The House That Built Me

By Ammie Hawk

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue

AN: Okay, so this chapter has been playing out for awhile and I just got around to writing it out. It kinda bugs me in places, but at least it's something right? Anyway, enough of my ramblings.

Chapter 4: Bartender's Tale

Once the meeting was finished, Heero led Wufei from the room toward the exit, the latter carrying the child that was their son. The boy was sniffing quietly, seemingly not quite comfortable with the situation, just as the former Wing pilot was. However, he was not ready to face the wrath of the Chinese man, so he remained silent about the whole thing.

"Do you have a car?" Wufei asked as they reached the front door.

Prussian blue eyes turned to regard him, "No, I have my bike."

"Very well," the former Shenlong pilot sighed, absently rubbing Harry's back. "What's the address? I'll call a cab."

Heero rattled off the address to his club. Wufei nodded and shifted the chibi so he could fish his cell phone out of his pocket. He found the number for the cab company he'd called to get there, he gave them the Preventers address and sat down in the lobby to wait. The brunet shook his head, before heading toward the exit and down to the parking lot. He had a few things to do before the other two arrived at his house anyway, and a phone call to make.

When he reached the parking lot, he grabbed his motorcycle and took off down the street, heading for the place he called home. It didn't take him long to reach his destination, what with the shortcuts he knew and the maneuverability of his bike. Once there he began tidying up, living on his own in a time of peace had left him with a few habits that he would've frowned upon during the war. As he cleaned he began making a list in his head of all the things he needed to get done. However, in the mean time, he pulled his cell out of his pocket and hit speed dial two.

~Hello, you've reached Shinigami's House of Pain, state your name and business.~

"Duo," blue eyes rolled in slight annoyance at the familiar voice.

~No, that's my name, Hee-chan, get it right,~ the former Deathscythe pilot laughed. ~Anyway, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?~

"I need your help," the former Wing pilot said quietly, not really liking to admit that.

~Help? Wait, my help?~ the incredulity in the self proclaimed Shinigami's voice was pronounced. ~Should I stop the presses? Heero Yuy is actually asking for my help?~

"Yes, Duo, I'm asking for your help, now will you shut up and listen," Heero snapped. "Wufei is going to be here soon and …."

~Wait? Wuffers is there? Why?~ Duo asked curiously. ~Wasn't he nowhere to be found last time we heard?~

"It's a long story, but Une called him in," the brunet sighed. "I have a son."

~A son? Wait, it's not Relena's is it?~

"No, he's mine, and Wufei's," the former Wing pilot began making his way to the spare room he currently used for storage and began shifting boxes around. "According to Une it was a project she commissioned during the war to create a perfect soldier."

~That is so twisted, and wrong,~ the braided man scoffed. ~So what're ya gonna do?~

"Wufei says the honorable thing to do is take him in," Heero shrugged, still unsure about the whole thing. "I'm not sure what to do."

~Well,~ Duo sighed, ~I kinda agree with Wuffers on this one, man, the best thing to do for him is to raise him. No kid should be without his parents.~

"I know that," he ran a hand through his hair. "But that doesn't mean I know how."

~Okay, Heero,~ the former Deathscythe pilot paused for a moment. ~Okay, here's what you're going to do. You're going to let Wufei take the lead in this case, I'm sure he knows more about kids than you do. And Trowa and I will be there in a few days to help figure things out. Now go clean that shit hole you call an apartment, cause if Wufei sees it how you usually keep it nowadays, he's gonna kick your ass.~

"Thanks, Duo," Heero sighed. "I'll talk to you later."

With that, he ended the call and got back to work.

888888

As soon as the place was presentable, Heero made his way down to his club, intending to leave a note for his bartender. However, when he entered, he could tell his employee and friend was already there. Of course, that did make sense, as it was already late enough for the club to be open and a few of the regulars to have already shown up. He went into the back stock room and found the other man grabbing bottles to take out to the bar area.

The other man was slightly taller than Heero's 5'9" frame at six foot. His shoulder length dark brown hair was pulled back into a messy tail at the nape of his neck with the front coming out and framing his handsome face.

"Look all you want," the slightly older man said, his back still to the door, "but you can't touch, otherwise you'll get slapped with a sexual harassment charge, bossman."

"Hn," Prussian blue eyes rolled in mild annoyance. His employee was loud, overly friendly, and loyal, hell he reminded him of Duo, but then again that was probably the reason he kept him around. Well that, and his uncanny ability to know when someone came in or whether there was trouble.

"Everything okay over there, Heero?" there was concern in the light blue gaze that was now focused solely on him. "I thought you had a meeting today?"

"I did," the former Wing pilot shrugged. "That's the main reason I'm here. I'm not going to be able to work tonight, so I need you to handle things and lock up. Also, I need a bottle of tequila, I think I'm going to need it."

"Right…" he leaned his hip against the liquor shelf and crossed his arms over his chest, "cause you always drink. What's going on?"

"I can't explain right now," the shaggy haired brunet sighed and reached over and grabbed a bottle from the shelf. "I have to get back to my apartment, they should be there any time now."

"Wait!" the other cried indignantly. "You can't just say something like that and then walk away. Who's going to be at your apartment? You never have visitors."

"They aren't exactly visitors," he sighed, he seemed to be doing that a lot today, but didn't stop his retreat. "It's my son and his other father."

"Whoa! Hold on a second! How can your son have two fathers?" the bartender frowned. "Isn't that physically impossible?"

"Look, Sirius," blue eyes narrowed into a patented glare. "I don't have time for this right now. They are going to be here any minute and I have to be there. If you want to stop by after close you can and I'll answer your questions then, otherwise, I'll see you tomorrow."

With that being said, he entered the back of his apartment and practically slammed the door in his employee's face. He had just set the bottle on the counter and grabbed a glass when a knock sounded on the door. Wufei stood on the threshold with a still rather misty-eyed Harry in his arms. He stepped aside and nodded for them to enter.

Both newcomers looked around the room as soon as the elder walked in, taking in the apartment with practiced ease, which was surprising considering the age of the chibi. Dark eyes landed on the bottle and turned a slightly amused curious glance on his host, who just shrugged in response. Wufei finally made his way over to the couch and sat their son down.

"So," Heero broke the rather strained silence, "it's not much, but this is my place. There are two rooms down the hall, mine and a guest room. I don't know how you want to do this."

"In that case," the Chinese man said evenly, "Harry should take the spare room and I'll take the couch. The only issue I see with this arrangement is the fact that Harry has nothing except what I stopped to get him on the way here. Zechs didn't think to grab his clothes and things before he took him from his Aunt and Uncle's house."

"Leave it to Zechs to fuck up something that simple," the former Wing pilot scoffed, earning him a dark glare and a quickly stifled giggle for his choice of language.

"Maybe," Wufei took a deep breath, we could call the Dursleys and arrange for his things to be delivered here, or we could go and retrieve them ourselves."

"You got their information, why don't you call?" Heero said as if stating the most obvious solution.

"Fine, I'll do that tomorrow," dark eyes rolled in mild annoyance. "Right now, I think we should get some dinner and put Harry to bed, it's been a long day. Then you can get back to your bottle."

888888

Sirius Black took one last look around Club Gundam before he closed up for the night. It was now 3 a.m. and the last patrons had finally left or been sent off in cabs, and everything had been cleaned and put away till tomorrow, all that was left was to lock the back door on his way out.

He had been working at Club Gundam for the past five years now, ever since that fateful Halloween night that had cost him his best friend. After he had found out what had happed to James, Lily, and baby Harry, he had been blinded by his grief and he'd gone after the rat responsible for the whole mess, Peter Pettigrew. He had found and cornered the sniveling coward, but it had all been for naught as he had transformed into his Animagus for and escaped.

The Aurors had shown up immediately afterward and arrested him. He had been taken before the Wizengamot and had tried to plead his case, but no one wanted to listen to him. However, instead of throwing him into Azkaban, his former Headmaster, and Chief Warlock, Albus Dumbledore had intervened and sentenced him to exile instead.

So his wand had been taken, presumably snapped, and he was sent to live out the rest of his life as a Muggle. As he was escorted out of the Ministry by Dumbledore, he had begged and pleaded to be allowed to take care of his godson, but the aged headmaster had said he'd been granted his life and freedom, and that he should be happy with that and leave Harry alone, otherwise things could go very badly for him.

So he had gone, forsaking his godson, and started his new life without magic. He had found an apartment with the last of the money he had to his name, and began looking for a job. Which had led him here.

He had found the club almost by accident one night. He had been on his way home from another fruitless job hunt and had decided to take a new route. The club had just kind of sprang up out of seemingly nowhere, and with his last couple dollars, he headed inside.

At the time it was pretty much a dive, a hole in the wall with a couple of barflies who would drink anything you put in front of them, especially if you said it contained alcohol. Behind the bar was a young man, a couple years younger than him, if he was any judge, who was keeping the glasses filled and that was about it. It was a sad place, but there was so much potential.

He spent the rest of the night nursing a couple cheap drinks and talking to the barkeep and owner, Heero Yuy. By the end of the evening, he had a job and from that point on, the club had taken off. He wasn't so pious as to think that it had all been his doing, oh wait, yes he was.

A smile graced his handsome features as he finished locking up the club, and he made his way around the building till he reached the front door of his boss's apartment. He knew it was late, but his curiosity was insatiable at this point and he wasn't leaving without the answers he was promised. When he reached the door, he let himself in, as he had so many times in the past. Heero was expecting him after all, and it had been a longstanding agreement to not bother with formalities like knocking.

However, the sight that greeted him when he turned on the light was not what he was expecting. On the couch, where his boss was usually waiting for him on these occasions, was a raven haired beauty. The dark shoulder length tresses shone in the artificial light and were just begging to have someone run their fingers through it. The thin blanket id nothing to hide the gentle curve of the hips and the long stretch of legs that curled in sleep. Though he was confused. Heero had said a man was coming over. Of course, he could have left and the shaggy haired brunet had hooked up with this beauty.

"Sirius," a quiet voice came from the hallway, causing the man to turn his attention away from the figure on the couch.

"Heero," Sirius grinned, barely remembering to keep his voice down. "So do I get those answers now?"

"In my room," the former Wing pilot nodded down the hall. "We don't want to wake them up."

"Too late for that," both Heero and Sirius turned to the couch where the voice had emanated. "If you hadn't wanted to wake me up, you shouldn't have invited your friend over. What time is it? And why is he here?"

"It's just after 3," the shaggy haired brunet answered in a monotone. "This is Sirius Black, he's my bartender and my friend. I invited him over to explain things to him. Go back to sleep. Oh, and in the interest of full disclosure, Duo and Trowa will probably be here within the week."

"Great, now I'm supposed to be able to go back to sleep," the Chinese man sat up and glared at Heero. "Why don't the two of you have a seat, I'll make some tea. You do have tea, right?"

"Top left cabinet," blue eyes rolled slightly. "Kettle's in the bottom right. Thank you, Wufei."

"Wait!" the bartender interjected. "That's a guy?! Could've sworn it was a girl sleeping on your couch."

"I will forgive your ignorance this one," the onyx gaze turned to regard the wizard coolly, "as I'm sure Heero told you next to nothing. As it stands, no, I am not a woman. Call me such again and you will find yourself less of a man than you are now."

"Okay," Sirius held up his hands in supplication, "okay, I get it, not a girl, my bad. Anyway, Heero, what the hell? You said you would explain how it was possible that you have a son with another guy. I mean besides the obvious lack of reproductive organs, it's not physically possible for two guys to have a baby."

"Sometimes I wonder about you, Sirius," Heero shook his head. "You are a smart man, but sometimes your lack of understanding of modern advances baffles me. It has been possible to create a child using the DNA of two people for years. One of my friends has twenty-nine sisters through this process. Apparently, during the war, Wufei and I's DNA was taken and a child created in a test tube. The boy is currently sleeping in the other room."

"He's here? Can I see him? I want to meet your son. Can I be his godfather?"

"Tomorrow," the shaggy haired brunet gave a ghost of a smile. "You can meet him tomorrow. As for the position of godfather, you'll probably have to fight Duo for that honor."


Ammie: Well there it is, the next chapter. Hopefully, this is a sign that my bout of Writer's Block is coming to an end. Anyway, let me know what you think.