Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Mea Culpa ❯ Confession 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Mea Culpa

Confession Two

By Devon Masterson

Duo yawned as he stretched his arms out as he opened his eyes. He nearly jumped when he saw the Countess looking at him curiously, their noses almost touching. "So you came to visit me," she smiled. "You and Ami."

He looked confused for a moment then he remembered. "Oh, the chick from last night," he commented his eyes shifting toward the woman curled up in the chair asleep then changed the subject. "So how are you feelin' good lookin'?"

The Countess smiled. "You know how to make an old woman smile, but to answer your question I am feeling very well rested and I have plenty to do. I know my children must have been worried sick and nearly drove themselves insane over me. I have to check on them and make sure everything did not fall apart while I was sick. Of course, I am sure that Victoria is there and I am sure she has everything is under control, but I will not know for sure until I see for myself. Come with me. I know you are hungry and you look thinner since the last time I saw you. We will let Ami sleep and you and I can spend some time."

"Huh?" he asked as she pulled him along. A big Cheshire grin flew across his face. She was definitely feeling better. "Glad to have you back…Mom."

She smiled as well. "Oh, I will not go anywhere as along you remember. Now come along. "

"I could go for something," he commented, "it was kind of a long night."

"You sat up with me the whole time?" she asked stopping to look at him.

Duo's cheeks flushed slightly, that had never happened before. "I was in town anyway. I figured I might as well visit the whole time."

"That was sweet of you, dear," she smiled.

"You're not going to get all mushy on me are you?" he asked making a face of mock horror.

The Countess blinked for a second. It was weird how he looked like her husband for a second. "I must still be a little under the weather." She patted his hand in assurance. "I shall spare you once then the next time you do something sweet like that I will give you a hug and a kiss."

It was Duo's turn to blink and look like a deer mesmerized by headlights. He was caught of guard by her response. "Well I have that way with women."

"I do not doubt it. You are quite handsome. Now come along," she replied as she started to pull him along once again. Breakfast and some activity then she would be right as rain.

mcmc

"I'm sorry Duo, but for that type of cinema I like them both," The Countess commented.

"Pacino is the best. He has so much panache over De Niro. There not even in the same class," Duo argued.

"I'm still in the middle," she replied smiling. She then looked toward Ami as she came down the stairs. "Perhaps, Ami can settle the score."

"Hey, Ami," Duo called as he leaned back and motioned for her to come over.

She rubbed her eyes and pulled her shawl around her tightly as though it was a robe. "Yes," she answered as she walked over to him.

"Pacino or De Niro?"

"Excuse me?" she asked. It was too early for her to be answering cryptic questions. She had forgotten about the time difference that is until she woke up and found everyone gone. Duo seemed to be perfectly fine. "There has to be something wrong with him to be that cheerful in the morning."

Duo snickered taking the opportunity to see what she was made of. "Never mind. You don't know anything amount fine turn of the century cinema."

Ami's blue eyes narrowed. "Oh really? What's the question?"

"Who is the best gangster Pacino or De Niro?"

Ami smiled, "De Niro hands down. He is powerful, firm and can back it up if he has to. Pacino is powerful, true, but I have The Devil's Advocate and Any Given Sunday on DVD. He can't be trusted."

"Impressive," Duo commented. He agreed with her on some points but Pacino was still the man. "Cute and a classic movie fan."

Ami flushed brightly from his forwardness. She thought she would be used to it by now. Her eyes then lit up in recognition, Duo was the `delightful young man' the Countess had been telling her about lately, the one she shot down because of lack of time for dating. She just did not feel up to a relationship right now even though it had been six months since her and her ex parted ways. "Evelyn never mentioned that he was so gorgeous…not that it matters…but he is cute." He was always pushing her buttons. "Uh, thank you."

Duo smiled flirtatiously. "So what kind of doctor are you?"

"I'm a forensic pathologist," she answered confidently.

"That is so cool," he remarked as he stared at her intense interest. She was perfect. He would just iron out the rest of the bugs later. "I am going to marry you."

Ami blinked for a second then smiled at his arrogance. He had gone to far this time. "Oh really?" she asked. "You're going to have to work for it." She winked at him then left. She could play that game too.

"Yeah well I've always been a hard worker," Duo smirked putting his hands behind his head. "A girl after my own heart. It's a good thing Heero is in love Victoria, I'd hate to have to steal Ami from him."

The Countess grinned. "You are incorrigible. That was the doctor, I was telling you about. You know the one that would probably give you the case of boredom."

"So I was wrong," he replied casually. He raised an eyebrow then smirked. "Frankie said it best, `I did it my way.'"

"Hmm," she said thoughtfully. "You are going to have a merry chase, my boy." She touched his shoulder as she stood. "If you will excuse me, I must get started. I have a million things to do. I will see you at lunch."

Duo nodded as she left. He was glad she was feeling better and was back to normal. It was hard to believe that she was Victoria's mother. The Countess seemed to be the total opposite, she was full of life; sociable. Victoria…well she and Heero were perfect for each other. "She's got to be adopted, she's more like my real mother," he mused

mcmc

"Mother?" Fritz asked shutting the door of the parlor behind him. "There is something that I have to tell you."

She put her paperwork down as she looked at her oldest son. "What is it?"

Fritz took in a deep breath. He knew his mother hated it when people tried to soften the blow for her. She rarely became angry, but when she did it was quite unnerving. "Christoff did not die at birth, he was kidnapped. I'm sorry that I did not tell you, but father said it was best."

"I know," she said calmly. "He told me before he died."

He let out a sigh of relief. She was not devastated nor was she mad with him. "There's more."

"Oh?" she asked curiously with an eyebrow raised.

Fritz cleared his throat. "I did some checking and I know I am not well connected as Victoria…"

"Spit it out, Darling," the Countess urged.

"I took a hair sample from Duo and had it analyzed with our family DNA and it matches one-hundred percent."

The Countess sat down quickly for fear of passing out. "Well this is a surprise."

Fritz put his hand on her shoulder and she placed her hand over his. "Deep down you knew. It was your delirium that made us look into it."

"Us?"

"Vicky knows as well. She was doing a search of her own, but you know how she can be."

The Countess chuckled. "Well, dear, she is the youngest and she always was mature. All of you treat her like a child and she resented that even when she was a child. She has calmed down quite a bit."

Fritz looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "I'd say she's worse. She scares me sometimes."

"And I scare her," the Countess replied. "Therefore control is still maintained." She smiled good-naturedly.

"Mother, you are one of a kind."

"Be glad God broke the mold with me when he did," she commented then shifted back to the sensitive subject. "Does he know?"

"No," he answered, "as far as I know."

"I need time to think of what to say to him," she replied. "He's going to be upset naturally. He doesn't like people sneaking around on him. He is like your father in that respect and he is probably going to think I knew the whole time."

"What about everyone else?"

"We will tell him first that way he will not feel bombarded," she answered. She was worried what we would think of her. He would be angry when he found out that she was quite sure. If he was anything like her, he would have quite a temper. Everyone in her family with a calm exterior tended to have a quite a temper that rivaled nothing short of a devastating natural disaster. She was sure that he would understand, but he would need some time.

Time…that meant time away from her and she did not want that, not after finally finding him and knowing the truth. "I'll lose him if I keep this from him." It was going to be hard waiting for him to adjust to the knowledge of his latent history. He was her son; he would rise to the occasion. He would not disappoint her, he was still himself no matter what and that's what she loved about him. He and Victoria being her youngest were the extreme opposites of her personality, the rest of the children maintained the middle land some where. All of her children were entertaining and a blessing to her, she would do all she could to keep them all together. "I need some time, Darling."

Fritz nodded then left his mother to her thoughts.

Evelyn looked towards a portrait of her husband and gasped as she thought of something. She walked over to a small book case that held the family photo albums and picked up a large leather bound one turning dull from age. Yellow pages flew in an arc as she flipped through them looking for a snap shot of memory. She smiled when she finally found what she was looking for, a picture of her father. Duo was the spitting image of him as a young man in his early teens. It had never occurred to her being that she was born to her parents so late in their years. Her father was in his late sixties and her mother in her forties when she was born. The only difference between them was the length of hair and the eyes. "Amethyst eyes…"

She set photo album down and pulled out another that contained pictures of her husband's relatives. Her emerald eyes rested on her husband's mother, who died before she had the pleasure of meeting her. Her brilliant violet eyes captured forever in a moment of happiness. Now she knew why he seemed vaguely familiar to her, his features reached back so far. All of her children except he and Victoria took after her in features by having shades of blond hair and green eyes. Victoria took after her father having brown hair and eyes and apparently Duo took after him as well.

"My baby," she sighed softly as she sat down.

mcmc

"So, Q-man, you and Cathy finally got hitched? Took long enough," Duo commented as the three of them sat down. "I am kind of surprised that you actually eloped. I always figured you for some big, bourgeois wedding, but whatever floats your boat."

Quatre smiled at his teasing and squeezed Catherine's hand gently. "I took your advice for once."

"See someone is finally starting to appreciate Shinigami. I knew this day would happen," he chuckled. "Now all you need is some knife throwing empaths running around you'll be in business."

Catherine blushed and Quatre laughed at Duo's comment. "Check back in seven months."

"Seriously?" Duo asked and was met with two nods. "You two work fast. Now if Victoria and Heero would get their action going a little faster then you guys would be done. I know Wu-man is about to crack. Sally's got that covered." Duo sat back and smiled. "At least I know now why it took so long for you to get here. Maybe now we can all gang up on Heero."

"Where is he anyway?" Quatre asked

"He left," Victoria answered as she came down the stairs.

"Where did he go?" Quatre asked.

"Back to Tokyo, I assume," she replied.

Duo glanced over at Victoria and noticed the slight puffiness that most would not have noticed, they must have had a fight. He looked toward Quatre who noticed as well and nodded. He touched Catherine's hand then said something lowly her. "I'm going to get some air," he announced before leaving.

"I know what you two are planning," Victoria replied. "Heero and I are just friends. In fact, Andrea and I are moving to L-3 there's a school there Andrea could benefit from."

That was the most insane thing he had ever heard. This was the last straw, he was not about to deal with the two of them moping around and screwing up their lives. "Oh come…" Duo's sentence trailed.

"Duo, I need to speak with you," the Countess interrupted.

"Sure, Mom," he replied good-naturedly as he left the room with her. There was something in the sound of her voice that made him a little concerned. "Maybe she remembered calling me Christoff while she had her fever," he thought as they entered the parlor.

She closed the door behind him then walked over to the window. "I'm going to be frank with you."

He snickered. "That's fine, but I'm still Duo. It's the only name I've ever had and I'm kind of attached to it now."

"I'm serious," she replied though she smiled at his wit. She could tell he that he was nervous about what she had to say. "Duo, you have known me for nearly two years now and you know that I am very up front."

"It's one of things I like I about you," he commented. He was getting worried. This sounded like a set up for something. "Go ahead and tell me. I can take it, Victoria is really adopted isn't she?"

The Countess raised an eyebrow. "She is my natural daughter and you are my son."

"Of course, I am, you adopted me and Quatre," he commented.

"You are my natural son, my son Christoff," she replied. Duo's violet eyes widened and he was about to say something when she cut him off at the pass. "I fell ill while I was carrying you and I went into early labor. I was told that you died when you were in fact kidnapped from the hospital…"

"And that's why you tried to get so close to me?" he accused as his emotions flowed to the surface. "So you knew the whole time? When were you going to tell me?"

"I just found out an hour ago," she replied calmly. "Duo, you should know me well enough to know that I would not hide something like that from you. I have never shrunk away from the truth and I have never lied to you. I grew fond of you and I admit you reminded me a little of myself, but it was not deception and I thank you kindly not to imply such."

Duo shook his head. "I don't want to deal with this right now," he replied as he opened the door and left.

"Duo…" her sentence trailed. She started to go after him then stopped herself. He needed some time alone. She would give him space to digest the information then she would hunt him down later.

Duo stormed into the room, just as Catherine left, and looked at Victoria with an accusatory glare. "How long did you know?"

"I received confirmation this morning," she answered. She had been expecting some sort of explosion every since she discovered her older brother's activities. She thought it better to let her mother, who always had a way of finding things out, to tell him herself.

"So all this time, I thought I was Duo Maxwell and life was straight then I find out that I was stolen as a baby and put through a hell that no one should have to go through as a child. I don't know who the hell I am!"

"You are still Duo Maxwell," she stated simply in her all business tone. "And you are Christoff Wagner, my younger brother. You, of all people, I expected to handle this better. You are the most annoying, versatile person I know. This will pass."

Duo's expression softened. "Yeah and I love you too…Vicky." He laughed as she narrowed her eyes and pulled out her Derringer. "I'll tell mom."

Her eyes widened slightly and she put her gun away. "I can still make your life hell."

"So then life would be came old same old."

"You go to far," she warned.

"I like living dangerously," He quipped then became serious again. "I need sometime to think. I'll be hanging around L-2 for awhile." He then turned to leave.

© 2002 Devon Masterson.

Yeah, I know I am twisted, but I still don't own the Gundam and SM characters. I just own the entire Wagner family, associates, all gundam children, and the plot. No money is made by me so don't sue me.