence. Then she wanted to rail at him and tell him it was none of his business who she met with. She was nearly eighteen, after all.

But she wasn't yet, not for a couple of months. And if she wanted any chance of getting him to listen to the information she'd received, she had to abide by her brother's rules. She was running out of time, as his meeting was scheduled in little more than an hour. That meant she had until he sent her home with Pagan to convince him otherwise. She wished it were a much longer walk to where the limo was waiting.

He herded her past Heero and followed right behind. He paused as he reached Heero's side.

"Funny," he said without turning his head. "For some reason, I thought you had blue eyes."

Relena did turn around, looking confused. "No, they've always been brown," she interjected, then hoped she hadn't made things worse by saying anything.

"My mistake, then," Milliardo said, shrugging diffidently as he met his sister's eyes.

Heero had closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as soon as Peacecraft had stopped, knowing something was coming that he wasn't going to like.

Before Milliardo could resume his departure, Heero's hand reached out and caught the blond man's arm.

This time Milliardo did turn to face him.

"If you do not remove your hand," he said between clenched teeth. "I will remove it from your body."

"I'd like to see you try," Heero said, his voice steady.

"Heero..." Relena tried to intervene, but neither man was paying her any attention.

"She's an intelligent young woman," Heero stated. "You should listen to her."

"Why? Because you filled her head with enough bullshit to cover several acres?"

"Don't cut off your own arm just to spite me," Heero said, releasing the death grip he had on the taller man's wrist.

"Don't flatter yourself," Milliardo said, then pushed his sister ahead of him and toward the doors.

Heero watched him leave.

He knew he'd never met the man before, but the way he strode out of the restaurant, his moves purposeful and confident...Heero would swear he recognized that carriage from somewhere.

He turned back in his seat and stared at the remains of their lunch. He picked up a crouton that had escaped one of the salads and studied it, then crushed it between his fingers.

Looked like another pencil had been removed from the tower. He'd suspected the inevitability of its imminent crash for a while now.

He flicked the crouton dust from his fingers and pulled several bills from his pocket to pay for the meal.

It didn't bother him as much as it should have.

~~~~~

Sally Po's partner joined her at the tail end of her conversation with Iria Winner.

"I didn't want to just send something stating the test results were inconclusive," Iria was saying. "I wanted to let you know that I ran the tests twice, using everything I have access to here. I even sent a sample over to CalTech for a second opinion, but..."

"Yeah, I know," Sally sighed. "It's tough to get an accurate analysis when it's used as a teaching tool."

"On the other hand," her partner interjected. "Maybe they'll see something we missed, because they aren't going in with as many preconceived notions."

"That's what I was thinking," Iria's voice sounded weary.

"Listen, Winner, thanks for all you've done. Sally and I appreciate your assistance."

"Anything I can do to help prevent someone like my brother from falling victim to something like that..." Iria choked on a near sob.

"Iria?" Sally asked.

The woman on the phone sniffled slightly. "I'm sorry. You know I don't usually fall apart like this. It's just that he's never there when I call. He's always 'just stepped out' or 'will be here any minute' but I haven't spoken to him in months. Not since he said something about getting a roommate."

Sally exchanged glances with her partner, then cleared her throat.

"Iria, do you need me to do anything?"

"Not unless you can send my brother back home," she replied wistfully.

"I would if I could," Sally said softly.

"I know." If Iria's voice sounded that depressed over the phone, Sally couldn't imagine the expression on the doctor's face. "I know. I'm sorry. I meant to keep this discussion devoid of any personal issues."

Sally shot a pleading look at her partner, who took the hint.

"We're doing everything we can, and your help is invaluable as always, Iria."

"Thank you," she said. "I appreciate your help, both of you. If I hear anything from Pasadena, I'll call you."

"You have our cell numbers, right?" Sally asked. "Any time, day or night."

"Got them both," Iria agreed. "I'll be in touch."

Sally hit the button on the speakerphone and yanked the pins from her hair roughly, letting her braids thump against her shoulders. She put her feet up on the closest desk, leaned back in her chair, and closed her eyes. She began rubbing her temples and swearing under her breath in Chinese.

"You only do that when you're really aggravated, Po."

Sally wanted to glare, but she was too tired to care. The lights seemed far too bright and she supposed it was only a matter of time before she collapsed on her feet.

She rattled off several rather colorful insults in both Cantonese and Min, then smiled weakly at the short bark of laughter that response got her.

It wasn't just because this particular case was so frustrating that she missed working in the lab in Maryland, but on days like today, it was almost enough to make her want to insist on being sent back, no matter how shorthanded they were lately.

She desperately needed a drink.

~~~~~

"Milliardo, if you'd just LISTEN to me," she pleaded, stopping at the limousine and grabbing one of his arms. She was honestly afraid he'd shove her into the car and slam the door, then rap on the roof to tell Pagan to floor it.

"Do you know how much time I've wasted coming here to fetch you?" His eyes were cold, but Relena knew that he was very angry with her.

"How did you know-"

"How did I know where to find you?" He laughed harshly. "Do you think I wouldn't follow you, not knowing who you knew in this city? For God's sake, Relena, what if you'd been kidnapped or something? I wouldn't put a thing past that asshole Maxwell!"

"I didn't think you'd notice I was gone," she said miserably, bowing her head and giving into the urge to wring her hands.

He started to yell at her, then he realized what she'd said. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths.

"Relena," he said, fighting to keep his voice low and nonthreatening. "Did you really think I wouldn't miss your presence in the house?"

She looked up at him then, her face a study in confusion. He ran a hand through his hair.

"The house is rather empty without you in it," he said. He didn't want her to ask one of the million questions flitting across her face. Why did he send her away to go to school. Why did he act like he didn't want her involved in anything. Why did he go out of his way to keep her away from anything HE was involved in.

Their father had thrown him into the role of a parent long before Milliardo had been forced to give up the career he loved. Ever since their mother had died, he'd been more a father than a brother. His father was too naive by far, content to believe that doing the right thing would result in a business that was in the black. He couldn't imagine where Peacecraft would be today if he hadn't acceded to his father's demands, demands that had been disguised as a plea for him to do what was best for the family, and returned to the West Coast. To 'ruin' the company, of course.

It hadn't been so bad when there was a female around to influence Relena, but he didn't have time to think about one more thing that he'd had to give up. Just seeing that man with Relena made him want to tear him limb from limb.

He'd made a horrible mess of things, and he wasn't sure how to fix it. He glanced at his watch. He still had forty-five minutes before the meeting with Romefeller.

He sighed. "Get in," he said, gesturing to the car.

She looked ready to burst into tears, but he was proud of her for not giving in to the hurt that was clearly displayed on her features.

With another sigh, he got in after her. "Drive," he instructed Pagan.

Once the car was in motion, he turned to a very surprised Relena.

"Talk."

~~~~~

"Whose side do you suppose Zodiac's lawyers are on?" Duo asked. "Peacecraft's, or Dermail's?"

Wufei gritted his teeth.

"I wouldn't put it past that bastard Khushrenada to be playing both sides against the middle," he ground out.

Duo looked up, a bit surprised. It seemed his partner had a bit of history with Khushrenada, considering his reaction at seeing him with Peacecraft at the festival as well as hearing about Zodiac's lawyers meeting with Romefeller.

Janet had been thanked and sent on her way, and as soon as the door was shut and locked, Wufei had launched into a round of cursing that almost made Duo blush. For someone who didn't know how to swear in a language other than English, his partner came up with some rather creative insults and expletives.

Duo had almost wished for a bag of popcorn while he watched Wufei pace in agitation, cursing Khushrenada, Dermail, their ancestors dating back several generations, the entire state of California, the gleefully masochistic Fates that had put him in this position, and even Duo.

It had taken him a good fifteen minutes to finally wear himself out, and Duo almost expected him to fly around the room like a balloon that had its air released.

Of course Wufei hadn't appreciated the slightly amused look on Duo's face at the thought.

Duo was just as pissed as Wufei, but he was also a practical man. He'd done what he could, had tried to manipulate things to the best of his ability, but it hadn't been good enough.

Dermail had taken him by surprise, but it wouldn't happen again.

There would be other opportunities for revenge.

~~~~~

Relena tried to fill her brother in Heero's theory as rapidly as possible. His face was expressionless, and she didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

She knew she was leaving a lot out, but she had a time constraint. If she couldn't convince him, he was going to hand their company over to Dermail. She was convinced Heero's comment that it would be 'disastrous' was an apt one.

Perhaps it would still work out in the end, if they went into it with their eyes open, but she thought of Dorothy's smug look and her knowing voice. The idea of having to deal with that day in and day out made her shiver. She couldn't work with someone with the feeling she had to look over her shoulder every minute.

She hadn't even given any thought to the impact a long-winded discussion on illegal drug activity would have on her audience until she saw his fists clench in his lap.

"OH! God, I'm sorry, Milliardo! I wasn't thinking..."

"Leave it," he hissed. His voice softened. "Just leave it, Relena. Water under the bridge."

They sat there in silence, Relena looking at her hands which were busily worrying the hem of her blouse and Milliardo watching Mann's Chinese Theater out the window as they passed it for the third time. Finally he had calmed his inner thoughts enough to speak.

"And all this information is from a young man you just met. One who you damn well know is involved in some kind of relationship with Duo Maxwell."

"He said Duo didn't know anything," she blurted out.

He found that bit of information rather interesting, although he wasn't convinced of its veracity.

Milliardo's level of distrust of the young man was disproportionate to the facts he had available, but something about him just grated against his every nerve.

Still...

He removed a cell phone from his inside pocket and placed a call.

tbc