Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Danse Macabre ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Teena: *sighs* Well, this took long enough, didn't it? Sorry, but our
computer broke a while ago, and it's seriously curtailed my writing time.
Also, I just haven't been inspired lately. But I buckled down, and I
managed to finish this. *grins* See? I'm giving all my readers an X-mas
present.



Danse Macabre
Part 7



Wufei sprinted through the wood and underbrush, sword clutched firmly
in one hand. He was not enjoying himself. First off, he was unconscious
longer than most of the others, because he had forgotten to wear his
safety harness, and consequently was knocked around more than them. He
had woken up in a strange place, and his Gundam, his beloved Nataku,
had been damaged from the fight and the explosion. He himself was also
damaged, but not too badly. He had some rather nasty bruises, that's
about it. He had seen the lights on the horizon, but had scorned them,
unwilling to reveal himself to the people who lived here. Wherever here
was.

He was beginning to regret his decision.

"Chikuso, why are these creatures chasing me?" Wufei muttered to himself
without slowing, leaping over a log in his way. "Injustice!"

Behind him, the small group of wolves chasing him howled, enjoying the
race through the forest and the chase of their 'prey'. They were, in
fact, somewhat impressed. He was fast, for a human. But in the end, that's
all he was. Human. And he wasn't familiar with these woods.

An angry burst of Chinese profanity fouled the air as Wufei came to a
dead end, rocks and dead trees completely blocking the way. The wolves
came closer, forming a semicircle around him. Wufei spun to face them,
sword lifting in a defensive position.

"If I die today, I die with my honor intact, fighting to the last!"

One of the wolves left its place in the semicircle and came towards
him, stopping not far out of his reach. The wolf raised its muzzle to
the sky, howled, and changed, bones stretching and form shifting, until
a wolfman stood before Wufei.

"Kisama..." Wufei breathed, eyes wide. The wolfman spoke, in a gravelly
voice.

"I suppose you wouldn't believe me if I said we mean you no harm?"

"I do not give trust to monsters, especially not monsters that have just
hunted me through these woods," Wufei replied, tightening his grip on
his sword's hilt. The werewolf laughed, stepping a little closer.

"It was fun, you're a quick boy, for a human. Almost a shame this mess
was in the way, it could've been a good hunt."

"Step back, now," Wufei demanded, raising his sword threateningly. All
he got was another laugh.

"Why? Your toy doesn't scare me, I'll heal."

"Not if I chop your head off," Wufei told him coldly. The wolfman gave
a dramatic shudder.

"Oh, I like you. Tiny and tough, you remind me of our lupa. Cute, too."

Wufei's eyes went wide.

"JASON!"

"Uh-oh..." the newly identified Jason muttered.

"Back off, Jason!" Anita snapped, stepping forward between the wolves,
who moved to let her through. "You were told to FIND him, not to
terrorize the kid!"

"I was just playing," Jason whined, crouching submissively. "Are you
really angry with me, Anita?"

Anita sighed. "It's hard to be REALLY angry with you, Jason. But I
am irritated. It's not me you need to worry about, though. Taichi.. I
mean, Heero...is the one whose friend you just freaked out."

"It doesn't matter. He isn't hurt, and he's been more upset," Heero
commented as he stepped past the semicircle of werewolves. Duo followed
him, grinning.

"Yeah, you shoulda seen him after I painted his Gundam in neon green
and pink stripes."

"Kisama! MAXWELL!! I should have known YOU were behind this!"

"Whoa, whoa!" Duo yelped, holding his hands up in the classic 'not
guilty' pose. "It wasn't me! Anita had these guys lookin' for you, as
a favor to Heero!"

"Is that true, Yui?" Wufei asked, looking at Heero. He nodded as Duo
sputtered indignantly.

"Hey! I NEVER lie, Wu-bear, you oughta know that by now!"

"Maxwell! My name is WuFEI!"

"Is it me, or are your friends weirder as a group than by themselves?"
Anita asked Heero quietly. Heero smirked faintly.

"It's all Duo's fault. He corrupts Quatre and pisses off Wufei."

"Actually, the innocent blond look hides a surprisingly deviant mind. I
should know," a familiar, calm voice said from a tree above them. Trowa
did a front flip down from the tree, landing neatly next to Heero.

"Hello, Trowa," Heero said calmly.

"Heero," Trowa replied with a nod.

"Hey, Tro-man! Quat'll be happy to see you!" Duo called, dashing over.
Wufei followed at a more sedate pace, joining them a moment later.

"We should get back to the club. Now that we have everyone, I can start
working on getting you home," Heero said, turning and walking back through
the circle of wolves.

"Oi, oi, what do you mean, 'getting you home'? You're coming, too, right?"
Duo said, chasing after him. Trowa, Wufei, and Anita followed, and the
wolves scattered, their job done.

"Of course I am, baka," Heero replied, carefully ignoring the double-entendre.
"But it's not my home, you know that. THIS is my home."

"...Yeah. Guess I forgot. You ever gonna come back here to live again?"

Heero gave Duo a slightly odd look at the question, but took it as it was
intended. "I don't know. Maybe someday. This place... It has its good and
bad points, just like anywhere else. There are some old friends here I miss
from time to time."

"Like Jean-Claude?" Duo asked with studied nonchalance. "Y'know, Anita
watches you like a suspicious cat whenever you go near him."

"I heard that, you know. And in about a week, you'll be one to talk about
cats," Anita called from the back. Duo winced.

"Don't remind me! Geez..."

Heero shook his head, hiding a smile. "Jean-Claude and I... Yes, we're
old friends, among other things. I... Well, you might say I rescued him.
He was with a rather unpleasant master when I requested him."

"Car, you two," Anita said, passing them with Trowa and Wufei, who she
had been explaining things to. She unlocked the doors and climbed into
the driver's seat, Trowa getting shotgun. The other three got into the
back and they all strapped in.

"I would not have believed any of this if I had not seen that wolf change
right in front of me," Wufei commented. "You are truly a vampire, Yui?"

"Yes, and I always have been. My ability to walk in sunlight is a personal
talent, a very rare one."

"Hmmm... Blake mentioned something about Maxwell being scratched by a were?"

"Yup. If we don't get me home by full moon, I'm gonna be purring and tearing
up the furniture once a month."

"And how is that different from your normal behavior, Maxwell?" Wufei asked
acidly. Duo laid a hand over his heart, twisting his face into a grimace.

"Harsh, Wu. Truly harsh. You wound me deeply."

"Don't tempt me," Wufei replied, tightening his grip on his sword.

"Alright, children, can we all get along for a little while?" Anita asked
from the front. "Auntie Blake is trying to drive, and the traffic in the
vampire district is killer this time of night."

"Onna! How dare-"

"Wufei," Heero said coldly, cutting him off. The name carried unmistakable
intonations, and Wufei fell silent, scowling. Anita's lips twitched.

"Got him well trained, don't you?"

A cold stare silenced Wufei before he could even open his mouth. Heero
replied sharply, "Don't bait him, Anita. Wufei gets enough crap from Duo.
I don't care if you two rubbed each other the wrong way, or anything else.
I won't put up with a fucking gender war between you and Wufei. I already
have too much on my plate without playing referee to a couple of children
who can't be bothered to be polite."

The harsh, rather imperious declaration got Heero stared at by everyone
but Anita, who had to keep her eyes on the road. That didn't keep her from
replying, though.

"Who the hell do you think you are, ordering me around in MY city, in MY
car?!"

"I THINK," Heero hissed, startling his friends even more, "..that I am a
master vampire much older and stronger than Jean-Claude, one who is feared
by at least half the Council, and an individual who is not to be trifled
with! My companions and I are guests in your city, and while I do not
insist you and Wufei become the best of friends, I demand courtesy!"

Heero's sharp eyesight caught the faint smirk forming on Wufei's face,
and he turned his cold gaze on the Chinese boy. "I wouldn't become too
smug, Chang, that goes for you as well. We are guests here, and offending
the hosts is unpardonably bad manners. If I hear you addressing her as
'onna' again, you and I WILL have words."

Anita's lips curled into a wry grin as she parked in front of Danse
Macabre. "Well, you're a cold, bossy son-of-a-bitch, but you get points
for being even-handed."

"I'm not doing this for the sake of showing off my power," Heero told her.
"I'm trying to head off trouble. Anyway, Wufei should know better than to
antagonize allies."

"He's a kid, he'll learn," Anita said, shrugging as she climbed out of
the car. Wufei bit his tongue to keep from replying. Heero shook his head
as they all got out.

"I'm the only one over 16, but none of us are kids. Their world is a war
zone, Anita, and the five of us are right in the middle of it."

"Are you talking about real war, or gang wars?" Anita asked, frowning as
they headed into the club.

"He's talkin' about the real deal, Anita," Duo told her, lacing his fingers
together behind his head. "Soldiers, pilots, generals...And us. Some people
call us terrorists. They don't know the meaning of the word."

"That's insane," Anita said, waving off the check girl. Duo shrugged.

"Hey, it's an insane world. You learn to live with it," he commented as he
bounded up the steps ahead of everyone else. Tossing the door open, he
walked in. "Hey, Quat, we're back! Guess who we found?"

"Wufei?" Quatre said with amusement, looking up from his conversation with
Jean-Claude and another, golden haired vampire.

"Besides him," Duo amended, grinning.

"I seem to recall that I found YOU," Trowa commented, walking past Duo.
Quatre's face lit up, and he jumped out of his seat as the rest walked in,
dashing over to Trowa.

"Trowa! I'm so glad you're here, I missed you, koibito!"

A faint smile touched Trowa's lips as he caught the blond seeker missile,
wrapping his arms around him gently. Quatre turned his face up eagerly for
his lover's kiss. Heero and Wufei passed by the reunion silently, though
Wufei rolled his eyes a little.

"Taichi. I almost didn't believe Jean-Claude when he said you were back,"
the second vampire said quietly. Heero's attention shot to him and remained
there, his face clearly showing shock and horror.

"Asher? Kami-sama, what happened to you? Where is Juliana?"

"...Dead. Burned at the stake as a witch, while the Church held me in
chains hung with crosses, torturing me with an attempt to burn the demon
out of me with holy water," Asher replied, old, bitter anger coating his
words.

"And humans call US monsters," Heero snarled, striding across the room to
sweep the hair back from Asher's face, examining the runneled scars. The
taller vampire flinched, but stood and allowed it. Duo whistled softly as
he caught sight of Heero's expression, leaning a little closer to Anita.

"Get the feeling the bastards that did that are REAL lucky they're dead
already?"

Anita just grinned a little and didn't reply. Duo strolled over, making
enough noise that he was sure Heero knew he was there.

"Yo, Hee-chan, chill out, okay? The Church stopped doing that sort of shit
a long time ago. S'no good getting pissed off now."

"Don't call me Hee-chan," Heero replied automatically, releasing Asher's
hair and glancing over at Duo. "And for me, one or two centuries isn't
even close to a 'long time', Duo."

"You know, for somebody that didn't even want to tell us about the whole
vampire thing in the first place, you sure seem to get a kick out of
reminding us how weird you are," Duo commented, absently scratching at
the bandages on his arm. Heero slapped his hand away just as absently.

"Alright, enough, baka. Ninmu kanryou. I'm calm, okay? Go remind Quatre
and Trowa to breathe, and let me talk to Asher."

"Right, you got it, Hee-chan. Ninmu ryoukai," Duo replied, drifting away.

"Don't call me Hee-chan," Heero called after him. He turned to find Asher
watching him with a raised eyebrow.

"Hee-chan?"

"I use the name Heero these days. Duo calls me Hee-chan because it annoys
me. He's just...like that."

A slow smile appeared on Asher's face. "You're attracted to him. To a
human. You, of all vampires. The one who never took a servant, even though
he was capable, because 'humans are food, it's sheer idiocy to give one so
much power over your continued existence'."

"Vampires still have human foibles, Asher," Heero told him, scowling. "My
major one in those days is known as overcompensation. I've grown out of
it over the past century."

"I notice you don't deny the attraction."

"I'm not particularly trying to hide it from anyone but him, and he can't
smell it on me."

"Yet. Jean-Claude told me he was attacked by a wereleopard."

"Hai. With any luck, we'll be gone before full moon. If you're finished
prying into my affairs..."

"Of course, mon ami. None can ever say I put my nose where it was not
wanted. Your blond friend is unusual. There are a number of people with
some connection to the dead and the undead, but few are empaths."

"Yes, I know. Unlike his lover, though, Quatre is completely human, as
far as I can tell. He simply has an unusual ability."

"His... What was the name? Trowa? He is not fully human?"

A secretive smirk crept across Heero's lips, and he turned without a
word to head over to where Trowa, Quatre, Duo, and Jean-Claude were having
a conversation. He considered breaking up the staring contest Anita and
Wufei had apparently gotten into, but decided not to bother. Asher followed
him with a faintly aggravated expression.

"I see your fondness for keeping secrets survives intact," Asher commented
dryly as he caught up. Duo glanced over as they joined the group.

"You mean he's always been like that? Nice to know we're not the only ones
he does that to."

"Duo!" Quatre chided gently. "It's nobody's business but Heero's if he
wants to keep secrets."

"He has always seemed to take an almost childlike glee in knowing things
others do not," Asher informed Duo seriously, holding back the faint smile
tugging at his mouth.

"You ALL seem to be taking a VERY childlike glee in gossiping about me,"
Heero said sourly, sinking into a nearby chair. Duo moved behind his chair,
then bent over backwards, resting the small of his back on the back of the
chair, looking at Heero upside-down.

"Lighten up, Hee-chan. We're your friends, remember? We wouldn't be very
good friends if we didn't want to know about you, would we?"

"Get off my chair, baka," Heero told him, reaching up to shove him off
sideways onto the floor. "And don't call me Hee-chan."

"Itaiiii... Meanie," Duo complained, rubbing the back of his head as he
got up.

"Are they always like this?" Jean-Claude asked Quatre, amusement showing
in his voice. Quatre sighed and nodded.

"Always. You can't even put them in the same house together. Heero's being
a little more emotional than usual, but that's about the only thing that's
different."

"Duo's being a bit pushier than usual, actually," Trowa noted quietly.

"A sign of interest?" Asher asked. Jean-Claude frowned at him.

"Asher, do not pry within Heero's hearing range."

"Heero can hear us? But he's over in the chair, and Duo's being pretty
noisy," Quatre said, wide-eyed.

"Vampires have excellent hearing, and Heero has excellent focus," Asher
told him, shrugging nonchalantly. "Assuming he is interested."

Quatre laughed, an out-of-place smirk forming on his gentle features,
as he looked over at Heero's carefully neutral expression. "I could be
wrong, but somehow I get the feeling he's interested. Eavesdropping isn't
nice, Heero."

Heero frowned at Quatre and stood up, heading over to talk to Anita. Duo
jumped up to follow him, with a quick, confused shake of the head.

"Did you want something, Heero?" Anita asked, looking up. Heero nodded.

"Dawn is coming soon. My friends will need a place to stay while I'm
asleep."

"Right... Well, there's a guest room at my house, but I can't have all
of them there."

"Mmmm... Quatre and Trowa won't mind sharing," Heero told her. Duo just
laughed.

"No kidding they won't mind... I just hope Anita's a sound sleeper."

"The guest room isn't real close to MY room," Anita replied dryly. "So,
Duo and Chang can stay here."

"Works for me. I can drive Wu-bear up a wall until Hee-chan wakes up,"
Duo said, winking. An almost inaudible sigh escaped Heero, but he let it
pass this time. Anita chuckled and stood up.

"Have a ball. Quatre, Trowa! You two are coming home with me, let's go!"

The named pair broke off their conversation with Jean-Claude and Asher,
nodding to Anita as she walked over.

"Jean-Claude, Asher, you two might want to get moving, too. Dawn's on
the way, and you'll want to be tucked into your coffins before then."

"Correct as always, ma cherie," Asher replied, kissing her hand. "Sleep
well."

"Of course I'll sleep well, Asher. Nobody's trying to kill me," Anita
replied dryly. She gave Jean-Claude a quick kiss and walked out with Quatre
and Trowa behind her. Jean-Claude turned to Heero.

"If you wish, mon ami, you can leave these cold and sterile rooms behind,
and spend the morning in our home."

Heero shook his head. "No, I should stay with Duo and Wufei. If nothing
else, I'll want to be available as soon as I wake up to keep Wufei from
throttling Duo."

"Your friends are, of course, also welcome. I trust your judgement."

Heero quickly controlled a surprised look, then turned to Duo and Wufei.
"How do you two feel about spending the day near vampires and werewolves?"

"I can deal with that. How 'bout it, Wuffie?"

"My name is Wufei, Maxwell! The vampires do not matter, and I will endure
the werewolves. It cannot be worse than spending the day alone with Maxwell,"
Wufei stated, crossing his arms.

"That settles it, then. We appreciate your hospitality, Jean-Claude."

Meanwhile, Quatre and Trowa were driving home with Anita.

"Anita, how did you learn all that stuff you taught me about controlling my
empathy?"

"A witch named Marianne taught me. When Jean-Claude gave me and Richard the
marks, we started...bleeding into each other. I had to learn how to block it
off."

"This world is so strange," Quatre murmured, looking out the window. Anita
chuckled.

"You haven't seen anything yet. Ah, here we are," she said as she pulled
into the driveway. They all climbed out and walked up to the door, which
opened as they reached it. Quatre and Trowa stared at the young man in the
doorway.

"Hello, Nathaniel. Is Micah home?"

"No," Nathaniel replied, shaking his head. "He had to go pick up Gina."

"Damn," Anita muttered. "Okay, thanks. This is Quatre and Trowa, they'll
be spending the day here. Quatre, Trowa? Is something wrong?"

"He looks like Duo," Quatre replied, wide-eyed. Anita blinked and looked
Nathaniel up and down.

"You're right, he does. I didn't notice. It's probably a coincidence," she
said, shrugging it off. Nathaniel stepped out of the way, and they all went
inside. "Guest room is upstairs and two doors to the left."

"Arigato," Trowa said softly, and he and Quatre headed up to get some sleep.


tbc...


Teena: See? I brought in Nathaniel, and brought up his resemblance to Duo.
*sweatdrops* Now if I could just remember who sent me that letter...

Heero/Duo/CNShini: *sweatdrop, sigh*