Ties that Bind
© sunnydae
Summary: Milliardo, Treize, and Mariemaia: a happy family... but for how long? With enemies all around trying to destroy them, can they survive Relena & Heero's wedding without falling apart? 13x6, 1xR, 3x4, and others. R&R, I'll do the same.
Notes: Zechs is 28, Treize is 32; Relena, Heero, Duo, Quatre, and Wufei are 24; Trowa is 25; Mariemaia is 16; Hilde is 25; Noin, Catherine, and Lady Une are 27; Dorothy is 25; Sally Po is 31. Some ages were slightly modified.
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing & related logos/characters/trademarks are © Bandai, Sunrise, Sotsu Agency, et al.
chapter one
Ring, ring.
Milliardo's brow furrowed as the shrill buzzing of the telephone shattered the heavenly silence that had shrouded him in dream. He shut his eyes tight, hoping it would stop ringing.
Ring, ring.
He flipped over, cracking open his moonstone-blue eyes to stare critically at the telephone cradle. The bright red light blinked on and off to remind him they had a missed voice mail. A green light flashed as the phone cried. The digital clock nearby stated 1:44 AM. Good God, what the hell would anyone want to do with him at 1:44 AM?
Ring, ring.
The ring seemed almost desperate now. Milliardo stared at it, willing it to shut. the hell. up.
Ring, ring.
"Mmm... Answer it," Treize suddenly muttered from behind him.
Milliardo grimaced. "Probably telemarketers," he mumbled in return, not wanting to move. They had been sleeping curled together, back-to-chest, and Milliardo was reluctant to leave the warm cradle of his lover's arms wrapped around him.
"Telemarketers don't call at three in the morning," replied the sandy-haired man, retracting his arms and sitting up to look over Milliardo's shoulder. The platinum-haired man thought he resembled their kitten when she woke up, blinking away unwelcome light with her enormous green eyes. A grumpy kitten. Treize continued speaking. "Something—" ring, ring "—might have happened. Answer it."
Oh, yes. Late-night phone calls did have the tendency to be harbingers of bad news. Milliardo had forgotten about that.
As if knowing made him any less reluctant to answer.
"Milliardo..." Treize sighed impatiently.
"I'm getting it..." the man muttered glumly in reply, and slowly reached to the phone. Ring, ri—"Hello, whoever-you-are. I certainly hope you have a very good excuse for calling me so late at night," he answered tersely.
"Milli..." came that warning tone. Milliardo batted blindly behind him, waving off Treize's admonition.
—Milliardo? He recognized Relena's voice immediately.
"Oh, Relena – hello. Is everything all right?" He glanced at Treize, who made a face and motioned for him to cut off the call. Milliardo smirked. Treize detested his sister, but Milliardo couldn't have cut the call short even if he wanted to, because he knew exactly what this call was about, and it was rather important.
—Umm... Yeah. Why? Relena seemed puzzled.
"Well, it's nearly two AM, dear sister," Milliardo replied with a patient sigh.
—Oh, dammit! Relena hissed underneath her breath. Milliardo quirked a brow, lips lilting into an amused smile. —Sorry! I completely forgot. I'm in a different time zone right now. Oh well, just listen. So I—
"Business trip, eh? What is it this time?" Milliardo cut in smoothly, wanting to put off the important news as long as possible.
—Oh, you know, this and that, Relena replied vaguely, voice worryingly teeny-bopperish. —Boring stuff. Whatever.
Vice-Foreign Minister, Vice-Foreign Minister, kept running through Milliardo's mind.
—So I was wondering, continued Relena flippantly. —How are you and Treize?
The very fact that she asked so calmly made Milliardo somewhat uncomfortable. Especially with the other man in the room, listening, staring at him so intently. "Oh, we're fine," he replied blithely, not daring to glance at his lover.
Treize and Relena's relationship was... complicated, to say the least. They had once been enemies, and it had been difficult making peace with each other, but they shook hands for the good of the world eventually. However, their aversion for each other wasn't just politics. Treize found Relena to be unbearably annoying, and Relena was convinced Treize was a pompous ass. Their opinions of each other only worsened when Treize and Milliardo joined in 'union' three months ago; Treize was unhappy with the prospect of having her as his sister-in-law, and Relena despised the idea of someone taking her older brother away. In her words, she would have "much rather preferred Lucrezia."
All right. Maybe, when you got down to it, their relationship wasn't that complicated in itself. But in consequence of their judgments, Milliardo was often put in the middle of their little tiffs, and he never knew how to properly deal with them. Remaining neutral was not an option, and he was usually on one of their bad sides no matter what he did. Being with both of them at the same time was extremely uncomfortable and stressful, so he avoided it at all costs.
Which was why he hadn't yet mentioned Relena's recent news to Treize, even though he'd gotten word of it two months ago.
—That's good. How's Mariemaia? Still surly?
"She's well. But you know better than to ask that... You know she grew out of that about a year ago." Milliardo glanced at Treize. The older man was clearly debating in his head which would be more beneficial to his cause: pick up another phone and hurry up the conversation, ignore it completely and just try to sleep, or leave to rest in the guest room and be a big huffy mess the next morning. Milliardo knew very well that he was probably leaning towards the third option, which was not very appealing.
"Uh, Relena," he began, "2 AM really is quite late, so if you wouldn't mind calling back later—"
—No, no, this is really urgent! Okay, so listen. Heero and I have bumped up our wedding date to May 1st, so—you know that schedule I faxed you about two months ago?
Shit shit shit! Milliardo thought; that did not sound like good news. "Yeah, it's around here somewhere," he replied casually.
—Well, there was a huge mix-up with the catering business... and Heero and I have been thinking... and we decided to bump everything up two weeks.
"Oh. Well, great."
Relena cleared her throat. —Milliardo.
"Yes?"
—You do know what this means, right?
"Umm...?" he offered.
—The wedding is in a week.
SHIT! "Oh, right—well good!"
—You need to be at the manor by tomorrow evening so everything goes according to plan. You remember. We have that barbeque and everything, and you're a really big part of things. I need you here, she said sulkily. Obviously Relena had acknowledged the hesitance and pure and utter panic in his words, because she was using that pouty voice that she knew Milliardo couldn't resist.
"Well...I really don't think we can manage that—"
—Milliardo! You need to be here! You promised!
"I know, but—"
—You have your own private jet; don't act as if you have a schedule to maintain.
She had him there. He sighed. "I know, it's just..." He trailed off, his tone suggested she ought to know what he was getting at.
—There will be plenty of time for you to have sex at the manor, Milliardo, don't worry, she informed him tersely, beginning to lose her patience with him.
The blond man balked. "That is definitely not what I was insinuating!"
—Well, what is it then? Come on, just spit it out – I really don't have time for games like this, Milliardo!
"Umm, well... You know what?" Treize was getting upset and searching around the edge of the bed for his pajamas. Milliardo needed to cut this short if he wanted a warm bed through the night – or survive the next morning. "We will be there; we will definitely be there. Don't worry. I'm going to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow. Love you, bye." He hung up before she could say anything more.
Treize sat up when he heard him set the phone back in the cradle, arching a brow and looking decidedly suspicious. "So," he prompted curtly.
Milliardo sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Relena and Heero are getting married," he said bluntly.
"Wonderful," he deadpanned. "Now I know that's not all."
"Yes, you're absolutely right." He let out a great sigh. "The truth is... I've known about it for two months now."
"And you didn't tell me... why?"
"Because you know how you get when I mention anything about her! I figured it would be for the best to just spare you the news until it was absolutely necessary."
"Thank you for sparing my feelings. Forgive me for not being grateful."
"You're welcome." At the shriveling look Treize shot him, Milliardo apologized quickly. "All right, well – the wedding was originally scheduled for May 15th. But she ran into some difficulties with the catering business or something and so she decided to just bump up the whole schedule two weeks. The date's been moved to May 1st."
Treize already knew what was coming, but he still asked, "And...?"
"And they're having celebrations the week before and after the wedding, and I told her – no, I promised her – we would be there through all of it. So we have to be there tomorrow because everyone's arriving the day after and we need to help her get ready."
Treize looked positively terrifying at this moment, and Milliardo gulped, preparing himself for a major bitch fest. Treize had been much more prone to mood swings than he had ever been during the entire time Milliardo had known him; most likely in result of the wounds he had sustained after the 'final' battle with Heero. And it sucked. However, rather than chewing him out for all the problems this would cause, the older man only grumbled, "Jesus Christ" and rubbed his forehead.
"I know. I'm sorry, love, I really should've told you earlier but..." He shrugged a bit helplessly and chuckled nervously, like this was completely horrifying but strangely absurd... which wasn't that far off from the truth.
Treize was rubbing the bridge of his nose now, and fell back on the bed. "We're going to have to get Mariemaia out of school immediately..." he groaned, dreading the prospect of calling the school and dealing with all the secretaries and that horrible, bitter headmistress. "We'll have to find someone to watch the house, feed the cat... I haven't even packed anything yet, and what about the—"
"Treize, calm down. It'll be fine. I'll deal with all of that, and make all the necessary arrangements. All you'll have to do is pack and sit there looking adorable."
His lover stared at him, neither amused nor willing to be pacified by Milliardo's charm.
"You know I won't be welcomed there."
"Pardon?"
"I said," he intoned heavily, eyes dark, "you know I won't be welcomed there."
"It'll be fine."
"No, it won't," Treize said, pulling the covers over him and flicking off the bedside lamp. "But there's no point in discussing it. You promised her, after all. Without my approval, might I add!" He turned to his side, not facing Milliardo. The muscles in his back and broad shoulders were tense beneath his warm skin.
"Oh, don't be like that—"
"Good night,Milliardo."
Milliardo furrowed his brow, watching him for a long time before finally lying back again. He could feel Treize's body next to his, skin warm and inviting, like fresh bread. Cautiously, he leaned to the side and pressed a soft kiss to his shoulder. "It'll be fine. Trust me."
"I trust you, but it won't be fine. You know it won't."
"Treize—"
"I'm a grown man, Milliardo," Treize said fiercely, turning to face him. "You know very well they hate me – you don't have to spare my feelings about it."
Milliardo looked into his eyes, and then sighed. "I want this to work, Treize."
"As do I. But it won't."
"How are you so sure?" Milliardo asked, voice soft and coy, fingertips trailing over his side, summoning goose-bumps.
Treize shut his eye against the sensation, finally relaxing. "Because."
"Because...?"
"Old wounds heal slowly, and soldiers can hold grudges for a long time. Now go to sleep." He grabbed the younger man's hand, throwing it over his shoulder and finding a comfortable spot against his chest.