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The Junkyard

Epilogue

The black town-car dropped Heero off outside the cemetery at around a quarter to ten. The young man was the first one to arrive, because there were a couple of things he wanted to take care off before the funeral service. He spoke to the driver, making sure the man knew where and when to pick up his friends before sending him on his way. They had decided to rent a limousine rather than taking their own cars to the service, except for Treize and Milliardo who were just coming back from out of town that morning.

Dressed in a black suit he had bought just for the occasion after realizing that the one he had worn to J's funeral was about two inches too short, the young man walked through the heavy wrought-iron gate carrying three flower bouquets.

It really hadn't been that hard to find out where his mother's grave was once he started some thinking. After J had died, his lawyer had taken care of the funeral arrangements including the selection of his 'final resting place'. When Heero had called him to find out what had made him chose this particular cemetery, he'd learned that it had been specified in J's will. After a little more digging the young man found out that years earlier J had bought not one but two burial sites near where his wife had been laid to rest.

Though he had never noticed it at J's funeral, the two graves were just across from each other, with their headstones facing one another. They were maintained beautifully; J had taken care of that, too. Heero spent some time at his mother's grave, reflecting on things that happened and things that could have been. Then he walked over to J's resting place.

"You know," he spoke as he put down the bouquet of lilies. "I wish you would have told me. There are so many things I would have loved to ask you. But I guess you only did what you thought was best for me."

Finally he stopped briefly at the grave of J's wife, his grandmother, who he had never met, to leave the last of the flowers for her. Afterwards the young man headed across the main lawn toward the funeral parlor.

A short, bald man with wire-rimmed glasses, the director of the funeral house, dressed in a black three piece suit, was waiting outside the building.

"Mister Yuy!" His voice was surprisingly deep for his appearance, his handshake firm and his grey eyes full of compassion. "Let me express my condolences once again for your loss."

"Thank you." Heero didn't bother explaining again that it really wasn't his loss. "Is everything prepared, Mister Nelson?" he wanted to know.

"Just the way we talked about," Nelson confirmed. "The funeral begins at 11. You and your party will have time to say your final good-byes until then."

"Thank you." the young man nodded. "May I go in then?"

"Yes, of course. Please, let me show you the way."

#

The room he was let into was filled with flowers and wreaths. Heero had left most of the arrangements, including the choice of coffin to the funeral house. No matter what, anything would have to be a improvement over the plain pine box and the tiny unmarked plot Odin Lowe had been buried in the first time. He really knew too little about the man to be sure what kind of flowers or arrangements he would have preferred, but somehow he had a feeling he would approve.

When Heero first mentioned to his lawyer the idea of exhuming the P.I.'s body to give him the proper burial he deserved, he didn't get quite the reaction he expected. But once Dan Grey realized how serious he was about it, he had quietly and efficiently taken care of all the necessary formalities. Finally Heero started to understand why his grandfather so relied on the man.

After the funeral director had discretely retired, the young man found himself alone in the room with the closed coffin . It was still a bit of an awkward feeling as he stepped closer.

"I'm not quite sure how this works, or if you are even here right now... But since people usually say their good-byes during funerals I assume...no I hope you can hear me." He paused to gather his thoughts. "I don't know what promise you may have made to my father or my grandfather or why exactly to haven't been able to move on until now. But as far as I'm concerned you have done more than enough. If not for you I might have never found out who I am, might have never learned what happened to my parents and how they loved me. And on top of that you have given me back memories that opened up the door to a part of my life that had lost.
I know when you took me to grandfather's house we must have spent several days on the road together. I still don't remember much about that. But you know, I am planning on restoring that old Buick of yours. And I have a feeling that spending some time in that car might even bring back those memories. I'm actually looking forward to them.
Anyway, you have done more than enough. You can rest in peace now. Thanks again for everything."

##

Turning his head when the door behind him opened quietly, Heero recognized Milliardo Peacecraft and his history teacher.

"Should we wait outside?" the blonde asked in a hushed voice. He was wearing a pair of black jeans and a thin black leather tie over his white shirt, while Treize was dressed in a dark pinstriped suit.

Heero shook his head. "I was just done. When did you get here?"

"Just a few moments ago," Treize told him. "We passed the limousine on the corner of Brickston. So they should be here any minute too."

"Thanks." the young man was about to add something when the phone in his pocket started to vibrate. He had turned off the ringer earlier to not disturb the service.

"Excuse me." He walked outside and around the corner as he answered the call. "Heero Yuy here."

"We've got him!"

It was Special Agent Une's voice, and he knew instantly what and who she was talking about. The young man drew a sharp breath.

"Then you were able to locate Miss McKenzie?"

"Misses Bartlett now, but yes." the woman confirmed. "She changed her name right after she left town. Turned out the rumors about her going to some fancy college on Nolan Flynn's buck were just that. She was trying to hide from the Flynns rather than from the law."

"How come?"

"A few weeks after the accident she found out that she was pregnant."

"With Nolan's child?"

"Yes. But by then she already knew she wanted nothing to do with that family. The money Nolan Sr. paid her was for an abortion. Apparently he didn't think she was good enough for his son, either. In any case she agreed to testify in the case. Our colleagues in Atlanta took her statement last night..."

#

"Is everything alright?" Treize, Wufei, Trowa, Duo and Milliardo were waiting by the door of the parlor when Heero returned.

He nodded. "The phone call; that was the FBI. Nolan Flynn has been arrested this morning."

"Does that mean they got all their evidence complete?" Duo asked. "Will they be charging him with murder?"

"His lawyer is negotiating with the prosecutor as we speak," Heero explained. "They will be pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter."

"Are you alright with that?" The professor looked at him. "It won't carry much of a sentence."

The young man shrugged, then nodded. "It really was never about punishment for me. I just wanted to know what really happened, and I wanted someone to take responsibility."

"Isn't it ironic, though?" Milliardo pointed out quietly. "To think that the case is being put to rest on the same day as Odin Lowe."

There was a moment of silence as everyone seemed to follow their own train of thoughts.

"Where is Quatre?" Heero finally asked. "Didn't he come with you guys?"

"He did." Trowa confirmed. "He is inside now together with Alexander bidding their farewells."

"That's right, Alexander said he would come too." Heero remembered, then he frowned. "I wonder if he is okay?"

"Alexander?"

"No, I mean Quatre. This being a graveyard and all..."

"Actually, I was wondering about that too," Wufei replied. "I asked him about it on the way here but he assured me he would be fine."

"Apparently," Trowa added. "In spite of popular believes spirits that reside in graveyards are usually at peace."

Milliardo checked his watch. "It's almost 11. Should we let them now that we are heading to the gravesite?"

"Let's give them a few more minutes," Treize suggested, and everyone agreed.

###

As the priest was talking about the footprints, visible and invisible, left behind by those who once walked this earth, Heero looked around.

To say the least he was pleased. When he first planned the funeral for Odin Lowe he was thinking of a small private affair. But once his friends found out about it each of them insisted to be there to see off the man neither of them even knew when he was still alive.

And to his surprise a few other people like his lawyer and Sheriff Bonaparte showed up as well.

How ironic, the young man thought. Nobody cared enough to claim his body when he died. But somehow he managed to make a number of friends after death.

The End

Author's Note: I want to thank everyone to stuck with this story till the end, and hope a satisfying ending it was for everyone. Although this story is complete, keep your eyes open for more ghostly mysteries in the future.

On a different note, as I mentioned before I will be concentrating on Dragon King this year which also includes some changes to the already existing chapters. Therefore I will be removing the story sometime next week and repost the first re-written chapters for Chinese New Year