9-Feb-2001
Thanks to all for the warm welcome back. Heero, Duo, Wufei, Sallah and the mini's appreciate it gratefully!
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
*Guests to be announced*
Archive: GW Addiction - http://www.geocities.com/fenris_wolf0/ and if she chooses, Darkflame - http://nav.to/chibitrowa/
Category: yaoi, AU
Rating: PG-13 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.
NOTES: In the first several installments, Heero's part was written by Kateri Marie. After that, Von will be writing Heero's point of view.
Duo stirred in Heero's arms, shifting position again for the tenth time in five minutes, trying, in vain, to ward off the consciousness he felt knocking at his brain. Finally giving up the fight as a lost cause, he turned a little to glance up at his partner's face.
Heero chuckled as Duo looked up at him. He leaned down slightly to kiss Duo's nose, "Morning, koi."
"Mornin' Hee-chan. I'm spoiled, I think," Duo replied with a yawn and a grin.
Heero couldn't resist another chuckle; Duo looked just like a cat. "True," he commented with a small wry smile. "We're both going soft."
Duo grinned up at his lover with a wicked glint in his eyes.
"Just remember, you said it this time, not me."
"Hn," Heero responded, a glint in his eyes. Then he rolled, dumping Duo on the bed in a shower of covers.
"Oof! Well, good morning to you too!" Duo exclaimed, tossing his curtain of hair over his shoulder with an impish pout.
Heero gave his lover a brief grin before heading towards his new objective: the bathroom. "Shower," he commented before disappearing into the room with only one last glance backwards.
Duo sighed as Heero vanished through the doorway. As tempting as it was, he restrained himself from joining his partner. They had too much work to do to let himself get distracted this early in the day. Besides. It would be fun to watch Heero's expression when he reappeared from his ... lonely... shower.
Heero reappeared a few minutes later, hair still dripping slightly and towel thrown loosely around his waist. He grabbed the customary spandex and green tank top while throwing a glare at his lover. "Are you going to get up?"
Duo made a show of glancing under the blankets at his lap before tossing Heero a mischievous chuckle.
"Who says I'm not?" he asked innocently.
Heero growled low for a moment and then glared a bit more, "If you're not going to do anything about it..." He trailed off with a grin of his own.
Outside the door there was the sound of running feet and giggling, going past and down the hall.
Heero sighed and threw on his clothes. "I'll go. You get dressed."
"Dressed? I guess if you insist," Duo sighed dramatically, flinging off the blankets and striding towards their bathroom buck-naked.
"Hn," Heero grunted as he left, throwing the towel at his lover with ease.
Duo snatched the towel out of the air as it sailed towards him and strode into their bathroom, tossing a seductive grin at Heero's back as his partner departed.
"Baka," Heero muttered under his breath as he made his way down the hall.
As Heero entered the hall, he heard a call from behind. "Watch out!!!" Tryan called, dashing towards him.
Heero jumped immediately against the wall in a defensive position, glancing towards the voice for the threat.
Tryan ran by, leaping into the air and executing a perfect somersault and landing a few feet down the hall. "Carter!!!" he called, dashing out of sight.
Eyebrow arching up, Heero glanced back the way the small missile had come, ascertaining if there were any more flying munchkins.
The coast appeared to be clear but from the other direction, down the stairs, an infectious giggle could be heard moving at high speed.
Heero eyed the stairs suspiciously and moved towards them with caution, staying close to the wall just in case.
Heero did not immediately detect anything until he reached the foot of the stairs. Then a small object moving at high speed dashed by... it appeared to have two fast moving legs and a yellow top... and it giggled.
A second eyebrow joined the first and Heero sighed. He paused and whistled long and sharp.
The small fast moving body pulled up with amazing dexterity and turned, or more like spun around, and a pair of impossibly large blue green eyes looked at Heero with innocent surprise.
An amused smile floated around Heero's lips as he suppressed the urge to say 'Report'. He turned a questioning look on the boy, "Hn?"
Carter blinked. Then he straightened as if he'd picked up the thought from Heero.
"We were... Tryan... there was... he was showing me what tickling was.... but... we shouldn't run?" Carter stuttered breathlessly.
Tryan doubled back and found Carter standing near Heero. He walked up quickly to stand beside his friend. "Uh, good morning, Heero. Sorry we bothered you," he said.
With some difficulty Heero managed to keep his face from splitting into a grin. He eyed Tryan for a moment and then glanced briefly at Carter, "So he was teaching you about tickling was he?"
Carter's head bobbed up and down as if on a string.
Green eyes watched Heero closely. Tryan moved a little closer to Carter. "It was too much noise, right? We'll be quieter," he said.
"Hn," Heero said in a noncommittal grunt as a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Duo's egged him on. He gave in without much of a fight and lunged for Tryan. "Nimou Ryoukai," he said with a grin as he set about tickling the munchmini for all he was worth.
Tryan giggled and squirmed uncontrollably under Heero's fingers. His green eyes squeezed shut and the laughing fit caused his chest to hurt from lack of oxygen, but he didn't fight. This was fun!
Carter gasped as Heero pounced on Tryan, blinking in surprise. Then Carter took a deep breath and suddenly sprang... at Heero! It might have seemed impossible, but somehow the empathic boy reached out with tiny hands and found the one inch on Heero's entire body that was vulnerable to attack... fingers crooked and wriggled on that one tiny spot under Heero's left arm.
Heero released Tryan and rolled back, choking on a laugh that had almost escaped him under Carter's attack. The continued wriggles of the tiny fingers got a barked laugh out of him before he managed to roll back and sweep out an arm, tumbling Carter onto his chest where he returned the favor.
Carter shrieked helplessly and curled into a ball, giggling and gasping for air.
Heero rolled into a sitting position, tumbling the little boy onto his lap and quickly glancing for his other target.
Tryan moved, even as he fought to breathe. Instead of going for Heero's tickle spot, he moved to help Carter. Finding it impossible to pry Heero's fingers away from his pal, Tryan merely threw his arms around Heero's neck attempting to pull Heero to the ground.
Heero rolled back again as Tryan launched, holding onto him with one arm and catching Carter with the other. With a frightening ease, he rolled to his feet, still holding onto both boys. "Breakfast time, ne?" he asked with a grin as he made his way to the kitchen at the back of the house.
As he walked, he tossed a glance up to his lover at the top of the stairs with a raised eyebrow.
Duo contemplated the three with a bemused expression, his hairbrush dangling forgotten in his fingers, and his hair draped about his t-shirt clad shoulders in loose, damp tendrils. He blinked once or twice, a curious smile playing at his lips.
Heero jerked his head at the rest of the house, "We seem to be missing some."
"Hm? Oh. Yeah. Lemme finish getting dressed. I'll wake em all up," Duo replied, waving towards his boxer clad legs as he stood.
"I'm sure you will," Heero said dryly, heading back towards the kitchen.
"I bet you already did, Hee-chan," Duo murmured to himself proudly as he slipped back towards the room they'd picked out the day before.
Heero carried the two boys into the kitchen and deposited them on the bar stool seats at the island. "What do you want for breakfast?"
The smell of cooking food greeted the Japanese boy and his charges. Sallah looked up as they came in and smiled, a trifle shyly.
"You're just in time for eggs and bacon, toast... and the juice is in the cooler..." she said, reaching for plates.
Heero nodded appreciatively, "Arigato."
He glanced down at the two boys, "What do you want? Better eat while you can."
Tryan nodded.
Sallah, with slightly more experience of small boys, simply placed plates in front of Carter and Tryan filled with scrambled eggs, toast and slices of melon. She placed a similar plate in front of Heero as well.
Then she turned, and gave a little startled cry.
There was a large picture window beside the island, and hanging from the lower limbs of a tree just outside were two small forms... one with a dangling braid.
Heero glanced outside and shook his head. He jerked his head towards the two boys and looked at Sallah inquiringly.
Sallah recovered from the startle and patted her chest, then fixed two more plates and put them on the bar.
Kenny dropped from the tree and tugged Duan's braid.
Duan looked over at Kenny and nodded. "Breakfast," he said, simply, moving inside.
Coming in through the kitchen door, the two climbed onto stools and grinned at Tryan and Carter. Carter waved happily, since his mouth was too full of egg to talk.
Heero nodded at the two boys and debated calling his lover but smiled wickedly to himself and decided against it. "Wufei?" he asked Sallah instead.
"I think he's doing some kind of exercise," she said, shrugging slightly.
Duo bounced into the kitchen, just finishing up binding off his braid. His head was cocked back, and his eyes closed as he sniffed the air appreciatively.
"Eggs... Bacon... Toast... Smells great!" he exclaimed, tossing Sallah a grateful smile.
Tryan stood and went to the refrigerator. He removed a pitcher of orange juice and placed it on the table.
The Chinese woman smiled at Duo and set down a plate full of aforementioned food items as well as melon slices.
"I'm glad you don't mind that I got up and started making all this. I wasn't sure..." she said, setting down her own plate.
"Thank you, Sallah," Duan said. "This is good."
"Yeah, thanks Sallah! You are an amazing woman!" Duo replied, digging into his own breakfast with gusto.
"Where's Wufan?" Duo asked, glancing around, "With Wufei?"
Sallah's mouth quirked slightly and she nodded. "He wanted to learn the.. the... katas?"
Duo nodded, unsurprised, muttering "Figures," around a mouthful of toast.
Heero tugged at his lover's braid slightly. "Hn."
"Whoops. Sorry," Duo apologized, grinning sheepishly at his table manners, "See? I can learn."
"Don't worry about it," Sallah said, softly.
"Hm. You going to go with us today, Sallah?" Duo asked, changing the subject cheerfully.
"Go where?" she asked.
"Well, sometime today, we gotta get everyone some stuff... New clothes, home stuff," he said with an inclusive wave of his hand, "And if you're feeling really adventurous, Heero and I gotta pack up our old place and relocate over here. I wouldn't advise joining us there, though... It's gotta be a mom's nightmare," Duo finished with a dramatic shudder.
Sallah tilted her head. "I thought I would spend some time today trying to pick up some of the information about how everything is here... history, culture.... Arcadia had a public library. Do you have anything like that here?"
Heero nodded. "Hai."
"There's one that's across from that park we were at," Duan said.
Duo grinned over at the smaller boy, tossing him a conspiratorial wink.
Sallah nodded and smiled at Duan. "Good... thank you."
"That is a very good tree," Duan said, looking over at Kenny. "It's positioned just right, lots of cover."
"Hn," Kenny agreed.
"Tree?" Duo asked curiously, his gaze ping-ponging from Kenny to Duan and back.
"The tree outside our window. It's very accessible and highly strategic. We can get to the roof or the other tree from there," Duan added.
"Faster access to ground level than the stairs," Kenny added, wiping his plate with a last piece of toast.
"And it's good for recon," Duan said, drinking the last of his juice.
"How are the branches?" Tryan asked.
"Real strong," Duan said.
"Cool!" Duo exclaimed, polishing off the last of his own breakfast with a wide grin.
Duo rose from his seat and headed for the sink to clean off his plate. Finishing with that quickly, he turned, his gaze sweeping over the group, a devilish twinkle in his lavender eyes.
Heero caught the look in his lover's eyes and his own narrowed warily, "Iie," he said firmly.
Duo blinked, gaze darting over to his partners.
"But-"
'Iie," Heero said again with an affectionate sigh.
"It was just a-"
Heero looked at him steadily.
Duo sighed explosively, pouting in what would have been a cute manner on any of the kids, but on him only looked ridiculous.
"Yer no fun at all, Heero."
"So you keep telling me, baka," Heero drawled, tugging Duo's braid again as he stood.
"Fine, fine... I'll just go find the Wu's and see if they want any food," Duo replied.
Duan stood up. "Hey!" he called out, walking up to Heero. "Now, I've been real good, I think, and you said we could say what we wanted, so I'm sayin' it. You're makin' me look real bad around here, cause I'm not able to guard Duo's braid. I know you're bigger than me and all, but..." he began, and then looked down for the words to say.
Kenny slipped behind Duan and his hand closed around Duan's braid. "Don't complain," he said. "Just get faster." Then he gave the braid he was holding a little tug, and dashed off, out of the kitchen and through the house.
Heero couldn't resist smiling at that. He leaned down slightly towards Duan an spoke in a low voice, "That makes you it."
Duan looked up and glared at Heero. He crossed his arms over his chest. "I know," he said, frowning. Looking back up at the older boy, Duan moved closer. "Ok," he said, "I'll get faster... and I'll get bigger too.... Then, you'll have to watch out for the Braid Patrol, instituted as of... now!"
Turning, he glanced up at Duo. Taking his own braid, Duan pulled it around and tucked it inside his shirt. He then took a deep breath and took off after Kenny like a shot.
Heero sighed slightly as he straightened and glanced at his lover with a shadow in his blue eyes. He'd done it again and Heero knew it.
Tryan nudged Carter. Leaning over, he whispered. "Aren't you glad we don't have that problem?"
Carter blinked. "Which one?" he said, confused.
"Braid," Tryan answered.
"Um... I think it's cool," Carter admitted.
Tryan raised his finger and wiggled it at Carter, menacingly. "Yeah," he said, "And you got *another* problem, eh?"
Carter squealed and ran behind Duo.
Duo backed them both up, defending against Tryan, and watching Heero warily. He could sense the attack coming from that front already. He scanned the kitchen quickly, scouting out retreat routes and escape trajectories with the expert eye of an ex-terrorist and Gundam pilot.
Sallah stood up and announced firmly, "Kitchen Rule Number One: No tickling in the Kitchen!" She looked meaningfully at Duo and Heero before favoring the look on the small ones. Sallah was claiming the kitchen as her own.
Heero gave a nod gracefully, pushing the problem of Duan for further thought. He looked at Duo, narrowing his eyes, thinking of the new parameters: get the targets out of the kitchen. He grinned slightly, mission accepted.
He looked down at Tryan for a moment, a mischievous glint in his eyes, then he reached forward and tapped Duo's shoulder, "Tag." Then he was gone.
Tryan stood and took off after Heero.
Duo watched his partner and the smaller boy vanish from the kitchen after having tossed out such an obvious challenge. He glanced down and met Carter's gaze with a conspiratorial grin.
"I'm not in the mood for 'tag'... how bout you?" he asked innocently.
Carter nodded. "Me either! If I got tickled, I might barf!!"
"I was thinking more along the lines of... 'Hide N Go Seek'," Duo continued, nodding towards where their respective friends had vanished to and then nodding towards the back exit to the kitchen with a grin.
"Is that like, we hide?" Carter asked.
"You got it, kiddo. Time for me to learn you the fine Maxwell art of running and hiding," he giggled quietly.
Carter nodded. He tugged Duo's arm gently. "I know a place we can hide," he whispered.
Duo nodded excitedly, following in Carter's wake.
Carter went out of the kitchen door, then led Duo to the tree. He pointed and Duo could see that the large old oak tree reached up to the second floor and even above and the branches were sturdy. Carter pointed to a little window under the eaves of the roof.
"There's something up there... above the second floor!" he said. "But I can't reach the bottom limbs unless you lift me..."
Duo grinned, picking Carter up and lifting the smaller boy into the tree easily, before swinging up onto the branch beside him.
"Shall we?" he asked with a flourish.
Carter scrambled up the tree like a squirrel.
Wufei entered the kitchen along with Wufan.
Sallah smiled and quickly prepared plates for these two.
Wufan waited until the food was placed, then looked up. "Thank you," he said. "Would you like something too?"
"Thank you, I've had mine," she said, touching her son's cheek gently.
Wufan smiled, then turned back to his plate. He managed a glance up at Wufei before eating his food.
Heero lurked in the halls for a bit but it became quickly apparent that Duo hadn't taken the bait this time. He leaned against a random wall and debated going to find his lover.
On the one hand, finding Duo was usually good... but... if he found Duo, they would be going shopping.
The mere idea brought a frown to Heero's face.
These were not good parameters.
Heero glanced down at Tryan, wondering if he had any ideas.
"You don't want to go shopping, do you?" Tryan asked Heero.
Heero smiled somewhat ruefully and shook his head, "Iie. Too many people... noise... To very little purpose."
Tryan shrugged. "Then, don't do it. It's not like we're going anywhere soon, right?"
Kenny poked his head around a doorway. "No remote?"
Heero shook his head again, he wished. "No. We have... shopping centers. Stores."
Kenny tilted his head. The words were not familiar. He glanced behind him at Duan and shrugged.
Heero sighed, giving in to the inevitable. Even he recognized they'd need more than one set of clothes. "Let's find Duo and Carter."
Tryan nodded. "Ok," he said.
Heero glanced at the other two boys in inquiry.
"Join us?" he asked.
"Search and capture?" Kenny asked.
"Hai. Wufei and Wufan too if you find them." He grinned slightly at them, knowing full well how much Wufei liked shopping. Heero wasn't one to be tortured alone.
Kenny looked at Duan to see if he was up for this mission.
Duan nodded. "Let's check the kitchen," he said.
The little window tucked under the eaves of the house could be reached by Carter, using the branches of the large tree, and by some fortunate chance, the window opened easily, allowing the small blond child to scramble in. Duo managed to follow the smaller boy's path, but he could tell by the way the branches swayed that he would not be able to linger, and truth to be told, it was a feat of grace, balance and speed for someone even of Duo's slender build to make it. The window was small, but easily as large as many an air duct the young ex-terrorist had crawled through so that was no problem. Like a cat, Duo was capable of squirming into spaces that might appear too small for even he, and there was more than enough room by those standards.
Once inside, the two explorers looked around.
They found themselves at the end of a room, which appeared to run perhaps half the length of the house itself. It was oddly shaped, to accommodate the tapering of the roof, making the area running the center of the room lengthwise taller with more than sufficient headroom, while along the sides of the room, the ceiling angled down to the floor.
Under their feet, a thick, plush carpet with excellent padding covered the floor. It was a dusky, lightish blue, and the color matched the walls and ceiling. Against the far wall, opposite the window, and tucked under the tapering ceiling, a wide, low platform supported a large futon mattress, covered in the same blue. Across from the bed, a standing screen hid a portion of the room from immediate view. The screen was a similar shade of blue with a pattern of fluffy white clouds across it.
The rest of the contents of the room were scattered, placed for convenience and then moved out of the way at will, and included a couple of trunks of the variety used by space travelers to carry belongings, lockable, airtight seal-able and crushproof short of dropping a shuttle on them.
There was a pair of well-used, dark red boots carelessly thrown into a corner by the tapered ceiling, and a jacket half-draped over one of the chests. A white glove was pinned to the ceiling with a switchblade.
Next to the futon, a small flatscreen monitor displayed a live image of the kitchen downstairs. There were no apparent controls for the display.
Carter looked around with wide eyes and walked further into the room, drawn by the mystery of the cloud-covered screen and what it might hide.
He ran over and peeked behind it, and blinked, and then looked back at Duo. "Facilities," he said succinctly.
Duo shared a secretive little grin with Carter, and then cast one last look around as he ushered them both back out the window. Carter giggled as he snagged the nearest branch and swung back out onto the tree and carefully shimmied down to the ground again.
Forty Minutes later, Duo and Carter glanced up at the irritated growl at the doorway to the small vid room on the first floor. Their faces were identical masks of innocence and nonchalance as Heero stepped into the room and crossed his arms over his chest with a scowl. Tryan appeared beside him a moment later and blinked in surprise.
"Where were you guys? We just looked in here and it was empty!" Tryan exclaimed.
Duo blinked up at Heero's suspicious expression and tossed his partner a sweet, endearing smile.
"Stealth training. Guess we both passed, kiddo," Duo replied, winking down to Carter.
Carter leapt to his feet and grabbed Duo about the neck for a quick, exuberant hug as he giggled gleefully.
"Welcome to the wonderful world of the Fine Maxwell Art of Running and Hiding, Carter. Seminars are held in the north concourse at 2, 4, and 6 PM. Diplomas will be mailed out to your individual residences, and thank you for participating in today's lesson. Have a nice day."
"Hn. Baka."
"Thanks, Duo!" Carter said before dashing off with Tryan in tow.
"No problem, kiddo! We'll have to do that again sometime!" Duo called, climbing to his feet and flipping off the vid.
"So where were you?"
Duo flashed Heero a patently false surprised expression, his hand clutched dramatically over his chest as he peered at his partner.
"Don't tell me you let a couple of 'kids' outsmart you!"
"Baka."
"You say the sweetest things, Hee-chan," Duo sang cheerfully as he slipped past Heero and out into the hall, heading for the kitchen and the can of soda he could hear calling his name. A sharp tug on his braid brought him up sharp.
"Itai. Damnit, Heero, what is this fascination you have with my braid?" Duo sighed with exasperation.
"Convenience."
Before Duo could retort, Heero cast a superior smirk over his partner, and then dropped the aforementioned hair to stalk away down the hall. Duo shook his head and waiting until Heero was out of sight to complete his aborted quest for caffeination.
It only took a few days to settle into the new residence, and for a kind of rhythm to begin to form in the lives of the small extended family.
The five boys were enrolled in school, after Heero took care of creating records for them in the colony database. They were listed as having moved there from L3, and that colony's records were so messed up after the Mariemaia incident that it wouldn't cause suspicion if anything turned up missing.
Duo and Heero moved their few personal belongings to the house, and Wufei turned up with a few things from wherever he'd been living. A few shopping trips were adventured on without too much untoward disaster, and the residents of the house began to live lives which, while still new and prone to the unexpected at the oddest moments, showed the promise of stability and unity in a possible near future to come.
Jack and the Ripper were conspicuous by their absence, unless you counted traces of occasional occupancy in the little room under the eaves, which remained known only to Carter and Duo for a little while.
After carefully surveying the hallway to make sure it was clear, Duo slipped into the room he shared with Heero and locked the closed door behind him. He crossed over to their large bed and knelt down on the floor, dropping onto his stomach to reach underneath and up into the mattress for the long case he'd hidden there their first night back on L2. With deft fingers, he caught the collection of small noisy objects he'd stacked atop the case, satisfied that no one had bothered it since he'd stashed it. Setting them off to the side, he slid the box out and knelt up to set it on the bed.
As he shifted to settle onto the bed beside the box, his free hand was busy fishing a particular lock-pick out of his braid, the lock-pick designed expressly for the lock on the case that had no key. Long practice and well-honed skill had the lock picked and the latches flipped open in a scant few seconds, and the pick was slid carefully back into concealment. The lid swung up and open, revealing a motley collection of items carefully and painstakingly stowed among the foam-cushioned interior.
A few snapshots of the other pilots, bent, beaten, watermarked, and in at least one case, stained with the faint spatter of blood, peeked out from where they were pressed into the pages of an equally battered, but no less loved, Bible. The handgun he'd shot Heero with that first time lay nestled in its own custom crafted spot in the upper left corner of the case, a half empty clip stowed carefully beside it. A few pressed heads of dried flowers, carefully wrapped in a nest of tissue paper, were the last tangible remnants of the celebration in the desert he'd shared with Quatre. Tucked in the upper right corner, a battered cardboard box, the faded name of some shoe company that had been defunct for nearly ten years barely visible, was reverently cradled and carefully secured.
Duo let his fingers trail slowly over the dusty cardboard for a moment, his eyes softening to a dusky lavender and a sad, gentle smile tugging at his lips. With a soft shake of his head, he pulled his hand away and turned his attention to one of the items lying proudly in the center of the case. A set of three knives, two longer daggers, and a smaller throwing knife, sat serenely, their blued Gundanium blades winking cheerfully in the low light of the room. Duo tossed his braid over his shoulder with a flip of his head as he carefully withdrew one of the larger daggers and examined it minutely.
The cold Gundanium shimmered darkly, almost a midnight rainbow sheen to the metal as the faint light played across the mirror smooth surface. He curbed his impulse to run a finger over the keen edge to test its sharpness, recalling the last time he'd done that and the deep slash he'd given himself. The edge would do. He smiled wryly to himself as he set the knife aside and closed the case once more, locking his past back into its shadowed confines. After a few minutes, with the case secured back under the bed and covered with his simple security devices, Duo hopped back to his feet and bounced over to the closet.
Standing on tiptoe, he pulled down the belt, sheathes, and paired knives that Rip had lent to him what seemed like ages ago in Arcadia. The manic redhead had never asked for them back, however, such quality weapons must surely be missed eventually. With Duo and Carter's new discovery, the ex-pilot could return the loan, with interest. Duo smiled again as he bundled belt and knives together, slipping the ensemble into his shirt carefully in preparation for another "tree adventure". He paused at the bedroom door, turning back to the small desk across the room long enough to scribble down a quick note.
*Tried to get you your own Gundam, but since they've been outlawed, they're kinda hard to find. This is as close as I could come. Sorry I couldn't get you something bigger, but there wasn't much left of my old partner after we had to destroy all the Gundams. Hope you like. Thanks for the lend of the knives.*
He didn't bother signing it; there was no need. With a jaunty smirk, he tucked the note in his shirt with the knives, unlocked the door and bounced out into the hall. As an after thought, he snagged one of his spare hair-ties and stuffed it in a pocket. Seeing that he coast was still clear, he wandered off to the kitchen, grabbed a soda, drank half of it, and then sat the can on the counter on his way out the door to the climbing tree.
He was slightly surprised to not see Kenny or Duan playing in the tree or yard when he started squirreling his way up the branches towards the small window up under the eves. As soon as he was done leaving his little gift, he'd have to go track the duo down and see what they were up to. Come to think of it, the entire house had been far too quiet for far too long. He'd have to hunt all the kids up for a game of capture the flag or something when he was done.
With a quick flip, he slid through the window and into the pleasantly furnished room, one hand absently checking to make sure the bundle in his shirt was still secure.
Not much had changed; the glove was still pinned to the ceiling, and everything was still neatly stowed. A chest or two may have been shifted slightly, slid out of place and then pushed back, but that was it. Duo withdrew the belt and Rip's knives from his shirt as he crossed the plush blue carpet to the large futon. Folding the belt decoratively, Duo laid it out on one corner, and then left the Gundanium blade crossways over the bundle, propping the note in front of it.
With a sigh, Duo once again found himself wishing that Heero wasn't so threatened by the redhead. He missed trading quips with the manic Arcadian. Something about Ripper just seemed to bring out the worst in Heero. Although, truth be told, the Japanese youth never really had been the most cordial of individuals to begin with. A twinge along the back of Duo's scalp, the memory of how Heero had yanked on his braid this morning for one of Duo's normal smart-ass jokes, attested to that.
Duo sighed as he cast one last lingering glance over the dark Gundanium blade. The knife forged from the last few scraps of Deathscythe's armor wasn't much of an apology, but it was a start. Duo was confident that they would all be able to work it all out eventually. Besides, he figured having a knife made out of one of the most powerful machines of chaos this particular universe had spawned would appeal to Rip's sense of fun. Duo grinned at the thought, regretting that he wouldn't be there to see Rip's face when he got the gift. With a fateful shrug, Duo walked back over to the window and leaned out, catching one of the closer branches and pulling it close.
He fished out the hair-tie he'd brought, carefully twisting it around the tip of the branch where any of the kids who were climbing the tree might see it, but where Heero wouldn't be able to see it from the ground. Duo figured it would only be a matter of time before the rest of the kids found the window access and the apartment beyond. In the hopes of keeping the peace between his partner and their hosts, Duo figured it would be best if his lover remained unaware of their upstairs neighbors for a while. He was pretty confident that the kids would understand the unspoken message his hair-tie represented, and help him keep the secret. Once again, he found himself sending up a quick little prayer to whoever was listening for sending such wonderful, bright children into his life. He wasn't entirely sure what he'd done to deserve such a singular honor, but he was bound and determined to not drop the ball on this mission.
Speaking of mission, he still had to find the consortium of mischief. Things had remained quiet during his sortie. God only knew what they could be up to.
Satisfied that the hair-tie would stay where he'd left it, he flipped himself back out the window, secured it behind him, and dropped down to the ground with a soft whumph. Fleetingly, he wondered what kind of trouble they could be getting themselves into, and if there would be room for him. With his usual manic grin, he jogged into the house, grabbed up his half empty can of soda, and went off in search of the Rogue Brigade.
That night, as he was undressing, Duo found a note in the pocket of his jeans.
"check your box"
Everything was as he left it, the noise makers, the lock, but inside, one of the two knives he'd returned to Rip was nestled neatly with the other items.
TBC
TIMELINE NOTE: This brings us up to the events portrayed in the fic Mini's Trick or Treat, which can be found on GW Addiction under the heading "Mission"Arcadia and Beyond" on Bonne&Von, or RavynFyre's pages.
The next posted section of Chasing the Crown will take place *after* the events of Trick or Treat.
This section is mostly a bridge to later events - apologies if it seems a bit on the slow side. Things will start cranking up in the near future, though.
As always, many thanks for you patience and attention!
End of Part 2
Please feel free to direct feedback to any or all of the authors!
ravynfyre@hotmail.com,
fenwyck@radiks.net,
sablexo1@yahoo.com,
bonnejeanne@yahoo.com.