SIXTEEN YEARS LATER:
The group of scientists was a little older now, shrunken with age and responsibilities. They watched with pride the experiments that they had been nursing along for the last years. They had been joined by their contact with their backers, Glen. Glen, oddly, had taken as much pride in their accomplishments as the scientists had.
"Jason," Glen asked, "Your daughter comes home tomorrow, doesn't she?"
"Yes," he answered absently, concentrating on the group in front of him. "She misses her brothers. But thank you for letting her go to boarding school."
"I was surprised at your request, she was happy here." Glen admitted. #Brothers? Will she still think of them that way when she sees them? Will she still like them when she sees that they aren't as human as she thought they were? Une's the closest and I still don't know about her.#
"The boys thought it was better that she go away for her schooling ." Jason said amusedly. "That's the only reason that I asked."
"What?" Glen said in surprise. "You mean you listened to them about something like that?" #You act like they're retarded pets most of the time, why would you listen to what they asked of you when they were children. Have you even listened to yourselves with them half the time?#
"They sent Quatre and Duo in to speak to me about it." Jason smiled at the memory, "They looked so serious. They were all of nine."
"Why did they speak to you about it?" Ong asked, bemusedly.
"Relena is my daughter, they thought that it would be better if they spoke to me, not any of you about it." Jason said seriously. "Besides I think that they know I'm the softie of the group."
"That is true, you do spoil them." Gerald said with smile.
"No more then the rest of you." Jason laughed.
Glen sat watching the interplay with bitter amusement. Of course they spoiled their charges, they had gotten close to them in the years watching their little experiments grow up on them. But they never forgot that they weren't human. That they had made them, like they were a God or something. Pets get spoiled too.
"Well," started Jason, "Just before their bedtime, Quatre and Duo came into my office. They had asked to see me earlier in the day and I had spent the time wondering what they were up to...."
Flashback:
Jason looked up at the solemn faces across from him. Quatre and Duo looked back at him, shuffling their feet a little from nervousness.
"You were taught to act better then that." he chastised them. #Shuffling is a habit that will get you killed in the field. You are to be silent at all times, like the animals that we bred you from.#
"We know," Duo said, "but this is like another grown up thing, and we're nervous. It's not easy like the shooting and other stuff that's bein' taught to us."
"It's Relena," Quatre piped up, "She's not like us, Not just the fact that she's a girl, Une's a girl but she's like us, sort of."
"No Relena isn't like you," Jason said quietly, wondering what the problem was. And how they knew.
They all got along, even though Relena was a pure human, while the rest of them were human/animal mixes. Quatre, Duo, Wufei and Treize were a combination of a breed of domestic cat mixed with their human genes, while Heero, Trowa and Zechs were a mixture of wolf and human genes. Une just had been heavily modified for greater strength and intelligence, faster reflexes and a few other things. Those changes had lead to a few minor problems with her emotions that hadn't shown up until she hit puberty, but they were controlling those with drugs and behavior modification. It was those problems that they had with her that stopped any additional research that they were going to attempt. They were content with what they had and maybe they would be able to breed true with a human. It had been one of the biggest obvious failures that they had were all the surviving experiments had been male, except for one.
The boys just were faster and stronger then a human. Their added genes let them see in the dark, increased their sense of smell, their agility and hearing. A superior product, that their patron was having trained to be assassins, bodyguards, fighters and special enforcers for their organization.
There had been a few disappointments. Trowa and Duo preferred to be noncombatants, and while Quatre hated the thought of fighting at all, he was ruthless, just didn't like violence. He was much better at trying to talk people around to his point of view. Jason hoped that their patron would let him work on their business side rather then the enforcement side. And he and Trowa were talented musicians, while Wufei had already finished a course of study that could put him into college at his young age. He absorbed knowledge like the dessert absorbed rain. It was a pity to waste his mind by turning him into a killing machine. But he was so good at fighting also. A true Renaissance being.
"Well, we could have told you that, she doesn't smell right." Duo pertly answered, getting over his nervousness. "She belongs with the humans, she smells like them. Like everyone else around here smells like. Send her to school so she's not going to get weird like us."
#Scent, I didn't think that it would be something that simple,# Jason thought. #I forgot how some of their communication is nonverbal. Scent, especially with the wolves is important.#
"Duo!" Quatre exclaimed embarrassed. "I'm sorry; he promised to behave himself. But she's not like us. And that's going be more apparent when she gets older, like Une's age. Une's starting to you know, be an older girl." #She always smells bad, from the drugs. You can't tell but we can.#
"I didn't say she smelled bad, just that she didn't smell like us. She smells like a human and she should be with them." Duo explained, blushing.
"I'll ask if she can be sent to school. She won't be able to come home for a while if I do that though." Jason said gently.
"I know," Duo said, "We'll miss her, all of us, but she isn't like us. She should meet people. See things. It isn't bad here, but you know she can do things that we can't. Just like we can do things that she can't."
"I know Duo, it's just that I was selfish when she was born, I wanted her to be with me."
"But she shouldn't stay here. She should be normal," Quatre said, relieved that the arguments that he feared didn't happen. He didn't want to try and explain to Jason where they had gotten their information.
Heero had been very busy one night and gotten all the data that he could find on them. They had wondered why they were growing up out here, in the middle of nowhere. Heero had found the information when he had started hacking through the databases in boredom. What he had found had been interesting to say the least. Wufei had to break down most of the technical terms to them. Those records also explained why they could do things that they knew the scientists and the others that lived here couldn't do. They were different, but Relena wasn't so she should get a chance to be normal. To get to leave here.
"I'll ask Glen if she can go to school. They may have a boarding school that he can recommend. But that doesn't mean she'll be home for the holidays. You won't see her for years." Jason warned them.
Duo nodded sadly, then flashed a grin at Jason. "Then it be good when we see her again. She'll tell us about bein' human. Then we can be better for them."
"Duo!" Quatre exclaimed and started to chase him out the door. Duo swished his braid at him like a tail and ran away giggling. He couldn't be serious for long. It was endearing, but Quatre worried that it might get him terminated someday; that had been in his records, the scientists' disappointment about that. Quatre stopped at the door and looked at Jason seriously. "And she should go away before she realizes why we're being taught how to shoot, to fight and things like that. She might not like it and Glen would have to do something about her. Like they want to do about Une if the drugs don't work." He flashed another innocent, sunny smile at Jason before resuming his chase of Duo. Jason sat there stunned, wondering how much his small charges knew about what was planned for them. And how Quatre could calmly mention to him about taking care of a 'problem', how ruthless was he under that innocent smile. He would have to be watched closely in the future.
Present Day:
Jason continued to smile as he watched Wufei, Duo and Trowa play a complicated game of tag which involved much tumbling, climbing and running about. Wufei had resorted to that in self defense because Duo couldn't calm down, he was excited about seeing Relena again after seven years. He figured exhausting the other teen was easier then trying to slip tranquilizers into his drink. And he'd taste those. Trowa joined in because wanted to do something to kill the time before Treize and Quatre came home from their assignment and he didn't want to practice his music alone. Heero and Zechs had left to pick up Relena and wouldn't be back until later the next day.
Gerald smiled down at the group marveling how much they resembled the animals that they had been crossed with, in attitude at least. Trowa was as silent and deadly as a wolf, for all the distaste he had for killing. He readily accepted the pack structure that had grown among the group and was content with being a low level member of a pack. He was comfortable with the support structure, it helped him with their assignments. He was usually paired with one of the older boys, not willing to take charge of an operation. He had also become very withdrawn in the past few years, for some unknown reason. Not that he had been outgoing before, he had always been the one of the quiet ones. And very aware that he was low on the social scale in that group. Must be why he was so quiet. Wufei was as elegant and fussy as the Siamese genes that made up half his DNA. Duo was a big surprise through. He still had the limitless energy supply of a kitten, which was a problem at times for him.
He could rein himself in for an assignment, wait endlessly for the kill and he enjoyed a good 'stalk' as he called them, but once he didn't have to work, he was a different person, bouncy and energetic. They had been worried that Duo had the same behavioral problems that Une did, but he was 'normal' in most other ways, so they weren't going to be concerned about it. It didn't overtly effect his performance. And he could always be terminated for it, if he couldn't continue to control himself.
Duo usually was paired with one of the more dominant ones of the group, because they and Glen had all agreed that he needed a keeper at times. And he liked teasing their assigned guardian for any of their assignments, far too much. They were still too young to go anyplace on their own. And they were all too good looking. Duo attracted as much attention for his looks as for his actions, they all stood out in a crowd. It was a drawback that they were all wondering how it happened. They hadn't planned for the experiments to be this beautiful.
The group usually planned their own assignments after receiving their orders and for the most part chose who was going to work together. They had split into working pairs easily, usually one from each group. Duo and Trowa were mostly used for burglary, Heero and the rest for the more deadly assignments. Quatre, now that he was older, was a good messenger for the organization. He could deliver the most deadly threats with wide eyes and a gentle manner. No one wanted to kill the messenger if it was him. They did if it was Heero. He was as withdrawn as Trowa, but Gerald usually saw the contempt that was in his eyes when he was dealing with an outsider to his group. And he had heard about the complaints enough from Glen.
Gerald let his mind wonder over the rest of the group. Quatre did look adorable and innocent most of the time, like a fluffy Persian kitten, until he opened his mouth and you realized behind that façade of wide eyed innocence was a mind that analyzed every move that you had made and could take you out, either physically or mentally in a millisecond. Treize lounged around and deceived you with his easy smile and charming manner, until you noticed that it never reached his eyes.
Heero and Zechs together were a problem. They were more wolfish then human at times and Gerald thought that there might be a blood bath if they were ever left alone for any length of time, without instructions. He still wondered why they had been sent together to pick up Relena, control training? Both were alpha males that were being kept in line by Jason, barely. While Heero was silent and brooding, often staring at you with the indifferent eyes of a wolf, he obeyed Jason instantly, which was more then could be said about any of the others. He had turned out to be an expect computer hacker, which drove Glen to distraction most of the time. He thought that it was annoying that the subjects knew that they were part of an experimental program. Heero had found all the available data by the time he was nine and had informed the others about it.
Zechs was contemptuous of the humans as Heero, because of what they were, but hid his disgust better. One only realized it when you noticed that his smile and actions were as calculated as Treize's was. Both of the older boys were more social then their younger pack members, blending in with the humans better. But they didn't give a damn about people, except to manipulate them. Of the younger boys only Quatre and Wufei were able to function in human society for an extended length of time and Wufei was borderline at times given his antipathy towards those that were weaker then he was. Trowa was too withdrawn and Duo far too hyper and given to speaking without thinking after a while. And Heero just too sullen. That they couldn't work with the humans was one of the better traits that kept them in line. None of them were going to ever leave this place, no matter how unhappy they might be. Living here as an experiment was better then living with the humans full time, to them.
But then Gerald and the rest were satisfied with their work. They had only one real failure, Une and she was controllable, given enough drugs. Her willingness to follow any order of Treize's was also a godsend. They had hoped to get a good freelancer out of her, but she only really listened to Treize's orders. But she would carry them out, not letting anything get in her way, no matter what the problem was. Gerald was still musing over their charges when Ong walked up beside him.
"We may have trouble with Jason's daughter." she announced.
"I see that Wufei learned his manners from you." Gerald noted in an amused tone.
She glared at him, then softened. "Sanderson usually handled these things better, but since he's gone..." her voice trailed off, remember the fourth member of their group. He had died in a car accident shortly after they had been relocated to this out of the way place, about three years ago when it became apparent that they were going to need more space for the boys to ramble around in. They were all territorial to a certain extent and it had gotten worse as they had gotten older. They worked well together, but they all needed someplace to call their own, when they wanted some time alone. Some place that was out of sight, sound and scent of the other members of the group.
"Relena is the same age as the second batch and they might be interested in her in a non-sisterly way." she continued bluntly.
Gerald laughed. "Zechs and Treize are having sex, I know for a fact. I caught them at it. I don't think they're interested in females or they would have approached Une. Quatre and Trowa seem to be involved in some sort of odd mating ritual, for lack of a better term. But I don't think that it has gotten physical. Duo I don't think has heard of hormones, for all his voice has changed. He's still the shortest one of the group by at least three inches. Wufie doesn't seem to like anyone and I don't know about Heero. He just watches them all."
Ong shrugged. "They haven't had the opportunity. Une is so drugged half the time, she doesn't realize where she is. And they all grew up together, they may think of her as a sister. Relena will be a new face. Treize and Zechs? It just might be a phase. If they are sexually active. You might have just stumbled across something that only happened once."
"A phase that has been going on since they discovered what sex is. Aside from teasing the staff, I don't think that like humans." Gerald said with a laugh. "And face it. I don't think they like females in that manner, no matter how much it offends you. They all know that they are stronger then most anyone that they know. And they have been taught since they could toddle about that they were meant to kill people. They might not want to have a relation with anyone outside their group. We may think of it as disgusting or unnatural, but they weren't raised in a normal environment. It might have been different if more then one female had survived, but it didn't happen. Also, you're the biologist, how much of their instincts are human and how much are animal? I look into their eyes at times and I don't know."
"Sanderson could have been the only one to tell us and he's gone." Ong shrugged again. "We never considered them to be human. Jason was about the only one that did, mainly because he was raising them with his daughter. For rest of us, the technicians, their teachers and trainers; they were tools to be used, trained for our patron. They came to do what was needed and then they left. I think that was as self defense mechanism, since I don't think too many people would teach a six year old to kill as easily as this group learned. It wasn't until later that I could regard them as anything but an experiment, but I never thought of them as human. they don't have names, they have numbers that turned into names. We never cuddled them when they cried or gave them any affection outside something that you would give a dog or a cat."
"I know that they aren't human, but they look it." Gerald argued. #Thankfully, if the gene crosses were more animalistic, like the batch that we had to put down, it would have been impossible for them to function in society.#
"All I see when I look at them is twenty years of research." Ong said, her tone final. "I'm going to warn Jason that Relena should be watched, if only for her own good. As you said they aren't human and they may take advantage of her."
Heero and Zechs drove back in silence, listening to Relena's light chatter. Zechs would smile at her or Heero would grunt to show that they were listening. Relena blushed when it happened, embarrassed that she was acting the way that she was. But she was excited to be seeing her family again. She thought of them all as her brothers, from Zechs down to Quatre. They had helped her climb trees, went swimming with her and taught her how to fight, to protect herself. She had been angry with her father had sent her away, but over the years she understood why he had done it. His infrequent, monitored visits told her that he was involved in something not quite -acceptable- to the rest of the world.
'Uncle' Glen was usually with her father. And he had the same look as some of the other odd relatives that visited at her friends at school. Cold eyes, a hard manner and clothes that tried to hide the fact that he was wearing a gun. The fact that she was not exactly watched, but someone always knew where she was told her that, they wanted to keep an eye on her, to control her father. And when she was younger, summers at camps that just were extensions of school. Of never being able to go home and see her family.
And there were her brothers. She realized that they weren't really related because they all looked different from her and each other, but they said that they were family and she agreed with them on that. But the fact that whenever she mentioned that her father's worked for Cinq Industries and the looks that it got her told he that something was strange about her father and his work. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that it dawned on her that her 'brothers' were her father's work. That their strangeness was the result of something that he had done to them. The little that she found out about them in the covert inquiries that she made also told her that something was strange about Cinq Industries. It was a family firm that was involved in a variety of different things, that seemed to barely survive until about five years ago. It made her almost sorry that she was going back. But she was done with school, she had sped her way through her studies so that she would graduate earlier and be able to go home. It was a promise that she had made to herself when she left all those years ago.
It wasn't until she was older and thought more about those hazy days of growing up in isolation that she realized how different they were. That little boys don't get taught to shoot, to fight, to break into places and steal things. And that they were strong, stronger then the adults around them. And the odd things that they could do, the strange things that they said and odd way that they acted. She suspected that Cinq Industries' recent profitability had something to do with her brothers.
She had been angry and upset that she had been sent away, but time and the infrequent cards helped. Relena had watched them grow up though the pictures that came once a year, wishing that she could be with them. She saw the changes that time had wrought. She saw that they had gotten a lot taller, with the exception of Duo, he seemed to be the shrimp of the group. The only changes that happened over the to him while the others had gotten taller was the length of his braid had grown. It was almost as long, if not longer then her hair. Zechs was the only other person that she knew with hair that long. Most of the girls at school went for the short styled cutting edge look, that was popular. She had been the exception with her hair length, she swore not to cut it until she was able to go back home. It set her apart from the others along with her driven need to graduate. She hadn't dated much, boys or girls hadn't interested her. And she really didn't have time with the grueling schedule that she had set for herself. So it was a surprise that two people that she thought of as brothers were causing her stomach to flip flop and make her chatter a mile a minute.
"I'm sorry," Relena apologized and blushed again.
"Don't be," Heero said shortly, turning around to look at her, "Duo's the same way. Must be the hair."
"My hair is as long as theirs, but I don't chatter as much." Zechs commented in smooth, deep voice. Relena flushed as the hairs on the back of her neck shivered from that voice. It was just so sexy, made her think of rumbled sheets and dirty deeds. #Brother. Brother. Brother.# her mind chanted to her, to keep her in line. Not something that you thought about with a boy that taught her how to climb trees.
"Who knows what you do alone," Heero paused for a second, "With Treize."
Relena involuntarily 'epped' and watched the blush rise on Zechs cheeks as Heero mentioned that.
Relena then mentally squirmed, wondering why Heero mentioned that now, besides to embarrass Zechs. She had figured out what he was implying, she had walked in on her roommate, Sally and her 'friend' Noin often enough, by accident. The thought of Zechs and Treize doing the horizontal waltz together didn't really bother her, but they were related, sort of, so wasn't it incestuous? She noticed Heero and Zechs watching her carefully in the mirror, wondering what her reaction was going to be. She felt that this was some test that she had to pass. She noticed that Zech's expression hadn't changed, aside from the blush. Heero looked just as neutral. She wondered if he had blushed on purpose. And how did he do that?
"Good thing that the girls that were there watching you pick me up didn't know that, they would have thrown themselves at you more to show you the error of you ways" Relena laughed lightly. "But I don't see what's wrong with it really."
Heero frowned. "Those girls all smelled bad. Too much make up and perfume." he commented tactlessly. "You still smell good."
"I never got into the habit of wearing it. I know that you guys never liked perfume, make up or cigarettes. So I never wore it. I always planned to return home to you." Relena said seriously.
"Why?" Zechs asked, blush under control. Relena swore that he had done it on purpose earlier. Like it had to be the natural response to the situation, something that he had learned to do.
"You're family. You're all my big brothers. I missed you. The cards and later e-mail weren't enough."
"E-mail?" Zechs asked, raising a smooth eyebrow.
It was Heero's turn to fidget. "Duo wanted to keep in touch. I usually sent out something to her through one of our 'special' accounts. Just so that they weren't reading it before it got to her. The ones that Glen hates, because he can't track them. Just knows that we have them."
"What happened to Duo, why couldn't he meet me?" Relena asked, slightly worried.
"Neither one of us wanted to spend hours in the car with him, hyped up because he was going to see you again. So he stayed at home, with Wufei and Trowa. Quatre and Treize are out at a job." Heero replied.
"Duo's still hyperactive. Father hoped that he would grow out of that. But then compared to the rest of you, he's still little. And how is Une?" #Killing people's just a job for you? Or is it 'fun' and you don't want to admit it to me? And I know that's what you do...along with a few other very illegal things for Cinq Industries, which keep them solvent. What you have to do to stay alive, failure means the project is terminated and since you are the project....#
"Une is acceptable." Heero stated.
"And that means?" Relena asked
"They won't terminate her so long as the drugs are working. And they still work, even though once in a while they fiddle with the dosage, hoping that things will stabilize." Zechs said simply. "Besides she's sleeping with Glen, he won't do anything to her so long as she keeps his interest." #I hope. I like Une, I may not want her as a mate, but she's good in a fight, loyal and can deal with the humans.#
Relena's stomach clenched. She had avoided talking with her father about such things, because she couldn't understand why he allowed them to happen. Une was a person. So why could they talk about terminating her so calmly? They so jaded about killing?
"You're upset." Zechs said. #About Une sleeping with Glen or the fact that she might be murdered for a failure in her genes?#
"How can you tell?" Relena asked. #I thought that I hid it, I got good at the blank looks and the innocent eyes when people asked me about you or my father. But then so many people at that school were. We were in our own little world, because no one wanted to know what was going on in the outside one. You just didn't think about those things. It kept the peace. #
"Your scent changed." Heero stated. "It's something that humans do when they are upset."
"Huh?" Relena commented, confused. #Okay, I am as good as I hoped. I think.#
"You forgot why we don't like perfumes and cigarettes, it hides the changes that humans make, besides usually smelling bad." Zechs informed her.
"I forgot." Relena admitted.
"Don't." Heero informed her tersely. #Always be on your guard, Relena, that's how you survive.#
"Why?" she asked bewildered.
"Glen and his people. Don't trust anyone of them. Don't trust the staff or anyone but your father or us. And not us at times. It's safer. They might want to do something to you or want something from you, thinking that you 'owe' them because they sent you to school." Zechs told her. #Duo's the only one I know that has innocence down pat for the humans, because it isn't an act for him. They let a lot slip around him because they think he's not paying attention. But behind that sunny smile and bouncy nature is a killer, even if they haven't figured it out yet. And Une's involvement with Glen has been a good pipeline for information. I'm glad she thought of it. Not that she had much choice, we weren't interested in her and she was interested in sex. The scientists weren't useful enough and Glen is much better looking then they are. And a potential ally against those blasted ghouls.#
"What about Ong and Gerald?" Relena asked, worried. Heero and Zechs exchanged glances.
"I don't know." Heero said slowly. "I don't trust them. I only trust your father." #And him not much further then I have to. He's been a good leader for us, but he is getting old. And you have always been a weakness for him, something that could be used against him if he balked at anything. Not that he would, Jason lost whatever ethics he had when he started creating us. And I have the feeling that he would leave you out in the cold if it interfered with his experiment.#
"There was trouble a couple of years ago, before we moved out to where we are now." Zechs said, picking his words. "Sanderson...."
"What happened?" Relena asked, just as carefully.
She knew that she couldn't hide the fact that she was nervous from them, they could smell it, but she hoped they understood why. It was strange. She had been hoping that they had remained frozen in time, forever nine and twelve. It had been a shock when these two sexy, pantie-wetting guys showed up to pick her up. The girls at her school could have floated the Titanic on the amount of drool that they generated over Heero and Zechs. Suddenly, they realized that Relena didn't date because she had these two hunks waiting for her. No one ever believed that they were all her family, no matter how much she insisted they were. The boys that had been wandering around did not match up to these two Greek gods that threw her bags into the car and gently helped her into the back, like she was a queen. It was like comparing Lindt chocolate to carob. No challenge. Relena didn't date because she was a stuck up bitch, as the rumor had gone, but because why play in the minor leagues when she had the crème of the crop at home.
"There had been trouble." Heero started.
"What kind?" Relena asked.
"Bad" was Zechs reply, shooting a look at Heero, telling him to shut up. Heero glared back but neither one of them wanted to explain to Relena the scene that they had come home to three years ago.
Jason had taken the two of them and Treize to look at potential properties for the to live at. They had been scouting out this place and come home hoping that it would do for them. They had been meet at the door by a furious Quatre and an enraged Wufei. Duo had stayed with Trowa, he was about the only one that he would let near him once Quatre had helped him back to their rooms. Quatre explained what he had found Sanderson abusing Trowa, and Wufei gave them the details on the physical and mental damage that had been done, before they had caught him. It had been going on for years, it seemed. Heero had been all for ripping out Sanderson's guts when he had been stopped by a quiet, "I've taken care of it" from Quatre. Heero didn't figure out what had happened until later, he respected the patience that Quatre had shown. And the sneakiness, they could never trace it back to them, the car had been a junk heap for years. But the damage had been done, Trowa was fragile now. Quatre and Duo were trying get him to trust again, but it was hard.
Heero bristled and almost growled, but stopped when he remembered Relena was with them. He should act human at least until she was used to them. He calmed himself down and turned to look her straight in the eye. "They are scientists before they are anything. Don't trust them. Sanderson got a little carried away with his research. Jason suspects, but doesn't want to know. The other two are ignorant."
"Okay." Relena agreed. "I won't move without one of you with me."
"Good girl" Zechs said, making it sound faintly like he was going to give her a human treat as a reward for being sensible. "And we're stopping for dinner in an hour or so. If you want to take a nap you can."
Relena yawned, feeling tired and curled up in the back seat to sleep. She was tired all of a sudden.
Heero watched Relena sleep in the back. He made sure that she was deeply asleep before he spoke again. It wasn't that hard. Her breathing and pulse changed. She relaxed and looked about ten. It seemed that time didn't change her for a second.
"She's changed." he commented sadly.
"Of course, we all got older, You saw the pictures. She did change over time." Zechs chided him.
Heero did growl this time, causing Zechs to laugh and ruffle his hair. "She smells so...mature. Like the female staff does sometimes when they look at you and Treize prancing around in those tight shorts and no top."
"You forgot no underwear." Zechs reminded him. "She wasn't going to stay ten forever. Just like we didn't. It was a shock for all of us. The only one that hasn't changed is Duo. He's still just a big kitten."
"Don't remind me. I look at him and wonder why doesn't he know how much we want him?" Heero asked wistfully.
"He might like Relena the way that we want to him to like us. Or would you rather that Sanderson decided to test how human we were out on him instead of Trowa?" Zechs asked bitterly.
"I would have rather that bastard kept his hands to himself." Heero snarled. "He's damn lucky that it was Quatre who found them. Or he would have been dead then and there. I don't think I could have waited and cut the brake line to make it look like an accident, after he interrupted him. especially since it hadn't been the first time. But Sanderson backed off and Quatre played innocent and managed to get Trowa out of there."
"Quatre may not want to fight, but he was enraged that Sanderson took advantage of a weaker member of our group. And he was always fond of Trowa, they just are so good together. They have a lot in common and work well together, not only with their music."
"Which was why he went after Trowa and not one of the rest of us, he's submissive. Duo probably would have been his next choice if he could have caught him. That is one of the few times that I'm glad he still is as active as a kitten." Heero sighed. "And Wufei would have cleaned his clock."
Zechs laughed. "Wufei isn't weak, just not interest in being in charge. That is why he is as willing to let someone else lead. It's more indifference then anything. Duo doesn't care and Trowa... Three alphas would have been a nightmare. Jason can barely can control us if we get out of hand. He will not like it if Relena shows any interest in us."
"She wanted you that way, no matter what her mind told her. That's why I mentioned Treize." Heero admitted.
"I thought so, she was embarrassed when she remembered how good our sense of smell was." Zech chuckled. "But she's Jason's daughter. Off limits."
"Unless she asks us and not then. But I don't think she's going to like the answer. Humans are prey, not mates." Heero said firmly.
"Do not put it that way, she'll never understand." Zechs explained softly.
"She might, she understands more then you think. She knows that Jason is involved with something strange and that we do things that aren't legal. And that our strangeness and activities are result of whatever her father is involved in." Heero said, casting an eye back to see if she was still asleep.
They drove silently, waking Relena up to eat a late lunch in a small restaurant. She noted that most of the women in the place openly stared at their party, admiring Heero and Zechs. Relena shrugged. She had the occasional flash of desire herself still, watching them. It was the way that they moved, their looks, they attitude. She wagered, as Sally, her roommate, said one night about someone else, 'There won't be a dry seat in the house, they'll all get off by his breathing.' She ignored the glances shot her way hostile until the women realized that they were all family. They ate quickly, getting back on the road as fast as possible, Relena wanting to see her father again, Heero and Zechs just wanting to get away from all the damn humans.
It was shortly after supper that they drove up to the house. Heero braced himself for the whirlwind greeting that was Duo. Zechs did likewise, knowing from the past, Duo would hug them until his arms gave out. Duo leaped on Heero, giving him a quick hug, before going onto Zechs. Heero felt a little twinge and tried not to be upset, when Duo picked up Relena and whirled her around like a top, burbling happily. Wufei and Trowa came up silently behind Duo, looking exhausted.
After a few minutes, Duo put down Relena and let her give Wufei and Trowa a quick hug before pulling her up the lawn to where Jason was standing, chattering at her a mile a minute. Relena was exhausted by just being with him for five minutes, she could see why the others didn't want to be trapped in a car with him, for any length of time.
Heero shook his head at the condition of the other two. They obviously tried to exhaust Duo and failed. Heero stirred at the thought of being near all that energy, running and tumbling with him, before having him collapse into his arms.
"I thought it would work," Wufei stated haughtily, redoing his ponytail. "It should have worked. I swear that as he gets older, the more energy he gets."
"Don't say that Wufie," Heero pleaded, "those bastards might dissect him just to see what makes him tick, why he's so hyperactive."
"Probably," Trowa calmly agreed, running a hand through his bang, "They don't think that we are human."
In the comfortable silence that followed, Heero just shook his head and went to grab Relena's luggage from the trunk. It was an old argument. Trowa more then the rest knew that fact. Duo had mentioned once that Sanderson usually swung between treating him like a pet human or a pet dog. Either way, he had been cruel to Trowa. After three years he still was skittish around any sexual interest shown in him. That's why he and Duo got along so well. And since they were both on the bottom of the social scale, they weren't a threat to each other in Trowa's mind. And Duo wasn't interested in sex. Zechs went to help Heero and the other boys grabbed what they could.
"She has the room next to Jason's." Wufei said. "They think we might harm her."
Heero snorted and went up to Jason's suite. They thought that we are trouble and we've been telling her to watch out for them. It was interesting, He wondered how Wufei had found out that information, he must have been at one of the listening zones, an area that sound carried very well. And those idiots never realized how good their hearing really was.
They placed the bags in Relena's room and then checked the entire place out for listening devices. They didn't find any, but they weren't using any equipment besides their enhanced senses and their natural paranoia. But it didn't hurt to check, Glen might decide that keeping an eye on Relena was a good thing. After a few minutes, they left the room to talk to Relena again.
The rest of the evening was spent catching up with had happened to them over the last several years. They had only talked a few hours when Relena started yawning and they shooed her off to bed. Duo had calmed down and had spent the evening draped over chairs or one of the others, restless, like a kitten in search of a comfortable lap. He was adorable and Relena swore that he was still ten. And he had been very excited to find that they were the same size, he had thought that she would be taller then he was, everyone else around him was.
But Relena noticed that no matter how they tried to hide it in the beginning, she could tell that they weren't human, they just didn't move right. She was flattered that they had relaxed enough by the end of the evening to relax and sprawl like Duo had been doing, to give up on the pretence. They all had a liquid grace that she would kill to have. They were poetry in motion, moving like they did. Relena held her breath as they all disappeared into their side of the house, they had all moved over there when the younger ones had hit puberty. The description of the move had been amusing, she had gotten the details from both parties. Her father mentioned that no one went in there, they took care of their own housework, and just ate and studied with her father and the rest of them. But if they could, they kept to themselves. Relena kissed her father good night and didn't even bother unpacking her clothing, she just fell into bed, asleep before her head hit the pillow.
She awoke to a small scratching noise outside her window and was startled to see Duo crawling in. He bound over to the bed and curled around her, nuzzling her a little, rubbing her with his face.
"Hello, I missed you." he murmured, snuggling down with her.
"I missed you too, but what are you doing here?" she asked bemusedly. #I know that I locked that window. So how did it get open?#
Duo wiggled some more and then pulled her closer to him. "I'm sorry that we sent you away. It was for your own good. They were talking about weird stuff and Une. And you're normal."
Relena stroked the hair out of his eyes, shivering a little at the purr he made. God that sounded better and sexier then Zechs's voice. Duo glared at her and then shrugged, wrapping an arm around her. She realized how strong he was and if he wanted to do anything, she was in trouble. He nuzzled her again and stroked back her bangs.
"You still smell good, but weird. Not bad, just grown up. Musky." he said puzzled.
"Mmm...it's a grown up girl thing." Relena waffled, wondering if he really knew how sexy he sounded when he purred. And the reaction it caused in her. Damn his sense of smell!
"You were frightened for a second, why?" he asked curiously, running his hands through her hair, stroking her like she was a cat. Relena was tempted to stroke back, but if he purred again it would be bad. #Brother. Brother. Brother!# went her mind. &Sexy! Sexy! Sexy!& went her hormones.
"You're strong." she started. "And I got worried. And we haven't slept like this for ages, aren't we a little old for it?"
"But I thought you might be lonely, we usually slept together." Duo explained. "And I'm not as strong as the rest, must be because I'm so small."
"Duo, some people might think that we're too old for this." Relena said gently. #We were nine and you didn't make my stomach flip flop. You all do it to me. And it's embarrassing. Give me few days to get used to the fact that you're all so gorgeous.#
"Why?" he wrinkled his face for a second, thinking. "Oh people will think that we're doin' stuff like the rest of the group?" he paused for a second, looking up at her with a frown on his face. "You interested?"
"Uh, Mmm, Uh, yes. I mean no, not really, sorta, it's hard to explain" Relena stammered. She was too tired for this. "You mean that you're all having sex with each other?" Her imagination went into overdrive as she thought of the implications. And the combinations. The numbers.... She reigned in her hormones and calmed down. Duo must be having a field day with her reactions.
"Yeah, you can smell it. Their scent would be all over each other. Not like they were just snuggling. We all do that, it's but stronger, muskier, if you've been with someone. Like you're sort of doing. Me and Trowa aren't though. Not interested." Duo commented, laying his head on her shoulder and throwing an arm across her stomach.
"You don't mind?" Relena asked, adjusting him so that his cheek didn't dig into her collarbone. He was here for the night, she might as well be comfortable. So long as he didn't purr, she wouldn't think naughty thoughts about him. And Duo seemed to regard her a warm living pillow more then anything else. They had all napped like this until they were about nine and twelve, a squirming pile of kids wrapped about each other. She never thought that it was strange until she left and noticed that their nap time activities had resembled those of a group of kittens or puppies, sleeping together for company. Or that the reason that they took naps wasn't because they were tired, they just wanted to be together.
"Why should I mind?" Duo asked sleepily. Relena remembered he crashed fast once he got comfortable. He slept heavily, storing up his batteries for the next day of running around like a hyperactive two year old.
"Cause you are all males?" Relena asked seriously. "Usually it's not acceptable."
"What's wrong with that? Une doesn't seem interested, she's like weird when she isn't working. It's all the drugs. And they make her smell like medicine." Duo complained, wrinkling his face at the thought. "Let me guess? It's a stupid human rule. Do you think its wrong?"
"Aren't you all related?" Relena persisted. #Yeah, but not for the reasons that you think. I just wished that you could meet people to see if you really want this. You all have been so isolated.#
"Not really." Duo mumbled, "Two different strains. A bunch of different donors. And who else are we supposed to be with? The staff? Your father or one of the others? And it's ...." Duo's voice trailed off into a purr. Relena mentally shrugged and went back to sleep herself. Duo was harmless. She hoped that he never lost this innocence.
Relena woke up before dawn to Duo leaving her bed. "Don't want to get you in trouble," he explained, sneaking out the window.
"It's okay, why don't you come back to bed." She said groggily. "Father would understand, I think."
"But the others, Ong and Gerald, won't. And I'm usually up at this time for a run and then I go back to bed. I don't sleep through the night." Duo explained. "See you at breakfast."
"Okay, save me some coffee." Relena said. "We can talk some more if you want."
"Not at breakfast." Duo said seriously, "They tape us there. Most of the rooms that are public, they tape us. Someone is always listening. But your room is clean, we checked."
"Thank you for the information. Now scat before Heero yells at me." Relena teased him. #Why would they think that someone would bug my room? Why would Heero and Zechs warn me about Glen and the others? Is this how they live? Why don't I remember this from growing up?#
"Why would Heero yell at you?" Duo asked curiously.
"I said we'll talk." Relena repeated. #God Duo! He looks at you and even I can tell. He likes you, a lot. He wants to be the one that you snuggle up to at night. And he doesn't want to think of you as just a pillow.#
Duo shrugged and jumped out the window. It was only about three stories, an easy climb up, but not worth climbing down when jumping was faster. Not like some of the jobs that they had him do. He was used for burglary mostly, with one of the others as backup. Mostly short term jobs, because they didn't trust him outside a lot. He liked watching the humans and they were fun to stalk, but they made him nervous. Too limited. Too smelly. And he had to behave too much around them.
He trotted back to his room, enjoying the morning smells. He ran through a flock of birds, scatting them and feebly trying to catch one. He didn't try hard, birds were easy after stalking some of the humans that he had to. He wasn't like Zechs, Heero and Trowa, he didn't have to hunt things. They disappeared once in while, coming back smelling of blood and the woods. Trowa mentioned once that they usually killed a deer or an elk or a mountain goat. It just fell so good to do it.
Duo shook his head, not understanding why someone would put that much effort into hunting something that ate grass, it wasn't a challenge like hunting the humans were. He went into the Wufei's room and snuggled down next to him, who lazily opened an eye and glared at him. "How is Relena? And can you learn to sleep though the night?"
Trowa murmured and moved closer to the two of them, throwing an arm over Duo. He opened an eye and yawned. "Duo. You smell like Relena."
" 'Cause I was with her." Duo said, dropping off to sleep again, "When's Quatre due home?" slipped out before he started purring again. It was nice to sleep with Trowa and Wufei, they didn't make him feel strange at times, like Heero did. Treize and Zechs worried him because they both looked at him like he was treat that they wanted to devour, one bite at a time. So he avoided their bedroom.
"Tonight." Trowa muttered longingly falling back to sleep himself. He missed Quatre. He felt safe around the smaller boy. Silly as it sounded, since he should feel that way around his fellow wolf crosses more then the smaller boys that were created from cats. Or Duo, who was just himself most of the time. Innocent and uninterested. He couldn't say the same of Zechs and Heero, which is why he was sleeping with Wufei and not them. He felt that if they asked, he had to be with them. They were Alphas. They were dominant to him. But thankfully they didn't ask. So he didn't have to say yes, like with Sanderson.
Duo woke up again to find an upset Heero standing over him. He blinked sleepily wondering why Heero was angry with him.
"Why did you sleep with Relena?" he growled. #I will not be angry or jealous. I will not challenge her for him.#
"I missed her. I wanted to tell her that we were sorry that we sent her away. But I didn't get to talk to her about that. We talked about sleepin' together an' why would you yell at her?"
"Huh?" Heero asked in confusion. Most of his conversations with Duo lately were like this. Duo would say something and his mind would watch him instead of listening to him, fighting the urge to snuggle with him. He had stopped sleeping with Duo when he wanted to take it further then the other seemed interested in. Heero couldn't figure out if he just wasn't interested in them or if he really hadn't realized that he had hit puberty. He had the same look of bewilderment when Zechs or Wufei or Treize had tried to seduce him. That one of them was interested in him sexually, confused him. Quatre had laughed and shook his head, more interested in coaxing Trowa into his bed then worrying about Duo, even if he was the alpha of the cat side of the pack. Duo was Duo, he might actually be interested sometime in the future. Nothing to worry about.
Heero had thought that Treize would have turned out to be the dominant of that group, but Quatre was the one that was in control. Treize had thought that it would be good if one of the dominants could tolerate the humans, Zechs and he couldn't. So he let Quatre be dominant. Treize regarded most of the humans as something a little more intelligent then the food that was on their table. He hid it well, but had no desire to deal with them, like they were actually intelligent! So Quatre was the dominant for the cats, strange as it seemed. Heero had to admit, it was better that at least one of them liked humans, but Quatre seemed to like most everyone.
"Also I warned her about the fact that most everything is taped here. She didn't seem surprised." Duo added. He grabbed Heero and tugged him down beside him, then sprawled all over him. "You were giving me a crick looming over me. Why would you yell at Relena? She said she'd explain it later, but I don't want to look, you know, stupid. She's got all this outside experience."
Heero stroked the bangs out of Duo's eyes before answering him. The little murmur of contentment that Duo gave didn't help his concentration any. "I don't know," he lied.
"You do," Duo said, tickling him. He liked doing this to Heero. He didn't laugh enough.
"Duo!" Heero exclaimed, starting to fight back. They laughed for a while before Duo flopped down again and Heero adjusted himself so that his erection wasn't as uncomfortable in his shorts. Duo seemed oblivious to his actions, as usual. Heero was torn between holding him down and showing Duo how much he wanted him or letting Duo eventually come to him. It wasn't like he was interested in anyone else, so Heero wasn't going to push the issue and scare him, have him start acting like Trowa did.
It had hurt Heero that Trowa avoided him, until Wufei explained the problem to him, then he got angry again. Even though he continually reassured Trowa that he liked him, but he had to ask Heero if he was interested sex, not the other way around. Zechs said the same thing, but he still slept with the cats, avoiding sleeping with them unless there was an assignment. They did try to avoid pairing him with one of them, but it couldn't be avoided at times. Then Trowa wouldn't sleep, just stay up all night drinking coffee. Heero had dragged him into bed one night after he had fallen asleep at a table. When Trowa had woken up the next morning, he just cringed finding himself in bed with Heero. It hadn't of helped the situation that Heero had woken up with an erection because he had been dreaming of Duo. It was a race to see who got out of bed faster Heero or Trowa. That Trowa had just watched him with wary eyes for the rest of the day didn't help. But he slept with him that night, after Heero told him that he wasn't interested in him sexually, unless Trowa wanted him. But Heero would swear that Trowa didn't move all night, trying to stay as far away from him as possible.
"So why would you yell at Relena?" Duo asked again.
Why did you talk about the fact that most of us are sexually active?" Heero answered Duo's question with one of his own.
"She was worried that people would think that we were foolin' with each other, like you all do. And why is it none of you seem to be interested in Une. That you're just doin' it with each other." Duo said, watching Heero for his reaction and fooling with braid.
"You interested in her like that?" Heero asked, trying not to tense up. He hoped not. That might be the problem that Duo had, that he was attracted to women instead of men.
"Not really. Just not interested. But ya know that already. I keep sayin' no to you guys. And she's like, fragile. She thought I was strong. And I'm the runt of the litter." Duo said. #You guys don't say anything, but I was with Trowa after we found Sanderson with him. He didn't like what had been happening to him. I don't know if I would and I don't want to be scared of you if I don't, like he is. Even if you make me feel strange.#
"Jason won't like it if we treat her like that." Wufei said smoothly, coming up behind Duo.
"Huh?" Duo asked in confusion.
"Since Quatre's not here to say it, I will explain it to you Duo. Relena is not to be viewed as a potential mate. Jason may like us marginally better then Ong and Gerald, but having sex with his daughter is not to be considered." Wufei said contemptuously, wondering why Duo would even think about it. Humans? Ugh!
"Duh, that's why Quatre and Zechs decided that she should go away all those years ago. Just so that we won't treat her like that. And so she wouldn't treat us like they do. But I think that Quatre had another motive, something he said to Jason after I left, 'cause Jason was a bit antsy around him later." Duo said thoughtfully. "I like her, but she doesn't smell right to be a mate, even if I was interested. I like sleepin' with her though."
"We talk about that later," Wufei scolded Duo, casting a sour glance at him. Even sleeping with the humans was disgusting to contemplate, they were weak and usually smelled bad. Relena was human, no matter if Duo chose to ignore that fact, but then Duo was odd. "Now its the time for breakfast, you know they don't like it if we're late. And Heero's got a briefing with me later, we have an assignment."
"Okay," Duo agreed merrily, "I promised that I'd save some coffee for her. And we're gonna talk. She gotta be told about stuff here so she doesn't get into trouble. And you guys be careful, they're starting to think that we can do anything that they tell us to do."
"And why not?" Wufei sneered. "We are superior to them."
"Yeah, and you can catch bullets in you teeth too, sucka." 1 Duo teased him, quoting a line from an old movie that they had watched the week before. Their lack of interaction with humans, other then to kill or steal from them, led them to be not quite addicted to movies, but they did enjoy watching them far too much, to see what 'normal' was supposed to be like. Any kind of movie was a learning tool, as well as a guilty pleasure for them.
Heero shook his head and bullied Duo into getting dressed. They were running too late for a shower and he had to take one later after their morning workout anyway. Heero looked anyplace else in the room but at Duo as he was changing. Wufei laughed and watched Duo strip and get dressed again. If Duo was willing to flash him, he was not going to argue about it. Heero stopped himself from growling at Wufei when he saw him openly ogling Duo. Wufei would look, occasionally touch, they all touched each other, but knew that anything beyond that he would have to deal with Heero and a challenge over Duo, strange as that seemed. Heero was starting at act like Duo was his personal property or a life mate. It amused Wufei and disturbed him. Duo, wasn't a wolf, he had no concept of what Heero expected out of him, so Heero shouldn't be so possessive of him, the other boy didn't understand the mixed signals that he was getting from Heero. And Duo was like Quatre, willing to like the humans. He slept with Relena even, as disturbing as that thought was.
It just wasn't fair! Heero swore, watching Duo get dressed out of the corner of his eye, disturbed that he was unaware of Wufei's ogling. Duo had no idea of the reaction he had on the rest of them. He was perpetual kitten, but when Heero went to sleep he had the most erotic dreams about Duo. All of them, except Trowa and Duo had been sexually active since their early teens. But for some reason, Heero wanted Duo to be only interested in him, he couldn't understand that desire, it confused him. He knew that it was something that was inherited from the wolf side of his heritage, but it was also something that confused him too.
Trowa's experience with Sanderson had left him with a distaste for sex, while Duo was apparently not interested. Heero wondered if something had been done to him by their creators when he was younger. Or may be it was a defect that just happened, being perpetually kittenish, that they tolerated so long as it didn't interfere with an assignment. It wasn't something they would terminate him for, he hoped.
They all made it to breakfast, barely in time. Duo smiled sunnily at everyone and giggled when Gerald glared at him.
"My fault. They were trying to wake me up." he explained with an apologetic grin.
"We should do something about that," Ong muttered, ignoring the glare from Heero and Wufei. "A trip to the lab should fix that."
Duo shrugged and plopped himself down, after grabbing a plateful of food from the sideboard. Relena's eyes widened slightly, then realized that he had to eat that much if his metabolism was as fast as she guessed that it was from his body heat and activity level.
"I behave myself outside. What's the problem? Missing a meal won't kill me." Duo replied. #You tinkered enough with me...stop now. I have feelings, needs, wants. Things that you can't fix by dragging me back to the lab and zapping me. We all do, even if you're too stupid or blind to realize that we're more human then you are at times, that's about the only thing that keeps you alive, after some of the crap that you did to us.#
"No, but we do have to listen to your stomach growl" Zechs commented, sipping at his coffee, wondering if anyone else noticed the flash on annoyance in Duo's eyes at the mention of going back to the lab. He doubted it, the scientists had no idea that Duo had a temper.
"Not my fault that I can't sleep through the night, I'll grow out of it, I'm still little." Duo said, turning huge, innocent eyes at Ong and Gerald, trying to charm them. It was either that or gut them. Gutting them wasn't an option...yet. "And if I stay in the house, I wake everyone else up, so I just went for a walk and overslept. I haven't done that in awhile."
"He hasn't, so you shouldn't scold or punish him" Jason said calmly. "But Duo do be careful next time. You don't want to get the others in trouble if they are late because they had to wake you."
Heero and Wufei shot him a grateful look, then paid attention to their own meal. Since Relena was here, they refrained from mentioning their assignment at the table, not wanting to worry her. Most people would get upset that two sixteen year olds were being sent to foreign country to kill people. And they didn't want to have to worry about Ong or Gerald dragging Duo off and playing Mad Scientist with him. They had already done that at his conception. But Jason kept them in line, so they didn't have to worry about that, for now.
"Aside from an exercise period in the pool for the group, and some individual tutoring. Nothing has been planned today." Jason said. "And Wufei and Heero have a briefing."
"Goody!" Duo exclaimed, clapping his hands. "I like swimming. Hey, Relena you gotta come with us! The pool's nice and warm. After we do our laps, there's usually a great game of tag going on."
"Um, Duo," Relena started, "I can't. I haven't got a suit."
"That's okay, we don't wear 'em." Duo said cheerfully, wondering why everyone was choking on their food. He looked around confused, "What did I say wrong?" That still happened on occasion, he still didn't understand all the rules that the humans had about what to say and not say.
Zechs was trying not to laugh. Trowa looked uncomfortable, Wufei was acting like he had pulled his ponytail. Heero was holding his head in his hands, while Ong and Gerald were sputtering. Relena was blushing and even Jason looked kinda upset. Une continued to eat, ignoring what was going on around her. Forget that. For her that was normal. So what did he say wrong?
"Duo, I'm a little old to be swimming naked with all of you." Relena tried to explain delicately, hoping that he wouldn't blurt out about sleeping together. She tried not to think about all of them wet and naked. #Naughty! Naughty! Naughty! # she kept saying to herself.
"Une does it and she's older then you are." Duo said still confused. "But I've got a couple of suits, so you can borrow one. And a top, but that'll just slow you down in the water, so why wear it?"
Jason looked like he was going to explode, while Ong and Gerald had both opened their mouths to say something, only to be beaten to the punch by Zechs.
"Duo, it's not done that way. If Relena goes swimming with us, we all have to wear suits. She wasn't brought up to frolic naked, like you do oh so well." Zechs purred at him.
"That's one of those stupid human rules?" Duo said, blushing at Zechs's tone. He did sound like Duo was a treat that he wanted to devour. "It's not like she has anything that I'm interested in. Or haven't seen before."
"Duo!" Relena exclaimed, torn between being insulted and laughing. "No girl likes to be told that she's got nothing that you are interested in. And I've changed since the last time we went skinny dipping, weren't we about eight at the time?"
"Yeah, but aside from growing taller and getting fat, you haven't changed." Duo replied thoughtfully.
Relena choked and decided that insulted was the way to go. "I am not fat. I just got a figure. You know the Puberty Fairy did visit me. Unlike you who seem like you're still nine!"
"The Puberty Fairy?" asked Wufei, incredulously.
"Sounded good at the time," Relena shrugged. "If I can find something to wear, I'll go swimming with you."
"Duo," Jason scolded softly, "Next time think before you open your mouth. Relena may decide that she was better outside of here."
Duo looked stricken at that and hung his head. "I'm sorry Relena, but I keep forgetting that you're not one of us."
"Duo, you just need a couple of lessons on sisters. The big differences between boys and girls, okay? I'm not mad, really, you just said some stupid things."
Heero started breathing again and flashed a grateful look at Relena. If she could handle Duo, may be she could watch him while he was gone. Duo did need a keeper. And he would make sure that he found something for Relena to wear in the pool. Under most of the noise that happened when you had a game of tag and Duo, you could have the most interesting conversations without being heard.
Une cleared her throat quietly, causing Relena and Duo to look at her. "I have a suit that she can borrow. I outgrew it a while ago."
"Thank you Une," Relena said gratefully. "You're a lifesaver."
"No problem, after breakfast you can come to my room." Une replied serenely.
Relena followed Une up to her room after breakfast. She was surprised to see that it was furnished in simple, but elegant style. There were a few odds and ends around, but on the whole the room was so impersonal. She hoped that it wasn't a reflection of Une's personality. Une went to a drawer and pulled out pair of bathing suits. She tossed them to Relena, saying "Try them on."
Relena caught them and wondered where she was going to change. She didn't feel comfortable enough just to strip in front of Une, even though she was a veteran of the girl's locker room and changing scene.
"Relena, just take off your clothing, I'm not interested." Une chided her.
"Like everyone else around here" Relena muttered, "I'm dropped into a bunch of guys that look like that and they're only interested in each other." She quickly changed and was pleased that the first suit fit her. It was a horrible color, made her look short and the style was something out of the Stone Age, but she could swim in it. "And then you aren't interested either. I'm beginning to think that there's something wrong with me."
"There is. You're human, normal. We aren't. At times they seem closer then I do." Une said thoughtfully standing next to her. Relena realized then how much bigger Une was then her. She was a couple inches taller and built. Not the freakish body building way, but she had the figure and grace of someone that was an athlete. Relena tipped her head back and forced herself to stare into Une's serene eyes.
"They control me with drugs. Something went wrong with my modifications. They lower the dosage when they send me outside. They're worried that I might snap someday and harm them." Une might have been talking about the weather, not herself. "But I won't knowingly harm you. And you should be safe around the pack."
"The pack?" Relena asked.
"Your brothers, as you call them, But they are more animal at times then human, know that. And they have very little love for humans. They either are sent out to kill them, to threaten them or to use them. Their only other examples have been your father and his colleagues, none of whom would win humanitarian of the year."
"I know." Relena admitted, wondering why Une was telling her this. "I found out things when I was away. Things that I didn't like. I was in a school that half the people couldn't or wouldn't tell anyone what exactly their parents did for a living. My classmates were from Tongs, Mafia clans and Columbian Drug families, along with the odd dictator or two. Blank looks went a long way."
"You understand then. Trust no one, not me. Not your father or any grown up and not the pack, because they will all sacrifice you if they have to."
"I don't understand, but I will try. I trust Duo though." Relena said.
"Everyone trusts Duo, but you should see him working before you make that judgment. He changes. He is no longer the playful kitten that crawled into your bed last night."
"Ah...Uh...," Relena stammered and blushed.
"The cameras he can fool. The humans won't see him. I was just awake last night."
"Oh..."Relena said quietly
"And," Une as continued to stare into her eyes, her own were starting to show a hint of amusement. "You were right at breakfast. The puberty fairy hasn't visited him yet."
"I'm going to leave a trail of sugar for her to follow then before Heero explodes." Relena muttered, thinking of the look in the other boy's eyes when Duo had grabbed her for a hug the day before.
"You've noticed?" Une asked.
"Hasn't everyone but Duo?" Relan asked wryly, looking at Une with a small smile, "Does he even know how delicious he sounds when he purrs?"
"Not the adults, they still think that the only ones that are sexually active are Zechs and Treize, and they're just think that they're guessing about them. Duo just seems oblivious to how the others are interested in him."
"And then there's you and Glen." Relena said before she thought. "Oops..."
"They told you about that?" Une asked quietly.
"Yeah, I think so that I wouldn't throw myself at you or Glen. Or just so that I didn't stumble into anything without enough info. Not that I would, you've got me beat in the looks department, even if I did poach. And I don't think I like girls that way. My roommate made the offer couple of times. I always said no. I don't know if it was because I wasn't interested or didn't want to be the third, since she had a steady."
"Hmm" Une looked thoughtfully at Relena and allowed herself a small smile.
"Okay, thanks for the advice and the suit." Relena said.
"Oh Relena, some more advice. Do not sneak up on Trowa. On any one of them it would be bad, but Trowa is the worst of the lot. He'll attack first and ask questions later. He's skittish that way." Une said.
Relena kicked her feet in the water at the shallow end of the pool. She watched Trowa and Une doing practice dives off an Olympic height diving board. They were good, Trowa was someone that she could watch all day, those muscles made him just so...yummy...to look at. And all she could do was look and maybe not that much, because he was getting nervous at the amount of drooling that she was doing, he was throwing her some very nervous looks. So she stopped ogling him and looked around to see what the others were doing. She managed not to giggle when she watched Duo push Zechs into the pool, only to be tossed in a second later by Wufei. She was tired from only doing half the workout that they did and they still were running around. She watched the game of tag that was starting up and was startled when Heero swam up to her and shouted "Tag you're it!"
She goggled at him for a second, before screaming and jumping in the water after him. That was so unfair! They were faster then she was and she was never going to catch one of them. After a few minutes of screams and foundering, she managed to catch Zechs after a few near misses from the others. She was exhausted and swam over to the side to take a breather. Heero swam over to her too, apparently to see if she was all right. She looked up at him and noticed that while he looked concerned, it didn't quite match the expression in his eyes. And she noticed how much noisier it got when he got closer to her.
"I'll watch Duo," she said, pasting a smile on her face. Heero smiled back and she wondered how it looked to an observer. Two teenagers laughing with each other. She admired the way that the water ran off his chest, how muscular he was and how handsome. How off limits.
"We'll be gone a couple of weeks. Just keep him busy so he won't worry." Heero said.
Relena laughed and brushed his bangs out of his eyes, smiling broadly at him. "I will. Any other advice? Une gave me some." #Hope that they think I'm just flirting.#
"About what?" he asked, tweaking her nose. #Good acting skill. She'll survive around here.#
"Don't sneak up on Trowa. Don't trust anyone. And don't poach."
"Good advice. She has her head together most of the time, even with them adjusting her medication far too often." Heero said, "I can't add anything, but stop staring at Trowa."
"You forgot to ask me to send the Puberty Fairy after Duo." Relena laughed. "I won't poach, but he likes sleeping around, as bad as that sounds. And tell Trowa I know that he's not interested, but...God you are all so hot. I can't help it if you make me want a session of hot and heavy physical contact with you. Any of you."
"Duo likes cuddling." Heero admitted glad that he was wearing a baggy suit, he body wasn't cooperating with him talking about Duo. "But he isn't interested in going any further." Heero's tone was regretful. "And we aren't interested in you."
"I know, but a girl can hope. We should get back to the game, I've rested enough." Relena said, pushing off from the wall, wondering if Heero was warning her or giving her advice about Duo and the rest of them. She felt better that she told someone about her problem and he was nice enough not to laugh at her, like Zechs would have. She managed to avoid getting caught for the rest of the time and wander back to her room exhausted, sleeping until dinner and reading a little.
Dinner was a subdued affair, livened up only by the fact that Quatre and Treize arrived back in the middle of it. Glen at least let them eat before dragging them off to be debriefed or whatever he did normally when they got back.
The week passed quietly, Relena relearning the rhythm of living with her family. She sat in on some tutoring sessions with him and tried to help him learn more about 'being human' as he called it. She thought of it as learning to think before speaking. He wasn't bad, just when he got excited, he blurted out things. She thought that half of his problem was that he didn't think of himself as human. He should, he was a lot better then Glen, the other scientists or even her father she had to admit.
Some of the things that they said about the boys shocked her. That they said it in front of them shocked her even more. She was very glad that she hadn't grown up here, she would have been as thoughtless as they were. When she wasn't teaching or exercising she was outdoors reading. One on the boys usually joined her and they managed to have quiet, quick conversations with each other, while pretending to read.
"Quatre," Relena started one day, "Did I ever tell you how thankful I am that you sent me away?" She was pretending to read a romance novel, while Quatre was few feet away, apparently sleeping.
"No. Why?" he asked.
Relena admired the way that he could talk without moving his lips. She would have to ask him to teach that to her sometime. "Because I almost strangled Ong and my father when they were talking about Zechs's fitness tests like he was a dog. In front of him. And some of the other crap that they have said about all of you, in front of you."
"We've learned to live with it." Quatre said, watching Trowa through half closed eyes. He wanted the other boy so bad. But he was only willing to take things so far. But he had stopped freezing up when Quatre got too bold, so some progress had been made. He still would have liked to have killed Sanderson slowly for what he had done to Trowa. The brake job, while he did plunge to his death screaming, it just wasn't enough. It was definitely too quick, he did like to toy with his prey more....
Quatre rolled over and looked at Relena. She was reading a romance novel, and he had to admire the way that she managed to hold it just so, and have no one that was watching them tell if her lips were moving. Very good.
"You shouldn't read that trash, it will rot your brain. You manage to have a 4.0 average even with all those science classes; why are you appearing to be brainless now?"
"How do you know my grades?" Relena hissed at him.
"Heero hacked into the school computer one night. Did you know that your roommate's parents are highly placed in Columbian drug families? Or that her girlfriend's family is part of the Mafia? The original Sicilian one." Quatre asked lazily.
"I'm definitely leaving a trail of sugar for the Puberty Fairy, if he gets laid he won't be checking into my personal life!" Relena fumed.
"Personal life?"
"They asked and I almost said yes, but I didn't want to be the third or just be a fling. I don't think I'd enjoy casual sex."
"You should try it before you say no." Quatre said thoughtfully. "And Heero has been 'laid' as you so colorfully put it. Several times, with me at least. And I heard him fooling around with Wufei and Zechs a few of times, together and separately. And I think Treize and Heero have made the mattress squeak a couple of times too..."
"Not like I'm going to get any offers around here." Relena muttered. "And stop rubbing it in that you all are getting some, except Trowa and Mr. Clueless."
"Not from us," Quatre said, "but you never know about the staff..." let his voice trail off.
Relena snorted. "And I'm the Queen of the May."
Their discussion was interrupted by Duo running up to them and throwing himself on the ground next to Relena.
"Want to go into town?" he asked excitedly. "Zechs and I have to go to pick up stuff, and we can take you if you want to go. Your father said you could. It's just a little place, but we have to pick up the mail and packages and there's a place to get ICE CREAM!!!" Duo exclaimed.
Quatre laughed, causing Duo to give him a dirty look before continuing, "I like that place. They have the best flavors. And you know that they only let me have sweets when I'm there. Something stupid about a balanced diet."
"Relena you have found out Duo's secret passion. Ice Cream. Which makes him more hyper when he gets home." Quatre explained.
Relena looked thoughtful for a second and then smiled. "I'll go. Just let me get my purse and tell my father good bye. And you should wash up before we go. You've got grease on your nose."
"I do? Damn. We're taking the Jaguar! I fixed it up and the top goes down, so you might want to tie your hair back. Or else it's going to be forever getting brushed out. I only forgot once. Zechs usually braids his too." Duo said, jumping up to clean up. He stopped halfway to the house and shouted. "Meet us in the garage."
Relena smiled and shook her head, "Is there anything that you want from town Quatre?"
"No thank you. But thanks for asking. I would have told Duo. He just gets so excited about going to town. I think it's the ice cream." Quatre smiled.
"Then Heero should smear some all over himself if he wants Duo's attention. I'll make a note of his favorite flavors." Relena remarked wryly.
Quatre stared at her and started to laugh. "I didn't think you cared," he choked out.
Relena blushed when what she just had said registered in her mind. "Oops. But it's a start. Might have Duo figure out that Heero wants to play with him in an adult way." #Like the rest of you are!#
"Duo knows. Hell we've all dropped enough hints at him, except for Trowa. But he isn't interested." Quatre said and then paused, "But the ice cream theory...."
"Which is why Trowa and Duo are so close." Relena said thoughtfully. She flashed a smile at Quatre, "Sorry just trying to figure out the group dynamics thing. I may not be able to play, but watching is fun. Eek! That sounded bad too, after the list that you just gave me."
"Why?" he asked coldly.
"Because watching people is fun." Relena said, not put off by the change in him. She wasn't surprised by it after spending a week here. Quatre was a little sensitive about the fact that they were a long term experiment. She didn't blame him in the least. "I think you guys are people." #Okay you're not human. And at times you don't pretend to be, but I think of you as family. And I like you a lot better then a lot of other people I've met.#
"You're about the only one." Trowa said quietly, coming up behind her.
"They're stupid." Relena shrugged. "Do you want anything from town? Duo said that he's going in and I could come with him and Zechs. Do you need anything? Do you want to go with Duo?"
Trowa shook his head. Relena stared thoughtfully at him for a second and smiled. "Do you want a hug?"
Trowa stared at her, hiding his eyes with his bang. Relena noticed that he did that a lot. He shrugged. Relena took that as a yes and gently put her arms around him and squeezed for a second.
"Brothers always need hugs." she said. "Next time I might be so bold as to mess up your hair."
"Mess up Wufei's. it will annoy him more." Trowa said. Relena hugging him wasn't bad, after a week he realized that she understood, a little that he was nervous around her, and treated him like she did Duo, friendly but off limits. She meant it when she called him brother, no matter how different their genes were. But Trowa was still confused where she was in the pack structure and didn't know how to react to her. But she had stopped staring at him, even though Heero had explained to him that she wasn't going to do anything more then that really. Then the hugs started after Wufei and Heero had left. And she didn't hug anyone else but Duo and himself, which was more confusing. What did she want?
Quatre and Relena smiled at the joke. "Sure you don't want anything?" she repeated. "And Wufei wouldn't like me touching him, I noticed before they left...he doesn't like me. I know it isn't personal, he doesn't seem to like a lot of people outside you all."
"He's just shy." Trowa said, "but very nice."
"Nice to you...I just don't have the right equipment." Relena complained.
Quatre choked back laughter, as Relana glared at him. "Get your mind out of the gutter."
Quatre continued to laugh, ignoring the glare and Trowa's confusion. Relena shrugged and grabbed her book, shaking her head. "Sure you don't need anything?" she asked again.
They both assured her that they were fine as she went back into the house to drop off her book and grab her purse. She didn't think that she needed anything, but you never knew what you might find. She was a little stir crazy from the isolation and she needed to do something. A trip into town would be good.
End Part 1
1. The movie is "The Last Dragon". A very odd martial arts film. Worth seeing once at least.
Christine
Comments? Email Devilkitty@speakeasy.net