Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ 1 Blood on the Window ❯ A Painful Illusion ( Chapter 20 )

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

"Alex!" Lea darted forward away from her father, falling into her cousin's arms as they hugged tightly and started chattering together. Both the girls were full of stories of their first year of real school-what had happened so far, so it was easy enough to imagine that they'd be away from underfoot. That's not to say that Alex was ever underfoot. Trowa kept much too good an eye on her for that.

"You look ravishing," Quatre informed Wufei quietly, smirking slightly.

Wufei laughed happily, exchanging a hug with the guy, "Those are words I never thought I'd hear from you."

Quatre winked at him, turning to Relena and resting his hands on his hips, "You're not pregnant yet? I'm disappointed in you, Relena."

She laughed delightedly, hugging him, "It's not for lack of trying." she muttered quietly, smiling a naughty little smile at Heero.

Heero gave me a very long and level look before moving to exchange a hug with Quatre, "I'd appreciate you not putting ideas in her head."

Quatre laughed, "You think that idea came from me? You're sorely mistaken, Heero."

"Hey, now." Relena protested, giving them both looks.

"And you…" Quatre muttered, focusing on me instead of replying to that, inspecting me from head to foot before pulling me into a hug and studying me a moment longer.

"What about me?" I muttered, grinning slightly at him.

He smiled more, turning to hug Trowa before focusing on Miguel, his expression curious.

"Oh, you don't know why Wufei looks ravishing," Trowa muttered, moving up to stand next to his brother-in-law and draping a companionable arm over his shoulder, "You never got to meet Miguel."

Quatre's eyes were sparkling as he looked back to Wufei, then focused on Miguel, offering a hand.

"I'm honored." Miguel muttered.

"I heard you were a sweet-talker," Quatre informed him expectantly, smirking as he studied the guy's eyes.

Miguel laughed, bowing over Quatre's hand and kissing his knuckles, meeting Quatre's eyes, "I wouldn't make you uncomfortable for the world, Mr. Winner."

Quatre laughed delightedly.

"Duo!" Lea squeaked, throwing herself into my arms and hugging me tightly, "Did you hear?" she asked, her eyes as sincere as a six-year olds could be, "I started school!"

"You did?" I demanded, as if this information was completely new to me, "You can't be big enough for school!" I stared into her eyes a moment longer, "Are you?"

She giggled, nodding, "I'm a big girl now, Uncle. Like Alex."

Alex giggled as Lea extended her arms to Wufei.

"How are things on the home-front?" Quatre added as he picked Alex up and followed Heero and Relena toward the luggage-claim.

"Calm." Heero replied easily, "Jun's only approached Wufei once."

Quatre nodded, focusing on Wufei-who'd blushed, "That's good."

Heero nodded, "It's almost too calm for my liking," he added, "But the Cheshire Cat makes things interesting sometimes." he flashed me a grin.

I smirked back at him. I appreciated my street-name more than he knew. This fact had pleased Jesse, since he'd thought of it himself. Jun, he'd told us, had a habit of making Alice in Wonderland metaphors. During one of Jun's rants about 'Tailor', it had struck Jesse-and stuck.

"Cheshire Cat?" Quatre asked, following Heero's look to me and smiling, "I can see that."

"We're all mad here," I muttered at him.

He laughed.

Alex giggled.

"What else, then?" Quatre asked.

"Duo's pretty much become the best friend to a mob-boss."

"Yeah, I'd heard about that." Quatre said darkly, glancing at me and studying my eyes.

I smirked at him, "Don't judge me by my character, judge me by my friends."

Quatre laughed, "If I did that, you'd be in one of two places."

"Hell, or your house?" I offered.

He laughed more, "Sorry, I meant either prison or an asylum…most likely the latter."

I laughed, "Nice."

"You like it?" he asked me pleasantly, "I was rather pleased, myself."

I grinned at him-he winked.

.

It was nice to be back in the fold, though my presence required some creative juggling of sleeping arrangements. In the end, I got the room that was normally dubbed mine, and Miguel agreed to sleep on the couch. This had caused Wufei some issues, and I'd realized that he'd been sleeping with Miguel. Wufei had gotten over it when Duo suggested that they took their showers together in the morning-he'd moved on in conversation, anyway. Duo's statement had been greeted with an amused dirty look and a snort. It didn't take me long to realize that Duo'd been sleeping alone for a while-when he wasn't at Kayla's, anyway.

I felt bad for taking over Miguel's room, because it definitely was Miguel's room after nearly six months of living there, but he brushed it off with an ease that made me wonder if he were acting.

Everyone but Duo was downstairs now. I moved down the hall to lean against his doorjamb, watching him silently.

"What's up?" he asked, turning to look at me as he pulled his shoes off and tucked them under the bed.

"Just…wanted to be with you." I replied, moving across the room to sit on the bed with him.

He flashed me a smile, lying back on the bed and watching me expectantly.

"What you been up to, anyway?" I asked, changing my position so I was sitting beside him, leaning back against my arms as footsteps started up the stairs.

He shoved my feet away from his head, "Not a lot. I was looking for a job for a while…but…"

"You came into some unexpected cash." I muttered, making a face.

He shrugged, "Pretty much. You wanna look at cars with me later?"

"Sure." I punched him in the leg, "You been okay?"

"I've been fine." he replied, studying me curiously.

"You don't do it right," Wufei muttered as he came into the room, shutting the door behind himself and moving my legs more to rest his head on Duo's chest, "It's like this." he smirked slightly at me, fiddling with the button of Duo's jeans.

"Hey!" Duo muttered, knocking Fei's hand away and covering the button with his hand before meeting my eyes, "I swear, he only thinks of sex now that he's got someone to fuck."

I laughed.

Wufei winked at me, fiddling with Duo's fingers unconsciously.

I watched this in mild amazement, wondering what Duo thought of this treatment-noticing that he was staring at the ceiling. "Have I ever told you that you two are weird?" I asked curiously.

"Not that I can think of," Duo muttered, not actually looking at me.

Wufei flipped me off.

.

I could hear little girl voices coming from my bedroom, and as I moved up next to the door, Alex and Lea looked up to me from the dolls they had in hand.

"Just checkin' on ya." I muttered, raising my arms to reassure them they didn't have to stop playing before moving into Duo's room. Miguel was downstairs with Heero, and Relena was in her room talking to Quatre. "You're not cheating my brother-in-law, now, are you?" I asked Wufei in mock-concern, frowning at him. He was snuggled against Duo, who'd been talking before I opened the door.

Wufei rolled his eyes at me, moving slightly away from Duo and sitting up to stretch, "Even if the thought crossed my mind," he muttered, indicating Duo with a thumb over his shoulder, "I wouldn't get much cooperation with the idea."

Duo laughed, "You wouldn't at that, would you." he muttered, then winked at me, "What's up?"

"Not a lot." I muttered, sitting down at the end of the bed, "What's tonight's plan?"

"Jesse wants to take us to the Burn again," Duo replied, shrugging, "I told him we had two girls now instead of just one, and that Hilde might be getting put out over being asked to sit so much, but he really wants us to go."

"Well, I can sit out. He's not attached to me." I made a face, "I'm not saying I don't like him, he's good company, but…" I shrugged.

Duo grinned at me.

I shrugged, "I don't think Relena will want to go out, though."

"You ever consider letting Kayla watch them?" he asked, studying my eyes, "I know you don't know her and all…but it might not hurt to let her try once or twice."

"That way she's here so he can fuck her when we get home," Wufei agreed with him.

Duo laughed, smacking him.

I smiled at both of them and shrugged, "I don't know…she's never seemed overly fond of Alex."

He nodded, "She doesn't know how to act around kids."

"And you want me to let her watch not only my child, but my niece as well? You're missing some logic there."

Duo snorted, sitting up, "Spare me."

I laughed, studying his eyes, "Jesse realizes that it's a Monday, doesn't he?"

"He sorta has to know the days of the week." Duo replied, "He's something of a business man."

"Drugs is a business," I muttered, "A good business."

Duo threatened to hit me on that.

I laughed, sliding off the bed, "Let me know what comes of the babysitting thing."

"It's your kid," he muttered.

I smirked at him as I stopped in the door, "She's your niece. And Jesse is your friend. That's two to one."

"You don't consider Jesse a friend?" he demanded, frowning at me.

I laughed, "Not when it makes us even." I ducked out the door as he tossed a pillow at me, laughing.

"What are you doing, Daddy?" Alex asked, blinking up at me.

I pointed to the door, "Trying to make your tio mad."

She giggled, then looked back to Lea, starting to talk again.

.

Trowa had disappeared onto the dance floor with Hilde moments after we'd arrived at the club. Relena had decided that she didn't really want to go out tonight, so she'd taken the girls to rent movies and get cocoa from some little coffee shop or something. She'd told me the name of the place, but it hadn't struck me as something I needed to know.

Jesse had been annoyed at first, when Wufei had expressed the fact that he did not like going to the rooms off the side of the club, but everyone else had been happy to go into the main of the Burn, so he'd quelled his irritation. We'd taken over the end stall that we'd had for Jacob Leigh's concert, and I was manning the fort with Quatre, who was busily telling me some story about some guy who'd been caught high at his work. Duo and Jesse were at the bar.

"Dude." I muttered, having focused on the cat. He was staring past Jesse with cold eyes-at Jun.

"What's with him?" Quatre muttered, having followed my gaze.

"That oriental looking guy there with black hair?" I muttered, waiting for him to nod, "That's Jun."

Quatre rose to his feet.

"Mm, don't you dare." I muttered, catching his wrist before he could move, spotting Miguel and Wufei dancing. Wufei was oblivious. "Jun is scared shitless of Duo as far as I can tell, so let's not pressure him into calling on his lackeys."

Quatre settled again, still studying the guy.

Jesse had finally caught onto the fact that Duo wasn't listening to him talk and had turned to focus on Jun.

I laughed, "I don't think Jun knows that Duo's friends with Jesse…maybe we should saunter on up there and listen to this."

Quatre chuckled, sliding out of his seat and waiting for me to be even with him before we started up the stairs.

By the time we'd reached the top, Duo had his drink-which was obviously Baron's Blood since his glass was clear and the blood-red liquid inside was very evident.

Jun's head snapped around and he suddenly focused on me, then on Quatre. I didn't think he knew Quatre, but he knew me for what I was. I had to figure that he was wary of my friends.

He focused quickly on Jesse and Duo.

"Hm, we should have waited." I muttered to Quatre.

"I dunno." Quatre muttered-we hadn't actually stopped walking, so he continued right up until he stood next to Jun, smiling at him happily as he signaled the bartender.

I laughed, moving up to Duo and Jesse.

"What is he doing?" Jesse demanded of me, his tone worried.

"Ordering a drink, it looks like." I returned.

"Hey! What's going on?" Wufei asked, coming up behind me and looking down the bar…before freezing.

"You really should learn when not to follow me." I informed him.

He shifted so I was standing between him and his would-be suitor.

"I can't leave this," Jesse muttered, frowning at me and starting to move away, "What's Quatre's name?"

"Rob." Duo supplied.

That one had actually confused me a moment.

"Okay." Jesse moved down the row of people, "Hey, Rob, are you get…oh, hey Jun."

"Hello, Jesse." Jun had been looking worried, and now he composed himself, "Fancy seeing you here."

Jesse sniggered, "I know…I'd like you to meet a buddy of mine." he muttered, indicating Quatre.

"Robert Lain." Quatre supplied as if suddenly noticing the guy, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you. I'm…Jun Martin." he studied Quatre's eyes carefully.

"That sounds familiar," Quatre thought a moment, then laughed, focusing on Jun again, "Swathe?"

"Yes." Jun replied, blinking at him.

Quatre laughed a bit more.

"What's he doing?" Wufei muttered, he'd ordered a drink and was watching covertly.

"I'm not sure." I muttered back, studying Jun carefully.

"Anyway, we should get back to our seats before someone steals them," Jesse said to Quatre.

"Yeah, like anyone'd fuck with us." he laughed again.

Jun was studying him with sincere curiosity now.

Quatre met the guy's eyes as he took a drink from his cup, they shone wickedly in the light, somehow seeming…impure. Quatre chuckled darkly as he lowered the cup, closing his eyes as if savoring the feel of his drink, then focused on Jun again-a look of complete cruelty came into his eyes, "You busy tonight?" he asked quietly.

Jun had shifted back from him slightly and now looked to Jesse, almost appealing for help.

"Holy shit," Duo muttered.

Quatre ran a hand across Jun's face, we could all see that his thought process was on possibilities.

"I'm sorry, I am." Jun said, actually rising from his seat and moving back.

"That's too bad," Quatre muttered, still studying him with that consideration, "We could have fun, you and I."

"I don't know that I'd like your fun," Jun muttered.

Quatre laughed, "Oh, but you would." he muttered with complete confidence, studying Jun a moment longer before savoring another drink and meeting eyes with Jesse, "Shall we?"

.

"What the fuck was that?" I demanded of Quatre as we cleared a few tiers, glancing back at Jun as the guy moved from the bar quickly.

Quatre's laughter was evil, suiting his actions, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Tailor."

"I think I love you." Wufei muttered, coming up on Quatre's other side.

Quatre flashed him a normal grin, "Somehow I thought you would."

"I've never seen you like that before," Heero muttered, "So you'd better do some pretty fast talking."

Quatre laughed, "What? I fuck with a guy's sense of personal security and you all turn on me? He is the guy that pulled a gun on Fei, right?"

"The one and only," Wufei agreed, seeming almost childishly delighted.

Quatre laughed an evil sounding laugh, "Jesse, can I ask a favor of you?" he added, turning to look at the guy.

"Depends on what it is." Jesse muttered warily.

Quatre grinned, "Kinda spread it around that my sense of entertainment is a bit warped…maybe tie it into Tailor's fondness of knives…something to keep Jun on his feet. Make up a story or two to tell him about me."

"What are you doing, here?" Heero asked.

"I want to move back," Quatre replied, meeting his eyes, "I've got some people working on it already. I don't think I'll uproot Lea from school, but this summer or something."

"Cool." Heero sounded pleased.

"So…what type of stories?" Jesse asked, he'd been thinking about that, "And what do I get out of it?"

"The safety of a friend," Quatre had suddenly lost his good-humor and was meeting Jesse's eyes directly.

Jesse froze, nodding, "What kind of stories, then?"

Wufei wasn't looking at us; he was staring at his glass, chewing on a nail like Relena was so fond of doing.

"Dirty is good." Quatre replied, thinking about it, "You saw me up there," he glanced toward the bar, "I want him to believe that he doesn't want my interest."

"Ooh, maybe you tried for me?"

"Sure, you're a handsome gentleman, why not." Quatre laughed.

Jesse smirked at him, "I had a bit more of a time turning you down, of course."

"Of course, I'd in no-way belittle your pride."

Jesse sniggered.

"Maybe he appeared in your bedroom in the middle of the night with a loaded pistol." Heero supplied, smirking slightly.

Jesse gave him a sour look, "I prefer not to think of that, thank you."

"What did you do?" I demanded suspiciously of Heero, smirking slightly at him.

"Nothing…out of the ordinary," Heero replied, more than willing to play my game. His tone was a bit suggestive as he met Wufei's eyes, "It was a hot night."

"Heero!" Jesse was astounded.

Wufei laughed, sounding startled and disbelieving.

"Okay, I'll stop." Heero muttered in a tone of placation, meeting Jesse's eyes, "Sorry. I know that night was…hard for you, but in the end…"

I sniggered as Jesse stared at him in somewhat confused amazement.

"You know, Heero, I'm starting to disbelieve the idea that you're a purely heterosexual male." Quatre muttered, studying his eyes.

Heero laughed delightedly, smacking Quatre's arm.

"No, really…" I muttered, tilting my head at Heero, "Don't I taste like peaches? Aren't you the one always saying that the lord forgives all sin?" I smirked slightly, "You haven't in a while, but you were encouraging me to fuck a guy…"

"As if you're one to talk." Quatre muttered, giving Jesse a disbelieving look, "Have you seen yourself with Wufei sometimes?"

This brought a completely evil chuckle from Heero.

"Excuse me?" Wufei demanded of Quatre.

"He has, actually." Heero muttered, smirking at the two of us as he sipped his drink.

"What?" Quatre asked, his amusement being replaced with curiosity.

"Miguel was convinced forever that Wufei was in love with Duo and Duo was leading him on," Heero explained, flashing a grin at Wufei.

Quatre turned to study Wufei and I, his eyes considering.

"Obviously Miguel got over it," Heero muttered, "But Duo nearly took him out in the process."

"What do you mean?" Quatre asked, frowning at me.

"Maybe you came on a bit strong," Jesse muttered suddenly, "But Duo showed up and distracted your attention…"

We all focused on him, realizing suddenly that he'd stopped listening to our banter.

"Oh, hell yeah," Quatre muttered in a tone of complete agreement-which caused Jesse's eyes to snap up at him.

"He used his knife on me, he's an expert." Quatre added, his eyes and entire bearing seeming completely sincere.

Jesse looked to me.

I smirked at him, shaking my head as I laughed, "I know, my friends are special."

For some reason, that didn't seem to reassure Jesse much.

.

Chance was smiling on me, it had to be. It was probably four in the morning and we were all moving out of the Burn. Heero'd been grumbling that Relena would be upset with him-until we saw him.

Jun was standing at the bar, staring at nothing as he waited, completely oblivious to those around him.

I nudged Duo indicating the man and giving him a pointed look.

He flashed me a grin and they all moved around us, Duo intertwining his fingers in Wufei's hand.

Wufei had also spotted Jun and had stopped smiling.

I moved up behind Jun, meeting his eyes in the mirror that he'd been staring at, "Hey." I muttered, resting my hands on his hips and looking his backside up and down.

"Rob!" he said, turning to face me and suddenly realizing the flaw in that plan, backing up more, "Hi…"

I smiled at him, studying his lips a moment before meeting his eyes, wondering what he'd do if I actually kissed him, catching his arms.

"Um…" he tried to move away from me, not meeting my eyes.

I moved my head closer to his, tilting mine so I was looking slightly up at him, "What's the matter?"

"I…uh," he composed himself suddenly, stopping his nervous squirming, "Please step back."

I didn't actually step back, though I did shift some out of his personal space, smiling slightly at him, "You busy now?" I muttered, imagining the pleasure of kneeing him in the groin.

"I am, sadly." he muttered, pushing pointedly at my hands so I'd let him go-which I ignored.

"Cool it, lover boy." Duo muttered in my ear, suddenly appearing at my back-I focused on his knife as he ran the flat of it along my forearm, "Jun doesn't want to play."

Jun was watching us in something like horror.

I caught my breath slightly, feigning expectance and breathing through my mouth as I watched Duo's blade turn slightly.

Shit, was he really going to cut me?

The fucker did.

I gasped in true shock and pain, managing at the last minute to make it sound pleased and pressing myself back against Duo, "Do it again," I whispered, wrapping my left arm around him-pinching his side to let him know what I really thought of that.

Jun was staring at the blood in shock, and at my words, he suddenly met my eyes.

I smirked at the guy, then hissed and focused on my arm as Duo drew the blade parallel to my vein, just enough off so it wouldn't actually be attempted murder if the knife went too deep.

"If you move," Duo muttered to me as I started to actually move my arm, "We'll have to go to the hospital again. Do you want to have to explain to them what happened like last time?"

I wasn't overly fond of pain, and the searing sensation along my arm was taking away from my concentration. I shook my head, staring at the blade.

Duo chuckled again, "Wufei is waiting."

I focused, making it appear sudden before meeting Jun's eyes and flashing him grin, allowing Duo to lead me away.

"I am going to kill you for that." I informed him quietly as we moved out the doors and Duo stopped following me so closely.

"What the hell happened?" Heero snapped, then noticed the blood and fell extremely quiet.

Duo's laughter was just as evil now as it was back in the bar, "Just keep that in his sight, Quatre, it'll keep him manageable."

Heero turned to smack Duo, but I moved my arm to test this theory and he hesitated, looking away from it.

"You're one sick mother-fucker," I informed him.

"Fuck you." he muttered, not meeting my eyes.

Duo laughed evilly, "The lord forgives all sin."

He did get smacked for that one.