24-Oct-2000
Wow! I finished another part. And in record time. It only took me two days since the last part. ^_^
Author: Tigress Pern
Archived at: GW Addiction
Warning: AU, some OOC.
Disclaimer: GW isn't mine. None of the lyrics to
songs are mine either. They belong to Matchbox 20.
Pacing back and forth in tempo with the music he was listening to, Heero thought. What was up with Trowa? He'd come home that day looking like someone had slammed him in the face with a two by four. Heero had been in the kitchen fixing himself a snack when he heard the front door open. A moment later he saw Trowa head to his room. The boy looked more pale than usual. Heero didn't like that. He hated to admit it, but he liked Catherine and Trowa. It was nice to have a family again, even if he wasn't really a member. It was nice to pretend though. The last time he'd felt like this was when his grandfather was still alive, before the money had come rolling in.
His father had hit it big on the stock market. It had been a gamble and it had paid off. Heero could remember the exact date everything changed. November 13th, 1993, 3:21 PM. He paused wondering if Trowa or Catherine Barton knew exactly how much money he was entitled to when he turned 21. Probably not. He kept very quiet about that. Grandfather hadn't been a slouch in his life. He'd built up a large portfolio of stocks, most of which were now in Heero's name. Yet he'd never let money interfere with his life. Heero wished his parents had taken lessons. Money doesn't buy happiness, nor does it solve all the world's problems.
"You figured me out - I'm lost and I'm hopeless
I'm bleeding and broken - though I've never spoken
I come undone..." Heero sang along with his CD. The
music helped ease away all the anger and regret that
was welling up inside him. He walked over to his
stereo to turn up the volume just as the phone rang.
He could hear it in the kitchen. Not bothering to
wait for Trowa to answer it, he opened his bedroom
door and stalked up the stairs. Grabbing a hold of
the ivory plastic covered ringing annoyance; he
briefly wondered why Trowa hadn't come out. Something
caught his attention in the corner of his eye.
Something moved and was gone before he could turn.
"Hello?" a worried voice said on the other end snapping Heero back.
"Hello. May I ask who this is?"
"This is Quatre Winner. I'm Trowa's friend. Listen, did he make it home all right? He...wasn't feeling well. I thought I'd check on him." The tension in the air was thick and Heero wondered what had happened.
"He came home and went to his room. That was an hour ago. I haven't seen him since. I can check if you'll hang on." Heero offered. There was a moment of silence.
"Would you?" Heero put the receiver down and went to knock on Trowa's door. There was no response. He knocked again. Once more there was nothing. He opened the door and looked about, Trowa wasn't in. Heero felt the temperature in the room drop. He shivered and his heart raced. The ghost, he thought. Quickly he returned to inform Quatre of Trowa's absence.
"Gone? Oh,....oh....no. I need to find him. I need to talk to him. I should...." Quatre's words were coming fast and fearful. "I'm skipping the rest of my violin lesson. I was taking a break and thought I'd call. Shit...I never thought. Heero, he probably went out walking. See if you can find him and bring him back to the house." Heero didn't understand what was going on, but he understood fear and panic.
"I'll do that."
"Thank you. I'll meet you out front of the house in fifteen minutes." He hung up, leaving Heero holding the receiver and feeling worried. The logical thing was to search the house first, he told himself. It took him ten minutes to check every room and call for Trowa. The entire time he was dogged by a cold anxious breeze that didn't care what it was doing. It blew open doors that Heero touched and nearly slammed open the windows. Heero knew it was the ghost, but he didn't understand what it was doing. Was it helping or getting in the way? It didn't compute with what his grandfather had told him over and over again about Duo Maxwell.
Grabbing his coat, Heero hurried outside. The chilly October afternoon seemed almost warm after dealing with the spirit breeze. He was just opening the front gate when a blond came huffing up the road. Quatre had been running, his face red from the strain. He obviously wasn't a long distance runner, but he didn't appear to care.
"Have you found him?" Quatre demanded between gasps. Heero shook his head. "Kuso!"
"What happened?" Heero asked sternly.
"It's complicated."
"So is life. Spill." Quatre stared at Heero with wide eyes. He glared back at Quatre, his entire posture commanding Quatre to tell him everything. Could he trust Heero? Something about his concerned look told him he could.
"Let's start walking." Heero nodded and they headed off down the road. Heero kept the pace slow at first so that Quatre could catch his breath. Also he hoped that the boy would tell him what was going on. It wasn't like his employer to go running off, at least he hoped not.
"It happened about a year and a half ago. Trowa's mother had been told she had cancer. The doctors didn't give her much time to live. The family was devastated. Trowa would come over to my place and spend the night because he couldn't stand to see his mother in pain. We always knew when her health got worse because he would ask to come over.
"One evening, it was really late and he'd been particularly miserable, we were talking. I don't remember how we got onto the topic of crushes, but we did. I remember him saying that he thought I was a wonderful friend and that he wished we could be more. The comment blew over my head, I'd missed it completely until he said he thought I was very good looking. I joked with him about if he were asking me out and laughed. He was deathly quiet. Something told me it wasn't a joke. I reacted badly. I got defensive. Neither of us slept well and he left first thing in the morning. I didn't know what to think. We stopped talking.
"He avoided me in the hallways and withdrew. His mother's cancer got worse. It was horrible; I can't imagine how he felt at that time. Somehow I managed to sum up enough courage to talk to him again. I avoided the topic of that night; he didn't seem to mind. After a while I convinced myself that it was just the strain of his mother's illness. When she died, he became even more of a ghost. He just wandered about his day like it was a dream. Then his father was killed only two months later. It was just so horrible that I couldn't abandon my friend. He was and is my friend.
"Up until today, I was still firm in my belief that the confession was just something he did as an attempt to reach out for help."
"What happened today?"
"I showed him a picture of a boy and he stated that the boy was gorgeous." Heero arched one dark eyebrow at him. "He turned white and withdrew, turning back into the ghost he'd been almost all of last year. I should have dealt with Trowa's confession better. If I had, he wouldn't be out there doing God knows what! We acted like nothing had happened. With one accidental, if not truthful, remark he's shattered the illusion. An illusion created by both of us, but has mainly hurt him."
Quatre was shaking from anger. Anger that he had not done something earlier and had just let the wound fester. Heero watched him with sad eyes.
"We'll find him." he reassured.
Trowa walked in the front door. It had been locked, but he didn't remember locking it. He wondered if Heero had gone out. Right now he didn't care, he was exhausted both physically and mentally. The walk had helped clear his head. He would have to talk to Quatre sooner or later, but maybe it was better for Quatre to stay in his protective shell. One year and two months ago he'd admitted he'd had a crush on him and nearly destroyed their friendship. He wasn't about to do that again. He didn't know what he'd say, but he would have to phrase it carefully. He had so few friends and he planned on keeping the ones he had. Suddenly Trowa felt as if he was tackled. His body was slammed backwards with such a force that it nearly knocked the wind out of him. As he struggled to regain his breathing he realized how cold it was in the house.
"You scared me half to death!" Duo's voice proclaimed loudly. Trowa felt the pressure on his chest shift but it didn't release him.
"Nani?"
"Don't nani me! You know perfectly well what you did!"
"No, I don't."
"You come home looking all white, pace about your room looking like a frightened mouse and mutter things like 'Oh my God, what am I to do?' and 'I can't fix this, I've screwed up big this time.' You then go charging out of here without even telling Heero where you were going!"
"You were worried?" Trowa inquired not completely comprehending the ghost.
"You bet your ass I was worried! Can't you tell by the way that I came flying down the hallway and tackled you? Of course it would be have been more dramatic if you could actually see me."
"You know, for a ghost, you're heavy." Trowa groaned. The pressure fidgeted.
"I am not moving until you apologize. If Catherine were here, she would insist on one as well." Duo replied haughtily. Trowa relented.
"I'm sorry to make you worry."
"You made Heero worry too and Quatre. He called, they went out looking for you about twenty minutes ago."
"Quatre was worried?" Trowa inquired in disbelief.
"Of course he is. He's your friend. God, what is your problem?"
"I saw a picture of what you looked like alive." There was dead silence. The pressure moved off of Trowa enough to let him stand. He walked towards his room. Duo didn't say anything.
"How did you get a picture of me?"
"Quatre's grandmother was a senior at the high school when you died. Your picture was in the yearbook. He borrowed it from her."
"What is her name?"
"Carol, I believe."
"Carol what?"
"I don't know. But she was a member of the glee club. Dark blond hair and sea-green eyes."
"I think I remember her." There was a long pause. "I was a bit eccentric, but I got along with people."
"You had very long hair." Trowa could almost imagine Duo fiddling with the end of his braid. He wished he'd been there to see how Duo had looked when he was alive. His hair had probably been silky soft.
"Yes. I wanted to be like Samson from the old biblical story. You know Samson and Delilah. He was strong and powerful because he never cut his hair. I thought he was so cool. So I never cut it. My parents didn't care, but the school nearly made me cut it. My father pointed out there was no rule against it and they quieted down."
"You were handsome too. I bet you were very popular with the girls." Trowa added the last bit quickly. He wasn't sure he should tell Duo all his secrets.
"They were all trying for my class ring. Every sophomore girl wanted to go steady with me. I didn't like the idea though." Duo replied. "You thought I was handsome?" Trowa nodded.
"Thanks, you have no idea how much that means to me." With that Duo was gone. Trowa felt the air temperature rise. Strange, he thought. Why did he leave like that?
Trowa was safe and at home. Quatre had stayed through dinner, which seemed to make Trowa nervous. Heero didn't know what to think about the entire thing. Quatre seemed like a nice guy and Heero was already thinking of Trowa as family. When had that occurred? He'd only been in the house a week and already he felt like a member of the family. Maybe it was Catherine's good nature and the way she treated him exactly like Trowa. Or maybe it was the house. The breaks slammed on in Heero's mind.
He'd promised his grandfather to protect the next owners of the house and that was what he was doing. There was only 'bad karma' in the house and until Duo Maxwell was gone, it would continue to fester. He'd already seen it's handy work. Causing Trowa to act without thinking that day. It had probably affected Quatre too, but not nearly to the extent it had Trowa. No, Duo Maxwell's spirit had to go before it caused irreversible damage.
Meiran smiled and greeted Trowa as she and Wufei walked through the doors. It was Saturday and the four friends were about to conduct another séance. Meiran hoped that some of the questions she had would be answered. As they climbed the stairs to the third floor, they found a glowering Heero waiting for them at the door.
"Catherine wants us to clean all the rooms on this floor." He announced. Trowa looked surprised. This was the first he'd heard about it.
"Catherine?" he called, there wasn't an answer for a moment, then Catherine poked her head out of Duo's old room.
"Oh hello everyone. I hope this won't inconvenience your get together, but these rooms up here really need to be cleaned. If I could have your help, then it would go quicker." Trowa couldn't believe his sister. She knew he planned to spend time with his friends today, why was she pulling this now? "Look, I wouldn't ask you, but a friend of mine is coming by to make suggestions for redecorating the rooms. He is going out of town for a week on Tuesday, so Monday is the only time I can get him to come over. It'll only take a few hours. Please say yes. I mean you've already done a wonderful job with this room."
Wufei looked at Meiran, who looked to Quatre, and then all three looked at Trowa.
"It doesn't bother me much." Meiran told Trowa. "I'd be doing chores at home anyway. At least my mother can't say I didn't do anything useful today."
"I can stay until dinner." Wufei informed them.
"Same here." Quatre said. Catherine clasped her hands together.
"Oh, thank you! You don't know how much this means to us."
"I just hope you plan to make it up to us." Wufei said snidely. Meiran elbowed him in the ribs. Catherine smiled.
The cleaning process took most of the afternoon. Everyone talked easily, occasionally breaking the monotony of their tasks with silly little games. Meiran even chased Wufei with a broom, swatting him for being a jerk. It was all in good fun. Even the stone faced Heero had to smile at the sight. Trowa caught his eye and smiled back. Maybe he could convince Heero that Duo wasn't that bad of a spirit. After all, he didn't seem to be that bad of a person.
Unfortunately, for all their hard work in the end they couldn't hold the séance. Catherine, when was asked if she believed in ghosts since it was nearing Halloween, told them flat out no. In fact, she didn't believe in anything supernatural. Therefore, since she wasn't about to leave them alone, they weren't able to do any communicating with the dead. Catherine did say she would get something special for them for all their hard work that day. She just didn't say what. Wufei thought it would be great to hold a Halloween party, but Trowa wasn't so sure. Although, the idea did have appeal. Trowa showed his friends out the door and apologized for his sister.
"Don't worry about it Trowa." Meiran assured him. "Sometimes things just don't go as you planned. See you on Monday and I hope we fair better on Wednesday." If not, I can at least talk to him, Trowa reminded himself.
End Chapter 6
Tigress Pern