Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Hidden Self ❯ part 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Animal 3

 

By the time they were halfway to the space port, Wufei was able to remember half a dozen of things he had left behind. All his books were back at his home along with his training gear, which included his sword and meditation mat. He sat up straight in the taxi, jostling Duo who was riding on his shoulder in his animal form, and leaned over to the driver's seat. “We have to go back,” he said. “I have to pick up my things.”

 

“We'll buy you whatever you want on the way,” Quatre said in a reassuring voice.

 

Wufei turned towards the blond ad glared. He knew of Winners by reputation, if not in person. “I doubt very much that your money can by me things that have sentimental value,” he said coldly. “When my relatives learn of my departure, all my belongings will be destroyed.”

 

The blond blinked, taken aback then nodded in understanding. “I'm sorry,” he said. “We'll make a call as soon as we are at the spaceport. Will it be too late by then? It's only half an hour away.”

 

Wufei shook his head silently. Half an hour was not enough for anyone to figure out that he was no longer in the estate and they would not dispose of his possession if there was a remote chance that he might return. Plus such behavior was left for when there were no outsiders in the vicinity to observe them. However, Wufei did not think it would be easy to get his stuff back. He doubted it very much that his parents or his aunt would be willing to let his insult to the family pass so easily. And Wufei was having second thoughts. Well, more like a hundred and second thoughts about going off with a bunch of strangers to Ceiling Cat knows where because he did not want to get married to a rich, pretty girl.

 

“I don't know about this,” Trowa spoke up from the passenger seat, voicing Wufei's thoughts. “What do we know about him? Why does Heero want to bring him along?”

 

“Trowa,” Quatre hissed from the from behind. “How can you say that? Wufei means a lot to Heero - this is the first time he's taken an interest in anything …”

 

“Other than his gun you mean,” Trowa said dryly, twisting around to look at the back seat's occupants. “So, Wu…Fei,” he said, dragging the name a little as if he could not exactly remember it. “What exactly do you do?”

 

“Do?” Wufei echoed in confusion. What did that mean?

 

“It doesn't matter what he does,” Heero spoke up for the first time from the other side of Wufei and put a hand around Wufei's shoulder in a gesture he'd probably meant as reassuring. Wufei jumped a little. His shoulders protested against the rough handling, which felt as if they had been squeezed into a steel clamp, and glared at the boy before turning back to Trowa.

 

“What do you mean, what do I do?” he asked slowly.

 

“Do you have a job, do you work, do you have a steady income or…”

 

“Oh,” said Wufei with a start. He had never even considered that he might have to support himself. He had simply, on a momentary impulse, decided to run off with a bunch of strangers. Perhaps it was his aunt's biting words that had spurred him into action but really…

 

“Wufei reads,” Duo chirped from his place on Wufei's shoulder. “He reads a lot.”

 

Even to Wufei's who was trying to think of something he did well, that did not really think reading counted as work.

 

“So,” said Trowa curious. “What do you study for?”

 

“Study,” Wufei said in surprise. “I just read everything I come across. It was supposed to help me in the future to … well, get on with life.”

 

Trowa made a face which told Wufei exactly what he thought about people who believed in learning about the world through books. “He's a totally useless pretty boy,” Trowa told Heero with the air of someone who had been proved correct. “What do you see in him?”

 

“The point is, Heero saw him,” Quatre said in a conciliatory manner from Wufei's left, making him feel about as significant as a discarded toffee wrapper. If that was supposed to make him feel better, he would have been better off staying home and marrying to Meiran.

 

“Wufei also has big, big…” said Duo sitting up on his hind legs, balance on Wufei's knee, arms spread for emphasis.

 

“I don't want to know,” Trowa snapped hastily.

 

“Sword,” Duo finished triumphantly.

 

“You can fight,” Trowa made the statement sound like a question about Wufei's ability to fly. Wufei could feel his face reddening as he tried to fight back his temper.

 

“I know several unarmed and armed combat styles,” Wufei replied with a toss of his head. He was good at that, better than Meiran was, if he was to believe his teacher, but really, it was not worth mentioning. He was not a fighter - he was scholar and violence did not solve anything.

 

“Wufei doesn't need to be able to do anything,” Heero said firmly.

 

“Apart from spreading his legs,” Trowa muttered, turning around, and Wufei jumped well away from Heero as if he'd been bitten.

 

“Look,” said Quatre before Wufei could either leap out of the moving vehicle or strangle the annoying tall boy with hair over his face. “It's just Trowa's way of protecting Heero. He thinks of Heero like a younger brother at times, and he thinks he's shielding Heero from potential gold diggers.”

 

“What do you mean protect Heero from gold diggers?” Wufei asked as curious. From what he could see the only thing Heero needed protection from was a good knock on the head. And he looked as if he had an extremely hard head at that. “And how can you say he's your cousin when it doesn't look as if you're even from the same breed, let alone same pack.”

 

“I don't have a pack,” Heero replied in monotone at that.

 

“Orphan,” Wufei guessed, berating himself for the umpteenth time for having decided to flee with a total stranger. The only thing he knew about Heero was his name - and now the names of his cousin and - er - prospective mate which was not very helpful.

 

“I was made,” Heero answered shortly as if it was the answer to everything.

 

“Uh?” said Wufei, surprised, and looked at Duo for clarification just as the taxi came to an abrupt halt. The squirrel hurtled though the gap between the two seats in the front and would have hit the glass, had Wufei not reacted quickly and grabbed him by the tail.

 

“Ouchieee,” Duo yelled as he hung upside down by the tail. “Tail ouchieee.”

 

Trowa turned around, grabbed Duo, and had him upright before Wufei could even move forward. He lifted Duo clean off Wufei's fist and looked at him closely. “You ok?”

 

In reply Duo wriggled free, probably unsure as to where he stood with Trowa, and bounced over the seats back on to Wufei's chest. Wufei cradled Duo with one his hands and looked over his friend for any injuries. “You hurt?”

 

“Tail,” Duo snapped back. “Don't touch the tail.”

 

“It was either that or the hair,” Wufei said, used to Duo's odd behavior. The first time he's pulled Duo's braid the feisty creature had almost bitten his finger off.

 

“What exactly is your relationship with that squirrel anyway?” Trowa growled from the front seat. “You're too close to be friends.”

 

“Oh shut up,” snarled back Wufei, wishing Quatre would get off so he could also wriggle out of the taxi. “If you want Heero so badly, you can keep him. I'm going back home.”

 

“You're staying,” Heero stated firmly from behind him and Wufei had to fight his instincts to turn around sharply. He had not even heard Heero move. True, the spaceport was rather noisy but they were still in the parking lot and Wufei did know his hearing was excellent. “Quatre, call the Chang residence and tell them to send Wufei's things.”

 

“I'm on it,” Quatre nodded with a roll of his eyes.

 

“Let me,” Wufei stated quickly. “I'll be the one to deal with this…”

 

“Something tells me you aren't the most diplomatic guy here,” Quatre said with a tilt of his head. “I'm better at handling this, considering it was my fault as much as yours for helping Heero with his hare-brained idea.”

 

Wufei stared at the blond, understanding what was being said between the lines. Perhaps if a Winner were to mediate between him and his family, there might be fewer repercussions. After all, saving face was what the Changs were famous for over the years. “Thank you,” he said formally. “But I am reconsidering my choice,” he said. “Perhaps it would be best if…”

 

“No!” Heero's hands around his middle felt like iron-bars. “He stays.” Wufei wondered if Heero's vocabulary had just taken a dive the way Duo's seemed to when he shifted into animal form. He scowled, looked around to make sure that no one was watching them, and kicked Heero neatly in the instep, forcing him to let go.

 

When he turned around Quatre was regarding him with an odd expression on his face, as if considering something. “What's wrong?” Wufei snapped, feeling awkward. “Do I have something on my face?”

 

“We can discuss this later,” said Quatre, looking around as Trowa dealt with he taxi driver. “Rashid is supposed to meet me here. He'll have a phone on him.”

 

Wufei wondered who Rashid was but he did not voice the question. He was sure that if he was to know something, he would be told. Otherwise, he would find out at his own pace. Being curious was not a trait encouraged by his family; he had learned everything he knew by self-study.

 

Duo, though, did not have the same upbringing Wufei did. There was a scampering sound and the squirrel jumped onto Quatre's shoulder and nosed his ear. “Who he?”

 

“Rashid,” Quatre seemed to consider the question deeply as Duo continued to sniff his neck. “He's a family employee - he's sort of like a bodyguard, I suppose.”

 

Wufei could understand that a Winner needed bodyguards but still, “He lets you go alone?” he asked.

 

“No,” Quatre said with a rueful smile. “He's going to be mad that I snaked out without telling him. But if I'd waited for him to get everything together and accompany me in the official vehicle to the Chang residence, it'd have taken me ages and the Great Camel knows what Trowa would have done in the mean time.”

 

Just then, a large man with a beard appeared at the VIP entrance of the space port, spotted Quatre, and started to make his way towards the group rapidly. Watching his gait, powerful but agile, Wufei wondered what his shift form was, before returning his attention to Heero who was scowling at the world in general. He focused on Wufei immediately and once again, stepped into his personal space. “You can't leave,” he stated the way someone would utter a death threat.

 

Wufei looked around, ignoring Quatre who was having some sort of argument, to Trowa who was hanging in the outskirts of it, trying to intervene. “Is that a threat?”

 

Heero seemed startled by it. “You can't leave,” he said repeated after a while. “We're getting married.”

 

“That's not an answer,” Wufei snapped back angrily. “I meant …” He paused and looked around for Duo for support. Sometimes his friend gave him enough cues to carry on a normal conversation without sounding stilted. But Duo seemed more absorbed with the interaction between the blond and his bodyguard to pay any attention to Wufei, who desperately needed some help in carrying out a discussion. “I don't even want to talk about marrying you,” he said heatedly. “I just don't like the way you seem to think I'd just follow your orders just because you …you …” saved me from marrying a woman “…stopped my present engagement.”

 

“It's not an order,” Heero stated, looking slightly confused. “I merely told you that you can't leave since you are already here.”

 

“But…”

 

“It's useless arguing with Heero,” Quatre told Wufei as he petted Duo absentmindedly. Rashid seemed to have vanished and there was no hand phone or anything visible either. “Everything is a straight line to him and there are no two choices for anything. I swear, had Heero invented the wheel, it'd be a perfect square.”

 

“I fail to see the logic in that,” Wufei told the blond coldly, sure that the promise to call his home had already been forgotten.

 

“Never mind that,” Heero said firmly as if the conversation was inconsequential. “Perhaps we should move to a less exposed area.”

 

“That's right,” Quatre nodded in agreement. “My ship is at the third hangar bay. We can go there until we're cleared for takeoff.”

 

Wufei digested the information that one, Winner had a ship under his command - whether it was a space ship or a simple atmospheric skimmer - and two, they were about to travel in it. He'd never been on anything other than a few hovercrafts before and wondered what the experience would feel like.

 

They proceeded through the VIP entrance, past the harassed looking crowds that were waiting in long queues, and into the private hangar that was protected by a group of men who were dressed in the same fashion as Rashi was.

 

The `ship' turned out to be a modified atmospheric skimmer, all streamlined and beautiful, with the Winner logo displayed boldly on either side. While Wufei was dying to walk around and inspect it from the outside, he decided that he did not want to risk looking like a country bumpkin. He would hopefully have enough time to go over the craft in detail later on.

 

The inside of the plane was fully carpeted, spacious and comfortably designed to resemble the interior of an opulent sitting room. Wufei assumed there were other rooms adjacent to the sitting room but he did not feel at ease with the present company to try and explore - he was sure Trowa would find something derisive ot say about it at least and the last thing Wufei needed just then was to be provoked. Duo bounced happily through the seats, his tail bobbing, as he explored everything with unbridled enthusiasm. Wufei desperately wished he had Duo's devil may care attitude so he could also put his head into the spaces above the seats to see what they contained.

 

“If you'll excuse me,” Quatre said once they were seated. “I'll go and call the Chang residence now. Heero, why don't you get Wufei something to drink?”

 

Heero nodded and walked over to a wall paneling. He slid it to the side, revealing a mini-bar, and pulled out a glass bottle and a couple of glasses.

 

“I'll …” Wufei hesitated. “Have something non-alcoholic.”

 

“Understood.” Heero poured whatever it was into two glasses. The drink frothed and foamed as he handed one to Trowa who took it while looking down his nose at Wufei as if to mock him about his choice. Heero seemed not to notice the interaction as he turned towards the bar again. “What'd you prefer?” he asked Wufei.

 

Wufei shrugged. He wasn't particularly thirsty or hungry, just plain nervous and he did not know what to do. “I don't know,” he said. “You choose.”

 

It seemed that he had thrown a wrench into Heero's mental reasoning with those words since he froze in front of the bar. From the way his eyes flickered Wufei could see that Heero was going over the available alternatives rapidly but seemed unable to decide what to choose for someone else. Perhaps, Wufei thought faintly amused, Heero had never done something as simple as select a drink for someone else. Or perhaps there was something extremely wrong with Heero -perhaps he was crazy or just plain slow.

 

“What do you see in him,” Trowa said equally coldly. “Seriously, Heero you could do better than him.”

 

Wufei turned towards the wolf, bristling, and had he been in his animal form, his fur would have stood on end. He opened his mouth to tell the annoyance exactly what he thought of such comments, forgetting about Heero's little quirk about being unable to choose a drink.

 

“I saw him for the first time sitting under the tree reading, I thought he was a rather neat looking cat,” he said it as if he were reading from a book. “His fur was perfectly arranged and his tail was curled under him. His ears were twitching as he read and the way the… ” It seemed what Quatre said was true since Heero seemed to have taken the question literally. Wufei blushed.

 

“That sounds so romantic,” Duo mused aloud. “What's he describing, a murder scene?” He jumped up and down on the back of a seat before saying, in a subdued tone. “What Trowa meant was, what you know of Wufei?”

 

Heero stopped, blinked and nodded. “He's the illegitimate son of ….. Chang and his fifth mistress, the only male born to the Chang family this generation. He is eighteen years old and has been home schooled since birth.” He turned to Wufei and nodded. “The file on you did not mention your hand-to-had fighting skills or your weapons proficiency though it did say you were five feet seven and you weighed sixty kilos. You weigh slightly more than that now, so you must have put on weight during the …”

 

Wufei was speechless for three seconds before he jumped at Heero with his arms extended intent on strangling him. “I'm not illegitimate,” he shouted as he jumped. “My mother might be a concubine but I have been accepted as the heir to the family.”

 

Heero stepped back neatly and Wufei missed him by the fraction of an inch. He spun around on his heels, turning around swiftly, knowing he had made a mistake already. Wufei's old master had always warned him about the dangers of attacking someone in anger - it was the first step towards defeat. But listening to his facts recited so coldly had made him aware of exactly what he was …

 

“Stop it, both of you!” Quatre's voice was effective as whip-lash. “Heero, don't say anything. Don't say anything until I speak to Wufei alone. Trowa, go help Rashid get clearance for another guest and see if he has send someone to the Chang residence and … Duo, stop pulling Heero's hair.”

 

Wufei stopped his attack, breathing heavily in his anger, directing his wrath at the blond who was a more likely target than Heero, who was standing there, looking impassive. “I don't know what sort of arrangement you have with each other,” he told the blond, “I'm sure you're comfortable giving orders to everybody including the person who's courting you but …”

 

“Who's courting me?” Quatre asked in surprise just as Trowa who was halfway through the doorway came out rapidly.

 

“He means Trowa,” Duo said helpfully.

 

“Trowa is a friend,” Quatre said looking and sounding puzzled. “A close family friend but nothing more. Whoever gave you the impression that we're more than that is mistaken.”

 

Standing directly behind Quatre, Trowa was mimicking someone getting his throat slit while pointing at Wufei and then zipping his mouth, which Wufei took to mean if he did not keep quiet, the taller boy would kill him.

 

“But I thought …” Heero said looking slight confused.

 

“I thought you were getting a drink for me,” Wufei interrupted hastily. He might not really like the wolf but he did not wish to see anyone humiliated like that. Again, the shuttered expression came onto Heero and the blond was quick to notice it as well.

 

“Why don't you drink yours before it fizzes out,” Quatre said. “Wufei would you like a glass of apple-fizz. That's what we're all drinking.” He pulled out three more glasses and poured into it the same frothy drink everyone else was having. “Duo,” Quatre said holding out a glass to the squirrel who shifted as he jumped onto the seat. Duo took the glass, slurped it a bit, nodded and then looked around.

 

“Clothes,” he said shortly.

 

“Of course,” nodded Quatre. “I have some clothes with me. Perhaps, Wufei, you'd like to change out of those too.”

 

“Thank you,” Wufei said gratefully, ignoring Heero for the moment. He was not sure what to think so decided that he would not, at least for the time being.

 

Trowa returned then, scowling. “His things are on the way here,” he said, jerking his head towards Wufei so no one would doubt who `he' was. Trowa then turned towards Heero and spoke. “The flight has been delayed - one of the Peacecrafts is on his or her way here.”

 

“I take it they want to talk some sense into Heero,” Quatre said dryly. “They'll be here soon so there's just enough time for Wufei and Duo to get into something comfortable.

 

--- --- ---

 

Once they were in the small bedroom, Wufei turned his full attention to Quatre. “What did you want to say to me?”

 

“I'm not going to tell you anything about Heero,” Quatre said. “You'll have to ask him yourself. But let me tell you this. He's one of the nicest people around. You just have to give him time and let him tell you about himself.”

 

“What does he mean by saying he he'd been made?” Wufei pressed and even Duo seemed to perk up at that.

 

“It's up to Heero to tell you,” Quatre said with a shrug. “All I'm asking you is this. You saw something in Heero which made you think he was worth it to give up on your family and come with him, even if it was a brief glimpse. Just thrust in him. He's not a bad person.”

 

Wufei looked away but nodded thoughtfully. “I'll have to,” he said.

 

“How did you first meet him or Trowa …you all seem like an odd combination,” Duo asked out of the blue and Wufei gave his friend a grateful look. That question had been bothering him for a while.

 

“Trowa and his sister Catherine run an Entertainment business,” Quatre replied. “If you want a party arrangement you call the Bartons. Trowa came several times with his sister to arrange a few gatherings at our mansion. It was the same with Heero; the Bartons are the ones who handle public relations for the Peacecrafts as well. Trowa and Heero sort of met when Heero tried to …” he paused and grimaced. “That's up to Heero to tell, really, so why don't we go out now?” He smiled at Wufei. “The Peacecrafts must be dying to meet the person who caused Heero to act so out of character.”