Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Paradox ❯ Chapter 2

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

flames will be used as protection for my jelly beans from my friend leah. they're MINE, I tell you! *MINE!!!* ::cough:: right.


Title: Paradox
Disclaimer: don't own, not claiming to, not making money off this! so don't sue!
Pairings: OC¹x2, 1x4, 3x5xOC², VxT, OC¹x1x2, 3x4, 13x6, 5xOC²
Genre: fantasy, supernatural, angst, action?
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: AU, OC, yaoi, yuri, lemon, lime, dark, angst, violence, language, gore, vampirism, TWT, supernatural stuff, MAYBE occasional mild humor, abuse
Notes: ::grin:: yeah, chapter 2!! WHOO-HOOO! ::jumps for joy:: ::meanwhile, in background, her muses unenthusiastically wave little tiny flags that say "YAY!" on them in bold, sulking:: anyway. hm. just a note of warning: Kess is a MAJOR bastard in this one, and a sadistic one at that. likely as not you won't like him in this fic. a note of clarification: if he had actually been in the gundam wing series, he would NOT be this much of a bastard. it's JUST for this fic. ::grin:: you may proceed to the rest of the story.
Symbols: *emphasis* |thoughts| :mindspeech/telepathy:
Randomness: ::grin:: more randomness! aren't you HAPPY? ::grin:: ::cough:: ::gag:: ::choke:: ANYWAY! ^.^ guess what the randomness for THIS chapter is? ::blink:: ::waits, but glowers when no one answers:: FINE, IGNORE me! hmph. well, for all you EAGER folks out there, the randomness is good books I recommend. Magic's Pawn/Promise/Price, Burning Brightly, and pretty much ANYTHING else by Mercedes Lackey. ^.^ ::glare:: now go read them! I'll hit you with my brush if you don't! ::evil eye:: ::stink eye(TM):: ::in background, muses sweatdrop and sigh wearily::


Chapter 2


"Am I ever going to *meet* this so-called vampire of yours?"

Duo sighed wearily, rolling his eyes. Griffin was getting impatient when Kess hadn't shown up for 3 hours after he'd woken up. "Grif, please," he said, somewhat annoyed, "if you don't stop *whining* I'm going to tell him to stay out of your sight."

The gog just grinned at him, silver eyes sparkling with mischief. "Then I'd just complain more, and what good would *that* do?" he retorted immediately, entire body vibrating mirth. "You'd be right back where you started."

He resisted the urge to groan. "Fine. I won't. You happy?"

Griffin nodded, curly, thick black hair that reached just past his shoulder blades bouncing slightly, and grinned again. "Yep!"

Duo frowned, glancing around as he Sensed something odd, but faintly familiar. "Griffin, did you ever think that maybe he's not shown himself is because he's testing you out?" he asked softly, turning to look his long-time friend fully in the eye.

Griffin blinked, staring at him blankly for a minute. Then... "No..."

"Huh."

Then they turned a corner in the huge mansion Duo owned-

-and there stood Kess, dressed in exactly the same outfit he'd been wearing earlier, calm and cool, icy almost, as he had been the times Duo had actually seen him.

Griffin gaped for a moment, before closing his mouth with a snap and turning to glare at Duo. :You didn't tell me he was *attractive*!:

He snorted mentally. :Apparently you weren't listening to Wufei holler at Heero for a half hour this morning,: he retorted.

"Hey, Kess!" he greeted, grinning widely.

The frozen eyes were regarding the two of them impassively, and again, they got that odd, unfocused look, this time turned on Griffin, before they cleared and he nodded sharply. :Hn. When are we leaving?:

Griffin looked startled, before he raised an eyebrow. "Can't you talk vocally?"

Duo winced slightly; he had a feeling how this was going to go over...

Kess's entire face darkened, and he delivered Duo a glare black as Kess's skin was white, and then glared just as darkly as Griffin. :No,: he snapped curtly, before turning sharply on his heal and gliding down the hallway, back stiff with rage.

"Uh...Duo?" Griffin managed after a moment through his surprise and confusion, "...what was that all about?"

"Apparently, he got into a fight with a changeling and it sliced his throat open," he replied softly, still staring after the vampire's back. "He's very...uh...prejudiced against changelings now, because of it, and doesn't like talking about it, from what I've noticed."

His friend gave him an odd, sideways look. "If he doesn't like changelings, then *why* is he coming with us?" he demanded, looking confused and completely out of his depth. "Heero *is* coming with us, right?"

He blinked. "Yes, Heero is coming, but I have *no* idea why *Kess* is," he said after a moment. "That just occurred to me. I don't know. He just...seemed to push away his anger and decided to come..." He frowned. "Huh. That's odd..." Then his frown deepened. "Ah, crap. Now I have to go hunting him down to answer his question," he muttered darkly; he was getting rather annoyed.

"By the way, when *are* we leaving?" Griffin asked conversationally, frowning slightly. "I don't think I've been told."

Duo stared at him, surprised. "*WHAT*?!" he exclaimed, shocked. "You *haven't*? Trowa was supposed to tell you this morning! We're leaving tomorrow around noon!"

Griffin stared at him for a moment, before whirling and running down the hall to his suite. Duo's eyes followed him as he half-turned, and when he turned around again, he jumped, letting out a startled yelp. Kess had appeared in front of him again, features a little less stormy than they had been before.

:When are we leaving?:

Duo sighed, running a hand over his hair, patting it and his braid down. "Tomorrow around noon."

The vampire nodded shortly, before turning again and beginning to again glide down the hallway.

"Hey, Kess?"

The vampire paused, but didn't turn around.

"Why..." He hesitated, before continuing tentatively. "Why did you decide to come with us? I mean... Heero's a changeling, and you don't like them at all..."

*Then* Kess turned slightly, and regarded him with a pair of thoughtful gold eyes. And *again*, he could have *sworn* he saw a thin, clear, transparent membrane slide from one side of his eyes to the other and back. Then his eyes froze over until they had the appearance of ice over gold, and Kess's lip pulled up slightly in a silent snarl. "I have my reasons," he forced out vocally, voice scratchy, harsh and grating, gravely and somewhat hoarse from ill-use.[1]

Then he turned and stormed down the hallway, looking like he was flowing even in his stiff-backed anger.

Duo stared after him in surprise, partly from the reaction to his question, taken aback somewhat. But mostly... It was because Kess hadn't spoken to him mind-to-mind, but using his ruined vocal chords.

He turned and wandered off towards his suite in a kind of startled daze.

And Heero slipped from the shadows behind him, frowning as he regarded the Guardian, before looking down the hallway in the direction Kess had gone. His frown deepened, turning into a dark scowl, but he proceeded in the way Duo had gone.



|What the hell was all *that* about?|

Heero paused outside the door to Duo's suites, frowning in thought. |Hm. Dare I go in? Or does Duo even *want* company?|

He waited outside the door for a few minutes, debating, before raising his hand to knock. But before his knuckles touched the goldenoak wood of the door-

"Heero?"

He felt a brief, momentary surprise, before shrugging it off; Duo had a habit of knowing when someone was outside his door-

-and who it was.

"Aa."

"Can I-Can I talk to you?"

He raised an eyebrow, but gently opened the door in response and slipped in, closing it quietly behind him. "About what?" he asked calmly, head tilted slightly as he glanced around.

No one in the room besides him and Duo. Good.

Satisfied, he shifted his sharp eyes to where Duo was sitting somewhat dejectedly on his thick- and black-quilted bed, head in his hands.

Quietly, he walked towards Duo and sat next to him on the bed, not saying a thing. Duo would say something when he was ready; he knew, because Duo often turned to him for comfort, oddly. Heero wondered why; out of all of them, he was the least approachable where emotions were concerned. Even Trowa had *some* experience.

Finally, Duo looked up, face a little whiter and drawn more tightly than normal. |Oh, gods, I know that look...|

"It's...It's Kess," Duo managed after a moment, voice slightly choked.

Heero sighed, nodding slightly. "I figured as much... What about him?"

Duo stared at him incredulously for a moment. "Dammit Heero! *You've* seen him! He's *gorgeous*!"

Deep down, he felt a slight twinge of jealousy, but he pushed it away angrily; Duo was more important right now than his desire for said Guardian. "Why is that so bad?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He had a feeling he knew, but...

"He's so cold and distant, he wouldn't respond at all!" Duo all but wailed. "The only way he'd respond would be to beat the shit out of me!"

|Not if *I* had anything to say about it,| he muttered mentally. But vocally, he sighed, wrapping his arm around Duo's waist and shifting to reveal his shoulder. "Come here," he murmured, and Duo shifted closer slightly, looking a little nervous. He sighed again. |Why is he always so shy beforehand?| he wondered.

"Duo. I'm not going to bite," he admonished gently, expression open and soft, for once. Duo hesitated a moment longer, before he flung himself at him, burying his face in Heero's powerful shoulder.

Then he began sobbing uncontrollably, clinging to his shoulders like his life depended on it. And all the while, Heero just rocked back and forth slightly, arms around the shaking, frail body clinging to him, murmuring comfortingly.

Finally, after what had to be a half hour, Duo's sobbing slowed, and then stopped. He didn't move for a while though, sniffling off and on, but he didn't budge. Then, slowly, he lifted his head, and rubbed at his red nose, eye red-rimmed and face tear-streaked.

Heero just raised an impassive eyebrow at him, ignoring how disheveled he looked. "Feeling better?" he asked softly, not removing his arms, but loosening them slightly.

The Guardian nodded slightly, before placing his hands flat on Heero's chest and pushing away slightly. With a purely internal sigh, he dropped his arms and let Duo move away. He stood up and moved towards the door, turning at the last minute to look back at Duo.

He tilted his head slightly, regarding the boy in front of him. "Hn. You might want to wash your face before come back out again; you *really* don't want any of them seeing you like this," he said in a monotone. "Call me if you need anything."

Duo nodded slightly, and Heero turned again and opened the door, stepping out into the hallway and closing the door behind him.

Wufei slithered out of the shadows the instant he had the door closed, frowning blackly at him. Heero raised both his eyebrows at the golem, welcoming an explanation.

"What were you doing in Duo's suite?" he demanded, eyes hard as granite and sharp as a razor.

Heero regarded him for a moment, before snorting and walking away. He made it a few feet, before a freezing, gold hand closed sharply around his arm and pulled him backwards, spinning him around to come face-to-face with an enraged Wufei.

"*Don't* walk away from me!" the golem hissed, lips pulled back in a snarl, baring the gleaming iron teeth.

With a growl, Heero pulled his wrist out of the golem's grip, before grabbing *Wufei's* and throwing him to the right. Wufei connected with the wall with a grunt and a loud crash, denting the solid structure before sliding down it to lay in a crumpled heap of gold and cloth.

:*DON'T. TOUCH. ME*,: he snarled venomously into the golem's half-conscious mind, before whirling and stalking down the hall, vibrating enough rage to keep all the servants from investigating the noise they had no doubt heard.

And down the hall, a figure in the shadows smirked wickedly, bearing a pair of glittering white teeth and fangs. |Hm,| was the icy thought, |this is an unexpected turn...|

Then the light glinted off a pair of slitted, artificially colorless eyes, and a transparent membrane slid from one side to the other and back.



"Yes Sir."

"You're *sure* the plan is working."

A frown. "*Yes,* sir."

The Other frowned blackly. "Watch your tone boy; I can still kill you."

A roll of the eyes. "I'm not even getting into that argument again." The voice was annoyed.

The Other's frown deepened. "So the golem and the changeling *are* fighting."

Artificially colorless eyes narrowed. "I believe I just said that."

The Other narrowed its eyes. "I believe I told you to watch your tone."

A snort. "*I* believe I don't care," was the retort. "But the golem and changeling have *never* gotten along particularly well."

A sigh from the Other. "So it won't seem odd that the two are Fighting." It sounded disappointed.

"I never said that." A smirk. "They've never gotten along, but they had never actually gotten into a physical Fight before."

The Other smirked, appearing pleased. "Good. And the Guardian?"

"Has again turned to the changeling for comfort. I'm not sure for what, though," was the instant reply. "It's actually what caused The Fight. The golem had apparently seen the changeling enter the Guardian's rooms, heard sobbing, and assumed the changeling was up to no good. He confronted him when he left, and it resulted in The Fight."

"Shvlî shol däk lä'vändî[2]," was all the Other said.

A nod. "Doldä k[3]." Then, a somewhat worried frowned. "Sir? What of the vampire?"

The Other frowned in thought for a moment. "Make sure he and the gorgon have a very low level of trust in each other. The gog should begin to doubt the gorgon's reasons for disliking the vampire."

Another nod. "And the elf?"

Again, the Other frowned thoughtfully. "Hm. Has he any affections for other members of the group?"

"He's sleeping with the changeling," was the instant answer.

"Hm." The Other nodded. "All right. Form a way for him to lose trust in the changeling. Does the changeling have feelings for anyone?"

A snort. "Him? No. He trusts everyone the same amount."

There was a sigh from the Other. "Damn. Well. Formulate ways for *all* of them to begin losing trust in the Guardian, then."

"Aa. Anything else?"

"Hm. No. Actually."

A glance upwards.

"When are you leaving?"

A frown. "Tomorrow at noon, I think."

The Other nodded slightly. Then the image of the Other vanished, leaving the room in complete blackness.

And the lone figure moved the mirror under his mattress, before standing and leaving the room.



Wufei groaned, squeezing his eyes together, before opening them and blinking. |Gods. What the hell happened?|

Then Duo's worried face appeared hovering over his, and he blinked in surprise.

"What the hell-"

"After Heero left I heard a loud crash outside," Duo replied momentarily. "I went outside to see what it was and saw you lying on the floor." He paused, eyeing him oddly. "What happened?"

He frowned, looking Duo up and down as he remembered what had happened. "What was Heero doing in your suite?" he asked suspiciously after a moment. |Gods, if he hurt Duo in *any* way, he's going to *pray* to die!|

Duo looked slightly uncomfortable for a minute. "Talking," he said after a while.

"Then why were you crying?" he demanded. "Duo, if Heero did anything to upse-"

Duo scowled at him. "If you *really* must know," he snapped, interrupting him, "I was crying into his shoulder for comfort. All right?"

Wufei blinked, startled at the thought of the Guardian actually *crying.* "...Oh."

Duo grimaced at him. "So anyway. What *happened*?" he demanded impatiently.

Wufei sighed, lifting a gold hand to run it over his onyx "hair", blinking eyes made of pure obsidian at the Guardian. "I was walking down the hallway by your rooms when I heard Heero talking inside them," he said slowly after a moment. "So I hid in the shadows, and after he'd closed the door behind him, I asked him what he was doing in your suites." He paused, a bronze tongue licking his copper-plated lips. "He turned and walked away, not answering, and I kinda...grabbed his arm. He threw me into the wall."

The brunette pulled a face at him, shaking his head in belief. "You guys," he muttered, and Wufei stared at him, perplexed. Then the braided boy glanced at him. "Why can't you and Heero get along?" Then he blinked, looking to all the world as if he had just realized something big. "Great," he muttered. "I'm starting to sound like *Quatre* now."

|Huh?|

Abruptly, Duo shook his head sharply, and frowned again at Wufei. "Okay. So. Dhîälv noldkä î[4]?"

"Äädohl[5]," he muttered, waving away the Guardian's worry. |I should *not* have any weaknesses!| he thought with disgust. |And yet I do.|

Then he forced himself to sit up, followed by a quick straightening of his knees, and he was standing.

|Ah, the privileges of being a golem,| he mused. |No worry of head rushes, or dizziness from standing too quickly.|

Duo winced slightly, but straightened next to him.

"Hm. When are we leaving?"

The braided boy stared at him blankly for a minute.

And his outraged scream could be heard throughout the entire mansion.



Trowa looked up, frowning, as a livid Duo stormed into his room, eyes flashing fire and purple lightning literally dancing across his skin. |Hn. He's really angry.|

Curiously, on a whim, he glanced down at the floor, and blinked to see scorch marks in the wood the shape of Duo's shoe soles. Then he looked back up at Duo and raised his eyebrow a hair.

"Trowa Barton!" Duo roared, eyes shooting sparks the same color as the lightning dancing on his skin. "Why the hell didn't you tell anyone when we were leaving?! The only one who *knew* was Heero, and that's because *I* told him *last week*!"

Trowa blinked at him, before frowning slightly in confusion. "When *are* we leaving?"

Duo fell silent, and stared at him oddly. "I told you a couple days ago that we were leaving tomorrow at noon," he said after a moment, frowning.

He shook his head slowly, eyeing Duo a little worriedly. "No you didn't, I would've remembered it," he replied. "Are you all right?"

"Yes he did."

Duo whirled in surprise, and Trowa's eyes shifted sharply to the Changeling standing behind the Guardian. The changeling's slitted cobalt blue eyes were fixed on him, narrowed suspiciously.

"Heero?" Duo asked, confused.

The blue eyes flickered briefly to Duo, warmed slightly, before returning to Trowa and hardening. "Duo *did* tell you when we were leaving," he said in a monotone. "I was there when he said it."

Trowa frowned slightly in alarm. |Shit!|

Then his features smoothed into an impassive mask, and he shrugged fluidly. "Oh. Hm. Guess I forgot," he replied.

Heero's eyes narrowed further, and he was so suspicious Trowa could have felt the emotion on the other side of the mansion; and he wasn't an empath. Then he shrugged and turned, walking down the hallway. Duo glanced at him oddly, before turning and following the changeling.

And Trowa frowned darkly. |That was *too* close.|

He turned and pulled out his drawing utensils. {::author smirks at readers:: Had you there, didn't I? ::grin:: ::smirks more::}



"Heero, wait up!"

He paused, half-turning to watch as Duo came bouncing along behind him. "Hn," he grunted when he reached him.

Duo frowned at him, giving him a sideways look. "Did *you* believe Trowa?" he asked, brow creased.

"Not really," he muttered, frowning blackly as he ran possibilities through his head. "He doesn't forget that easily."

The Guardian nodded absently, seemingly lost in thought. "That's what *I* was thinking," he muttered after a moment of comfortable silence.

|Good. This infatuation with that damned vampire hasn't dulled his observation skills,| he mused with satisfaction. That was a relief...

"Heero?"

The hesitant question Duo made of his name made him look sharply at the Guardian. "Dho[6]?"

"Do *you* trust Kess?"

He frowned thoughtfully, considering his answer as he regarded his friend. "Right now... I see no reason not to," he replied after a moment. "He seems a lot more dangerous than the other vampire's we found, but... He doesn't seem like he'd intentionally put any of us in danger."

Duo let out what sounded like a sigh of relief.

He raised an eyebrow mentally. |Hm. I wonder what that's about...| "But Duo..."

The braided boy looked at him apprehensively at the warning in his tone.

Carefully, he put his hands on both of Duo's shoulders and looked him fully in the eye. "*Don't* let your attraction to him cloud your judgement," he warned softly. Duo began to protest; he simply laid a finger on the lush lips for silence, forcing himself to ignore how soft they were. "I'm not implying you will. I just want you to be careful."

"But Heero-"

He pressed his finger a little harder against Duo's lips, giving him an understanding look. "I know, Duo, believe me. I know," he interrupted. Then he smiled slightly, and Duo blinked at him in surprise. "And I also know that you'll do your hardest *not* to let your feelings overcome your good sense. You're smart Duo." He chuckled softly, shaking his head in amusement. "Why do you think you're the Guardian? You know what you're doing."

"What-?"

He shook his head slightly. "Hush. I'm still talking." The violet-eyed boy closed his mouth instantly. |Does he value my opinion that much...?| he wondered. "I'm not telling you what to do; I trust you. If you want to form a relationship with him, it's not my place to tell you not to. I'm just giving you advice. Trust your instincts; if they tell you he's not to be trusted, don't trust him. If they tell you he's worth the effort of having a liaison with..." He shrugged. "I'll believe you."

Then he smiled again, and walked down the hallway so fast that Duo couldn't see him.



Duo blinked at the spot where Heero had just been, taken by surprise. |Huh. He really *can* move fast...|

Then he frowned. |Did...Did Heero just smile at me?| he thought, startled. |And twice?|

He blinked. And swooned. Right there, in the middle of the hallway. A servant passing by gave him a funny look, but didn't comment, since he owned the mansion.

|He looked absolutely gorgeous!| A silly smile formed on his face as he remembered the way the normally cold eyes had warmed and sparkled when Heero smiled. |He needs to smile more often...|

Then he forced his glee to the back of his mind to puzzle out what Heero had said. |Would...Would he really believe me if I told him I thought Kess was worth it?|

He shook his head. That wasn't important. |Hm. So Heero trusts him enough to not mind if he comes along, even though he's got a prejudice against changelings. Well, that's a relief. At least *someone* trusts my judgement of people...|

He sighed, running his hand through his hair, and realized he was still standing in the hallway. Frowning, he debated about where to go to think things out. |Hm. Not my room, because I really don't like it. Um... Pool? Huh.| He shook his head. "No, not the pool..," he muttered, not realizing he'd spoken out loud. |Huh. Public bathing room?| He frowned, before shrugging mentally. |Why the hell not?|

So he moved his feet in the direction of the public bathing room, fully intent on using the jacuzzi it sported.


_________
1. ::grin:: think...oh...Nakao Ryuusei when he plays Farfarello (Hehe... Farfie is cool! ::grin:: insane... ::insane laughter:: ::choke:: ::cough::) in Weiß Kreuz
2. Shvlî shol däk lä'vändî- (shvlee SHOHL däk lä-VÄN-dee) Dodläkish "destroy them"; literally "rid the world of their lives"
3. Doldä k- (DOHL-dä-K) Dodläkish for "I will" (the "k" in this phrase is pronounced as a syllable of its own. kind of like the "n" in japanese in... say... "honto". ^.^)
4. Dhîälv noldkä î?- (JEE-älv NOHLD-kä ee) Vtîäkîân for "Are you all right?" ; literally "How fairs your body?"
5. Äädohl- (Ä-dohl) Dodläkish for "yeah"
6. Dho- (JOH) Changeling for "yes"

::grin:: so? what do you think? ^.^ PLEASE send me feedback! hm... any guesses on who the "mystery traitor person" is? bet you'll guess wrong... ::grin:: and PLEASE. if anyone has any characters they'd like me to use in my story, e-mail me at deathsqueen@hotmail.com (^.^ don't ask) or tel me in any reviews you leave. ^.^ I'll get them in sometime...