Disclaimer: This story was written by a fan only for the enjoyment of other fans, without any monetary compensation. Gundam Wing and its characters are registered trademarks of Bandai Entertainment Inc.™ and Sotsu Agency. All rights reserved.

Thank you to everybody who reviewed this story.
A special Thank You to Kt for beta reading.

Blood Ties

Chapter 38

The first buzz of his cell phone, woke Treize Khushrenada from deep sleep. He cursed inwardly and checked on Milliardo while his right hand fumbled for the device vibrating on the nightstand. The blonde was blissfully asleep, his long hair fanned out over the pillow like a veil of platinum. Carefully Treize extracted his arm from beneath the young man's body, and turned to his side.

"Yes?" he asked into the silver and black phone.

"Good Morning! This is your wake-up call," announced a mocking voice on the other end of the line that hit the incubus like a bucket of ice water. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

There was a long moment of silence broken only by the cracking of the phone in Treize's grip.

"What's wrong?" the voice asked. "Tiger got your tongue? Oh yes, how is he? I hope I wasn't too rough on him?" The sarcasm changed to fake sympathy for a moment then turned to chatty. "But really; here I return after such a long time and then I have to throw my own welcome-back party. Is that any way to treat an old friend. Got to say, though, you haven't lost your touch with that blade of yours. Nice swordsmanship as always. You have not changed at all."

"And neither have you." Treize finally got over his initial shock. "You still talk too much."

"Yeah well, I haven't had much opportunity to talk to anyone for a while, or do anything else for that matter. But that will change now. I have a lot of catching up to do. I think first I will take a little trip; Jilin perhaps, Wu Nu Shan… It's beautiful there at this time of year, and so many memories connected with that place. I should probably visit his grave, pay my respects, don't you think? After all, I never got invited to the funeral. Until later."

With that the line went dead. Jaws tightening the incubus swallowed a hateful curse.

"Treize?!" Milliardo's voice was laced with a mixture of worry and alarm. "Are you alright?"

"What?" the older man turned his head to see his lover awake, and propped up on one elbow beside him. "Oh, yes, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

Following the blonde's look to the ruined cell phone he was still holding, Treize blinked. He hadn't even realized that he had crushed the device in his fist. Somehow he managed to put on a wry grin.

"And Apple is still claiming those things won't bend. I guess I'll go with a Samsung next time."

Milliardo's eyes were full of concern and a little bit of hurt.

Of course he knew there were things Treize wouldn't… couldn't tell him. But at least he could say so.

The incubus prince seemed to read his mind. "I'm sorry. I know you are worried, but…"

A scratch at the bedroom door interrupted him before he could even finish his apology.

"That's Snowball; he is respecting the new wards, I guess. I'd better let him outside." Treize checked the time at the clock radio on his nightstand with a sigh. "And we should probably get rolling, too. The painters will be here soon enough."

"First dibs on the shower." Milliardo forced himself to smile.

"Fine," the incubus agreed as he climbed out of bed. "I'll put coffee on. Are you hungry?"

"Not particularly, no."

####

"…he said, he had to throw his own welcome-back party? You think he was referring to the attack Thursday night?"

"Obviously." Treize Khushrenada was sitting in the back of his town car - the Mercedes needed to be detailed to clean all the blood from the upholstery - talking to Nichols on the brand-new phone, he had picked up only half an hour or so earlier. "It was him Lian went after when he ran out of the house, not those ghouls."

"And you are certain, my Prince, that it really was HIM?" Nichols' voice was laced with concern.

"Quite sure," the tawny-haired man confirmed. "He mentioned China… Jilin and Wu Nu Shan and…" he trailed off, swallowing the rest of the sentence. "And we did know he would be back eventually."

"You should leave," his aide suggested. "We will get you somewhere safe and…"

"No!" Treize's voice left no room for arguments. "I'm done hiding. I'm not going to run anymore, not from 'his Lordship' or the white court, not from their hired assassins or anyone else. Anyway, he found me here, he would find me again."

"Yes but…" Nichols tried to reason, but was cut off instantly.

"Besides, I don't think he is seriously trying to kill me at this point. I doubt he has the power to do so. No, I have the feeling he is just amusing himself by toying with me; trying to shake me up, throw me off balance. It might actually work out to our advantage. Hold on." Treize paused to check his watch. "Luther?"

The bald incubus was driving; his gaze shifting to the rear view mirror every once in a while, indicating that he was following the conversation.

"Yes, Sir?"

"Are we going to make it in time?"

"Almost there, Sir."

Treize nodded. He knew Luther was doing his best. It was the unexpected detour to the electronics store that had taken a lot longer than planned and was throwing off his schedule. The incubus prince raised his phone back to his ear.

"Still there?" he asked. "So, where were we?"

"At least let me talk to Leigh about tightening security around you," Nichols pleaded.

"Any tighter and I will have to move into a maximum security prison. No, Nichols, nothing will change for now. I wanted to give you a heads up, that's all. By the way how did the second meeting with the realtor go?"

"It went well. We signed a two year lease this morning."

"We?"

"Sebastian insisted on being on the contract as well. But you are changing the subject, my Prince."

"Am I?" Treize asked innocently. "So when are you going to throw your housewarming party?"

"Oh no, no parties. It's only a lease. I can't risk the place being ripped to pieces."

The incubus gave a quiet laugh. "Oh lighten up, you can be such a bore sometimes."

"So Sebastian keeps telling me," Nichols replied stiffly.

The car pulled into a park with several sports fields, picnic areas and an aquatic center.

"I've got to go." Treize told his Lieutenant as Luther tried to find a spot in one of the already crowded parking lots. "We will talk later."

##

The soccer game was tied at 2:2 in its second overtime, with the winner moving on to the regional finals, and everyone on the field was giving everything they had left. Her team was in the offence, crossing the centerline and playing the ball forward when one of the linesmen suddenly raised the offside flag and the referee's whistle halted the game.

The little girl, about 9 or 10 years of age, leaned forward panting. While the ball was being taken back to the other team for their indirect free kick, she took the opportunity to search the crowd. With a little smile she waved at her mother sitting in a beach chair between the other parents of her teammates. The whistle blew again and the game was back on.

That's when she noticed him; a tall man with hair almost the same color as hers. He was wearing tan slacks and a deep blue shirt and was standing away from the rest of the spectators, by himself. The strange thing was that she was sure she had seen him before. Like Waldo he seemed to be popping up around her every once in a while, during games, practice or an outing at the Zoo. And he wasn't actually watching the game; he was watching her, she realized. She was pondering whether or not to tell her mother about the stranger when one of her teammates suddenly called out to her.

"Marie!"

Her head jerked around just in time to see the ball come directly at her. There were two girls from the other team in pursuit but she beat them to it. She took possession, faked and dribbled it past the defense. High on adrenaline she kicked the ball toward the goal straight over the keepers head into the left corner. Shouts of excitement broke out from the parents, the referee whistled and suddenly she found herself buried beneath a pile of her teammates.

Mariemaia was still beaming when she managed to free herself from her friends. As they all headed back to the center line for the kickoff, her gaze went to her mother who was giving her two thumps up. Then she turned to where the stranger had been standing but he was gone. Her eyes searched the area for a moment or two, but there was no sign of him anywhere, as though the ground had suddenly swallowed him.

Strange.

##

The double sound of a whistle followed by cheers from the crowd signaled the end of the game just as Treize Khushrenada reached the black town car. He couldn't help but smile a little as he threw one last look back toward the soccer field.

Luther was reading the sport section of a newspaper, some article about car racing. The incubus prince had to knock at the driver's window to get his attention.

"Sorry." his bodyguard unlocked the doors. "Game over already?"

"Just ended," Treize confirmed as he slipped into the back seat. "Marie made the winning goal." He tried to sound nonchalant about it, but there was a hint of pride in his voice that was hard to miss.

"That's great. They are going to play in the finals then?"

"That's what I understand. Did you drop off the… package?"

"Yes, Sir." Luther gave a affirmative nod as he folded up the paper and stuffed it under the passenger seat. "Home?" he asked with a look into the rearview mirror.

"Right." the incubus prince confirmed but then changed his mind. "On second thought… take me to the spa. I doubt the painters are done yet at the house."

"Got it!"

The Lincoln pulled out of the parking lot slowly, with Treize watching the commotion around the soccer field until it faded in the distance.

"Any idea if Leigh has found out where those other vampires are hiding?" he asked, directed at the driver.

"Not as far as I know." Luther replied. "But he got some more background on that Ortega guy that showed up at the spa the other day. He seems to be working for someone called Ventuno."

"Sergio Ventuno?"

"You know him?"

"I know of him. I had the dubious pleasure of doing business with one of his ex partners once."

"Drugs?" Luther sounded surprised.

Treize gave him an almost offended look. "Weapons. Of course the man is dead now. From what I understand Ventuno's business partners don't have very high life expectancies."

"That must put a dampener on business affairs, I'd imagine."

The incubus prince gave a semi-amused snort. "By the way, I have a job for you," he then declared. "There is someone we need to take care of."

####

Skipping a few steps behind her mother, Mariemaia waved at some of her friends that were leaving as well, then turned her attention back to her strawberry popsicle. The little girl was still on a natural high after being voted player of the game by her coach and teammates, and the sugary treat was not likely to help with that either.

"Did you see the look on Trisha Beckham's face, Mom, when I kicked that ball right over her head?! The Fireballs were so sure they would win the trophy again, this year. But Coach Bob always tells us, never underestimate a Tiger," she was babbling.

"Honey," her mother stopped her gently. "Your popsicle is melting. You are going to get it all over your uniform. Come on, keep up! We've got to hurry, remember? Don't want to be late for your own birthday party, do you?"

Under other circumstances Leia would have made her daughter skip today's soccer game, considering how many things she still had to do before the party this afternoon. But Mariemaia had begged to go, and bearing in mind how important this game was for the team she couldn't blame her. Now of course she was glad they did go.

She pushed the button on her car remote, unlocking the Dodge as they approached the parking lot.

"Don't forget to take off your cleats." Leia reminded the girl whilst she popped open the back hatch to store the cooler and folding chair.

"Yes Mom!" Mariemaia dropped the rest of her slowly melting popsicle into a trashcan as she passed it and dashed around the car to the back seat. She couldn't wait until she was old enough to actually ride in the front. Suddenly she stopped. "MOM!"

"Yes?"

"I think someone dropped something."

Her mother sighed, assuming she was referring to some dog owner who didn't have the decency to clean up after his pet. "Don't step into it, dear. Just walk around."

"But I can't open the door."

"What?"

Leia frowned as she went to investigate, but the frown turned into a soft smile as soon as she saw the large gift wrapped package leaning against the car. She looked around, searching as she slowly picked it up.

"Nobody dropped it, Dear. It's a present."

"For me?" her daughter asked in a mixture of surprise and excitement.

"Well, unless you know someone else whose birthday it is today and…" she turned the package toward the girl so that she could read the little pink and black tag attached to it. "…whose name is Mariemaia?"

"Yay." Marie exclaimed. "It's big. What do you think it is? Can I open it?"

"In the car," Leia told her firmly. "Cleats and seatbelt first!"

With record speed the young girl removed her soccer shoes, slipped into the car and buckled herself in. By the time her mother was starting the engine she had already removed the bow and was ripping away the colorful paper. A quiet sound of wonder escaped her lips as she revealed the boxes beneath.

"What is it?" Leia threw a questioning look into the rearview mirror before pulling out of the park and onto the main street.

"It's the new Lego Elves sets; the Sky Castle and the Adventure Ship." She held the boxes up for her mother to see. "And…" there was a little pause for emphasis. "Tada… a tablet! Now I have my own, Mom. I won't have to borrow yours anymore and can play my own games all the time."

Leia gave a little amused huff. "We will see about that."

Mariemaia grew quiet as she studied the Lego sets. There was a flying horse in the Sky Castle set. Personally she preferred unicorns. She would just have to build her own. There appeared to be a hole in the Pegasus forehead, maybe it fit one of those golden or silver horns she had from a different set. For some reason she had always liked unicorns and fairies.

Unicorns… elves… fairies… Marie mused for a moment then frowned.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Do you remember the picture I drew when I was in kindergarten, the one with the fairies and unicorns?"

"I do, honey. It was a wonderful picture. I just wish you would have drawn it during arts lessons and not in Miss May's math class," Leia teased gently.

Mariemaia laughed. "What happened to it; did we throw it away?"

"Of course not. It's in the box with your other kindergarten projects, I'm sure."

"Can I have it? I think I might want to hang it up in my room."

"Umm… sure. Remind me tonight when we get back home and I'll see if we can dig it up."

"Thanks."

Her presents clutched in her lap, the young girl starred out of the window for a few minutes, her mind going back to the soccer game. Suddenly a thought occurred to her. She started to dig through the pile of discarded wrapping paper on the seat beside her until she found the little pink and black tag. Her name: Mariemaia was printed in neat letters on the card, but there was no signature.

"Mom," she asked. "Who are these presents from? There is no name on the tag."

Her mother hesitated. "A relative, dear. No one you've ever met. He called me earlier to tell me he was going to drop something off for you."

"But he won't come to my party?"

"Sorry, Marie. He is very busy." There was an almost sad expression in her mother's eyes as she looked at her through the rearview mirror.

###

"Knock knock!" Milliardo stopped in the open doorway to Wufei's bedroom, holding two black mugs with gold rims in his hands. "Time for a coffee break?"

"Always."

Wufei brushed some papers from his desk chair to make room for the blonde, then accepted one of the cups with a thankful nod and settled cross-legged onto his bed.

"Is that all you are taking?" Milliardo thrust his chin toward the wheeled carry-on bag his roommate was packing.

The younger man nodded. "Saves time if you don't have to check any luggage in. Besides, I hope to be back sooner rather than later, and I can always do laundry at my mom's house if I have to."

The blonde gave a snort. "Let her do your laundry you mean."

Wufei just smiled and took a sip from his cup. The drink was strong and robust without being bitter, just the way he liked it.

"I'm going to miss your coffee," he admitted with a sigh. "and your breakfast burritos."

"So my plan is working then."

"Plan?" Wufei gave the other man an inquiring look.

"To slowly make you addicted to my cooking," Milliardo replied with a sly smirk. "That way you can never leave."

His roommate grinned quietly, but soon both men grew serious.

"I wish I didn't have to go," Wufei finally signed.

"Still worried about those vampire attacks?"

"That too."

"Worried about me?" Milliardo raised one eyebrow.

"Not as much anymore."

"Aaah! I get it. You are going to meet with your council of elders, and it's giving you butterflies in your stomach. It's probably the same thing as being called to the principal's office and not being sure what to expect."

Wufei looked at the blonde somewhat blankly.

"Wait! You have never been called into the principal's office?" Milliardo guessed.

The younger man shook his head.

"Ever?!"

Another shrug.

"Man, that's so sad." Milliardo teased. But then his eyes caught Nataku's deadly blade and a thought occurred to the young man.

"How are you planning on sneaking that," he thrust his chin toward the sword. "Onto the plane? It's not like you can make it 'disappear', like Treize can with his sword, right?"

"No, I can't but I don't need to 'sneak' it either." Wufei explained. "I have special permits to move this 'ancient artifact' from here to an exhibition in China and back."

Milliardo nodded and took another sip from his coffee. "You know." He cocked his head a little. "Treize explained to me about portals and ways between the Human and the Other World; how they can be used to move quickly from one place to another due to the way space bends between realms. So why don't you guys take advantage of that? Or is it that mortals don't have the power to open portals?"

"It is possible, but not that easy." Wufei confirmed. "As you say space bends between realms and unless you know exactly what you are doing you might end up somewhere you don't want to. Imagine trying to travel to Beijing and pop out of a portal on top of Mount Kilimanjaro… or worse. But most of all we don't do it for the same reason you don't use your neighbor's backyard as a shortcut to the supermarket without permission."

"You don't?" Milliardo asked innocently.

Wufei gave him a firm look. "You don't. It's illegal and most of all not polite. The other world is divided into territories and ruled by different being, fairies… elves… other fae… some of whom have formed relations with mortals. They would take such an invasion as a breach of conduct but would be civil about it. But then there are also those demons and otherworldly creatures that see humans as nothing but prey."

"Okay, I get it. Would be cool though, cutting your travel time from half a day to a few minutes or so."

"I guess." the younger man agreed.

"So, we never got around to going clubbing together," Milliardo changed the subject. "But don't think you are off the hook. We will do it when you get back from China, instead."

"That's fine." Wufei concurred. "After surviving that trip I might need a good drink."

"That's the spirit!" the blonde gave him a cheerful grin as he rose to his feet. "So when do you have to be at the airport?"

"Around 6:30; but that means we will be hitting rush hour. We will need to leave early."

Milliardo nodded. "I'm not doing anything; probably just working on a few new sketches. So let me know whenever you are ready to leave."

"Thanks."

###

Picking up the tray with the leftover food after he had tidied up his master's quarters, Edric didn't leave the room but headed toward the door leading to the adjacent, smaller bedchamber.

"Careful!" Christian von Ranzow warned as he stepped out of the dressing room, clad in a pair of riding pants and a short sleeved shirt. "He is the type who would bite the hand that feeds him."

"I shall watch my fingers, my lord," the servant replied dryly.

With a semi-amused snort Christian picked up a pair of soft, fawn skin gloves from the little table by the door. "Just don't say I didn't warn you."

"Can I expect you back for supper, my Lord?" The old man inquired before his master could leave the room.

"I would expect so. I'm meeting Lady Rebecca for a ride through the country, not for a dinner date."

"Very good, Sir. Enjoy your ride, but allow me to remind you to be careful, as well."

"Always." Christian replied seriously, already on his way out.

Edric unlocked the heavy wooden door with an old fashioned key dangling from a leather band. The door groaned and squeaked on its hinges, indicating that it was not used very often. The room it opened into lay in complete darkness. Heavy, dark curtains in front of the only window blocked out even the slightest ray of light.

The old man balanced the tray he was carrying with one hand as the other searched for the light switch on the wall. The faintest of noises came from the direction of the bed, but when the overhead light flickered to life the figured curled up on the mattress wasn't moving.

"I know you are awake." Stepping closer Edric put the tray down on the nightstand beside the bed. "You might as well stop the act."

Leslie Keno didn't look much better than he did when he had been brought to this room, but he was conscious and lucid. The chains that secured his arms and legs to the bed frame jingled as he slowly turned to face the old man. The shackles were heavy and spell-woven, and just long enough to allow the slightest of movements.

"Room service?" he croaked, his throat dry and rough, but a hint of dark humor in his voice. "I'd like to speak to the manager. The service at this place is terrible. I distinctly remember requesting not to be disturbed. "

The old man gave a semi-amused huff.

"Though," Leslie continued, looking around as his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. "The accommodations are a lot better than what I remember from before I passed out."

"Well," Edric replied dryly as he reached for the crystal pitcher on the tray and started to fill a matching glass with crystal clear water. "It appears, you have been staying with us long enough to qualify for a room."

The prisoner barked a rough laugh that ended in a coughing fit.

"Easy!" Steadying him, Edric put the water glass carefully against Leslie's bruised lips. "Drink something."

The younger incubus took a couple of slow sips before pulling away. He watched with half-lidded eyes as the old servant set down the glass and started to adjust the chains around his wrist, giving them just enough slack for him to move his arms a bit.

"Any chance you could take those things off?"

"Why? So that you can break my neck at the first chance you get? Don't mistake kindness with stupidity."

Leslie just shrugged. He didn't even seem embarrassed or offended by the accusation.

The older man was no fool. He put the tray with the food onto the bed where the prisoner could reach it. There was something that looked like chicken, some other meats that most definitely weren't chicken and some cheese and vegetables brought in from the mortal world. The demon realm was, and never had been a place for agriculture.

"Eat!" Edric demanded as he settled down on the edge of the bed and opened the drawer on the nightstand to remove a jar of some kind of ointment. "While I see what I can do about your wrist and your back."

Letting his eyes wander over the tray, Leslie pursed his lips in a gesture of defiance and stubbornness. He watched wordlessly as the servant opened the ointment jar and starting with his left arm, slathered a generous amount of the cream onto the burns left by the silver lined manacles he had worn earlier. Silence fell over the room and lingered.

"Why am I still alive?" he asked finally.

"Pure obstinacy, I'd suspect." The old man shrugged without looking up.

Leslie snorted. "I mean, why haven't I been executed yet."

Another shrug. "I wouldn't know. And it isn't my place to speculate."

"Right." the younger incubus studied the servant for a few moments. "I know you… I mean I recognize you. Your two sons joined Prince Treize. They both died at Hohenfels, didn't they?"

"It was their choice to make." Edric replied calmly. He finished with Leslie's wrists, rose to his feet and moved around the bed. The prisoner flinched at the pain as he covered the open wounds on his back with the soothing lotion.

"And it doesn't bother you that your master or one of his brood slaughtered them? Buurned them alive like…"

The rest of the sentence caught in his throat, and Leslie set out a hiss of pain as for a brief moment the old man's touch became rough.

"You really like to infuriate people, don't you?"

"What can I say?" Leslie pressed through his teeth. "It's a real talent."

Edric finished his task in silence. He wiped his hands on a piece of cloth and closed the ointment jar.

"I shall be back in a bit to fetch the dishes. Eat, or don't eat. It's all the same to me."

T.B.C.

Author's Note: