27-Mar-2001
Title: Chasing the Crown, an Extended Family Fic
ExFam Authors:
RavynFyre - ravynfyre@hotmail.com
Diane Davis - fenwyck@radiks.net
von - sablexo1@yahoo.com
bonnejeanne - bonnejeanne@yahoo.com
*Special Guest Writer! Nixie the Pixie!*
Nixers - Nixerchan@aol.com
Category: yaoi, AU
Rating: NC-17 for now, that will change
Pairings: 1x2, 3+4
Spoilers: Series, Endless Waltz, Mission: Arcadia
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing characters and universe are the property of the copyright owners.
Kenny, Duan, Wufan, Tryan, Carter, Jack and the Ripper, and everything relating to Rip & Jack's universe are ours. No money being made here.
Feedback: Any and all comments, feedback, critiques welcome, be they short or long.
Please feel free to direct feedback to any or all of the authors!
WARNINGS: AU (Alternate Universe), Original Characters, LEMON in some sections. Kiddie-Angst.
The trip from the front entrance of the small colony spacedock to the little, used shuttle took about twice as long as the trip from the house to the spacedock.
Not because of the distance though. It was just that there were so many interesting things to see at the spacedock.
It wasn't a very interesting place to the pilots. But to the kids....
Eventually Kenny noticed the look on the faces of the adults and began rounding up the others. Carter was the hardest, he just kinda disappeared and they found him sitting on a counter, conversing with the Dock Master.
His face fell when he realized he'd gone awol, and the little blond was very quiet and subdued... for about five minutes.
Heero herded everyone into the shuttle and helped to get the boys into their seats and secured. As he did so, he looked up. "Duo, why don't you pilot," he said.
The braided pilot paused on his way to the cockpit for the pre-flight check, turning to toss a beatific smile at his partner.
"Sugoi! You got it!" he said, positively bouncing to the front.
"Hn," Wufei remarked, checking Sallah's suit briefly. He glanced at Heero, wondering what the Japanese boy was thinking and shrugged, taking a seat next to Wufan.
Duan's eyes widened as he looked all around. Reaching over, he took Kenny's hand and held it, as he felt excited and terrified at the same time. It was one thing to imagine you could be an astronaut, and an entirely different thing coping with the reality of actually doing it.
He watched Duo, craning his neck to see the older boy work with the controls with ease and grace. "He's good," he said to Kenny excitedly.
Kenny was watching as well. He had a secret dream, one he'd never even told Duan. Once he had read an old book at the base about astronauts going to the moon. He had dreamed of being one. The model of the space shuttle he'd made for history class... that was in the book he'd read. This world's distant past was the furthest his world had even gotten to journeying in space, much less living there.
"Since we don't have to escape the Earth's gravity, the take off should be easy," he remarked to Duan in a calm voice undercut with suppressed excitement. "The touchdown... that should be cool..."
Tryan sat back in his seat. He said nothing, but watched everything.
Wufan pushed his glasses back up on his nose and tapped Wufei on the leg with some urgency.
Wufei acknowledged the touch with a look, turning his head inquiringly.
"Should I take my glasses off completely or will it be okay to wear them? There is no gravity in space. Won't they float off my face?" he asked, wide eyed.
Wufei blinked, then smiled. Then his normal, serious expression returned. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a piece of elastic with a loop on each end.
He reached over and took Wufan's glasses off, and put the small loops around each earpiece and then handed them back to the boy.
Wufan watched closely, then took his glasses back from Wufei. He put them on and adjusted them on his nose again. "Xie Xie," he said quietly and then took slow even breaths to try and relax.
Heero moved to the co-pilot's seat and strapped himself in. "Do you want to prepare them or should I?" he asked.
Duo tossed him a grin and a shrug.
"What's to prepare? Barf bags are in the seat bins, and there's no in-flight movie... Yeah, you."
Heero resisted the urge to say *baka* and turned the chair to face their passengers. "Ok," he said. "You're gonna feel a big tug and then like you're being pushed real hard into your seat when we take off. It'll get better after we're in space. It's okay to hold hands if you get scared, all right?"
Duan nodded.
"Yeah, especially with me at the controls," Duo called jokingly over his shoulders as he got the final launch instructions from the dock master.
Carter bounced in his seat, held down by the restraining harness.
Kenny, by contrast, looked very mildly scornful of the notion of holding hands over the take off. His face was calm. His indigo eyes, however, shone with deep anticipation.
Wufei suppressed a slight noise, both at Heero's "preparation speech" and Duo's remark.
He glanced briefly at Sallah to see if she seemed ok.
Sallah beamed back at him, eagerness shining in her eyes. She leaned forward slightly, whispering to Wufan, "How are you doing? All ready?"
Wufan's eyes opened wide. "Huh?" he said, a little surprised, then nodded. "Yes... I am fine," he added.
"Good," she smiled back. "This will be fun...I keep thinking that we'll be flying like kites."
Wufan blinked and for a few moments remembered the time in Arcadia. He smiled. "Yes!" he said, excitedly. After that, he felt much better.
Heero turned back and nodded to Duo. "Ready," he said.
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. I'd like to thank you for choosing Shinigami Shuttleways. Our route today will take us screaming through the depths of colonized space towards the big blue planet to your left, which we all call Earth. In the event of a water landing, which, since Heero's not flying, shouldn't be a problem, your seat cushion, in addition to being a gaseous emissions receptacle, can be used as a floatation device, should you be that desperate," Duo babbled cheerfully, his hands busy flying over the various panels and controls as he readied the craft for launch, "Everyone ready?"
"Yes!" Duan and Tryan called out.
"YIPPEE!" cried Carter and then clapped his hands over his mouth.
"Hn!" Kenny said.
"Cool," Duo said, getting his final clearance, "Then here.. we... go!"
With a flip of the correct switches, the boosters engaged and the craft rocked forward.
The launch bay slowly oozed past their windows as Duo carefully throttled out of the cradle. After a few moments, the large launch bay doors slipped past, and the shuttle emerged into the darkness of open space. Once clear of the dock, Duo feathered the throttle up higher, and with a trademarked chuckle, he arced the craft gracefully towards the Earth awaiting below.
Six pairs of eyes were glued to the windows, as they emerged into space.
Kenny's eyes darted back and forth and around, from the stars, to the immense structure they were leaving, to the bright circle of blue beyond.
Wufan's eyes became rounder as his jaw dropped open. He looked... everywhere, feeling himself buzz like a plucked string. There were just no words to describe how he felt, or how the take off felt. All he knew was that he simply *had* to do it again.
Duan chuckled, then found himself giggling almost uncontrollably as he looked down at Kenny. "Yes!" he said, simply, then looked towards the pilot's chair with definite plans.
Kenny looked back, meeting Duan's look with a nod of silent agreement. Then, with a glance at the "big people", Kenny's hand reached down and unfastened his harness.
The next thing Duo knew, two little heads were looking over his shoulder.
Duo glanced down at his watch marking the time.
"I expected you about ten seconds ago," he remarked casually.
"Didn't want to scare Sallah," Kenny explained just as casually, as his eyes roamed over the controls. "What does that do?" he said and pointed.
Heero unfastened his harness and stood. "Here," he said, "If you two are going to co-pilot, you might as well have the seat."
He looked over at Duo and shrugged. "Maybe we should show 'em emergency prep first," he said.
"You're the boss," Duo drawled cheekily, the soft expression in his lavender eyes belying his careless demeanor.
Heero looked back as a trace of a smile etched itself across his lips. "Hn," he remarked. "Ok," he said, "In case we're food poisoned at the party, you guys need to know some emergency stuff. Right side of the panel first..."
Duo tossed an amused glance over at his partner and mouthed "Food poisoned?"
Heero shrugged. "It could happen," he said, then proceeded with his instruction.
Kenny and Duan easily shared the vacated co-pilot seat, taking in all the information avidly.
In the shuttle, Carter's face was plastered to the nearest window as he watched the stars and the other objects he could see from there. They all seemed to be doing a strange, slow yet huge dance. He could almost hear music. Carter hummed softly with the silent sounds forming in his head as he watched.
Tryan unfastened himself and looked around. He calculated that he had just enough area. Slowly, he stretched out his arms and pushed his foot against the floor of the shuttle. Suddenly, he found himself floating and began testing the way his body moved in the new environment.
Wufan looked out of the windows. His eyes moved from one point to the other. He could see the colony and the blue sphere that they were heading towards and began making mental notes and trying to calculate distances.
Staring out at the vast darkness and sparkling stars in awe, Sallah kept having to remind herself to breathe. "Amazing..." she whispered to herself. "We're actually in space..." Her smile from before returned, almost doubled in its brilliance A quiet thought in the very back of her mind wondered how difficult it would be to learn to fly a shuttle like this.
Heero found that Duan and Kenny were extremely fast learners. "Ok, we can do some drills and then rotate out and you guys can help me show the others."
"Sure," Kenny said, watching the console. He glanced up at Duan once and grinned.
Duan's grin grew wider and he nodded, then turned his concentration back on Heero and the drills.
Tryan finally floated down and sat next to Carter. He'd bumped his head twice on the shuttle's roof and made a note of how to avoid that in the future. "What are you humming?" he asked Carter.
Carter looked over but his teal eyes were unfocused and kind of dreamy. "The music of space," he said softly.
Tryan thought about it. He couldn't hear anything in particular himself, but he knew Carter's senses were a little more fine tuned. "Oh," he said, simply.
Carter sighed happily.
At the end of his emergency drills, Heero looked to Duo. "Do you have anything to add?" he asked.
"Umm... have fun?" Duo replied.
"Sugoi!" Duan exclaimed, then looked up at Duo. "So when do we get to pilot?" he asked.
"There's the stick, little man," Duo said, pointing to the co-pilot's controls with a challenging grin.
Kenny nudged Duan as if to say, go for it.
Duan didn't need a gold embossed invitation. He moved to the *stick* and began his training.
Duo coached him along in a quiet voice for a few minutes, before making a show of leaning back in his seat, his own hands folded serenely behind his head, and his eyes half-lidded, feigning a nap.
Duan nodded to himself as he put words to the pictures of the control panel indelibly etched into his memory. Even as he worked the controls, a part of him wondered what it would be like to have his own machine.
"Do you want to help me with Sallah and Wufan?" Heero asked, looking at Kenny.
"Ok," Kenny agreed. He watched Duan closely, his hands itching, but he kept himself back so the braided boy next to him could take full advantage of the opportunity. Kenny tilted his head, reached up and gripped the back of the pilot chair, and then flipped himself easily over the back. He smiled slightly at the sensation of motion in the weightlessness.
"Hn," Heero remarked as he watched Kenny and remembered his first time in space.
After a short while, he called out to Sallah and Wufan. "We're going to switch out. You guys come up here and get to know this thing."
Hearing his name, Wufan moved towards the front.
Releasing the harness, Sallah grinned at Wufei as she moved past and followed her son. She couldn't help but giggle at the sensation of floating.
Kenny took Wufan's arm and moved him to take the place he had just vacated. Then he started pointing out the controls, exactly as Heero had instructed him and Duan.
Heero moved to the back of the shuttle to check on Tryan and Carter. Passing Wufei, he looked down at the Chinese pilot and shrugged. "Training," he said.
Wufei smiled slightly. He had un-strapped as well and was floating with his arms crossed. After Heero passed, he closed his eyes.
The trip seemed to go very quickly for the smaller passengers, with all the new and interesting things to look at and do, and Carter and Tryan got a turn in the cockpit as well. As the small shuttle approached the big blue sphere, there was a moment of silence observed as each face was turned to study the world. Yes, it wasn't *their* Earth, but it *was* at the same time - their first look from space at the only home they had known for most of their lives. Each one tried to remind himself that the place they were going wasn't really going to be like the land they'd left.
"So..." Kenny said, breaking the impromptu moment. "There's like lots of people there, right?"
"Tons," Duo agreed, "And lots of huge cities. Cars. Planes. Ships. Lots of stuff."
"They don't usually let you fly kites in the street there..." he added, his voice trailing off.
Duan nodded and made a mental note. "So, like we gotta stick together or we'll get lost, right?" he asked.
"Probably be best," Duo agreed again, "It's a lot bigger than the colony there."
Wufan nodded. "World population is ... in the billions," he said, quietly.
Wufei glanced at the small boy, recognizing that he had been doing his homework.
"The last... formal affair, right?" Heero said, looking at Duo.
"That's what the lady said. See, if you'd quit saving the world, we wouldn't have these problems," Duo remarked blandly.
Heero raised an eyebrow. "Hn," he remarked. Checking the landing confirmations, he nodded. "We will hold the lady to her word, then. There's your coordinates."
"Correction," Duo replied, "If you'd quit saving the world in such spectacularly blatant ways, then it wouldn't be a problem... but, yeah. We'll hold her to it."
"Hey, I'm not the one who blew a hole in the Earth. That was Zechs' idea... So he owes me," Heero said.
"Just another marker to use against Relena to get out of any of these things," the braided pilot said, nodding.
"Hn," Heero said, looking ahead.
Duo simply shook his head, a small smile tugging at his face. "So... Y'all think you could fly this thing on your own?" he asked, pitching his voice to carry back to all the children and Sallah.
"Pretty much," Duan called back. "Hey Heero, don'tcha like parties? They are kinda fun."
Heero turned and looked over his shoulder. "Hn," he said, with a sigh. "I'll take your word for it, Duan."
Duo got an evil look in his eye as he glanced over at his partner. "Hey... If worse comes to worse, we could always scandalize Relena and the entire United Earth Sphere Nation..." he said with a leer.
Heero looked at Duo squarely. For a moment, he said nothing. Then he nodded. "That might work," he said.
"How would you do that?" Carter asked, wide eyed. "And what's 'scandalize'?"
"Tell him, Duo," Heero remarked.
"Scandalize: to offend the moral sense of, or to shock," Duo said, quoting the dictionary in his head, "And to do that... Hmm... People here aren't quite as... open minded as the people in Arcadia are. A lot of 'em don't understand about Heero and I. They think it's wrong," Duo explained with a casual shrug, though his voice was anything but casual.
Carter looked up. "Why, Duo? What do they think is wrong?"
"I've been trying to figure that one out for a long time, kiddo. Guess they just don't think guys should be with guys..."
Carter blinked. He frowned. He looked confused. "Oh," he said.
"It doesn't make any sense to me, either... But people... as a whole... They aren't so bad," Duo said.
"If they think that's wrong, what are they gonna think about all of us, Duo? We're all guys too!" Carter said suddenly, looking worried.
Duo couldn't help the short bark of surprised laughter that burst out of him. "Yes you are... but I think you're all a little young for that to bother anyone quite yet, kiddo."
"It's because Heero and Duo are lovers and they have sex," Duan said, turning to Carter. "Whatever sex is," he added.
Carter blinked and then smiled. "Oh! I get it."
Wufan smiled, then blushed. He said nothing, however.
Tryan nodded. "Yeah, that was clear," he said.
Then Carter looked at Duo. "So guys aren't supposed to have sex with guys?"
"That depends... If you really care what 'they' say... then no... But 'they' are wrong a lot. I personally see nothing wrong with it," Duo answered.
Carter nodded. "So it's okay." He seemed satisfied with this.
Somewhere in the back of the shuttle, Wufei was attempting to keep very still and quiet and praying to his ancestors that no one looked in his direction.
Duan looked at Kenny, then towards the front. "Ok, so what is sex, Heero?" he asked.
Kenny reached out thoughtfully and curled his fingers around Duan's braid without actually tugging on it. More of a warning...
Heero glanced at Duo with a look that clearly said, 'Say something, you got us into this mess.' There was a slight hint of something akin to fear in the Prussian blue depths.
At some point during the conversation, Sallah had started to look out the shuttle window *very* intently. After a bit, her shoulders began to shake ever so slightly, and there was the faint sound of muffled laughter. "Ah... perhaps when we go home, I could arrange a group trip to the library? There are children's books..." she said.
Heero looked back at Sallah with gratitude.
Catching Heero's gaze out of the corner of her eye, Sallah grinned at him. "You owe me," she mouthed silently.
"Big time," Heero mouthed back.
Kenny snorted softly.
"Oh, ok," Duan replied and sat back in his seat.
"Hey, Wufei... Yer being awful quiet back there," Duo called out innocently.
The sound of a hastily cleared throat came from the very back of the shuttle.
"Problem?" the braided pilot sang out.
"No, Maxwell," Wufei growled softly. "No problem. Keep your attention on the ship, please."
"Aw, you oughta know by now that I never have any problems handling the stick, Wu-chan..." Duo remarked cheerfully, "I promise... I'll getcha there safe and sound..."
A hand shot out as Heero grabbed Duo's braid and tugged. "Baka," he said, under his breath.
"I saw that!" Duan called out.
Kenny released Duan's braid with an air of not wanting to get sucked into that one.
"Yeah, and I *felt* it... Watch what yer yankin' there, fly-boy," Duo quipped.
"No fighting while flying the shuttle, *boys*," Sallah said archly in her best
"mother" voice, one eyebrow raised.
"Yes, Sallah," Duo said with an air of feigned shame.
"You know how to work... the... stick," Heero said, slowly. "Gomen, Sallah," he called back.
"Hey, I never heard you complain before," Duo muttered to his partner quietly.
Heero became very red and very quiet.
"As I recall, you were counting on my piloting skills from the start, right?" Duo asked archly.
"It's not your..." Heero began, then stopped and sank back down in the seat.
Duo tossed him a wicked grin and a wink. "So anyone got any more questions before we touch down here soon?"
"Yeah, you want us to be nice to this Relena girl, or what?" Tryan asked.
"It'd probably be a good idea. She is one of the most influential people in the world, after all..."
Tryan shrugged. "That's ok. I was thinking that if we needed to protect you or Heero, we could do like we did in Arcadia with Katrina," he said.
"Let's uh... reserve that as an option for later... okay?"
Heero turned to look at Tryan. "It's ok, Tryan. Thanks, but I think we can handle her."
Tryan nodded.
"Anyone else?" Duo asked everyone.
"What is the party for, Duo?" Carter asked.
"Well, ya see, about a year ago, this person tried to take over the world. Heero, Wufei, Trowa, Quatre, myself and some other people all had to try to stop 'em... It's kinda a memorial to that. To celebrate the peace and stuff..." Duo answered.
"Are you going to say something special at the party?" Duan asked.
Duo frowned, thinking for a moment. "Not that I know of. Then again, it's kinda Relena's shindig, so I really don't know what all will happen, to be honest," Duo said with a shrug.
"And there's a mission too?" Kenny asked more for confirmation than anything.
"Yup."
"Hn," Kenny remarked.
"And it starts now?" Duan asked.
Heero looked at Duo, then back to Duan. "Hai," he said.
"We'll have a team meeting as soon as we can... So you guys can see everything we've got about where we're eventually going. Okay?" Duo called back.
"Ok," Duan replied. He looked over at Kenny and nodded his approval.
Kenny nodded.
Carter bobbed his head rapidly.
"Time for everyone to strap back in. We'll be starting landing procedures soon," Duo advised.
Heero got up from his seat and went back to help secure the kids.
Wufei breathed a silent sigh of relief and did the same, making sure that Tryan, Carter and Wufan were strapped in properly and giving Sallah's harness a look of approval.
"Here comes Earth," Kenny muttered quietly.
Heero looked up at Kenny and winked.
"Wow," Duan said, feeling the excitement begin again.
Heero took his seat again and strapped himself in. He glanced briefly at his partner and settled in for landing.
Duo tossed Heero a quick grin before concentrating on bringing the craft in for a touch down once more. The shuttle shook and shuddered for a few moments as he cut the speed back when the runway came into sight, but quickly settled back into smooth, even flight again. With practiced ease, the craft gently touched down on the hardened tarmac, shuddering again as Duo quickly flipped on the braking system. As the shuttle slowly started coasting to a stop, he turned to toss a wry glance at Heero.
"This should be a novel concept for you, Hee-chan... Landing on land, instead of the ocean," he muttered with a chuckle.
Heero looked at Duo for a long moment, but said nothing.
Duo shook his head before muttering, "Spoilsport," as he taxied them into the appropriate berth.
They were informed by the tower that the Vice Minister sent regrets that she was unable to meet them, but that an official delegate from the Sanq Kingdom would be meeting them in the terminal and that their luggage would be taken care of.
Duo thanked the tower politely as he started powering the shuttle down. "Okay, kids... This is our stop. Thank you for flying Shinigami Shuttles."
Carter giggle and bounced out of his seat.
"You are welcome," Duan replied.
"Hn," said Kenny and then impulsively gave Duo a very quick hug. Then he re-assumed his more restrained demeanor.
"That was a good trip, Duo." Tryan offered.
"Xie Xie, Duo," Wufan called out, waiting to see what would happen next.
Duo unstrapped and stood up, popping all his joints in a long stretch as he turned and tossed them all a trademarked grin, read, up-to-something. "Just wait till I fly us home again. That's where the real fun starts!" he said with a suspicious gleam in his eyes.
Wufei took care of getting the shuttle hatch open as someone from the dock worked on the outside. As the group piled out, they went through a short tunnel and then emerged in a private waiting area, where a tall man dressed in expensive but not formal clothes waited.
The man in question rested almost casually against the railing of the waiting area, arms folded across his chest and head bowed to glance quickly at his watch. The distinctive cut of the clothes marked him as the delegate they'd been informed of, but the waist length pale golden hair and jagged bangs made him a far more familiar face than might have been expected.
Glancing up as a boarder from another shuttle crossed too closely to him, cornflower blue eyes crossed the terminal and fixed on the first entering the room, and lighted with recognition.
Heero sighed softly and glanced over at Duo. "Here we go," he said, quietly, meeting Zechs' eyes. He nodded once in the taller man's direction.
Duo reached over quickly and gave Heero's arm a reassuring squeeze, the ghost of the smile he reserved only for his partner teasing at the corners of his mouth. He let go quickly and then bounced ahead, taking the lead. "I take it you're our contact?" he asked cheerfully.
As Heero and Duo moved forward towards the tall man, other figures behind them spread out and spilled around the two, keeping close, but heads turning in all directions. Five small boys... one with a long braid and wide violet eyes... one with dark tousled hair dressed in spandex shorts... one with am auburn bang falling over a serious face, one with bright gold curls and wide blue-green eyes, and one with Asian features and glasses, and a thoughtful expression. Behind them, another familiar figure brought up the rear, walking beside a woman who looked rather familiar as well, though something was not quite as it ought to be at first glance.
Zechs had pushed himself away from the railing, slightly bracing himself for the second pilot's natural enthusiasm. Whatever reply he had, and polite smile that was fixed disappeared under the mute and slightly blank stare usually reserved for someone convinced of hallucinations, but unwilling to bring their sanity into question.
It took a few moments for the blond man to recover before looking at Duo with a sort of determined intensity. "So Relena informs me," he replied at last. With a noticeable look of hesitation and a glance behind Duo, he continued. "And your guests?"
With the exchange of words, the tall blond man instantly became the focus of five pairs of very inquisitive eyes.
Duo paused a polite distance away, waiting for the boys to form up around. "We decided to adopt a family," he chirped as he indicated the children with a wave of his hand. "Meet Kenny, Duan, Tryan, Carter, and Wufan," he said, pointing to each boy in turn, "And Wufan's mom, Sallah. Everyone, this is Zechs. He's Relena's brother."
Duan looked around at the others, then moved forward. "Hi, I'm Duan," he said, offering the very large man a hand.
At Duo's introduction, Zechs seemed to pull himself together visibly, a slight tension leaving his shoulders and a sharp rise of a golden eyebrow at the similar names.
Reserving comment, he blinked at Duan a moment, assimilating the strange likeness, and knelt slightly, to the boy's level. He shook the proffered hand.
"Duan," he reaffirmed, his voice a little distant, before a sharper glance flicked up to Duo. "A startling likeness. Where did you find them, if I may ask?"
The moment the blond man knelt, the boy with the indigo eyes and spandex shorts stepped up beside Duan with what could only be termed a protective air. He scrutinized the one named Zechs shrewdly. When the man addressed Duo and referred to "them", he scowled. It was a remarkably familiar scowl. His eyes narrowed.
Duan's expression moved from open and smiling to a deep smirk. He heaved a deep sigh and looked back at the blond man. "We're not pumpkins... we're people. We only look like them some, but we're different. We're not really related," he said. Then, "Um, sorry. That happens a lot."
Zechs' gaze had darted back to Duan, and regarded him with a slight shock before one corner of his mouth tugged upwards. "No, I daresay you'd be more orange then," with a more serious look he gave Duan a nod, "My apologies. I didn't mean to offend."
Duan blinked. No one had apologized before. "Do you fly kites?" he asked Zechs.
The question elicited another blink and a shake of the head. "I've never had the luxury." he replied, wondering where this had come from.
Kenny looked at the man with an expression too old for his tender years. "Points for coming down here, but no points for the 'where did you find them'," he said succinctly.
The blond man stood again, a bit of a reflexive defense. "The apology was meant for all," he said quietly, the tone of voice a touch more formal.
"Don't worry about it," Duan replied, with a shrug. "Maybe if we're around long, we'll teach you how to fly a kite. It's fun," he replied, then moved back a step.
Carter had come up, flanking the man while his attention was elsewhere. He reached up and touched the man's hand tentatively.
"I'm Carter," he said, smiling hopefully. "You're a soldier, aren't you?"
There was another pause before Zechs returned the smile to a smaller degree, "Used to be."
Carter nodded. "So's Kenny," he tried to explain. "Don't worry, he'll like you when he gets to know you."
Tryan stepped forward and looked up at Zechs. "I'm Tryan," he said, "I was with the circus before Heero and Duo and the guys helped me to quit. Nice to meet you."
"Likewise," he murmured. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a rather unhelpful part piped up a random piece of report, /Didn't Trowa...?/ Not letting himself finish the thought, he nodded to Tryan before gradually looking towards the last of the adopted children, and one of the more familiar faces to him.
Wufan stepped up and pushed his glasses back on his nose. "I am Po Wufan," he said and bowed low. "It is an honor to meet you sir."
A slightly guilty thought that he'd been expecting a somewhat different response and temperament was briefly visible. Slightly stiffly he inclined his head to Wufan, in a return gesture.
Looking up, Wufan scanned Zechs' face. He nodded to himself and said. "Please forgive me staring, sir, but you look different in the pictures."
"The pictures?" he asked, looking for all the world as if he suspected he was missing something obvious.
Wufan bowed slightly once more, then looked back up. "Yes, sir," he replied. "You are the Zechs Merquise who piloted the Tallgeese for Oz and led the White Fang organization for a time while piloting the Gundam Epyon are you not? I read the books and saw the vids in the library files."
With a neutral expression Zechs nodded once at the recited list. "There were times when I'd have preferred not to have been recognized," he offered as an explanation. "That might account for it."
There was a sound of surprise as Duan looked at Kenny and the others as Wufan mentioned Epyon. Suddenly, four pairs of eyes looked towards the blond man again.
"Yes," Wufan said, "You wore the mask. It is an honor, sir," he added and with that bowed once more before returning to Sifu Chang's side.
Uncomfortable with the renewed interest, and the unnerving timing of it, Zechs straightened a little more as Wufan retreated from immediate sight. Turning to the sole woman, he quickly fished for the name, repressing the urge to call her Sally. "Sallah?" he asked.
Sallah stepped forward, reaching to shake Zechs' hand. "That's right," she answered. "Sallah Po. Pleased to meet you. I hope we aren't...too overwhelming." She smiled, hoping to soften some of the shock and tension still remaining in his demeanor.
"Not so much," he replied after a moment. The hand that hand been offered was taken for a brief kiss across the knuckles, a reflex from the brief stay in his sister's kingdom.
Her eyes widened in surprise, and she felt a faint flush tint her cheeks. She inclined her head in a slight bow.
Wufei attempted not to scowl as this was taking place and settled for a neutral mask.
"Merquise," he said shortly. "Or is it Peacecraft?"
"Merquise will do," Zechs replied, releasing Sallah's hand and stepping back. Without looking at Wufei, he turned to face Heero and Duo.
"The attendants have been instructed to load your baggage. We can leave at any time."
"Sounds good. Shall we then?" Duo replied.
Heero nodded. "Thanks Zechs," he said, simply.
Duan and Wufan turned to follow Duo.
Kenny stayed close to Duan.
Carter took Tryan's hand, and then walked up and reached up to take Zechs' hand in his free one.
Zechs gave Carter a startled look before smiling at the blond boy. His pace, when leading the way to the parking terminal, was markedly slower than usual, conscious of the smaller stature of his escorts.
When they all arrived at the large, well-appointed van which had been designated for the trip to the palace, everyone sorted themselves out easily.
As Carter slipped his hand out of Zechs' to take a seat, he said softly, "Don't worry about Epyon. It doesn't think about you very much any more."
A darker look flashed across the taller man's visage, and his brows drew together. It cleared quickly, whatever was there, hiding behind a cool mask again. With a curt nod to Carter, he circled the outside of the van to take the front passenger seat, nodding to the uniformed driver as he sat.
Carter sighed and crawled onto a seat next to Tryan. "I don't think he believed me," he said softly.
"Sometimes big people are like that," Tryan replied, glancing forward to the blond man. "Maybe he got used to it and it'll take some time for him to stop."
Carter smiled at Tryan gently. "I know big people are like that," he said. "Remember? All I had was big people, and my sisters, till you came. Anyway, he still thinks it's mostly his fault, that's all."
Tryan shrugged. "Maybe he'll think different after the mission," he offered.
Carter placed his finger over his lips and looked at Tryan meaningfully.
Tryan nodded.
Kenny listened to Carter's words and filed them away carefully.
"So," Duo said, breaking the uncomfortable silence, "Where we headed, and what's the agenda?"
Heero sat back in his seat and folded his arms. He then closed his eyes.
Half turning in his seat, Zechs replied, "Just to her estate, it's too early now for most of the guests to arrive. The day should be free until 6 or so." At the final slam of the van's trunk, he nodded to the driver, after a quick scan and headcount of his official charges.
"Sounds cool. How far is it?" Duo asked curiously.
"A little under half an hour," he said, a bit of a fond look settling. "Relena is fond of privacy these days, but is not so reclusive as to cut herself off from everything."
"How is Relena?" Heero asked, opening his eyes a fraction.
"Well," Zechs said, turning back to face forward. "Fending off hopeful suitors lately."
"Hn," Heero remarked, glancing at Duo.
Duo snorted, a grin playing across his face as he tossed a bland look at his partner. "Sounds like fun."
"Watching is, anyway. The last to run out was quite pale." Zechs paused. "I never did get the story behind that one."
"So she's not ready to settle down then, eh?" Duo asked innocently, glancing out the window to examine the terrain.
A small smile appeared on Heero's face. "Why, are you interested?" he said, looking at Duo.
"Nah... I don't think she's really my type," Duo replied wryly.
"Cause she's not a boy?" Carter asked.
Heero paled and closed his eyes again.
"A little too public of a lifestyle for me, kiddo," Duo answered smoothly.
Carter tilted his head.
"If she quit her job, you'd be interested, Duo?" Tryan asked.
"If she quit her job, I'm not sure if I'd have time to be interested in her, Tryan... She's kinda important to this whole peace thing," Duo answered.
"Besides," Zechs murmured, having kept half an amused ear on the conversation. "I doubt he'd fit into any of her dresses."
Duan frowned. "Maybe he'd look better in 'em," he said, to the blond man, in defense of Duo.
Carter blinked. "Why would Duo wear her dresses if they were going to be lovers? He doesn't wear Heero's clothes..."
Obviously biting the inside of his lips to keep from laughing Zechs managed, "It's not so much the apparel, but the color that he might object to."
"What color does she wear?" Carter asked curiously.
Tryan, Wufan and Duan turned to Zechs.
"I assure you, her preference will be very obvious," Zechs said in answer to the direct question and inquisitive stares.
Carter tugged Duo's arm. "Do you know?"
Duo nodded and tossed a wink at Carter before he replied, "Hey... There's nothing wrong with pink... I thought it looked absolutely stunning in Altron's cockpit that one time..." His voice trailed off as he glanced over at Wufei from under his lashes.
Wufei simply rolled his eyes, refusing to take the bait.
Carter sighed, feeling confused. He knew sarcasm when he heard it.
"I like pink," he said softly.
"Duo wore that pretty lavender kimono for Trick or Treat," Tryan said, "He'd probably look good in pink too."
"I'm more of a winter than a summer, I think," Duo said speculatively, "But you might be right. What do you think, Duan?"
"I think it depends on the dress," Duan said.
"And the shade," Duo agreed.
Passing on the side conversation, Zechs said, "Pink is fine in moderation," to Carter. "It's just that the reception hall appears to have been hosed down with Pepto Bismal," he added wryly.
"Pepto...what?" Carter asked, confused again.
"Remember that stuff I had to take when I overdid it with the candy that one time?" Duo said, "When I found the stash..."
"Ooooohhh."
Duan nodded. "So why did they hose the reception hall with stomach medicine?" he asked.
"Just a joke, Duan," Heero said, quietly.
"Oh," the boy replied, and grinned.
TBC
*Nixerchan writes for Zechs Merquise!*
End of Part 12
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