Hola

Hola!! Como estas? ::giggle:: Well, that's a new greeting for me! Espanol! Where's the damn squiggly n, huh? Ah, found it. ññññññññññ, hee hee!

Lalala, Lalalalala! ::snicker:: okay, well as you can see…I'm kinda not in the right frame of mind to write authors notes…I'm a little tired, and feeling overly SILLY!

I'm also extremely hungry…bugger!! I have NO FOOD! Why hasn't my mum gone eshopping, huh? Why? Why is eshe eso eslack? ESTUPID MOTHER!! Nah, she's alright. Sometimes…

Hmm…okay! I start now! Oh, and I know I said it'd get interesting in this part…I lied, it'll probably suck. Or not, I dunno. Let me know what you think!!

~ Wannon-chan ~

Blood Money, Part Three.

Trowa awoke slowly, feeling unsure of his surroundings.

Where am I? He pondered, as he glanced around the room. He jumped in surprise upon seeing someone holding his hand. Catherine.

Oh, that's right…I'm at Catherine's house…Trowa remembered. He smiled softly at her sleeping form, attempting to move without waking her. He wasn't so lucky.

"Trowa…you're awake!" she exclaimed sleepily, sitting upright in her chair. Trowa nodded.

"Good morning, Catherine," he said quietly. She smiled sweetly.

"I guess you're wondering why I'm here, huh?" she asked. Trowa nodded, and she sighed.

"You were having a nasty dream…I came in to comfort you," she said. Trowa gave her a thankful smile.

"Thankyou, Catherine…" he replied, and she let go of his hand. They got up and ate breakfast, Catherine watching her brother the entire time. Trowa sighed.

"You want to know about Heero, right?" he asked. Catherine blinked.

"Uh, yes." She replied quickly. Trowa shook his head.

"He's…involved with Duo," he said. His sister's eyes widened.

"What?! And you haven't warned Duo?! Trowa!! He could be in trouble!" she exclaimed. Trowa's visible eye widened suddenly.

"Oh, no…Duo! I never thought of that!!" he yelped, rushing to the phone. Catherine felt her stomach sink.

Poor Trowa…I wonder why he and Quatre are fighting? It probably has something to do with Heero, but I thought their relationship was much more stable than that… I just hope Duo's okay…Trowa would never forgive himself if anything happened to him… she thought.

~ * ~

Wufei wiped the sweat from his brow with a soft towel. He and Treize had been training hard all day, and already the results were showing. He was quicker than he had ever been, even faster than Treize himself.

"Dragon, you make me feel so old…" Treize said with a laugh. Wufei grinned proudly.

"You're just holding back! You can do much better than this, Treize! Come on, you used to really push me to my limits…" he crowed. Treize frowned.

"No, I'm doing my best…" he protested, and continued once Wufei gave him a dubious look.

"Well, I am getting older, Dragon. And you should be better than me. You are my best ninja, after all…" he reassured him. Wufei nodded.

"When do we strike?" he asked. Treize frowned.

"Well…there's been no more sightings of Yuy at this point in time…although Maxwell was spotted entering the Winner estate late last night. He hasn't come out since. We suspect Heero will strike soon, once the Winner child is in an easy position for…assassinating" he explained.

"So we need to find out Heero's strategy, and intercept him, right?" Wufei asked. Treize raised a forked eyebrow.

"Precisely. We will take him out, as he is the only thing keeping his unprofessional bunch together. Without him they will surely crumble," Treize claimed. Wufei smiled then, an irrepressible evil glint in his eyes.

"And then you will profit greatly…hmm, what are you going to do with all the money, Treize?" he asked. Treize bent down and cupped Wufei's chin with his gentle hand.

"Whatever my Dragon wants…" he purred, causing Wufei to smile. Treize pressed his lips to Wufei's, kissing softly but passionately. Wufei moaned in delight, raising up to his toes to wrap his arms around Treize's neck, pulling them closer together. The kiss deepened, absorbing them both into each other, completely unaware of anything else. They didn't hear the throat being cleared from behind them.

"Treize-sama!" the voice interrupted loudly, causing Wufei and Treize to pull apart swiftly, glaring in shock at the sudden interruption of their private moment.

"Zechs, I was busy…" Treize said, displeased at having his precious time alone with his Dragon interrupted. Zechs bowed apologetically, his brow creased with worry.

"Forgive me, Treize-sama…but there is something you need to see…," he said, his voice cracking. Treize and Wufei shared a concerned look, before following Zechs into the basement, which doubled as their infirmary. Wufei let out a soft cry at what he saw, and he rushed into the room.

"Zechs…" Treize said, his voice apologetic. Zechs shook his head.

"She knew the risks…I'm just sorry that I wasn't there to save her…" he said softly. Treize nodded, entering the room with the platinum blonde. He approached the table where Lucrezia Noin was lain out, gasping at the horrific wounding she had suffered. She had been shot in the head, as per usual for Heero's assassins, but it was what had been done to her back that disgusted Treize. There was a message carved into it, the obvious handiwork of Heero's lackeys. It read:

Back off, Treize. – H.

Treize scowled at the sick pun, and stormed from the room. Wufei looked to Zechs, the sad-eyed blonde was hovering over his love's body.

"Zechs? Are you going to be okay? Do you want me to stay?" he asked quietly. Zechs managed a weak smile.

"Go to Treize, Wufei. I will be fine…I need to say goodbye," he said slowly. Wufei nodded, before seeking out his lover. He found him in the rose garden, seated on the stone bench, head in his hands.

Their hideout was near the edge of a forest, and he and Treize had turned it into a beautiful sanctuary, away from the madness of the rest of the world. It was their wish to be buried in this place, side-by-side, if anything happened to them.

Wufei sat down next to Treize, his onyx eyes shimmering with concern. Treize turned to look at him, his face twisted with grief.

"Wufei…this is too terrible. Yuy has gone too far." He said, deadpan. Wufei fixed him with a determined look.

"We shall exact our justice. Noin will have not died in vain, Treize. I will make sure of it," he said. Treize smiled.

"You have such a way with words, Dragon…such an honorable young man…" he said, causing Wufei's cheeks to flush.

"Thankyou, Treize…" he replied. Treize sighed deeply, before inhaling the many scents of his roses. He looked at Wufei, cornflower blue eyes turning wistful.

"Do you ever wish…wish that the world was different? That we didn't have to do this? Kill for a living?" he asked Wufei. The slight Chinese man nodded.

"Of course…I think everyone secretly wishes things could be different, in one way or another…" he said. Treize nodded, drawing Wufei to his side, embracing him. They sat in silence, mourning a friend lost.

~ * ~

Trowa steeled himself, hoping Duo would answer. His hopes went unnoticed, as the all-too familiar face of Heero Yuy appeared on the screen, scowling at him.

"Barton…what do you want?" the nasal monotone inquired. Trowa frowned.

"Where is Duo? I need to talk to him." He said evenly, although he could feel his palms beginning to sweat in fear. Heero smirked, one of his dark eyebrows raising.

"Hn, I suppose you're going to try and warn him about me? Well, you have no right to do that. I might have changed, Barton. You don't know…do you want to ruin your friend's happiness by accusing me of such dishonorable things? He'd never believe you…he's in love with me! Do you believe it?!" Heero asked, smiling nastily when Trowa's face fell for just a moment, before quickly being replaced by an emotionless wall again.

"People don't change, Yuy. Not that quickly…now where is Duo?!" Trowa demanded. Heero snorted.

"No, I don't think I'll tell you. Say, where are you, Barton? Did you and your koi have a little quarrel?" he said snidely. Trowa was about to answer when he heard an angry sigh from behind him, and Catherine snatched the phone from him.

"You slimy bastard, Yuy! Stay away from Duo. And stay away from Trowa and Quatre, too. I don't know what you did to upset them, but I won't stand for it!" she snapped. Heero merely smiled, before laughing.

"Hello, Catherine. Let me give you a word of advice, my dear. You would do best to stay the hell out of this…I wouldn't want to muss up your pretty face, now would I?" he spat. Catherine fumed.

"You would, wouldn't you? Dishonorable cur…you would threaten a woman! The nerve!" she said. Trowa glared at Heero.

"Stay away from my sister, Yuy. I mean it…" he warned. Heero snorted.

"I will, so long as she stays out of this…" he began. Then he smiled. "Oh, if you really want to speak with Duo…I would suggest trying your precious Quatre's house. That's where he was heading last I heard. Poor little Winner brat was sniveling about something…pathetic." He said. Trowa growled.

"Don't you dare speak about him li-" he began, but Heero had hung up.

"Bastard!" Catherine spat. She gave her brother a warm hug. "Don't worry about him, Tro-chan…he's not worth the effort," she said soothingly. Trowa began to tremble with a concoction of fear and rage.

"I have to warn Duo…I don't want him suffering the same fate as me," he said, voice quaking. Catherine nodded, but held his hand, offering him support. Trowa dialed Quatre's house.

Please don't answer, Quatre…I don't think I could withstand your tears…

~ * ~

The phone rang loudly in the Winner mansion, waking Duo. He grinned at the still-sleeping Quatre, before carefully slipping out from under him to answer the phone.

"Hello?" he said sleepily. Trowa's relieved face appeared on the screen.

"Hi, Duo…I really need to speak with you, in private…" he said softly. Duo frowned.

"I should think so! How could you leave Quatre? He's so upset!" he said, gesturing to the sleeping form behind him. Trowa's eyes widened, softening slightly, and once again he felt the telltale prickle of tears.

"It's not about Quatre. It's about you…or more specifically, Heero," he said. Duo was about to answer, when Quatre's head slowly lifted, wincing.

"Trowa?" he whispered hoarsely, his bloodshot eyes trying to focus on the screen. Trowa bit his lip.

"Duo, I gotta go…I'm at Catherine's, meet me there," he said, and hung up. Duo stared at the now-blank screen, then at Quatre's highly upset face.

"Trowaaaa!" Quatre moaned, bursting into tears. Duo sighed, and sat next to the wailing Winner, hugging him tightly.

"Hey, don't worry Quatre…he's going through a rough patch, okay? As soon as he's ready, he'll come back." He assured him. Quatre's tears stopped, and he sniffled, looking up at Duo.

"You think so?" he asked quietly. Duo smiled.

"I know so, kid. I gotta go, there's a problem…Trowa wants to talk to me about Heero, for some reason. Wonder what it's about, huh?" he babbled. Quatre's face lit up.

"I'm coming with you!!" he exclaimed, wincing at his loud exclamation. Duo chuckled softly.

"No, way! You've got a hangover, Q. You gotta stay here and rest. I'll tell Trowa you're sorry, and want him to come home. Okay?" he said. Quatre looked about to protest, when he obviously changed his mind.

"Okay…" he whispered, closing his eyes. "Goodbye, Duo…thankyou,"

"Anytime, Q-chan…hey, how about we go for a walk tomorrow when you're feeling better, huh?" he whispered back, grabbing his coat. Quatre lifted his head again and smiled.

"I'd like that, Duo," he replied. "See you later…" Duo left, closing the door quietly behind him.

~ * ~

Duo decided to stop in at his house to change his clothes. It wouldn't do to turn up at Catherine's house all smelly. He laughed as he walked in the door, seeing Heero was typing furiously on his laptop.

"Hey babe! Have you even left the house since I saw you last, huh? You have such a strange fixation with that laptop, I swear…" he said, pulling a face when Heero closed the laptop, hiding whatever it was he was doing from view.

"Duo…you're home early" he said. Duo grinned.

"Yup! I just came home to change, then I'm off out again to Catherine's place," he said. Heero's eyes widened.

"Catherine?" he asked suspiciously, although he knew very well who it was.

"Trowa's sister…Trowa needs to talk to me about something," Duo replied, as he changed.

"I'm coming with you," Heero stated. Duo snorted, as he got trapped in his tight black T-shirt.

"Yeah, whatever…you and he don't get along, Heero. As much as I wanna spend time with you, I don't think putting you and Trowa in the same room is a good idea…" he said. Heero frowned.

"I'm coming with you, Duo!" he said firmly. Duo frowned back at him.

"No. Sorry, babe, but you weren't invited…oh, and Quatre and I are going for a walk tomorrow sometime. You might be able to come with us then…" he said. Heero looked thoughtful.

"No…I think I'm busy tomorrow…I have an errand to run…" he said. Duo shrugged.

"Okay then…I'll see you later then, huh? I shouldn't be too long!" he called, as once more he rushed from the house. Heero waited until he was gone, before opening up a new email. In it he wrote;

Q & D, walk, tomorrow. I'll be with you. That's when we strike. – H

End of Part Three

Hmm, methinks that the next part should be the last, then there will probably be an epilogue…I dunno yet. I'll just see how much garbage I can spout in the next chapter.

Well, it was kinda…odd, this chapter. I didn't wanna put Noin and Zechs together, but I had no choice. ::Sigh::

Oh well, wish me luck for the next chapter. ^.^

This is ~ Wannon-chan ~ signing off.