Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Purrfect Houseguest ❯ Chapter 11 ( Chapter 11 )

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The Purrfect Houseguest

Part 11

Dr Po took another sip from her cup, and grimaced at the taste of the coffee gone cold. She frowned as she looked over the results of Zechs' blood analysis. No matter how she looked at it, things just didn't seem to add up. The test results weren't even close to what they should have been according to her text books. Could the books really be that wrong? And what was even worse, she still had no idea why the neko was sick.

Perhaps, she thought, as she rubbed her eyes, things will become clearer once his DNA test is finished. Although it would not help her much from a medical point, Sally had done the test anyway, more out of curiosity. She was hoping that she might be able to link Zechs' DNA to that of one of the individuals in the institute's database, and establish some kind of ancestral link. Knowing where the neko came from and perhaps even identify the individual that had been used to clone him from would be quite interesting.

Sally glanced at the clock at the wall. It was a quarter to two in the morning. The DNA test wouldn't be finished for another few hours. Time enough for her to get at least a little sleep.

#####

“How is he?” Wufei asked as Treize entered the kitchen.

“He finally fell asleep.” The older man walked over to his lover and snatched the coffee cup from his hand as he kissed him good morning. “Hmm…hot and strong, just the way I like it,” he remarked appreciatively after the first sip. “Is Marie still asleep?”

Wufei shook his head. “Mister Garner came by with Rex earlier; the three of them are taking a walk.” The young man poured another cup of coffee and propped himself against the counter as regarded his lover. “You should get some sleep,” he suggested.

In spite of the medicine Dr Po had left for him Zechs condition had taken a turn to the worse by the evening, and Treize has been watching over the sick neko all night long.

The tawny haired man made a dismissive gesture. “I'm fine; don't worry. Beside, I did get some sleep.”

“Dozing off in a chair next to his bed isn't really what I would consider sleeping. But anyway, Dr. Po called earlier.”

“Oh, did she? What did she say? Was she able to figure out what it is that's making Zechs so sick?”

Wufei shook his head. “She is still working on that. But there is something else she found out, and you might want to sit down for this…”

Treize looked at his lover in a mixture of alert and concern. “What is it?”

“She ran a DNA test on Zechs' blood and it appears that he isn't a pure-blooded neko after all. Sally found both neko and human genes in his DNA.”

“Human genes?” The tawny-haired man frowned. “Is that even possible?”

“Apparently it is. She ran the test twice to make sure that there was no cross-contamination.”

“So, what exactly does that mean for Zechs? Does it make any difference in the way he should be treated?”

“I'm not sure about that either. But Dr. Po said that due to the fact that he is half human we should be able to increase his medication without risk. Perhaps that will help.”

Treize nodded. “Perhaps.”

“But if it doesn't…,” Wufei paused for a moment, setting down his coffee cup before he continued. “Maybe we should consider taking him to the institute where he can be examined much more thoroughly.”

“That's out of question.”

The younger man blinked, surprised about the resolution in his lover's voice.

“Zechs does not want to be taken back to a laboratory, and I promised him that we would accept his decision.”

“I'm not suggesting putting him into the institute for the rest of his life,” Wufei argued. “Just temporarily, until we have figured out what's wrong with him and can cure him.”

“The answer is still `No'. Unless Zechs agrees to it, which I seriously doubt, he will not be taken anywhere.”

“For god sake, Treize, you are just being stubborn,” Wufei's voice was underlines with frustration. “Do you realize that he might be the only living neko, pure-blooded or not, on the face of this earth? You'd rather let him die, than allow him to be taken to a place where we could take better care of him, and at the same time study him a little better?”

“Yes I would,” Treize confirmed solemnly. “I'll be damned if I let anybody, and that includes you, Wufei, use him as a guinea pig again.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Wufei scowled. “Are you trying to say that I…”

The young man's protest was cut short by the sound of somebody clearing his throat. “Excuse me!?”

Both Treize and Wufei spun around. Zechs was standing in the door, leaning heavily against the wooden frame. How long had he been standing there?

“Zechs, what are you doing down here?” the tawny haired man asked surprised. “I thought you were sleeping.”

“I knocked over the glass on the nightstand and spilled the water. I was looking for something to clean up with,” the neko explained quietly.

“Don't worry about it. I'll take care of that.” Treize told him. “Let's get you back to bed; you really shouldn't be walking around in your condition.”

Without protest Zechs allowed himself to be guided back to his room. He had to lean heavily on the older man as they walked up the stairs. As they stepped into the guestroom Treize noticed the wet stain on the carpet directly in front of the nightstand. He ignored it for the time being, helped Zechs back into bed and laid his hand against the blond neko's forehead. “You still have a high fever. I'll give you some more medicine. Dr Po said it is alright to give you a higher dose.” He went into the bathroom to refill the water glass. A plastic bottle filled with white pills was sitting on the nightstand. Treize opened it and poured two of the small tablets into the palm of his hand. He helped Zechs to sit up and supported him while he was taking the medication.

“Alright, now try to get some sleep,” Treize told the neko as he helped him to settle back into the pillows.

The tawny haired man left the room for a second time and returned a few moments later with a couple of old towels. He knelt down next to wet stain in the carpet and dabbed at the spot, trying to soak up as much as possible of the spilled water.

“I'm sorry.”

“Don't worry about it, Zechs,” Treize made a dismissive gesture. “It's just water; it will dry in no time at all.”

“I'm not only talking about the spill,” the neko replied, voice barely above a whisper. “I'm sorry for barging into your life like this. It seems as though I have only been causing trouble since I got here. I guess it would have been better if our paths had not crossed again.”

“Zechs,” Treize stopped what he was doing and looked up. “Stop talking like that. And stop thinking of yourself as being troublesome. We are happy to have you here with us.”

“Are you sure about that? It sure didn't sound like it earlier.”

The tawny-haired man sighed as he rose to his feet and settled down on the edge of the bed. “I'm not sure how much you've heard, but I think you are having the wrong impression. In spite of what he might have said, Wufei is really just concerned about you and wants the best for you.”

Zechs gave a quiet snort, but didn't say anything. Still it was obvious that he didn't agree with what Treize said.

“No matter what, Zechs, you are safe here, remember that. I won't let anything happen to you. Now try to go to sleep.”

The neko closed his eyes, a deep, content purr resonating in his throat, as the older man ran his fingers through the soft, silvery hair.

###

Wufei was sitting with his back toward him in the living room, reading, when Treize came back downstairs. The tawny haired man stopped at the foot of the stairs and sighed inwardly. Wufei was probably angry with him and Treize couldn't blame him. An apology was definitely in order. “Wufei!?”

His lover hesitated for a moment before turning his head. “Yes?”

“I'm sorry.” Treize put on what he hoped was a very apologetic expression. “About what I said earlier…It was totally out of line and uncalled for… I…”

“No,” Wufei shook his head. “You were absolutely right.” The young man seemed embarrassed, and stared down at the book in his lap. “I don't know what came over me or what I was even thinking…”

Treize approached his lover slowly and embraced him from behind. He could feel Wufei tense in his arms, but the young man didn't resist, not even when Treize dipped his head to place a ghost of a kiss on the back of his neck. “You are thinking like a scientist. Although I don't agree with you, I can certainly understand your point of view. And I hope that you also accept my feelings about this.”

“I do,” Wufei replied quietly. “I do understand.”

Treize gently seized his lover's chin and turned Wufei's face toward him. “I love you,” he whispered softly as he leaned in to capture those velvet-soft lips in a gentle kiss.

Wufei closed his eyes and moaned; his lips parted slightly, just far enough for Treize to slip his tongue between them. I love you too, Treize.

#####

Sally Po checked her watch for the 10th time since she had entered the small coffee shop. She was waiting for somebody, but that person was nearly half an hour late by now. Maybe she changed her mind, the doctor thought. She had been surprised that she had managed to talk Inspector Otto into setting up a meeting between her and Miss Noin in the first place.

Lucrezia Noin was the person who had contacted the OII regarding Gentec. As far as Sally knew, the young woman had worked for the company for several months as a lab assistant, and she had hoped that Miss Noin could give her some more information about Zechs.

“Doctor Po?”

Sally turned to face a young woman with short, black hair and dark eyes. “Yes, I'm Sally Po.”

“I'm Lucrezia Noin,” the young woman confirmed what Sally had already expected. “I was told you wanted to speak to me. What is this about?”

“I…need to talk to you about Zechs.”

“What about him?” Noin eyed the young doctor suspiciously even as he sat down in the chair across from her.

“He is very sick, and I have no idea how to treat him.”

Noin's eyes widened. “Zechs is alive?”

“You seem surprised.”

“I was told that the OII didn't find any sign of him at the Gentec lab, so I was afraid that they had actually gotten rid of him,” she admitted. “I'm glad he is alive, but I don't understand why Inspector Otto lied to me.”

“He didn't,” Sally told her. The doctor knew that in order for Noin to trust her, she also needed to trust the young woman and tell her the whole truth. “The inspector has no idea about this. I was with him when he searched that lab. We didn't find anything. It seems as though Zechs somehow managed to run away the day before the raid. Through some strange coincident he was found and taken in by the family of one of my colleagues. Only a five people, and that includes you, know about this.”

The conversation was interrupted as a waiter approached the table. “Some more coffee?” she asked with a polite smile.

Dr Po nodded. “Yes, please.”

The young man refilled the cup and turned to Noin. “And what can I get you?”

“I'll have a cup of coffee as well.”

The waiter nodded in acknowledgement. “I'll be right back with your order.”

“So what you are saying is that Zechs escaped and is now living with a friend of yours? What's going to happen to him?”

“That I don't know,” Dr Po admitted. “My main concern right now is to figure out what is wrong with him. He fell ill soon after his escape and his condition has been deteriorating ever since. That's why I contacted you, in hopes that you might be able to help. It's almost as though his body is slowly shutting down, but I can't figure out why.”

“That might be just it.”

Sally frowned. “Excuse me?”
Just then the waiter returned with the coffee, and Noin waited until the young man was out of earshot again before she answered. “While I worked at the Gentec lab I noticed that Zechs was taking medication every morning.”

“What kind of medication?” Sally wanted to know.

“Well…” Noin hesitated for a moment before she continued. “Since you say you have done a blood analysis and such on him I assume you know already that Zechs is…umm…”

“Half human?” Dr. Po threw in. “Why is that anyway? What was Gentec thinking?”

The other woman shrugged. “I can't tell you that, but as far as I know, about twenty years ago Romefeller provided Gentec with tissue samples of a male and a female neko, and requested that they would be used for cloning. However, through some mistake made by somebody in the lab, the male tissue sample became unusable. Afraid that Romefeller night caught their funding Gentec never told them about their blunder. Instead they used some newly developed method to create male clones by using female neko DNA and male human DNA. For some reason none of the other clones survived longer than a few months. As for Zechs,” Noin smirked softly. “I think he was just too damn stubborn to die.”

Sally couldn't help but smile. She had the feeling that Noin was really fond of the young neko. “So, what about that medication?” she asked.

“It's basically a mix of different immune suppressants, very similar to drugs used on transplant recipients.”

Of course, this makes perfect sense. Dr Po almost felt sheepish for not thinking of something so obvious. Apparently Zechs' body was basically fighting itself.

“I have a small sample of the drug if you are interested.”

Sally's jaw almost dropped. This was almost too good to be true. “Of course I'm interested.”

“Informing the OII about Zechs wasn't really my first choice,” Noin explained. “I actually had been looking for a way to free him. That's why I took the sample. I had it analyzed and have the results on my computer at home. When I realized that I didn't have the means to provide Zechs with the medication he needed to survive I decided to call the OII.”

Dr. Po nodded. She could empathize with Miss Noin and her motivations. “I'm sure Zechs appreciates what you have been trying to do for him.”

“Thanks. If you wish we can go to my apartment right now, I live just across the street.”

“Whenever you are ready,” Sally replied. The sooner she could put Zechs back on his medication the better for him.

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T.B.C.

 

Author's Note: