Back with a new chapter. Sorry, I'm late. I'm busy, and lazy. Bear with me. And, I got my beta back, so it was delayed a bit more. 3

The Prince, the Hero and the Mystery of the Falcon

Chapter 21: Missed you, miss you, love you

"This place hasn't changed at all." Quatre Raberba Winner could've won any prize in being the most beautiful creature in the world. That's what Trowa thought, walking beside him down the familiar path through the park. Roses bloomed beautifully in the road-side decorations, but none of them held a candle on the young man. Quatre had grown. Trowa had been a little sad to see that. Not that it made any difference to what he felt for him – the years had only made him more attractive to eyes – but it also reminded him of the time they had been apart. Such a long time. But now, Quatre's delicate hand was in his, right where it belonged, and Quatre's father wasn't there to send his son away because of this.

They stopped to exchange sweet little kisses amidst the roses. In this very spot a teary-eyed boy had said his goodbyes to Trowa years before. It was only fair that he welcomed his angel here. They sat down on a bench and Trowa took time in continuing their conversation.

"Not the place, not even the people. Apart from Heero, of course." The blond shielded his eyes with his eyelashes, ones that any woman would for sure kill to have. He gave his beloved a long look from the corner of his eye.

"Why? What's wrong with Mr. I-Have-A-Stick-Longer-Than-A-Golf-Club-Up-In-My-Hot-Ass?" Trowa chuckled startledly. He had almost forgotten how well his young lover had got along with his best friend years back.

"Such a long name," he murmured, ruffling the soft white hair under his fingers. "Heero, my dearest little Quatre, is in love."

As expected, the fair-haired cherub stared at him for a moment, before bursting into laughter. It was a nice sound, Trowa thought, just like he'd remembered it to be.

"You're a horrible liar, Trowa. Heero doesn't even know what love is, let alone feel it."

"Now that's a horrible thing to say, my love," Trowa scolded his lover lightly, tapping him gently on the nose with his finger. He had probably never seen anything as cute as Quatre when he wrinkled his little nose. "Even if you skip the part where you called me a liar, Heero's trying so hard to get used to the thought of being madly in love, and you say such things." Curiosity planted itself in the blue eyes.

"Madly in love with who?" Trowa chuckled again.

"With a little stray kitten he brought home one evening." Quatre frowned.

"A cat?"

"Oh no. Duo is very much a human being. He's just very young and out of place." It didn't seem to take very long from Quatre to make his decision.

"I want to meet him. I have a feeling that I might like him, if he can turn Heero into a human being." Trowa smiled. He was certain that Quatre would like Duo. There were so many qualities in the two that would match for sure.

"Then come with me, love. It's possible that Heero has found him by now." Quatre didn't need words to demand an explanation. He had already set his mind on meeting this new person. Trowa sighed and proceeded to explain: "Heero got into an argument with him, and Duo disappeared. He's been crazy, worrying over him. It's been days, it'd be a miracle if he hasn't at least found a dead body by now." The young man's eyes narrowed with a determinate glint in them.

"Let's go right now." Trowa got pulled along all the way to his car. The detective shrugged amusedly and got behind the wheel. He'd missed the blond.

BREAK

Catherine told herself for the tenth time to get off the window, but her feet just weren't listening. She had hours ago given up the excuses to go near the window, when it had been dishwashing, when peeling potatoes. Now she just stood by the sink and stared out, waiting.

Counting today, Duo had been missing for almost three days. Cathy knew that had Treize found him, they'd already heard about it. So where was he? And where was Heero? She hoped from the bottom of her heart that he had found Duo today. With every passing day the odds for finding the boy alive diminished.

Not to mention her dearest little brother was out there as well. After Trowa's shocking announcement the day before, Cathy had done some snooping around herself. It was strange for Quatre Winner to just appear back in town and her brother's life. She wondered if Trowa already knew that Mr. Winner was dead.

She heard a car horn and snapped out of her thoughts. It was her brother's car, and as she could see, he wasn't alone in it. She didn't need to see the blond head to know this – it was the way her brother drove his car. With anyone else, Trowa wouldn't have bothered to drive so carefully. Usually, he drove like a maniac.

Cathy closed her eyes, counting slowly to ten, after seeing her brother park the car to the front. At seven she heard the door slam open and by ten, she found herself in a tight warm hug.

"Cathy!"

"Quatre!" The young man's hair smelled nice, she thought, as she returned the hug, and he was taller – not the short young kid infatuated with her brother. "When did you come back?" The bright smile she received, at least was a familiar one.

"Yesterday. Didn't Trowa tell you?" Cathy chuckled, ruffling the soft hair.

"He might've mentioned about it. Hello, brother." Trowa walked in and nodded at her.

"He's not home." She shrugged. Figured he would always go straight to the point.

"He received a phone call few hours after you left, and flew out like there was fire on his heels. He'll be back soon, probably." Trowa raised an eye brow.

"Think he found him?"

Quatre was listening to their exchange, his ears quivering with tension. Cathy noticed this and smiled lightly. So, that's where the wind was blowing.

"Might be. Why else would he run out like that? Especially when the house hasn't exploded yet. He's Heero after all." Trowa nodded.

"A valid argument."

Cathy returned to the window, and the two started taking out plates and glasses, after Quatre invited himself over for dinner. They created a somewhat cozy atmosphere around the kitchen. That is, until Cathy made a clicking sound with her tongue.

"He's home."

A couple of minutes later they could hear a door opening and closing, and all three of them hurried to the hall expectantly. The stoic man took of his coat and shoes, and turned around, hanging the coat. He didn't say anything when he noticed them, he had probably known they were there, but there was the sort of easiness in his moves and softness to his eyes, that told the siblings so much more than any spoken word.

"You found him," Trowa said straight. Quatre crabbed his hand tightly, and he gave it a little assuring squeeze. He offered a smile to his friend, and was startled to see an answering smile lift Heero's lips. Quatre whimpered.

"Hn."

Cathy cleared her throat, making a little show about looking around and behind Heero, before arching an eye brow.

"Well? Where is he?" Opposed to the general belief, she actually expected the braided boy to jump out of nowhere. The man under her stare merely shrugged.

"In a safe place." There was a silence, until her nerves exploded.

"WHAT?!" She screamed right into his face. She had worried and worried, convinced that the kid was dead and that she had more than something to do with it, and Heero, he-. "Heero Yuy, you IDIOT! Are you insane or you want him to die?! Treize is looking for him as we speak! He put his lap dog Zechs on Duo's tail, and you left him alone somewhere?!" Heero glared at her, but not enough to force her to back off. "You go and bring him back here where we can protect him! RIGHT NOW!"

Heero moved. Quatre hid behind Trowa who put his hand protectively on his arm. Even Cathy in her justified rage flinched. He pushed her determinedly out of his way as he walked past her.

"He's safe and he's not alone. You should be fine with that." Cathy threw her arms up, once she was sure he wouldn't hurt her, muttering something about men.

"Then tell me where he is. Let me decide whether he's safe enough or not." Heero ignored her walking towards to stairs.

"You told me Treize is looking for him, not that I needed to be reminded. So you understand why I think twice before I give information about his whereabouts to a pair of detectives who get most of their pay-checks from that direction." His words did make her shut up, for a short while. She knew he was right, more than he knew, but that was also the reason she needed to know Duo was safe! Didn't he know how little she had slept in the past few nights?!

"You've worked for Treize too, Yuy. That's what people in this town do to survive." It made the man stop, but he just shrugged again, and she knew she had lost the fight.

"Yes. And that's why he's better where he is. I don't trust anyone when it comes to him."

No science can explain the works of a female mind. Facing utter defeat and a tired look of defiance in the man's eyes, Cathy no longer knew why she hadn't trusted his decision to begin with. Heero was, after all, the most reliable person, when it came to completing a mission. And the man's eyes just made him melt, when they softened into that little unsure look. She smiled, sighing.

"Heero, dinner is ready. Would you sit down with us?"

"Hn."

BREAK

Heero found himself thinking about what had happened earlier that day, when he passed the potatoes to Winner. The lunch had been horrible. Duo hadn't looked him once. Apparently he was really taking his situation hard… just like Sally had told Heero when Duo had suddenly bolted up and ran to his room. That is, after she had finished telling him what an idiot he was. You could always trust Sally to speak her mind, whether you liked it or not. That was probably why he had written her into his book. And also the reason he had let Duo stay in the doctor's house. If someone, Sally could keep the Chinese assassin under check.

Besides, it seemed like Duo had wrapped Chang Wufei somewhat neatly around his little finger. Whether Heero liked it or not, it seemed the kid was right. He could take care of himself, and he knew better than Heero who to trust in a book Heero had written.

"-you, Heero?" He blinked, realizing that he was being spoken to. "Well, that's a first, Heero Yuy, deep in thought." It was Cathy. He gave her a blank look.

"I'm always deep in thought," he corrected the woman, wondering for the first time in ages, how on earth had Trowa's older sister turned into such person in his book.

"Oh, yes, that's right," she stretched her words in a way Heero found most annoying. His wife had the habit of doing that when she was irked by something. Cathy's eyes, however, were twinkling. "You were thinking about him, weren't you, Romeo?" He really hated her conniving personality, and while thinking that, he couldn't decide which woman he was thinking about.

"How about you tell Quatre about your Juliet?" Trowa, as well, though it didn't come out this way on regular basis. He resulted in scowling, as he carefully chewed his food and swallowed.

"He's hardly a woman, and even less would I call him mine." The other man was probably asking in favour of his boyfriend, whose eyes had yet to leave his face the whole time they had sat down, unless he stole glances at Trowa. Quatre didn't need to know, and that was what he based his defiance on.

Until their demanding eyes made him relent. It was truly like the Spanish Inquisition, squeezed into three identical looks. "Hn. Duo Maxwell, age seventeen, 5'3 tall, three-foot-long dark braid, light eyes, skinny."

Quatre rolled his eyes, and Heero regretted ever writing him into the book. Of course the real Quatre was manageable, being his childhood friend and best man, but this Quatre… They had never got along too well.

"How did you meet him?"

"I didn't. He fell on me."

"What is he like?"

"Loud, obnoxious, annoying, and he scratches."

"You forgot to mention how cute he is, Heero," Trowa smirked and his sister took wind under her wings.

"Yes, that's right, Heero. Why don't you tell Quatre how adorable that little kitten is when he's scared or holds onto you for some other reason?" The young blonde's eyes begun sparkling.

"Really?" It was time for Heero to hold his ground. This was going too deep into the forbidden area. Or had gone already, the minute the conversation had started. He set his cutlery down on his plate, and stood up.

"I should make this much clear: The relationship between that boy and myself is nothing but platonic. I only feel responsible for him."

Three pairs of eyes shouted "liar!" to him, but he refused to listen, walking out of the kitchen and up the stairs into his room, much slower than Duo had done earlier in the doctor's house.

"If you don't trust him, how can he trust you?"

He wanted to – needed to- protect the boy, but it seemed Duo neither needed nor wanted his protection. What other reason did Heero have to stay around him? Or go see him? What other part could he take in the boy's life without feeling guilty? He felt …drawn to the boy. He wanted to hold him close, to feel his heart beat.

"Do I have the right to like you then?!"

The door closed behind him. He didn't understand what Duo was trying to tell him. Part of him had a clue, but he didn't want to go there. Being around the boy was like being in an emotional rollercoaster and in a safe haven, at the same time. Heero wasn't used to such feelings.

BREAK

Trowa knocked on Heero's door three hours later. He got no answer, but opened the door anyway. Had Heero wanted to keep everyone away, he would've locked his door. The tall man wasn't as hurt from the distrust his best friend had shown as his sister was. He had known Heero Yuy since high school, and though the man had been nowhere near as stoic and recluse as now, it wasn't as if he'd been very trusting then either.

He had to admit that he was worried about his Heero's sudden change to the worse – had been ever since Heero had come to the town in need of a job and a place to stay. His friend had been a whole different person since then, but there were times, when the old friendship between them was very much alive and appreciated, by both of them, Trowa liked to believe.

Heero was sitting in a lonely chair by the window, straight-backed, looking out of the window deep in thought. Trowa didn't go past the doorway.

"Quatre is leaving." He only got the usual grunt as an answer, and sighed. He admitted that teasing a man like Heero about his budding relationship with a young boy had been a bit too much. Heero had never teased him about Quatre, in the days he had been unsure. But just like there was something deep between him and his angel, there was for sure something between Heero and his kitten, and Trowa knew Heero knew that much.

"From the way you're acting, I can see that he's important, other than your feelings for him." No answer. Well, he hadn't waited for one. "You can keep telling yourself it is your duty to protect him, but it does no good to either of you in the end. That's the thing about young people. They want their answers now, or they move on. Talk to him." He knew Heero heard him. Turning to leave, he paused, his back to the other man. "In the end, will it come out that he knows nothing about the Falcon?"

"Hn." He waited. "Yes." He let out the breath he had been holding.

"I trust you not to lie to me. You're my best friend. If Duo knows nothing, you can trust me when the time comes. Count on me, like I count on you." Trowa left his friend to his solitary brooding, and went downstairs to see his angel out.

TBC...

Author Notes:

I want to thank the people who still read this fic. It means the world to me.