Gundam Wing

London Alleyways

Warnings: very slight angst, difficult accents, period fic, AU, intrigue, humor, semi-large age differences, OCs

Chapter 03: A Snifter Full of Brandy

Duo stood in a shadow at one end of Winged Lane. He fingered the fraying, dusty brim of his bowler hat and smoothed a hand down his dirty, but neat braid. Butterflies flittered around his gut like pigeons as he watched the well dressed Ladies and Gentlemen of the neighborhood stroll up and down the street in the early afternoon sunlight.

What the hell was he doing here?

He had been asking himself that several times throughout the day as he scrubbed at the hard tacked dirt from under his nails as best he could and re-braided his tangled mass of hair till it looked somewhat presentable.

After returning to his gang's alley the night before he had thought and thought about the possibilities that Mr. Yuy's offer would open up. He didn't quite know what the offer was, but he didn't think Heero Yuy was the kind of man to be crooked and lead him to believe in anything less than the truth.

Even though he felt comfortable in his assessment of Mr. Yuy he still couldn't help the weary looks he surreptitiously cast the street before him. He knew he couldn't even hope to fit in with the people walking past his dark corner, but even so, he still scrounged up some laces to tie his boots up proper and tidied his apparel as best he could with a tiny corner of lye soap and the water from a spigot sticking out from a pub's outer wall.

He had scrubbed his nails till they had ached and rubbed at his face till it was red. Shaking his head in doubt, he stepped out of his hiding place and pulled the slightly grungy card from his pocket, read the address again then pulled a shiny silver pocket watch from his shirt pocket and checked the time. Two fifty-three.

The other boys in his gang had held council the night before to decide whether the risk of Duo going to discuss this proposition from this dangerous gentleman was worth it. The general census was not to risk it, but Duo had felt something in his gut and decided that a little talking couldn't hurt.

So, his boys were safe on the street back on Portobello with Solo keeping a close eye and being prepared should Duo not return. You never can be too careful, and Duo felt a little easier as he walked down this shiny street knowing that his boys were being looked after.

Stopping in front of a town house with the same swirly, elegant numbers as the card clasped in his hand, Duo looked up at the imposing structure.

It was elegant and rich looking just like all the others in its block. A thick, heavy wooden door with a stained glass window impaired any passers by from looking in at the interior.

Glancing down at the card in his hand just one last time, Duo rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the street behind him just one last time.

A couple was openly staring at him in curiosity from their place across the lane. Duo gave them a wide, face splitting grin then bowed deep at the waist while fluttering his hat about him with a flip of his wrist and a sweep of his arm.

The couple jumped in surprise at being caught in their gawking and hurried on their way casting anxious looks at the urchin who looked very out of place standing on Mr. Yuy's door step.

Duo placed his hat back on his head and stood up with a slight chuckle.

Turning back to the imposing door, he found the ornate door bell and pushed it roughly with his fingerless gloved hand. The tones of a deep bell could be heard from his position on the step and he leaned forward to try and see inside the glass door.

Squinting, he placed his hands on either side of his face just as the door swung open to reveal a short butler dress in an oddly eclectic suit.

The butler looked Duo up and down from behind his shaded spectacles and practically rolled his eyes.

"Is there something I can do for you, boy?"

Duo straightened and stuck his hand out for a shake, with a friendly grin on his face. "I'm 'ere ta talk ta Mis'er Yuy."

The butler let his eyebrow rise and took a second glance at the boy dirtying up his employer's stoop. "Hm. Follow me, boy."

Letting the grin fall from his face, Duo pulled his hand back and stepped into the foyer while slipping his hat from his head.

As he followed the butler down the entrance way Duo looked about in awe. The whole place was like a palace. It seemed as though every trinket and bobble adorning the house's walls was shiny and old. Generally speaking, in Duo's experience, things that were both shiny and old could feed his gang for a week. Just looking around in the hall way he could feed his gang for a month.

They stopped in front of a closed door and the butler turned to address the scraggily boy following him. "Wait here."

"Yes'ir!" Duo nodded while still scanning the walls.

"And don't steal anything." Duo had the decency to pull his hand away from a trinket on a mantle under an ornate mirror and give the scowling butler a sheepish smile.

The butler opened the door and stepped inside closing it after him.

Duo turned back to the mirror in front of him and sighed. His bangs were uneven and dirty, he could still see some dirt behind his ears, and his ragged plum scarf wasn't quite hiding his soot covered neck.

Heero sat on his couch and sipped at a snifter while Wufei puffed away on his wooden pipe.

It had taken some wheedling to get Wufei to agree to attend his appointment with Duo, but he succeeded. So, now the sullen Chinese businessman sat in his favorite chair in his friend's parlor and waited to meet a dirty ruffian. He was not amused, but he was resolved to bare the suffering with a strong face.

"Really, Fei it's not that bad." Heero was trying not laugh at his friend as he huffed another long suffering sigh.

"Sometimes I wonder why I even bother with you, Yuy." Wufei crossed his arms and pulled the pipe away from his mouth to take another sip of his brandy.

Chuckling, Heero answered, "Because if you didn't 'bother' with me, you would have cut down those two old coots with your katana by now."

That garnered a small answering chuckle from Wufei, as he raised his glass in a mock toast. "Too right you are, Yuy."

The sound of the parlor door opening brought the men's attention to Heero's butler, Howard.

Resisting the urge to lounge against the door frame, Howard lazily announced, "Mr. Yuy, I believe there is an -ahem- gentleman in the foyer waiting for you."

Both young men could hear the eye roll in Howard's announcement. Wufei turned un-amused eyes on his friend while Heero looked slightly sheepish. "Did you get the man's name, Howard?"

This time Howard didn't hide his sarcasm or annoyance. "I assumed that his state of dress and -cough- smell was name enough."

"Oi! Ol' man! I 'eard tha'!" Duo's slightly indignant voice rang into the parlor from the hall.

With a sigh Heero closed his eyes and waved at Howard. "Show him in, Howard."

Howard gave a mocking bow, "Right away, Sir."

Wufei stuck his pipe back into his mouth and asked, "Why do you put with him?"

"Who? Howard?" Heero threw back the remaining drink in his snifter and stood. "He has worked here since I can remember, and besides, he was a friend of my father's."

Further discussion was halted when the parlor door burst open and an infuriated Duo followed by an annoyed Howard stormed into the room.

"I di'nt come 'ere ta be trea'ed li' some piece o' dirt! I've got me some dign'ty too ya know!" Duo was slightly fuming.

A stiff and aghast voice stopped Duo mid tirade.

"Good God, Yuy! That is what you want to transform?!" Wufei had never seen a more uncouth and unruly vagabond in all his life.

Slamming his fists on his hips, Duo leaned his weight to the right in defiance. "An' 'oo are ya?"

Standing up to his full height Wufei stated with all the pomp befitting his station, "I am Chang Wufei; Prince of the Dragon Clan and owner of Dragon Industries. Who are you?"

Duo immediately bristled at Wufei's tone of superiority. "Tha's none o' yer damn bus'nis. 'Sides, ya look more li' tha unda ta'er than a prince."

Wufei was fast, but Heero was faster. No sooner had he reached for the katana sitting at his waist had Heero stepped in front of him and gave a certifiable glare of doom. "Sit down, Chang." He then turned to Duo and gave him an even deeper glare. "Sit down, Duo."

Duo raised a fist and began to shout, "No bo'y tells me wha' ta do!", when Heero boomed, "I said SIT DOWN!"

Shutting his mouth almost immediately, Duo collapsed into the chair directly behind him and stared at his host slightly frightened while he clutched at his bowler hat in a death grip. He was right; this man had the potential to be very dangerous.

Howard just barely hid the smile of satisfaction that was threatening to creep up on his lips. Like father, like son. "Will you be in need of anything else at the moment, Sir?"

Taking a deep calming breath, Heero turned to his trusted and loyal employee. "Actually, I believe we will need quite a bit more bandy, thank you."

Howard smiled then outright chuckled as he left the room with a, "Yes, of course, Sir."

Turning back to the two glaring men sitting on opposite sides of his parlor, Heero took another breath and turned to his new guest. "Would you like some brandy, Duo?"

Duo gave him a skeptical, weary look then nodded. Heero turned and poured him a snifter then handed it to him and took a seat on the couch in between his friend and his street urchin guest.

Heero had always been an observant man and it didn't escape him that a lot of the dirt that had marred Duo's handsome face had been scrubbed off and his long chestnut hair had been tamed slightly. He, by no means, looked anymore presentable than he did the day before, but Heero had to smile to himself. At least now he could say for certain that his skin was creamy and smooth.

Leaning back in his seat he asked, "I suspect you found your way here alright?"

Shifting his weary glance from the fuming Chinese man to the calm and handsome gentleman, Duo answered, "Yeah, ya go' a real nice place 'ere, Mi'ser. Yuy."

"I'm sure you're just itching to get your hands on his belongings aren't you, Urchin?" Wufei puffed arrogantly on his pipe.

"Tha's i'!" Duo stood with a huff and set his snifter on the coffee table with more force than was necessary. "I di'n't come 'ere ta lis'in ta Mi'ser Stick-U'-'Is-Butt call me names I ain't deservin' o'!" He made to leave, but a calm and deep voice stopped him in his tracks.

"You're absolutely right. You didn't come here to be wrongly accused, and I apologize for my friend's impertinence." Heero had a severe expression on his face that sent a shiver up Duo's spine. Heero was not amused by either of his guest's behavior and he was making his displeasure known in a silently efficient way.

As one of the few people that truly knew what it was to see Yuy's temper spike, Wufei surmised that me might as well make amends before he was gutted with his own sword.

Standing up Wufei took a bow. "I apologize. I was out of line."

Duo waited for the Chinese man to straighten before he nodded shakily and returned to his seat.

These men, he was sitting with, were frightening. The Chinese man, Wufei, was dangerous in an arrogant and confident way. Heero Yuy, he was dangerous in a silent way. Like you won't know till you're actually six feet under kind of way. Duo had to suppress a grin. These were his kind of men.

Picking up his snifter once more, Duo grinned mischievously at his host and took large undignified gulp of brandy. "So, wha's this deal ya ganna offer me?"

Heero opened a box on the table and extracted a long thick cigar. "It's really quite simple."

Wufei snorted, but Heero ignored him as he lit his smoke. "I have a little problem that you might be able to help me with."

Letting his grin shrink just slightly, Duo listened with apprehension. "My Aunt has control of some of my finances and I need to distract her till my twenty-sixth birthday in just over two months from now." Puff, Puff, exhale. "She is throwing a ball at that time and I would like to have this deal completed in time to attend it."

"Tha's all intr'esti'n 'n all, bu' wha' does tha' 'ave ta do wit' me?" Duo was getting a bad feeling about this.

"What, indeed." Wufei grumbled, but the other men in the room didn't hear him, or simply chose to ignore him.

Resting the thick cigar between his index and middle finger, Heero began to twirl the hair behind his ear with his other hand. "I'm offering to support you and your gang for the duration of time between now and the ball while I transform you into a gentleman."

Alarm bells were ringing loud and blaringly. "Hol' on a secon'! Ya wan' ta make me inta' fancy gen'elman an' take care 'o me gang so's I can...?"

"Distract my aunt from her scheming." Leaning forward Heero knocked ash off the tip of his cigar and began to explain. "I will dress you, feed you, board you, and teach everything you need to know. Chang and I will do the same for your gang and in return you will convince my aunt, her friends, my cousin, and the entire party at the ball that you are an Earl from a small, but lucrative estate in Austria."

It was all just a little bit too much for Duo to take in. His mouth had fallen open in amazement and disgust. How could this blue blooded asshole presume to have the right to even suggest using him in such a childish way? Duo wasn't a doll to dress up nor was he a monkey to teach tricks to entertain. He told both these men this and more before he turned to storm out of the room.

But once again, Heero's deep and commanding voice stopped him just shy of clasping the door knob and throwing the door wide open.

"Duo, I'm not suggesting that you are any of those things. I'm simply proposing a deal that stands to benefit the both of us. You will gain the skills and education needed to move up in life and society while your gang will gain the same. I will gain the upper hand over my aunt and my cousin."

Duo slowly turned around and studied Heero with a critical eye. "An' wha' if I don' convince thi' ol' win' bag tha' I'm this Earl? Wha' then?"

Heero's voice was cold and precise. Sharp enough to cut. "I will cease to support your gang and you will be left back on the streets."

Biting the inside of his cheek in thought, Duo weighed his options. He could walk out that door to a life of stealing and living on the streets or he could possibly provide a new life and new opportunities for his boys and himself. It couldn't really hurt to at least try it out. The worst that could happen would be for Yuy to kick him out on his ear like every body else.

It seemed that the only thing that was at risk here would be his dignity and he could spare that for a meal and some shelter.

Looking Heero straight in the eye, Duo conveyed assuredness, challenge, and defiance all in his clever violet eyes. "I will take yer offer, Mis'er Yuy." Then, Duo turned around and walked out of the door and back onto the street, heading for his alley and his gang.

After the scruffy man was long gone and silence had echoed for long enough, Wufei spoke up. "Well, that went unexpectedly well. Do you think he will actually return?"

Heero nodded and lifted his cigar back to his lips and took a deep puff then glanced at his friend with a smirk of complete confidence. "He will return." He let his shoulder lift in a nonchalant shrug. "Besides, he has my pocket watch and I'll need it back."

Wufei raised an eyebrow then shook his head and decided that the less he knew the saner he would remain.

Relena Darlian sat in her mother's parlor and scowled in a very un-lady like way.

She and her mother had been trying for two years now to hook Heero, but the man could be as stubborn as a mule. He refused to consider marriage. He claimed to only view Relena as a little sister, but she knew better. She knew he loved her deep, deep down and she was determined to have him.

"Don't scowl Relena-dear, it will give you wrinkles." Mrs. Darlian was suffering the same frustration her daughter was, except she didn't delude herself to believe that her nephew actually loved Relena. She knew better, but she also knew that if she didn't think and act quickly Heero would receive his inheritance whether she wished it or not and all chance of his marrying her daughter would be squashed like a cabbage under a carriage.

"Mama..."

"I know, dear. We're running out of time." She had been so sure she could manipulate and blackmail her nephew into marriage, but her plan hadn't worked out at all. It would seem that he was more like his father than she had thought.

His mother was easy to manipulate. She had a heart too large for her head and was easily bullied into things. Though, it was easy to manipulate those that loved you and Heero's mother had loved her sister with all her heart.

Mrs. Darlian had always been jealous of her younger sister. Her beauty out weighed her own, her admirers out numbered hers, and her marriage was a happy and loving one. Mrs. Darlian may have been lucky and thankful to have married a very rich man, but she was lonely in such a shallow marriage. He drank and gambled and traveled, leaving her to an empty house.

It was due to his frequent absence and their detachment that Relena was born so late in the marriage. To tell the complete truth, she wasn't even sure if her late husband was Relena's father. Sad as it may be, but she had to keep her self occupied some how. Not that that was a commonly known fact.

"Relena, what did I tell you about scowling?"

"But Mama! How will I ever get Heero to marry me if he wont speak more than two words to me?!" Relena was frustrated and pouty and down right unhappy. Her love wouldn't admit his affection and she wasn't getting any younger, not that she would admit it; a lady never admits her age.

"Do not raise your voice to me, my dear. I brought you into this world and I can damn well take you out of it!" Mrs. Darlian never lost her temper, but Heero had been wearing thin on her nerves.

Relena slouched in her seat and let her bottom lip descend in a pout. Her mother was never a pleasant person when she was upset.

"Don't slouch. It will affect your figure." With a huff Relena sat up straight.

Mrs. Darlian sipped her tea with a thoughtful expression on her face. She had to get to her nephew somehow. Her funds were dwindling and she wasn't going to augment the life style to which she had become accustomed for nothing. She wanted the living she would have if Heero were to marry her daughter, and she wanted it bad.

With a decisive hum, she took another sip of her tea. "I believe it is time to make a few calls, Relena-dear." She was going to get what she wanted and God help those that stood in her way.

A/N: Alrighty! That's chapter three and I hoped all my readers liked it. Can anybody guess where the inspiration for Mrs. Darlian came from? If you can I'll give you virtual hug! Please review! Criticism welcome!