An Ever Fixèd Mark

For Lady-Rinoa14's Endless Reflection Challenge.

Note: The title comes from Shakespeare's 116th sonnet. I own neither his works nor the works of Gundam Wing. Also, I swear, I just went onto a shopping site, put in 'boy's halloween costumes,' and randomized the hell out of everything. This is how it turned out. Though I think it's perfect (perfectly awesome), I had nothing to do with it.

WARNING: Kayura writes fluff. (Run.)

It still happened. Not often, anymore, but sometimes.

Their almost impressive house, granted to them through Quatre's rather intimidating lecture about space and security and, well, each foster child having his own bedroom, was filled to capacity at the moment with pirates and ninja and odd characters from old television shows (and Wufei rightly laid the blame for that squarely at Duo's feet). An old Japanese cartoon character raced out with Optimus Prime to the kitchen as soon as Wufei and Sally stepped through the door. Spiderman stepped in politely behind them, bowed shortly, and went to retrieve her bag.

"Wufei," Heero said in greeting, ushering them inside the madhouse. Quatre and Trowa had already arrived, bringing their little Halima with them, dressed as a pirate, thick shirts swishing as she moved to retrieve her own bag, her rapier, as real as it was sharp, on her hip. Mei greeted Halima with a bright smile.

"Yuy," Wufei said. "Where's Maxwell?"

"Hey, 'Fei! Sally!" Duo said, running down the stairs like a child himself and launching himself at Sally. She oomphed slightly as he hit, then laughed and shoved him aside.

"Get out of here, Duo! You're as excitable as the kids!" But Sally was still laughing almost too hard to get the words out. Heero and Wufei both rolled their eyes.

Loud bangs could be heard from within the kitchen as Liánzhèng and Billy started doing something with the chairs. Wufei and Sally had sworn to only have one child, so of course Sally had had twins. Duo had said it served them right for trying to plan their lives. Then again, Duo was a big fan of the chaos theory – which, to him, meant 'there is naught but chaos.' And for Wufei and Sally's carefully planned lives, that was certainly true enough. Now Liánzhèng was playing some sort of 'the floor is lava' game with Billy, only with the racket going on, Heero could only assume they were also attempting to battle to the death. Mei, on the other hand, let out an angry shriek. Duo clapped a hand over his mouth and bowled over, his shoulders shaking. Mei had apparently seen what Duo had done to her bag. Heero rolled his eyes again. "Uncle Maxwell!" the eight-year-old screamed, and Duo projected an innocent look before turning.

"Yes?"

"Come here!"

Heero saw the tension in Duo's shoulders as he tried once more not to burst out laughing. "Coming!" And he trudged over to her, as if reluctant to go.

"Again?" Sally said, her own lips flickering between amusement and resignation. "How many times is he going to deliberately spell her name wrong? She never shuts up about it."

"He'll do it until she caves," Wufei said, his tone one of empathy. "And by then, she'll likely be fine with it."

Billy's and Liánzhèng's lava battle had gotten so loud Heero and Wufei both turned to scold them – only to see Russell, Duo and Heero's first foster child, go out to tell the two off for them. Russell had barely been learning to crawl when the war had ended and Duo had found him in an L2 orphanage. He and Heero did their damnedest to not play favorites, but it was no secret that Russell had a special place in their lives. He'd been the one they'd ended up adopting. The start of their family.

Billy, their second foster child, listened to Russell as if forced, but Liánzhèng looked up to him with something almost like awe. Which looked more like Code Geass' Zero had been somehow stunned or paralyzed with his head tilted up beneath the weight of the mask. Optimus Prime, however, lost his role as leader when he turned to see Heero watching him and looked immediately down at his shoes. Heero's anger was rare, but legendary. The disappointment from him was, according to Duo, worse.

Derek, their newest member to the household, sat on the final step into the room, watching everything with wide, almost angry eyes. They'd only brought him in a few months ago, and he was still getting used to the house. Yet little Halima had taken her bag and sat right next to him, her captain's hat resting in her lap, talking softly to Derek – and Derek was responding. Heero's brow lifted. Was Quatre's gift contagious, or was that some reason why they'd chosen to adopt her? Or perhaps Derek was attracted to her calmness during the hurricane that had become their home. Either one.

But while Halima charmed Derek over, Mei scolded Duo for having once more spelled her name like the month (on a piece of tape; he wasn't cruel). Duo was biting his cheek to keep from smiling. Mei looked just like Wufei when she was affronted, and if she hadn't had her hair pulled in a tight bun to keep it inside Spiderman's mask, she would likely have it in her traditional ponytail, and would look like a miniature version of her father. Apparently Duo thought the similarities hilarious.

Russell was the one to lead Billy and Liánzhèng back into the living room. Liánzhèng reached out and touched the end of Russell's long, dirty blond braid. He kept it to the end of his waist, not willing to let it hit his knees like Duo's, but otherwise keeping the length he'd demanded when he was a toddler wanting to emulate his daddy. Russell met Heero's eyes and nodded, handing the recalcitrant children back over to him before heading back to his room, likely to grab his own ninja mask and gear. His throwing knives and dagger would be real.

Quatre called Mei over before she could really tear Duo a new one, luring her with a promise to fix the bag. A grin marred the blond's face, however, and Trowa had turned his face away. His shoulders were shaking, too. Apparently Duo wasn't the only one who found Mei's personality funny. Duo tore off to grab his own Halloween costume, because he was nothing if not a giant kid himself sometimes. This left Heero, Wufei, and Sally to pick up the pieces of their troupe.

Derek was already fine, dressed in a red and silver costume that resembled his favorite superhero, Ultraman. Neither he nor Duo had ever heard of the man, but of course Duo had pirated the show and marathoned it that first week with Derek. Heero had managed a few shows, and had managed to gather that it was basically Doctor Who for monsters. He looked anachronistic beside the female pirate captain of Halima, a girl who looked exotic enough with her dark skin and big eyes without the Victorian-style skirts and wide, lacy sleeves of the costume. Heero dismissed them as taken care of. Russell, of course, could handle himself. He was old enough to wonder if he should be wearing a costume out, and smart enough not to ask what Duo would label "a painfully stupid question." Mei was being occupied by Quatre and Trowa, who had finally managed to battle himself into enough control to engage Mei in conversation.

That left the troublemakers, Liánzhèng and Billy, who were shifting and staring at each other with quick grins. It was clear they still had too much energy, and demanding they stifle it would only bring trouble in the long run. Heero nodded Wufei into the house, and Wufei, taking the sign, steered Sally clear. Billy was the only one of the two to pick up on the exchange, and he sent Heero a suspicious look. So Heero went for the more vulnerable target.

He scooped up Zero with one hand, working around the heavy cape to grab Liánzhèng's arms and pin them to his chest. He squealed and thrashed, but his attacks were sloppy with surprise and laughter, and Heero managed to get the door open behind him and take him outside and into the grass. "Ha! Now I have your precious hero of Japan!" he said, calling into the house. Billy's brown eyes went wide. Halima and Quatre both covered their mouths and giggled. "Now your forces are no match for me!"

"Oh, yeah?" Billy called out, familiar with the game. He launched out of the house and down the sidewalk with two long strides. Mei quickly peered around the door to watch. "You can't stop the Autobots!"

Heero laughed. "I have already taken one hero." Liánzhèng grunted with the effort to get free; Heero pretended to have his grip loosened a bit. "And I am an agent of Preventers. What can just one more hero do?"

"Two!" Mei called, running into the battle in a decidedly un-Spiderman-like manner. "You have two heroes to defeat!" And with that, she leaped up on Heero. He took on her weight without issue, though he thought he would have done better five years ago. He let Liánzhèng get a little more wriggle room, and unsurprisingly, he took it and shoved, trying to get free. Billy, barely seven now, latched onto Heero's leg while Mei smacked at Heero's arm until he let Liánzhèng go. Liánzhèng turned on one foot and grabbed Heero's other arm.

Heero maintained his balance and carefully pulled his arm free from Liánzhèng's hold. Mei clutched tightly to his arm, then, and tried to get the footing necessary for a throw – but she didn't have the momentum to pull it off, even if he let her get her feet planted. Billy tugged at his leg, trying to trip him up.

Heero saw Halima come out next, followed by Quatre and Sally. All of them watched with no indication of coming to help.

But then Heero was surprised all over again, seeing Derek step out from behind Halima. She turned to him as he passed. Derek's gaze was almost dark as he watched, Mei and Liánzhèng and Billy all pulling and groaning in exertion, grins nearly splitting their faces.

Heero quirked a brow at him.

It was a challenge, an invitation, and an assertion. Derek wasn't stupid enough to not get it. And he was brave enough to accept it.

He raced forward. Heero carefully positioned Mei away from the attack, switched his leg, now with Billy's almost full weight around it, Billy smart enough to get a firm hold before trying anything offensive. Derek moved as if to plow straight into Heero, then ducked around Mei to Heero's side. Heero barely managed to prepare with Mei still holding his arm, keeping him from blocking. One good push and Heero's balance broke. Billy dug one foot into the dirt and pulled, and though Heero could have caught himself, it would have meant shoving Mei back and kicking Billy across the yard. And so he fell, barely keeping Billy from getting squished or Mei from falling on top of him and losing his breath.

Of course, all of the kids pounced on this sign of weakness. Someone – Liánzhèng – moved to try to tickle him, and Mei hurried to cover his eyes so he couldn't see. Billy was probably the one to try to grab his legs, used to him recovering before he and Russell managed to get Heero pinned. They all shouted, one above the other, laughing hysterically. Heero found himself laughing, as well. His clothes were likely ruined by grass stains.

"All right, everyone, let poor Heero up, or we're going to be late. And tardiness means no chocolate," Sally called, trying to herd the children into some semblance of order once again. Billy was the first to run off; he hadn't even picked up his bag yet. Derek was next; Heero felt his presence leave more than anything else. And then Liánzhèng, likely to talk to Billy about the fight. The two of them would probably make Heero's life miserable in the weeks to come. He hoped threats of coal in their stockings would keep it to a minimum.

Mei was the last to get off, still laughing and straddling his chest, hands still over his eyes. It took Wufei calling her for her to finally leave. As soon as she did, Heero opened his eyes.

Duo was looking down on him, gray cloak over his shoulders but hood down, scythe in hand, staring at Heero with wide eyes. It was those same exact eyes that Heero had first seen, really seen, of Duo's. This was the Duo who had been almost afraid of him, shocked into stillness at what Heero could do. That first time, Heero had pulled his wrist free of leather bindings, and Duo had thought him nearly inhuman. And he'd been in awe. It was there in the slight gape of his mouth and the shine in his eyes. A look that said Heero was amazing, almost too amazing. A look Heero had chased down from that moment on, fixing his Gundam, saving Duo, destroying the Libra. And finding that look again and again. A look that still came to that face every once in a while. Not as often, anymore, now that they knew each other so well, but sometimes.

Heero's lips curled into a smile. He held out his hand.