Heh.. I've been distracted lately.. but here's the newest chapter!

enjoy!

chapter 28

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"Heero! Trowa! Stop it!" Chase yelled as he watched Heero tackle his brother to the ground where they quickly began fighting fiercely for control. It was madness as kicks and punches were thrown, and curses were shouted as the two brothers fought savagely.

Stunned at the sudden hatred that was thick between them, Chase stumbled backwards and stared at them as he tried to think of what to do. : What the hell can I do... Casey went up stairs to his loft, and the others are passed out.. If I jump in I'll only cause more trouble... Heero will try to protect me and Trowa will take advantage of that... Damnit... If only I could get their attention on something else I could... Wait.. That's it:

Dashing down the steps to the bar entrance, Chase burst into the bar. Ignoring the hissing complaints of the drunks attempting to sleep off their stupor, he headed straight for the storage room. As soon as he was in the room he instantly began tearing through the place to find what he needed. "Where is it!" he growled as he tore through the shelves and boxes. During his desperate search he stumbled upon a fire extinguisher and considered it for a moment. "Hmm.. Just using this really wouldn't stop them... But I'll bring it along incase my plan goes wrong.." Setting the fire extinguisher aside, Chase continued making a mess of Casey's storage room.

A few seconds later his teal eyes caught sight of the container he was looking for. Quickly he grabbed it and a zippo from Casey's supply and ran out of the storage room, grabbing the fire extinguisher on the way. He wasted no time running out the main entrance and scrambling up the stairs as fast as he could. When he reached the alley he stared in shock to see Trowa on top of Heero with his fist reared back about to punch his brother in the face.

Glaring in determination, Chase set the extinguisher on the pavement and twisted the cap off the container. Once the cap was off, Chase put the opening to his lips and took a large mouth full of the liquid inside before hastily setting the container aside and lighting the zippo in one fast motion.

His anger almost clouding his senses, Trowa was ready to beat his brother to a pulp but his keen hearing heard noises behind him. He looked behind him just in time to make a desperate lunge for the ground as a huge stream of flames shot over head, barely missing him and Heero by inches. The brothers stared wide eyed in shock for a moment before they forced themselves to sit up. Once they were upright they looked at one another before looking down the alley to see a deeply frowning Chase holding a small red plastic jug.

"Are you two finished? I despise the taste of kerosene, but I'll endure it again if you insist on fighting..." he threatened seriously, sick of the unnecessary violence.

Seeing that he wasn't kidding, the two brothers quietly stood to their feet, wincing the entire time.

Satisfied that they were going to cooperate, Chase picked up the cap from the kerosene jug and began screwing the cap back on after placing the zippo in his pocket. "That's better. Now we're going to the orphanage and get Mama Sarah to bandage those cuts."

"What! You can't tell us what to do! I.." Trowa instantly became quiet when Chase shot him a warning glare and lifted up the red jug and pulled the zippo out again.

"I won't hesitate to use this again... and maybe this time I'll aim.. Now.. We're going backinto the bar, you're going toleave a note for the others, then we're going to the orphanage to get you two cleaned up. Maybe when you're there you'll figure out an explanation for Wufei and Duo as to why you two look like you've both been run over."Chase said calmly as he retrieved the fire extinguisher.

Heero blinked in surprise at that last part. "You're not going to tell them?"

Chase shook his head lightly. "No. Obviously whatever the hell got you two started is something personal. If you wanna tell them then you can.." He glanced over at Trowa's battered face before heading for the stairwell. "I would hate to be accused of meddling..."

The softly uttered comment caused Trowa to wince slightly. :Damnit... What the hell have I done...: he thought miserably as he watched his brother limp down the steps.

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After writing a note explaining to the others that they had to run off to the orphanage, and after Chase spent five minutes trying to wash the taste of kerosene out of his mouth, the three of them made their way on the quiet streets towards the orphanage. Chase tried to talk them into riding the bus, but Heero refused saying that it would look too suspicious for the two of them to hobble on a public transit in the state they were. So holding onto him tightly, Chase helped Heero limp down the last street before they reached the battered orphanage building.

"Heero, you sure you don't need to rest? This limp is getting worse.." Chase asked in concern after his lover stumbled once more.

Heero nodded his head and grunted softly. "I'm sure.. Just keep moving.. It's only another couple of blocks.. I'll rest when we get there." He insisted as he leaned heavily on the smaller racer. He tossed a look over his shoulder at his brother a few paces behind them. "Tro... How are you holdin up?" he asked, still concerned for his brother despite what all had happened.

And that shred of concern tore through him badly. "I'm fine, Heero... Let me help you too.." Trowa quickly moved on the other side of his brother and wrapped his arm firmly around his waist and helped him down the street. Briefly his eyes met with Chase's teal ones, but he saw no animosity in them, just a distant hurt expression that made him feel even worse about what he had done.

The rest of the walk was very slow paced, but with the added support of his brother Heero was able to move much easier. Minutes later they reached the front stoop of the orphanage where Chase had to let go of his lover in order to unlock the door. He opened the battered green door wide and took a step inside before looking around cautiously. When he saw that no one was up yet he motioned for Trowa to help Heero in while he began turning on the lights.

"Take him into the kitchen, I'm gonna find the first aid kit before I get Mama Sarah." Chase said as he turned the kitchen light on.

Carefully, Trowa guided his battered brother into the large kitchen and soon had him resting in one of the chairs at the table. When Heero was finally off his feet, Chase walked into the kitchen and sat the first aid kit on the table before opening it and digging through the supplies. "I can start cleaning the cuts.. But Mamma Sarah is going to have to take a look at your ankle, Heero.." he said softly as he moved around the kitchen to get a bowl of clean water to clean them up.

Heero nodded slightly, grateful to just be off his feet. "Whatever you think is necessary..." he muttered as he attempted to make himself comfortable.

Chase smiled in sympathy at his love as he reached out to begin cleaning the various cuts on his face. But before he could start a scrapped and bruised hand caught hold of his wrist. Curious, and a little annoyed, Chase's teal eyes glanced up to where Trowa was looking back at him. "What, Trowa?" he asked calmly, but it still had a sharp edge to it that meant he wasn't in the mood for any more disturbances.

Ignoring the slight anger in his tone, Trowa pressed on. "Let me... Please?.. I.. I want to help him." he said softly, needing to make amends for what he started.

Chase was hesitant as he looked to Heero questioningly, not entirely sure he should leave the two alone. It was only when Heero gave him that slight smile he had grown to love did Chase pull away reluctantly. "If Heero's alright with it... I suppose I can go see if Momma Sarah is up yet..." He muttered, even though it went against his better judgement.

"Please, Chase.. I think we need to go over a few things.. I'll be fine." Heero told him reassuringly, still smiling at him for his concern.

"Okay... I'll be back in a few minutes." Chase said quietly before he calmly left the kitchen.

The two brothers remained quiet until they finally couldn't hear the sounds of foot steps. When he was sure Chase was well away, Trowa looked back at his brother and finally went over the damage he had inflicted. "God.. I'm sorry, Hee.."

Before he could finish his apology Heero suddenly raised his hand and shook his head. "No... As far as I'm concerned we both probably needed to get all of that out of our systems... Only thing I don't understand is why didn't you confront me about it sooner?" he asked curiously as he looked into his brother's visible green eye.

"I... I guess I just didn't know how to..." Trowa said honestly as he picked up where Chase left off. Taking the damp cloth he slowly began cleaning up the cuts on his face as he continued. "I knew you were trying to be strong for everyone... But I just felt like you ignored me... That I was a burden to you..."

"I never thought you were a burden..." Heero corrected quickly as he stopped himself from wincing when the cloth came in contact with the cut on his eye brow. "Damn... Remind me not to get into a fight with you any time soon.. You got a mean right hook..." he commented as he reached up to rub his still throbbing jaw.

Actually chuckling at that, Trowa smiled slightly. "Hey I'm surprised I'm still conscious.. Nearly blacked out after I landed on my back when you kicked me off of you.." he admitted as he reached for the butterfly stitches that were laid out on the table.

Heero's lips twitched into a smirk when he actually thought back on what happened. "Been a while since we've gotten into a fight.. Guess all the extra stress just finally snapped us..."

"Yeah.. Not to mention all that damn booze..." Trowa added, knowing the liquor probably played a big role. "But.. I guess that it's better now that it's all out in the open... Just remind me never to piss off Chase... I think he actually singed some of my hair..." He said lightly as he looks at the tip of his long bangs.

"Now that little skill I didn't know about..." the cobalt eyed rider pointed out, now also wary of his lover. "And I was only worried about Chance kicking my ass if I ever pissed him off.. Now I gotta worry about him torching my ass... Heh.. He is pretty hot when he gets angry though..." he joked lightly.

That made Trowa wince and he rolled his green eyes sarcastically. "God.. Now I know why you hardly ever joke.. You're corny as hell..." he quipped and dodged when his brother took another swat at him.

"Hey, don't make me get my boyfriend to kick your ass." Heero warned with a smirk.

Trowa snorted slightly in amusement and shook his head. "More like fry my ass... Damn.." That was when he realized that Heero might not have been the only one he had hurt that night. "Shit.. I was pretty harsh towards him... I probably should go apologize to him..."

Glad that he was going to take that step without prompting, Heero waved him on as he reached out to grab some of the bandages laid out on the table. "You go ahead and to that. I can take care of the cuts on my arms..."

Trowa was reluctant to let his older brother tend to his own wounds, but the reassuring wink that he gave him calmed enough of his worries. Quietly, Trowa left the kitchen and began his silent search for the teal eyed racer. As he silently treaded throughout the old orphanage, Trowa actually took his time to glance throughout all of the pictures that were scattered everywhere on every surface available. Most of them were of children who Trowa figured were the orphans that had been placed in the shelter over the years, but one thing he did notice was that in every picture Chance was always either the focus or in the back ground. In a few of the pictures there was a young man with short ginger colored hair with Chance. From they way they always seemed to be in some sort of loving embrace, Trowa quickly deduced who he was. "This must be T.K..." he whispered to himself. For a moment he suddenly felt a wave a sympathy when he saw how much the two must have cared for one another simply from the way they always seemed so happy in the photos.

After a moment of looking at these photos, Trowa continued to the stairs that led up to where the bed rooms were on the second floor. But just as he was about to climb the stairs he noticed another picture that was larger than most of the others in a frame hanging on the wall. This one in particular caught his attention because he could have sworn he had seen it before. In it a young Chance was in the main focus, but next to her was a young boy around the same age with short blonde hair and bright aqua colored eyes. There was also a great deal of men and women dressed in business suits scattered about the background, and it was then that Trowa recognized it as one of the shots from the charity event that Casey had told him about at the bar. "So that's Quatre Winner..." he mumbled, having an odd feeling that he had seen that young face before.

Shaking the strange feeling away, Trowa continued up the stairs, noting that several of the pictures he passed along the way were of Chance and the rich blonde boy.

But something was off.

:I see Chance with that Quatre guy, but I don't see any pictures of Chance and Chase together...: The further he walked the more it dawned on him. :There are no photos of Chase anywhere...: This seemed very odd to the tall rider, but before he could focus too long on the strange fact he caught sight of movement not far in front of him. When he directed his attention towards it he saw Chase coming out of a room, and as he was entering the hall way he looked to be pulling on a different shirt. Trowa automatically figured he probably spilt some of the kerosene on his other shirt, but what surprised him was that he saw what looked to be a tattoo in the small of the pale smooth back.

"I didn't think you would be the type to get a tattoo." Trowa finally called out softly.

Chase jumped slightly at the sudden voice and tugged the gray shirt the rest of the way down a bit too quickly. "Oh.. Trowa... Um.. You'd be surprised what being around Chance and a lot of booze will get you into.." he chuckled a bit nervously.

Trowa quirked an eye brow at how strangely Chase was behaving, but ignored it for now. "I bet... Listen.. Chase.. I just wanted to... Apologize for what I said earlier.. I was angry.. I didn't mean it..."

That caused Chase to frown deeply as he faced his lover's brother fully. "But you did mean it, Trowa... Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you regret saying it, and I do forgive you, but don't say that you didn't mean it." he stated calmly. The anger and resent he had seen in that one green eye told him that there was some sort of ill will between them.

And it shocked Trowa that the smaller racer admitted it. "Chase... You're right.. I did mean it then.." He finally said with a deep sigh. "I don't know what has gotten into me lately..."

Chase moved forward until only a foot separated the two of them, and he silently examined the taller man. After a moment he finally spoke. "I guess a lot has happened to all of us over the past month... I can understand how that might make a person angry at the ones causing the change... I know Wufei was angry with me at first when we first started practicing together.. I remember hearing him saying that me and my sister were replacing him and you..." He glanced away for a moment as he took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Trowa.. Can I tell you something in confidence?" He suddenly asked as a serious almost sad expression fell over his face.

Seeing that this was probably important, Trowa nodded slightly, curious to what he had to say.

When he saw the nod Chase gripped at the end of his shirt and began twisting tightly in his hands. "Trowa... The truth is that... That I might not be around much longer..." he said softly.

Startled at that quiet confession, Trowa's eyes grew wide in confusion. "What do you mean you're not going to be around much longer? Is something wrong?" he asked quickly, suddenly becoming worried for the younger racer.

"In a sense.. Yeah..." Chase muttered, unable to look directly into that wide green eye. "You see.. I'm going to have to leave soon... And I don't know if I'll ever be back..."

"Chase, you're being vague.. Going when? Where? Why?" Trowa asked, not liking the way Chase wouldn't meet his gaze.

Running a trembling hand through his black hair, Chase locked his eyes on the floor as if the answers were written there. "I can't give you much detail, Trowa... But the reason why Chance has been acting like she has towards me... Making sure nothing goes wrong for me... Is because this was my last trip here.. I'm leaving on Wednesday.. And everything has been like.. A going away present for me..." he tried to explain as best he could.

Trowa could only stare at him for a moment as he tried to process all of this information. "Chase... When were you going to tell us? Tell Heero! He'll be devastated!" he exclaimed in a whisper, appalled that he was keeping something like this from them.

"I know that!" Chase shot back as tears suddenly filled his eyes. "I had gotten so wrapped up in everything that was happening that I had completely forgotten that I had to leave... Chance finally reminded me last night in the bar, and I've been wracking my mind ever since on how to tell Heero..." he whispered in heartbroken tone. "Please, Trowa, you can't tell Heero.."

Unable to figure out if he was angry or sorry for him, Trowa frowned deeply and looked at him seriously. "When are you going to tell him?" he asked simply.

"Sunday.. Please.. Give me til then.. I have to figure out a way to tell him.. You have no idea how hard this is, for me Trowa... I love him.. I truly do... And.. And I don't know if he'll have anything to do with me when I tell him the truth..." Chase choked out as he bit his lip hard to keep the tears at bay.

At that desperate tone Trowa backed away a bit and looked him over carefully. It was painfully obvious to him that Chase did care for his older brother, but something still didn't seem right to him. "Alright... I won't tell him... But I get the feeling that there's a lot you're not telling me right now..."

Chase let out a slight sarcastic laugh as he scrubbed at his eyes stubbornly. "You don't know the half of it... It gets really complicated.. But I will tell Heero everything.. I just need a little more to figure out how..."

"I can understand that..."

A slight smile slipped onto Chase's pale lips as he finally calmed himself down. "Thanks, Trowa... I better go get Mamma Sarah now... I'll meet you back in the kitchen." Without another word Chase turned on his heel and headed back down the long hall way.

Trowa watched him disappear behind another door, and once Chase was out of sight another frown settled on Trowa's features. "I don't like this... If I find out what's really going on.. I'm going straight to Heero with it... Even if it does hurt him..." he muttered to himself as he turned back to head for the stairs once more.

"I doubt my brother would appreciate loving a lie..."

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TBC

Oh my...

Looks like things are startin ta stirr up...

my new years resolution is ta finish this damn thing...

hehe

Later!