Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ 3 Ties That Bind ❯ Thirteen ( Chapter 13 )

Chapter Thirteen

I popped my neck as I watched Alex and Marlea talking to a boy at the top of the stairs that led to their school.

Selena had gone into false labor.

It wasn’t bad enough that Duo had cheated on her, no, he had to tell her when she was within a month of her due date.

Trowa was having the serious sort of conversation with Duo that had them locked into Duo’s apartment, and Ash was playing with Faye and Dustin in mine. Wufei was still working, and Jacob had taken over for Trowa at work…Hilde and Mikhail were with Selena at the hospital, and Quatre was having a very serious talk with Som Ryu to make sure that what had gone on between he and Duo hadn’t been forced in any way.

It ended with no one else available to pick of the teens from school.

I parked my car and slid out of it, moving up the stairs with my hands in my pockets as I tried to figure out what I’d say to them.

People fell quiet.

“Mm...Majesty!” the boy gasped at me, freezing in that way that suggested guilt.

“Tio!” Alex exclaimed, bouncing forward to hug me.

“Hey, girls,” I greeted them, kissing Alex’s forehead and hugging Lea. “You ready to go?”

“In a second,” Alex returned, turning back to her friend.

He blinked at her in disbelief. “The king…is ready to go,” he protested.

“No, it’s fine,” I reassured him, looking around as the various teens moved to get a better look at me. “I’m in no hurry.”

“But…”

“We’re waiting for Sammy,” Marlea noted. “She borrowed my math book and forgot to bring it to class.”

“Isn’t Sammy that little…snot…” I realized that calling a fifteen or sixteen year old a bitch in public would be bad publicity, “…that keeps trying to get you in trouble?”

Lea giggled wickedly at that.

“Where’s your guard?” Brauwen, the girls’ bodyguard, demanded of me as he looked around.

“Back at the castle,” I returned with a smirk. “I kinda forgot to grab’em.”

His eyes went wide and he gestured hurriedly toward my SUV. “Come on…let’s get in before someone shoots you.”

“I decided to get the girls about two minutes ago,” I retorted. “At the least, I have five more minutes before an assassin would be in position.”

He frowned at that, not appreciating my implied humor.

Granted, he didn’t know I was an assassin.

I sniggered, appreciating my own joke as I looked back to the girls. “How do we make her hurry up so Tad doesn’t hit menopause before she gets here?”

Brauwen gave me a very level look as Lex laughed her wicked laugh.

I winked at him.

“You’re horrible,” Lea muttered, grabbing my forearm as Alex moved to my left and grabbed that forearm.

“I’m also armed,” I noted. “If I say let me go and get down.”

“You’re not really worried, are you?” Alex asked blankly.

“I’m also not stupid,” I agreed. “Just because we’re in peace-time doesn’t mean I’m not a target. I’m not as valuable a hit as your aunt would be, but…”

They nodded at me.

“So who is this?” I added, indicating the boy they’d been talking to. “Is this the infamous Nick?”

They both laughed at that, Lex smacking me.

I grinned at her.

The boy nodded, his eyes very wide.

“My name is Heero,” I noted, extending my hand as Lea let me go. “Nice to meet you, Nicholas.”

“Um…Majesty…” he muttered, looking about to bow before realizing my hand was out and shaking it quickly as he smiled happily at me.

“Damn it, Nick,” someone called in annoyance.

The boy’s eyes went wide.

“Why do I have to park, and who is this…”

I turned to look at the man as he indicated my car parked at the curb, and he trailed off in amazement.

“Majesty!” he gasped, bowing low.

“Hello,” I returned pleasantly. “I hope my car isn’t in the way.”

“Of course not!” he breathed.

“I was just talking with Nicholas,” I added almost pointedly. “I didn’t even think that he was waiting for his parents. My apologies.”

“None needed, of course!”

“Of course,” Lea half whispered.

Lex grinned.

“Your son seems very intelligent,” I added to the boy with a wink since the man hadn’t risen from his bow. “You must be very proud…do stand up, please. You’re making a scene.”

He straightened instantly, moving to pull Nicholas into a slight hug at his side. “You have no idea how proud I am…”

“Probably as proud as I am of my girls,” I noted, hugging them both to my sides.

He smiled, still looking a little wild eyed.

“I was very impressed with your son’s ability to act calm when someone unexpected arrived on the scene,” I noted, smirking at the boy. “He didn’t even stutter when I stopped here.”

“He’s…a very…” the man looked a little lost for the proper praise.

The girls had told us all about how he hated that his father wouldn’t acknowledge his good traits…they weren’t saying that, though. They weren’t into the psychology behind it. Their friend thought his dad was an ass, and while I was apt to believe that at face value, I also knew the man just didn’t know how to be a father.

“…very clever boy,” the man summed up, smiling at me.

Nicholas was smiling slightly as he looked away.

“His self-confidence is definitely impressive,” I noted.

The man beamed proudly at me, which the boy noticed, and the boy needed to have noticed…and I looked at the red-head Tad had focused on.

“Oh, here we go,” I said happily, clapping my hands—which caused everyone watching to jump.

“Come on, Sammy!” Alex snapped at her. “My tio is waiting!”

“Uncle’s ready to go,” Lea agreed.

Sammy darted forward and offered the book over as she stared up at me with very wide eyes.

I nodded slightly at her.

…so my decision to get the girls wasn’t quite thought out entirely…

“Majesty,” she muttered, curtsying.

That was cute, had to admit it.

“Hello, Miss Samantha,” I returned, nodding to her. “Please excuse us, but we need to be going. Her Majesty wants to help Alexia and Marlea with their homework.”

“Over the top,” Alex informed me in Spanish.

“Sou desu ka?” I muttered in return.

She grinned more and waved at Sammy before hopping down the stairs and waiting for me to hold the car door open so she and her cousin could slide in. I moved around the SUV as talking started to pick up again and climbed into my seat as Tad hopped in the passenger seat, studying me seriously.

“Don’t even start,” I ordered him, starting my car and waving at Nicholas and his father. “That was too much fun to get bitched at for.”

“You should have been an actor,” Lea noted happily as she buckled.

“Instead of a king?” I demanded, grinning at her as I put the car into gear. “I think not.”

“Let me buckle you,” Tad ordered, extending one hand toward me.

I snorted and pulled the buckle over my own shoulder, pressing it down as I looked to him curiously.

“What’s going on?” Alex asked, waving to her friends as I started pulling away.

I sighed heavily. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Oh, be serious,” Alex protested.

“Alex,” Tad reprimanded.

“He’s my uncle before he’s my king,” she snapped.

I grinned at that, turning back toward the castle. “Your parents will tell you what you need to know. It’s not my place…just…pretend you don’t notice it happening.”

Marlea snorted.

- -

“He wasn’t coerced per se,” Quatre muttered tiredly. “Valid seduction.”

“You honestly think Duo would have admitted to it if it’d been rape?” I asked darkly. “It took us eight years to get it from him about Jun.”

“And we don’t like Jun,” Heero agreed.

“Us,” Quatre retorted, giving me a look. “It was Fei who got it out of him.”

Fei shook his head, still chewing at his nail.

Wufei got to deal with the business end of the whole ordeal. If Ryu wanted to, they’d have to press charges against the dumb-ass. Since it was such a high level, Wufei himself would have to stand against Duo.

Duo moved tiredly into the room, not looking at any of us and we all watched him move to sit next to me.

“How is Selena?” he asked, looking up.

“You care?” Quatre demanded, avoiding eyes.

Duo ignored him.

“She’s fine,” I replied with a sigh. “They’re making sure it’s not going to turn into real labor.”

“What did Som say?” he asked.

“Pretty hot night in the chapel, huh?” Quatre snapped.

We all flinched at that.

“Quatre,” Duo half reprimanded, meeting his eyes, “I don’t mean about that. I mean about charges.”

“Of course he doesn’t want to charge you,” Quatre snapped back. “It took me ten minutes to convince him I knew it’d even happened.”

Duo rubbed at his face.

“You’re such an asshole.”

“And it only gets better from here,” Duo noted, meeting his eyes. “Set yourself against me, Q. Let’s see what I do.”

“Don’t,” Heero ordered them both. “We aren’t here to discuss this on a personal level.”

“So where does that leave us?” Duo asked, gesturing around. “What does that leave us?”

“Court marshal, public shaming, de-knighting, or me kicking your ass,” Heero retorted evenly.

Duo receded.

“And then there’s the question of divorce or separation, huh?” Heero added, thinking about it as he bit at his knuckle. “I seem to recall you preaching about not cheating on your wife.”

“You know how easy it is to slip,” Duo retorted.

Heero flinched and refused to look at us for a moment.

He really had walked into that one.

I sighed, shaking my head. “I don’t understand,” I noted.

“You don’t need to,” Duo snapped, looking to me. “If you understood you could do it, too, and I’m not doing that to Hilde.”

“But you could do it to Nira?” Quatre asked snidely.

Duo stared back at him with absolutely no emotion on his face until Quatre gave up and looked away.

“As of November first, two-hundred twelve, you are accused of military misconduct,” Wufei muttered quietly. “Should the recruit, Som Kiet Ryu desire, formal charges will be pressed with a proper military trial, headed by your king. What do you say to that?”

There was a tap on the door before Duo could respond, and Quatre moved across the room instantly to open it.

“Sir.”

We all heard Ryu’s voice.

Duo closed his eyes, dropping his head back.

Quatre marched Ryu to stand beside him and Duo, looking us all over.

Ryu dropped his eyes, bowing slightly and pretending Duo wasn’t sitting there.

“Som Kiet Ryu,” Heero said formally. “It has come to my attention that my knight and officer, the head of the internal security force, Duo Maxwell, seduced you in the Heaven’s Chapel in the early morning hours of November first, two-hundred twelve. Is this correct?”

“Yes, sir,” Som returned, still not looking at us.

“Further,” Heero continued on, studying the papers in front of him, “you have stated that the action was beyond your control and happened before you could completely gather what was going on. Is this correct?”

“It wasn’t entirely sudden, sir,” he returned.

“How old are you?”

“Eighteen, sir,” Ryu replied quietly.

“What is your birth date?”

“June twenty-seven, one-nine-four.”

“One-nine-four?” Quatre demanded in disgust, glaring at Duo.

Ryu frowned at him, obviously hurt by this.

Duo didn’t react.

“Ryu?” Wufei asked quietly.

“Yes, sir?”

“In the presence of your king and four knights, and the accused, will you state formally that Sir Duo Maxwell did not, in fact, rape you?”

Duo turned to focus on Wufei in complete disbelief.

Actually, I was shocked myself. The question was cold, coming from Wufei.

“Bear in mind that no harm will befall you,” Heero muttered quietly. “If your person was violated, you will be protected.”

Duo focused on Heero, and in his eyes I could see how badly these comments hurt him.

“No,” Ryu said in a slightly shaking voice. “Sir Maxwell did not rape me.”

“Would you swear it to your queen?” Wufei demanded.

“Yes,” Ryu returned, turning slightly tearful eyes to Wufei. “I would swear it to my queen…and to my own damn father…fuck, my mother.”

“It’s all right,” I reassured him quietly. “Just formalities.”

“Would you like to bring charges of misconduct against Sir Maxwell?” Heero asked, looking up from the file again to study the boy’s face.

Duo was actually holding his breath.

“No,” Ryu muttered, wiping quickly at his eyes. “I didn’t want to get him in trouble!”

“Get him in trouble?” Jacob asked curiously.

Ryu turned stricken eyes onto him, obviously waiting.

“What do you mean, get?” Jacob pressed.

Ryu bit his lip.

“It’s all right,” Duo spoke up quietly, looking up to him finally, meeting his eyes. “You know you .didn’t do anything wrong. You can’t help what I’ll do.”

“But…” Ryu hesitated, looking us all over before swallowing hard and stepping back and shaking his head. “I…started it, I…”

“What do you mean?” Quatre snapped.

“I…” he hesitated, looking down to his hands.

“He came to see me this morning,” Duo said quietly, looking away from the boy. “I told him that we couldn’t keep doing things and it hurt him.”

“That’s why he was crying?” Quatre asked, startled.

“I’m going to kick your ass!” Duo shouted, jumping to his feet and launching himself toward the blond.

I grabbed him around the waist before he could make good his threat as Ryu backed off with wide and worried eyes.

Quatre was blinking at Duo in disbelief.

“Not now, Duo,” Heero snapped, moving around the table to place himself between the pair of them. “This is hardly the fucking time to lose your head.”

Duo settled back into a seething sort of rage as he glared across the table at Quatre.

“What are you doing now?” Selena demanded tiredly as she moved into the room…and stopped.

Ryu backed away from Duo some, his eyes extremely wide.

“Are you all right?” Duo asked instantly, the anger gone. It just vanished. There were no signs that he’d been about to attack Quatre at all as he moved to assist his wife to a chair.

“I’m still pissed at you,” she informed him.

“I know,” he muttered, dropping down to his knees in front of her as she sat in his chair. “I know…are you okay?”

Ryu was watching this exchange without much of an expression as he wiped hard at his own eyes.

“I’m fine,” she returned tiredly as Hilde moved into the room.

I moved around the pair of them to take Mikhail’s car-seat from my wife, pulling her into the room and checking the hall over before closing the door. I carried the thing back toward the table as Hilde moved around and dropped into my seat.

“Lady Selena Maxwell,” Wufei intoned, “your husband has been charged with military misconduct on the level of sexual intercourse with a recruit from Her Majesty Queen Relena Peacecraft-Yuy’s army out of wedlock. As of this formal hearing, the recruit, Som Ryu, has stated that there was no forceful coercion involved, and that he does not intend to press the charge of misconduct against Sir Maxwell.”

Selena was watching Wufei with tired eyes as Duo rested his head on her lap.

“Therefore, as a third party affected by this infidelity, as his wife, will you press charges against Sir Maxwell?”

This was actually the moment of truth. Quatre’s statements before the boy arrived had indicated that he wouldn’t be pressing charges.

Relena moved from her bedroom, her eyes intent on Nira.

“No,” Selena returned, running her fingers through Duo’s hair. “Nor do I intend to pursue separation or divorce.”

Duo actually sobbed, pressing his face into her legs.

“I’m so sorry,” Ryu muttered to her, backing away with tears in his eyes. “I’m so sorry…”

And he was gone.

“So concludes this fucked up shit we called internal court,” Heero noted, tossing the file to the center of the table. “To protect the recruit and Misses Maxwell, I order you all to public silence on this matter.”

“Yes, sir,” I muttered, pulling Hilde into my arms as she hugged me and Relena rested her weight against her husband.

“Chang,” Heero added, “find Ryu and give him my orders.”

Wufei hesitated a moment, then nodded and followed the boy out the door.

“I want your word,” Selena muttered to Duo.

He raised his eyes to hers instantly.

“I want your word that you weren’t intending to leave me for him.”

Duo stared at her in disbelief before shaking…and nodding…his head. “I wasn’t…I…”

“You said you wanted to leave,” she cut him off. “You told me you wanted to leave and I thought you meant to leave me. I want you to swear to me in front of everyone that you didn’t mean you wanted to separate from me.”

“No!” he protested, that earnest…

…when he’d come back from the colonies.

I stared at him as I realized that this was the way he’d been when we’d all first gathered at Heero’s all those years ago…ten years…eleven. Alex had been five. When he’d first come down from the colonies after being with Lanni, that sincerity had been the core of his being…as well as religious belief.

He wasn’t pretending.

“…I meant vacation, Selena…I wanted to leave on vacation! I wanted to tell you because I needed to get away from here…from Som…and…and…you freaked out,” he was looking to the floor as he thought about it. “You freaked out and I got scared and…”

“Scared of what?” she demanded, giving him an annoyed look.

“I don’t want to lose you and have you still be alive,” Duo replied, tears spilling down his cheeks as he stared up into the woman’s eyes. “I don’t want to lose Ashley…or…” he ran his hand over her belly.

“Then why did you fuck him?”

Duo looked down, not saying anything.

“I’m tired, husband,” she noted. “Take me to bed.”

Duo was up in an instant with her in his arms, moving toward the door.

“He’s such an asshole,” Quatre muttered, looking away.

“Go tell Lex and Lea that we’re done,” I suggested to him pointedly.

Quatre glared at me, then left the room.

“He really seems to care about Som,” Relena noted quietly. “Is that a good thing, or is that a bad thing?”

“I don’t know,” Heero muttered, kissing her knuckles as he studied the door to his apartment.

“Come on,” Hilde suggested, indicating the car-seat. “Let’s go back down to the apartment and make sure Blackie hasn’t peed all over everything.”

“Later,” I muttered to Relena and Heero.

“Yeah,” Heero agreed.

“I pray to any god that’ll listen that we never have to do this again,” Jacob muttered, following us down the stairs. “It was hard enough hearing Duo tell us it happened, let alone hearing that poor boy so guilt ridden.”

“Especially when his only crime was catching Duo’s eyes,” I agreed.

“And then seeing him when Nira came in. Did you think he’d press?”

“No,” I returned, meeting his eyes. “I never once thought either of them would press any charges against him, but we’ll have to keep an eye on Quatre. This is deeper in his psyche than he realizes.”

“I just don’t get how he did it at all,” Hilde noted with a sigh as we left the royal apartments.

“I don’t know,” I agreed, shaking my head, “and I pray to god I never know.”

“Hm,” Hilde muttered, thinking about it as Jacob hesitated at the door to his and Q’s place. “I think I agree with that.”

“Later, Jacob,” I muttered, glancing back to him.

…it’d be really bad if the puppy had made a mess, but at least that was a mundane every-day sort of instance.

I never needed another day like this for the rest of my life.

- -

E/N: The only issue with wireless mice is that they don’t always work when you’d prefer, and knowing the keyboard command stakes some patience…or something. Meh. I’m going to bed.