TITLE: Pussycat, Pussycat
AUTHOR: kumiko
PART: 17
FANDOM: Gundam Wing
PAIRING: 6x2/2x6, hints of 13x6 and 13x5
WARNINGS: yaoi
DISCLAIMER: Gundam Wing belongs to Sunrise, Bandai, and Sotsu Agency.
Archivist's note: Although kumiko is no longer in the fandom, she has said that she plans to finish this. The only thing left is the epilogue. Hopefully we'll see it some day soon.
Coming to the landing that led to the third floor, Duo found a door barring his way - a door that was locked. He pounded on it in frustration. "Mouse? Mouse!! Let me in!" When he received no answer he turned and ran down the stairs again, nearly knocking Hadley to the floor. The butler had been placing two large, silver candlesticks in the small niche at the back of the landing and now they fell to the carpet with a thud.
"I do beg your pardon, Mr. Maxwell," Hadley murmured, not turning a hair at nearly being sent off his feet. "Is there something I can help with?" He leaned down and picked up the candlesticks then looked at Duo, patiently awaiting orders.
"I need to get to the third floor," Duo said breathlessly. "Can you open the door for me?"
"The door is closed?" Hadley said, looking perplexed. "How odd - I never close it..." he said, drawing out his keys.
"Pardon me, Mr. Hadley, but I did that."
Duo and the butler both turned at the sound of the voice. It was the maid, Veronica. She was standing at the top of the stairs with a carpet sweeper in her hands.
"You may think me silly to say it," she said in a slightly defensive voice, "but that place has been given me the creeps all day and I just couldn't take it at last, so... so I closed it."
Hadley sighed, just loud enough that Duo could hear him. "Veronica, we have spoken about this. Why do you persist in believing in gossip?"
Veronica was about to say something when Hadley shooed her back to her work and turned to Duo. "I'll open it for you sir, and I *do* apologize for Veronica's behavior."
As they headed up the stairs to the third floor, Duo looked closely at Hadley. "What rumors were you talking about, Hadley?" he asked.
"It was all just gossip among the cooks in the neighboring houses," he said, "about the son of a cook who lived here. His mother had..." Hadley looked uncomfortable for a moment, "an unfortunate affliction, one that made her unfit to be a mother... Ah - there you are," he murmured as the door swung open to reveal the third floor landing.
As Hadley turned to go, Duo called to him. "What happened to the boy," he said, "after the mother turned bad?"
Hadley looked back up at him, his face properly sober. "I don't know the full account, Mr. Maxwell, so I'm sure you wouldn't want me to engage in idle speculation." With a small nod, he continued his way down the stairs.
In the sitting room at the back of the house, Zechs was watching out of the window as the rain drenched the back garden. /Pretty roses, just as he liked.../ he thought, wondering if he would ever be able to look at that particular type of flower again without feeling this bittersweet sadness. /It will be difficult, Treize, remaining patient until I see you again.../
"Don't tell me," a voice called from the door, "deep red roses."
Zechs turned to see Wufei standing just inside the room. "Yes," he said quietly. "He planted them at every residence he ever had - even the prison they kept him in." He turned back towards the window and murmured, "but then, you know that, don't you..."
"I only saw him in three places," Wufei answered, taking a step closer to the tall blond. "On his boat, where we had the duel, and once at OZ headquarters in Bremen..." He stopped for a moment, as if loathe to say the other location.
"And at the prison in Luxembourg," Zechs finished, "where you saw the two of us together."
"Yes," Wufei said hoarsely. "Yes."
"I know I shouldn't have been there," the tall blond said, facing the window again, "but after he'd given up to them, he began to send me letters and... and they broke down my defenses in the end... I felt I had to see him, one last time..."
"And I just had the bad timing of walking in on you," Wufei said, staring at the ground.
"I think we both surprised each other that night."
"Yes," Wufei murmured, "but... why did it he do it? Why did he lie to both of us?" His face was full of anguish, his mind trying so hard to block out the images of that night - the two of them in Treize's bed, Treize lying on top of the golden blond, kissing him, moving... and yet, the letter... "*Why*??" he said again, his voice breaking this time.
Zechs turned from the window suddenly, half sad, half angry. "What did he lie about, Wufei? About being with someone else? He never told me that he *hadn't* been with another man. Why would it be so strange if he had been? When we parted company I was sad, yes, but angry, too - very angry. I thought I was angry with him, but really it was Romefeller, and the realization of how much of a fool they'd played me for - and Treize even worse! And he *would not* see it! Couldn't see how absolutely corrupt they'd become. He wanted to believe in them... but I couldn't anymore..."
Zechs wrapped his arms around himself, shivering a little, as if a chilly hand had just caressed his cheek. "He didn't lie, Wufei. When I left him, I treated him as if he were no longer my lover... and I really thought it was over between us..."
Wufei's voice, when he finally spoke, was nearly a whisper. "It was never over, between you two..." he said, watching the tall, golden man by the window. "He always loved you, even when he was with me."
Zechs watched the boy's face for a long time. "But he loved you too, Wufei... didn't he? And I'm willing to bet that he told you just that in his letter. Am I wrong?"
They stared at each other for what seemed to Zechs a small eternity and then Wufei whispered, "Yes..."
It hurt less than Zechs expected it to. After all, Treize had assured him as well, had made it clear what the bond between the two childhood friends had been, and that bond was strong enough to allow him to reach out to the boy across the room, who was hurting and puzzled.
"You can believe his words, Wufei," he said at last. "Treize was a man who was misunderstood by most of those around him. No one quite knew what to do with his ideals, and how he really wanted them implemented - not even Lady Une and certainly not Dermail or anyone in Romefeller. He found some of that understanding in me... and he found some of it in you, as well. That's what he valued most. So accept his words for what they are - an expression of love and of his highest regard, which was very rarely bestowed."
"I killed him," Wufei said, voice barely audible.
"No." The word was given so decisively that the dark-haired boy lifted in head and stared in puzzlement at the tall blond. "Wufei, do you have any idea how good a pilot Treize was? As good as I know you were, I also know that... had he wanted to, he could have dodged your blow." Azure eyes bore into ebony unrelentingly. "He chose to take that hit, Wufei. He wanted it - wanted to die, just as I wanted to die."
To Wufei's horror, he felt hot tears spilling down his cheeks. It was bad enough to hear something this devastating, but then to cry in front of this particular man! He shook his head violently. "No! Why would he want to do that??"
"To bring about peace," Zechs said simply. "He knew that as long as he lived, there would be soldiers who wanted to fight for him. To his way of thinking, his death released them from that obligation, and allowed them to lay down their arms and let the cycle stop..."
He walked slowly across the room to where the Chinese boy stood, looking almost dazed. It felt like the most natural thing in the world to slip his arms around him and hold him close. "It wasn't your fault, Wufei. It was *not* your fault."
WIthout even thinking, Wufei's arms came up and wrapped around Zechs's chest, clinging to him as if his life depended on it. "I miss him!!" he sobbed into the tall man's shirt. "I miss him so much! It's *stupid* that he had to go - stupid that he isn't here!!"
Blinking back the sharp pricks of his own tears, Zechs stroked the silky black hair and murmured, "You're right... it *was* stupid... but war is nothing if not infinite stupidity on both sides. But always keep in mind that he loved you and that he wanted you to go on with your life. Do that for him..."
Wufei slowly loosened his hold on Zechs and stepped back a bit, looking up at the blond man and wiping his eyes. "And you... you are 'going on' with your life?"
Zechs hesitated for a moment and then gave him a weak smile. "I'm trying my best," he told the former gundam pilot. "I don't always succeed perfectly, but I'm trying. He would want you to try too."
"Yes," Wufei sighed, looking exhausted, "but I'm not sure how..."
Zechs looked at him thoughtfully for several moments and then said quietly, "I may have a few ideas..."
Duo walked slowly across the landing to Mouse's room. The door was closed, so he knocked softly. "Mouse? It's Duo. Can I come in and talk to you, please?"
There wasn't an immediate answer and Duo knocked again, louder this time. "Mouse! C'mon open the door! We need to talk."
Slowly, the door opened, just a crack and Mouse looked out from behind it. "I'm not feeling very well today," he said softly, "but I guess..."
He turned and let the door swing open, walking slowly to his bed and sitting down, not looking at Duo but gazing at the closet opposite him,
More than anything, Duo wanted to shake him and ask him who the hell he was, where his mother had got to, and how he'd been able to fool the servants into thinking no one occupied his room. But it might be better if he eased into that. The kid might be unstable and he didn't want to make things worse.
"I went and got the letters from the lawyer's sister," he said, taking a seat next to Mouse. "They were for Zechs and Wufei - he's staying here, too. They both knew Treize, the owner of this place, before he died..." He looked thoughtfully at the boy for a moment and then asked, "Did you know Treize?"
Mouse looked uncomfortable and then muttered, "Just saw him a few times... he used to use the sitting room at the other side of the landing."
There was another uncomfortable silence as Duo tried to think of how to bring up the subject of him not being the current cook's son.
"I talked to the cook downstairs today," he said at last, deciding the best attack in this case was from the front.
Mouse seemed to freeze. "She - She's *back*?" he said, sounding incredulous. "She came *back*?"
Duo was thoroughly confused. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "She hasn't been anywhere. But she did tell me about her *son*" he said, looking closely at Mouse for a reaction. "She said he was in college, law school. So just who are *you*, Mouse?"
The boy beside him looked on the verge of tears. "She always did tell people I wasn't really her own," he said, voice breaking a little. "When she would drink... she would say the most *terrible* things..."
Duo looked baffled. The cook downstairs? A drunk? Surely not! She seemed a very sober woman to him. "Mouse," he said gravely, "are you lying to me? That woman downstairs isn't really your mother is she? You've just been saying she is so I wouldn't suspect anything weird... like you staying in this room without anyone knowing you were here. Did you run away? Was your real mom doing stuff to you that made you run away?"
"She's the one who ran away!" the boy cried suddenly, no longer able to hold back the tears. "She went off the get drunk! And I told her she was bad for doing it and... ohhhh, she got so mad!" His fists were balling up, face streaked with tears. "'Wretched boy you are!!'" he said in a high-pitched shriek, no doubt emulating his mother, "'You'll be punished for talking to your mother like that!! You go in and you *stay* there until *I* say you can come out!!'"
His small frame was shaking now, hands going to his face. "And she *did*," he gulped, tears coming faster now. "She said she'd tell them all I was gone away to boarding school and then she put me in and locked the door and went out to get *drunk*! I hate her!!" These last words were flung out viciously as the boy began to sob in earnest. "See? I'll show you!" he cried. "Just like *this*!!"
Moving very quickly, he got up from the bed and ran to the closet, flinging the door open and running inside and closing it shut again.
Duo could hear the muffled sobs from inside and got up from the bed, walking to the door. "You better not have locked yourself in, Mouse," he called gently, 'cause I don't have any of my picks here." Luckily, he noticed, the lock was on the outside, so he pulled the door open and walked into the closet himself, shutting the door to give the boy a sense of privacy.
Mouse was at the back, curled in little ball with his hands over his head, crying softly, almost piteously. Duo turned on the closet light and sat down beside him. "Hey kiddo - look, I'm sorry I was harsh, but I just want to know what's going on, okay? If you have parents, you should at least let them know you're here or somewhere - they might be really worried."
Mouse shook his head. "She never worries about me," he said mournfully, "and I was so *scared.* She was gone for so long and I was trying to get out... I was hungry and thirsty and I hated her for locking me in! But I got out in the end. I worked really hard at it, just to spite her." He was still crying, words coming in little, hiccuping sobs. "I never wanted to see her again, except to have her let me out..."
Trying to think of a way to calm to boy down, Duo put an arm around him and asked, "So, how *did* you get out? Why don't you tell me? You must have been really smart to do it."
"Not very smart." the boy said miserably, "just wouldn't give up. I just kept scratching at it until the door was open. See - you can see it right there..." He sat up a little and pointed a finger at the back of the closet door, that stood in front of them.
With a sense of foreboding, Duo turned his head and looked at the wooden door. On the polished surface, about four and half feet from the floor, he could see scratches. Some were small, feeble attempts, others huge gouges. There were other, smaller ones trailing down the wood, ending at a small series of them near the floor, concentrated near the right corner. None of them seemed as if they would have been effective at opening the door had it been locked from the outside.
"Did someone let you out, Mouse?" he asked faintly, staring at the larger gouges, and noticing very old bloodstains around the edges of them.
"I told you," Mouse said in a forlorn voice, "I scratched and scratched and one day... the door was open. I'd done it... in spite of her trying to keep me in here."
Duo tried to move his gaze away from the scratches, but couldn't. /This isn't right... something is very wrong here.../
"Mouse," he said again, finally looking over at the boy, "How have you been able to live up here - on your own? What do you eat? Where do you get the money for food? Do you steal?"
The boy looked at him, face a bit puzzled, then shook his head firmly. "I don't *steal,*" he said firmly. "I'm not a *thief*!"
"No offense, man," Duo said softly, "I lived on the street for a long time - I know what it takes to get by, but..."
His eyes went once more to the scratches. "You couldn't have scratched your way out, Mouse," he said finally, not really wanting to go to the next conclusion, but having to all the same. He stood up and pulled the boy with him. "Look at the outside of the door," he said softly, showing the front of the closet door to Mouse. "There's not a scratch out here - just inside. Someone must have opened the door for you."
But the boy was shaking his head. "No one was there... when I came out, no one was there. Not my mother, not anyone - except..."
"Except?" Duo said, leaning forward towards the boy.
"The lady in the ball gown - she came by a little after I got out. She looked at me, but it was sad that time, instead of angry like she usually looked. I asked her if she needed my help, but she just shook her head and said I couldn't help her now."
An explanation was forming in Duo's mind, an understanding, both horrible and touching, and it made him sick to think about it.
"You've been helping people like her for a long time, haven't you Mouse?" he asked in a near whisper.
The boy nodded. "Since I was really little - about four. I tried telling Mother about it once, but she beat me whenever I talked about it, so I stopped and just helped them anyway. I didn't like it. They frightened me, but I knew I had to help them or no one else would."
"And they stay here," Duo said, "after they die, because they have very important things to do, too. Isn't that right?"
"Yes," Mouse said, staring at Duo now, watching him carefully.
The braided boy turned and looked down, smiling softly at the other boy. "You've done your important thing, Mouse," he said quietly. "It's all right. You can go."
Mouse's expression didn't change at first. He kept staring at Duo, bewilderment in his gaze, until finally, comprehension seemed to dawn on him, slowly, with terrible sadness.
He reached out for the back of the closet door and fitting his fingers into the gauges on it's surface. A perfect match.
"She never came back for me, did she?" he said in a whisper.
Duo felt the prick of tears behind his eyes as he shook his head. "No," he said hoarsely, "I don't think she did."
"I remember being so very thirsty," Mouse was saying. "And my hands hurt from scratching so... I remember thinking that I would forgive her if she came back... if she would just come back and open the door... but she never did, did she...? She went off and got drunk somewhere... and forgot I was in here..."
Duo closed his eyes, a terrible ache in his chest. "I'm so sorry, Mouse... oh *God* I'm so sorry."
Mouse seemed calm, though, almost unnaturally so. He looked up at Duo, his thin face hopeful. "Perhaps whatever comes next will be better than it was here..."
It wasn't really a question, but it begged for reassurance and Duo did his best to smile back. "I'm sure it will be, kiddo," he said, still fighting tears. "It has to be."
"I'll miss you." Mouse said. "You were a pretty good friend... do you think my mouse will be all right if I just take her out of the box and let her go?"
Duo had almost forgotten the little creature Mouse had showed him when they first met. He walked over to her box and scooped her out, holding her out for Mouse to pet. "She was a good friend, too," he said. "Put her in the corner, will you? That's where I first saw her."
Duo did as he was instructed. The small bundle of fur sniffed excitedly around a crack in the wall in front her, then sat up on her hind legs, staring at the two of them for an instant before she dropped back down and disappeared into the wall.
Duo looked around to see Mouse's reaction, but the room was empty.
End of Part 17
(:./kumiko/2road34)
