The Urchin: Part Nineteen
By Banshi
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On a chateau in what once was the French countryside a team of four Preventers stormed the main house. They were given directions from a much abused house staff, and proceeded to arrest "Lord M", a Hedrick Montressau, in his study where he was trying to calm down a gloating Gibraltar over the vid-phone. The connection was cut before Gibraltar could see what was going on… but not so soon that Montressau could claim innocence. He surrendered quietly.
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Once inside Gibraltar's house, Trowa immediately went to the deserted security control room and locked the estate down. No-one got in, no-one got out. In the back of his mind he could hear Duo's gleeful chuckle. Watching the cameras he could see Heero and the children setting up booby-traps in all the main hallways, as per Duo's instructions. They were essentially harmless, also per instruction, and Heero had been warned that if he harmed Gibraltar permanently before Duo had had a "whack at 'im", there would be consequences.
Wufei was hunting their prey, following the communications signal to what was either Gibraltar's study or his bedroom. Trowa didn't feel like pulling up those rooms on the screen, and instead looked through the house for the main player in their revenge drama. Duo was sitting at the head of the dining room table, twirling an empty wine glass with his fingers, seemingly waiting for something.
What? Trowa pondered, until he saw the small palmtop sitting on the table next to Duo's other hand. Looking at his own network, Trowa saw that it was connected to the house systems...and was sending messages to Gibraltar's study. Trowa chuckled, and sat back to enjoy the show.
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Heero and the children saw the door to the study open and Gibraltar step out. They hid themselves expertly and watched as he headed for all their traps. He hit the first infrared beam and all the doors behind him simultaneously slammed shut. Heero had to put a hand over Nicole's mouth to keep the giggles from carrying too far, but smiled with her. The sight of Gibraltar nearly falling over himself to turn around was among the funniest things he had ever seen.
Duo's plan had been to scare Gibraltar, starting with ghosts and working up to the "invisible pursuer". So far so good, Heero thought as he watched Gibraltar run down the hallway towards his bedroom. Just as they had suspected. If someone is threatened cautiously, then the panic will not interfere with their knowledge of where the safest place for them to be is. Something in Gibraltar's bedroom was there because Gibraltar knew that he would feel threatened at some point.
Heero started down the hallway behind the quarry, then saw Wufei turn the corner on the other end. Since Wufei was following the signal, Heero had to assume that he knew what he was doing.
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Gibraltar stopped in his tracks as he saw the Asian Preventer standing at the far end of the hallway, just beyond his own bedroom door. He had been preening in the mirror on one side of the hall briefly, and hadn't noticed when the other man had appeared. Not that he particularly cared.
"Preventer!" he scoffed, looking the young man over thoroughly, taking into account the automatic intimidation factor of an official uniform. He knew that the Preventers would never give this "mission" official approval. He was Martin Gibraltar, the last of the Gibraltars! Maybe this one could be persuaded, after all Barton had done it when implementing the hideous Marimea Kushrenada plan.
"Impostor." The Preventer's voice was courtesy itself, and utterly cool. Gibraltar gleaned nothing of the young man's emotions from it.
"You seem to have me confused with your friend the heretic. Does he have any idea what the church would do to him if they knew that he killed while wearing priest's garb? He'll be lucky to get off with a theft charge for the Gundam." Gibraltar saw something in the dark eyes, a flicker, and in the back of his mind remembered something in his cousin's files about Kushrenada having actual contact with this one. Maybe he could use that to his advantage.
"Actually, the church issued a formal apology for the lack of funding and support they had given their Houses here on L2, including the one that 'spawned and raised the greatest evil of the last great war, a joyous killer.' I believe that's what you told your financier a year ago." Now Gibraltar could identify the look in the Preventer's eyes as anger and loathing. Gibraltar balked at being regarded as lower than he was, and certainly not by this...traitor!
"I don't remember you being so magnanimous. As I recall you never did issue an apology for betraying your home world and trying to put a child on the throne. And a Kushrenada of all people! Earth doesn't need another bumbling oaf in charge." Gibraltar moved a little to the side, trying to get a clear shot to his bedroom door. The last message from Lord M, text due to the Preventers, had been to tell Gibraltar of the secret weapons stash that had been built into the wall of the master bedroom.
"One need not issue an apology for protecting the daughter of a man that one had killed in battle."
The tone had turned to cutting ice, and Gibraltar felt it down to his soul. He looked back into the eyes of Kushrenada's killer, and knew that he would not be shown whatever mercy had been given the Oz general. He made a run for it.
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Trowa's lips thinned as the conversation between Wufei and Gibraltar started. He knew that Heero was watching from down the hall, and could see Duo watching on the other screen.
He also knew that all three of them gasped when Wufei answered Gibraltar's challenge for his behavior during the Marimea Incident. Duo scribbled something onto his hand furiously, as a reminder for later no doubt. Trowa smiled a little. Someone would be getting a thank-you-I'm-sorry present after this was all over.
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Gibraltar thought that he could pull the same trick twice. He had made it to the estate gates while surrounded by four pilots and some riff-raff, why not in a hallway with only one ex-pilot? So he was justifiably shocked when his head-long rush towards the bedroom door was brought up short by the very sharp blade of a sword. Looking up the blade to the firm hand holding the hilt and the cold black eyes of the Preventer attached to the hand, Gibraltar swallowed convulsively.
"What do you want?" Gibraltar was horrified to hear a tremor in his voice.
"I want you run naked and flayed through the streets of your hometown so that everyone who has ever known you will see what an ignorant ass you are, and how you have grown fat on the lives and blood of so many more worthy than you of drawing breath."
Gibraltar's breath rattled in his chest as he fought for words that would save him from such a public humiliation. Before he had even drawn the second breath, the Preventer continued:
"I will settle for broadcasting whatever Shinigami decides to do with you to every news network known to man." Gibraltar was confronted with the coldest, cruelest smile he had ever seen. He felt himself paling as the point of the blade shifted from the wall to his throat. "Let's go."
With that the Preventer moved him down the hallway and towards the dining room.
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Duo had vacated the dining room by the time that Trowa looked back to that screen. It didn't make sense for Duo to disappear when Gibraltar was coming to him. Trowa started scanning through the security cameras, trying to find the elusive thief. He was nowhere to be found, and suddenly, Trowa was very apprehensive.
The note clearly displayed on the table didn't help him feel any better.
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With Gibraltar safely locked in the dining room, Duo prowled the house more thoroughly than he had the last time he was here. And he was finding some very interesting stuff, including a live feed to a warehouse on the industrial side of town. At the warehouse were a couple of Lord M's goons, specifically the ones that had been prowling the streets in the expensive cars not long ago. Duo smiled a wicked smile, and let Wufei know about it.
It was good to be on the Preventers' funding.
Soon he had found every bit of incriminating, or embarrassing evidence that the house had to give, and made a pile of it in the foyer. Gibraltar, Lord M and the dirty cops of L2 were all out of business, and Duo had his identity back, to do with what he would. He took a deep breath and relaxed for the first time in months. The big ordeal was over, and he could go back to just the overwhelming poverty of the orphans again.
He sat in the kitchen, with the rest of the group gathering around him for lunch, munching on some expensive potato chips. He was deep in thought when Trowa came in, the last of the group, and sat in the chair next to him.
"So you weren't planning on dealing with him in one go?" Trowa's tone was slightly accusatory, as that had been the plan when they had walked into the building. Duo smiled abashedly, and hung his head. He should have updated everyone.
"Came up with a better one watching him and Wufei." He smiled a little in Trowa's general direction and put some more chips in his mouth before he had to answer any more questions. Trowa nodded, grabbed Duo's elbow gently and propelled them both out of the kitchen as everyone else looked on in curiosity. Duo's eyes widened but he remained silent, chewing his chips thoughtfully.
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Trowa took a deep breath before he came to a stop just outside of one of the many empty rooms of the house. Duo was standing behind him, munching softly and not saying a word. Trowa turned around to look at his unknowing beloved.
"Did you get everything that you need? Is it over?" The questions came out in the flattest tone he could manage, reminiscent of the soldier he had once been. Duo's eyes widened, and looked a little hurt, but Trowa couldn't allow himself to stop now.
Duo had shown an amazing amount of trust over the past months, was still showing that trust. This went beyond watching each others' backs in a battle, and Trowa felt the enormity of it in the deepest recesses of his being. Yet Duo had chosen today to not give him information, and it wasn't particularly important information, but the omission hurt more than Trowa would have believed possible. If Duo could change plans on them without telling anyone besides a note to lock Gibraltar away for a little while, then maybe the former Death didn't feel the same way that Trowa did.
Trowa let his gaze lower to the floor. He hadn't even realized how much he had been reading into Duo's actions, hadn't realized how much he was hoping, expecting, that Duo would feel the same way he did.
Duo had been looking at him in silence, Trowa's questions going unanswered. Instead, he answered the questions that hadn't been asked. "I was going to fill everyone in at lunch." The Duo's voice lowered, "Actually, I was stalling. I can't really tell you the new plan if I'm making it up as I go."
Despite himself, Trowa felt a small smile tug at the corners of his mouth. Duo sounded like one of the children when they were caught taking something from Duo's house or the clinic. Penitent but not really sorry for stealing, more that they had disappointed the adults. Trowa recognized that he himself had been painfully transparent in his motives for pulling Duo away from the group.
"Is it over?" Trowa asked again, this time letting the hope into his tone.
Duo looked up and smiled brightly, meeting Trowa's own shy gaze with his own cheerful one. "Yep! No more Gibraltar worries." The both laughed a little. The uncomfortable silence returned much too quickly. Trowa wasn't sure what to say next. He needed to find out how Duo felt, this little over-reaction convinced him of that. If he was forever misjudging Duo's motives, things were going to get very complicated in the future. In order to do that though, he had to bring the subject up, and that could destroy the peace he had found here... with Duo.
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Duo could see that Trowa was making a decision about something, he just couldn't tell what. He had seen the furtive, almost frightened look in the other man's eyes just before the conversation had started, and now that look was back. He didn't understand it, any of it. Trowa had been his bedrock for the past months, as he'd watched someone systematically steal his public identity and respect out from under him. A chill ran through Duo, a ice that seemed to center on his heart, as a thought occurred to him. Maybe Trowa didn't want to stay now that the immediate threat was over. Duo decided to speak before tears closed his throat completely.
"It's Ok Tro. I know you miss the circus and your family and everything. Now that Gibraltar's caught, you don't have to stay." Duo watched Trowa's face for a heartbeat, then had to look away before he started crying.
He nearly missed the gasp that came from Trowa's chest, but he couldn't miss the sudden heat as he was embraced by lanky, strong arms. For just a moment, Duo let himself revel in the feel of Trowa so close, inhaled deeply, trying to memorize that scent that was unique to this man. For just a moment he could pretend that he once again held the dream-Trowa, whom he hadn't seen since that night. For just a moment...
"I'm not going anywhere."
It must have taken a small eternity for the words to sink in and for Duo's heart to start up again after they did. The next thing Duo knew, he was being held at arms length with Trowa asking if he was Ok. Looking into concerned and frightened and joyful green eyes, Duo felt his heart melt. He may have hope yet!
"You're not leaving?" he asked tentively, a small smile working it's way across his face. Trowa smiled back, though it looked a little forced around the edges, which was worrying.
"No Duo, I'm not leaving. I have no wish to leave." Again with the heart-stomach flip-flops. Duo was sure that his insides couldn't take much more of this constant rearranging. He knew that he would have to push this conversation, and risk that he wouldn't get the answers that he wanted.
"You don't?"
"No. I wish to stay here, with..." Trowa stopped, his eyes widening a little, a clearly frightened look on his face. Now Duo was alarmed. What if it wasn't him? What if Trowa had developed a thing for one of Leslie's staff? What if it wasn't emotional at all?
Duo stopped that track of thought before he truly scared himself, and took a deep, calming breath before cheerfully and innocently asking the next, all-important question.
"With...?" It was like pulling teeth.
"with you." Standing as close as he was to the taller man, Duo couldn't help but hear the answer, even though he could tell that Trowa was at least half-hoping that he wouldn't. Duo couldn't help it, he let the biggest grin he had ever grinned blossom on his face. He felt as if his mouth would tear, the smile was so big. He could only hope that it showed a fraction of the indescribable joy he was feeling because of that simple, mumbled phrase. He decided that he could afford to be brave after all.
"I'm glad, because I'd hate to have to follow you back to the circus to profess my undying love instead of being able to do it here. Home court advantage and all that." The look on Trowa's face was worth every bad thing that had ever happened to him in all the years he had lived on L2. If it brought him here, to see the look of bewildered joy on that angular face, he would live it all again.
But, Duo warned Fate, don't get any ideas.
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Trowa couldn't find anything to say in response to Duo's "profession of his undying love." So, as soon as the shock wore off, he decided that words weren't really necessary. He leaned forward, hesitantly at first, and caught Duo's lips with his own. Electricity shot from that point of contact to every cell in his body, followed quickly by the warmest glow he had ever felt.
The moved closer, in concert as if they could read each others' minds, and the kiss deepened as the feeling grew. There was comfort, heat, love and safety, all in the language of the kiss, and Trowa could have gone on tasting it forever. He knew now that Duo had felt the same, that he hadn't been reading too much into normal friendly behavior and a few fluke occurrences.
Duo loved him!
Someone discretely clearing their throat interrupted Trowa's moment of bliss. From the look Duo shot at Wufei after they had moved apart, Trowa knew that the other man was as disappointed by the interruption as he was.
"Gibraltar has started tying the tapestries in the dining room together, clearly thinking to escape out of the window. I suggest we take care of him now, and send him to Une for further humiliation." Wufei looked for all the world like the perfect butler, but Trowa could see the twinkle in those dark eyes. Duo sighed, giving into the inevitable.
"Fine, we'll finish this. I tell ya, that guy has managed to ruin every perfect moment since I got here. This had better be the last one!" Trowa smiled, and saw Wufei nod to the both before leaving the room. Duo moved to follow, but Trowa still had a hand on his elbow. Before he could let Duo leave the room, he had to tell him something:
"I love you too."
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concluded in the epilogue