Disclaimer: This story was written by a fan only for the enjoyment of other fans, without any monetary compensation. Gundam Wing and its characters are registered trademarks of Bandai Entertainment Inc.™ and Sotsu Agency. All rights reserved.

Thanks to Kt for proofing this story.

'The Road Trip' is a short story set in my Ghost Detective universe to celebrate June 13th, which coincidentally in this universe is also Milliardo's birthday. Hope you enjoy!

The Road Trip

Chapter 2

The nearest motel turned out to be a cozy little bed and breakfast just off the interstate. The parking lot was nearly empty except for a large 18-wheeler and a silver-grey family van. Treize paid for the night even though they weren't planning on staying for more than a few hours, and the friendly old lady at the reception desk handed him an actual key, with their room number hand painted on a little wooden plaque. She asked if they needed someone to bring up their luggage and he told her that wouldn't be necessary.

"Well then I hope you have a pleasant stay."

"I'm sure we will," Milliardo replied with a smile.

They found their room on the second floor all the way at the end of the hall.

Great, at least we won't be disturbing anyone.

"So," Treize locked the door behind himself and set his overnight bag down beside Milliardo's. "What was it you were saying about ripping off my clothes?"

##

Carefully Treize peeked through the slightly ajar door into the bedroom just after he had stepped out of the shower. Milliardo was still fast asleep. In fact it looked as though the young man hadn't even moved since he had left the bed. He watched silently for a few more moments before retreating back to the sink to brush his teeth.

When he raised his head he was sitting right in front of him...big brown eyes looking at him from beneath long, shaggy hair, a black wet nose twitching slightly, and a long bushy tail brushing the ground slowly.

"Hello there, aren't you a pretty one?" Reaching out slowly so as not to startle the dog Milliardo smiled. He looked around for the animal's owner, but there was no one nearby. "What are you doing out here, all by yourself?" he asked as his finger's scratched behind those shaggy ears. "You aren't lost, are you?"

He noticed a band around the dogs neck, dark brown and made from leather, a expensive looking collar. There was a small golden metal plate attached to it and on it the word 'Lucky' was engraved in bold letters. Milliardo's fingertips brushed over the tag as he read it.

"Lucky huh? Are you really?"

The animal crocked his head, ears perked at the sound of his name. As the young man reached up to pet his head the dog suddenly stood, seized his wrist gently and tugged.

Milliardo laughed."Are you trying to play a game?" He freed himself and looked around for a stick, finding one just a few feet away. But when he threw the piece of wood the dog did not chase after it as he had expected. Instead the animal gave one sharp bark before once again grabbing him by his hand and tugging as though it was urging him to come along.

The young man frowned, but as he slowly started to follow the dog the animal led him into the brush. From time to time he would stop, look over his shoulder and wait for Milliardo to catch up.

"Where are we going?"

The animal gave another bark, and then disappeared between a group of trees and the young man had to hurry to not be left behind.

Something tickled the back of his neck and Milliardo slapped at it thinking that maybe a spider or tic had fallen onto him from one of the trees.

Somewhere someone chuckled and a familiar voice urged him to wake up

"Come on, Sleepyhead, the shower is free." Treize leaned in to blow against Milliardo's neck one more time. He was sitting at the edge of the bed, already fully dressed. The young man finally stirred and opened his eyes.

"Treize!"

"Who did you expect?" he asked in amusement.

"I don't know." Milliardo yawned. "I had a dream."

"I figured that much. Who is Lucky?"

"A dog." The young man rolled over onto his back.

"Oh? What kind of dog?"

"I don't know, a mutt or maybe some kind of sheepdog. He was very friendly, though."

"Haven't your parents ever told you to stay away from stray dogs?" The professor reprimanded jokingly. "It could have had rabies or worse."

Milliardo snorted as he interlaced his hands behind his head. "It was not a stray. He had a collar. But there was something weird about it..." He told his lover about the way the dog had acted, urging him to follow it into the woods. "Do you think it has some kind of hidden meaning?"

"I wouldn't worry too much about it." Treize told him with a soft smile. "You probably have dogs on your mind because you are missing Cabal. And now it's time you get that cute little butt of yours in the shower, while I go and see if they have something to eat at this place."

####

"Not again!" Milliardo cursed and instinctively slowed down at the sight of the blue and gold car by the side of the row.

"Relax, Dear. You haven't been speeding. In fact, if you go any slower they might stop you for breaking the minimum speed limit." Treize told him jokingly.

The blond snorted. "From your mouth to God's ear."

A few moments later however, as they got closer, the young man realized the state trooper wasn't there to stop traffic but rather re-direct it around what seemed to be a large group of law enforcement members, including sheriff's vehicles, troopers on horseback and even ATVs. Milliardo counted about twenty or so men in green or olive uniforms and at least another dozen dressed in civilian clothes. most of them were huddling together looking at maps or something g from what he could see.

"I wonder what's going on?"

"Let's ask." Treize suggested.

Milliardo agreed but when he stopped he suddenly realized the man directed traffic was the same one who had ticketed him earlier for speeding.

However, by then the trooper seemed to have recognized him too. He came over to the Ferrari, even took off his sunglasses as he leaned down to talk to the young man.

"So we meet again. I'm glad to see you seemed to have discovered the brake-pedal on your new car."

"Yeah," Milliardo somehow managed a polite smile. "What's going on here, if I may ask?"

The trooper turned serious in a heartbeat. "We are looking for a missing child."

"A child?" the young man echoed.

"Yes. A young boy from the next town. Didn't come home last night and his parents called the sheriff."

"Hmm...," Treize mused. "That boy, he wouldn't have been nine or ten years old by any chance, would he? Short dark hair..."

"Did you see him?"

"I'm not sure." The professor exchanged a look with Milliardo. "The kid at the rest stop?"

"Why don't you find yourself a parking spot," the trooper suggested. "I will go get the man in charge. He knows more about this than I do, and he probably can show you a picture."

Treize nodded. "Of course."

As Milliardo turned and pulled up between two 4x4 jeeps the trooper walked over to the larger group of officers. He spoke with someone for a few minutes, gesturing in their direction at one point. Moments later a tall man with brown wavy hair, dressed in the olive green uniform of the sheriff's department, separated from the group and came toward their car.

Milliardo frowned slightly.

"Otto?" he suddenly asked.

The man stopped in his track for a brief moment then a smile of recognition crossed his face. "Milliardo? Well, I'll be ... What are you doing out here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing. Look at you. You are the sheriff here?"

"No, no. I'm just a deputy."

"But the trooper said you are in charge..?."

"True. Of all the times, Sheriff Hubert had to pick this week to take his wife on that Caribbean cruise he had promised her for years..."

In the passenger seat Treize cleared his throat, and Milliardo suddenly seemed to remember that he wasn't alone in the car.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Otto, this is my friend Treize Khushrenada. Treize meet Otto. He and I grew up together. We went to school together until his family moved before our senior year in High School. We haven't seen each other since."

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

The deputy nodded at Treize. "The pleasure is mine. Now the Trooper said you might have seen Logan Blaine, our missing boy?"

"We saw A boy," the professor corrected. "roughly nine or ten years of age, about 15 miles from here at a rest stop. I only noticed him because he seemed curious about Milliardo's car."

"Was he alone? I mean did you see anyone with him? Did it seem as though someone was holding him against his will?"

"No, he certainly seemed to be running around freely. But if he was alone..." Treize shrugged. "There were a couple of cars filling up and there might also have been people in the Quicky Mart he could have been with... I'm sorry, I'm afraid I didn't pay that much attention."

Meanwhile the deputy had pulled out a flier with a photo of the boy and handed it off to Milliardo. "The picture was taken about three months ago, according to his parents."

The young man studied the photograph but shook his head as he passed it on to his lover. "It's difficult to say."

"Yes," Treize agreed. "I couldn't be sure either. I wish I had gotten a better look."

"Don't worry about it," Otto assured him. "At least it's a lead. I will send someone to check it out right away."

"Umm... Should we stick around, just I case?" Milliardo wanted to know.

"No, I don't think that will be necessary. Just leave me your number. I will call you and let you know how it turns out."

"Thanks," Milliardo nodded as he scribbled his cell phone number on the back of the flyer and handed it back to Otto. "And listen, when this is over and things have slowed down for you we've got to get together."

"Absolutely," the deputy agreed. "I can't wait to hear what you have been up to these past few years."

###

"So, tell me about Otto." Treize asked once they were back on the Interstate.

"Not much to tell." Milliardo shrugged. "We were friends growing up, just like I said."

" Just friends?"

The young man didn't answer and that was answer enough.

"What does it matter?" Milliardo finally asked.

"It doesn't. I was just curious, because you have never mentioned him before."

"I hadn't seen or talked to him in years. Besides..." The blonde suddenly slowed down as he noticed something at the side of the road.

"Besides what?"

"Hold on." Milliardo stopped the car and rolled down the window. "I know this place."

"What?" The professor frowned, obviously confused.

"My dream, remember the one I told you about? This is where I met that dog."

"Milliardo," Treize replied, his voice soft and gentle like he was speaking to a young child. "We are on the Interstate in the middle of nowhere. The area around us looks no different than the past miles behind us and the next few miles ahead of us. Nothing but trees and grass and brush."

"No," the younger man insisted. "I am positive. See that little group of rocks in that clearing, the ones that almost look like a miniature Stonehenge? That's where I was sitting when I saw the dog." He put the car in reverse then pulled to the far right shoulder of the road.

"What are you doing?"

"I need to check something out," Milliardo told him as he turned off the motor and climbed out of the Ferrari.

"Milliardo," the professor tried again. "It was a dream."

"Then how come everything here is exactly as I remember it?"

"Perhaps you have been here before? Maybe on a road trip with your parents?"

"I don't think so. No, something is very strange about all this."

Treize sighed. But deciding to humor his lover he left the car as well, following Milliardo as he walked the 50 or so yards to the rock formation he had been referring to.

The young man looked around. "That's the way we were heading when you woke me. I remember that gnarly old tree."

Giving another sigh the professor was tempted to point out that he could see at least a dozen of gnarly old trees, but his lover was already heading further into the woods.

Trying to orientate himself by landmarks that seemed familiar Milliardo tried to follow what he believed to be the same path he had taken in his dream. But it wasn't easy. Just as Treize pointed out almost everything looked very similar. He came to a point where he was just about to give up when he suddenly noticed some movement from the corner of his eye. His head snapped around and for a brief moment he could have sworn he saw a flash of grey, a bushy tail perhaps, disappearing between the trees.

"Did you see that?" He asked his lover who had just about caught up with him.

"See what?"

"Never mind. This way." Forging ahead through the brush Milliardo finally reached what looked like an old overgrown path. He followed it slowly, keeping an eye out for any sign of the dog. A good hundred yards further the path ended. The young man looked around. Behind him he could hear the sound of Treize's footsteps.

"Slow down, Milliardo."

He held his step, almost convinced now that his imagination had been playing tricks on him when he suddenly saw it again. The shaggy grey dog was wagging his tail, standing about a dozen yards away next to a large boulder.

"There, do you see it now?" Milliardo threw a triumphant look back over his shoulder.

"See what?" The other man repeated, a puzzled expression on his face.

"The dog, what else?"

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"But he is right..." The blond turned his head only to find that the animal was gone.

"Milliardo you are starting to scare me. Let's go back, shall we?"

TBC

Authors note: As for most of my stories that include sexual scenes this chapter has been slightly altered to comply with the rules on this website. The original version can be found on my Gundam wing fanfiction website. The address can be found on my profile page. Do a search for Rogue11 there to find all of my stories.