August 21st -- Hallelujah! The FFN drought is over! Let's see how well we can make this boat float from now on, eh? =^_~= For anyone who wasn't aware, Bridlewood Manor is being simultaneously released episode by episode on my website (address at bottom of page), and if you ever can't get to FFN on the date when I promised you a new chapter, go there and you can get it on schedule. Anyway, this episode is split into two acts; the second act carries a warning label for violence, so like....dude. Be warned.
Disclaimer: This year, for my birthday, I asked for omnipotent control over the five Gundam pilots contained herein, which I didn't think was too extravagant or outlandish. What did I get? A set of green plastic see-thru picnicware from Zellers. I hope my now-ex-boyfriend puts a little more thought into his next girlfriend's birthday gift. If you want to sue me for control of the picnicware, well, whatever floats yer boat, I guess... =P
Suggested Font: Times New Roman~~~~~~~~~~
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Episode Fourteen: Masquerade "Master, go on; and I will follow thee, To the last gasp, with truth and loyalty." ~Adam; William Shakespeare's "As You Like It" August 13th, 1901 The first thing Heero saw that morning that he thought was strange was the absence of his braided roommate, seemingly up before the sun once again. There was no pattern to his behaviour whatsoever, and the only habit he maintained was to be surprising. He'd come to accept that. The second strange thing he saw, or rather, heard, was a 'meow' coming from the other side of the bedroom door just as he was about to leave. He opened the door and saw Anna Maria, Dorothy's fluffy white cat, standing in the hall and staring up at him. The cat was not where she was supposed to be, but rather than pick her up and get cat hairs all over his suit, he shut the door behind him and stepped over the misplaced feline, who went about licking her paws when she saw that he wasn't going to pay any attention to her. Two strange events in ten minutes, omens that it was going to be one of those days. Heero collected the morning mail and distributed it, like any morning, and was left with the small envelope from the address in the north that he occasionally expected. He went down to the kitchen to open it in peace and found Duo already hard at work, standing at the kitchen counter. "Ohayou, Heero-sensei!" he sang. Heero nodded at him with a slight smile. Duo was taking his Japanese lessons very seriously. The chef was trying to cut slices of melon into decorative shapes with varying degrees of success and, for once, didn't seem very chatty. Heero went ahead and opened his letter, grateful for a bit of quiet. At first glance, something appeared to be very wrong with his correspondence; the handwriting of the letter was different than usual, but the address, signature, and confirmation codes were all in order. While Duo's back was turned, he held it up to the light, but could find nothing suspicious that would indicate tampering. He studied the handwriting itself before reading the words. Finely tapered...light pressure...emotionally reserved. Baseline slants upwards...optimism. Dots every 'i' with a circle...strong-willed and original...hm. Interesting formation of t-bars and d-loops...determination and self doubt, what an odd combination... He raised the letter to his nose and gave it a quick sniff, eyebrows flying upwards almost immediately. A woman. He didn't honestly know what to think about that. With a confused blink, he moved on to the actual message and read it over several times. Slowly he put the letter down and looked at Duo. Perhaps my new instructions are for the best. He won't be in danger from Treize if I'm halfway around the world. His mind flew back to the night they spent illegally scaling up and down Tower Bridge without a net. Then again, he's already in enough danger from his own silly self. "You look bored," Duo remarked. He picked a bowl of something up off the counter and sat down with it at the kitchen table, next to Heero. "Just thinking," came the simple reply. Duo nodded, giving the contents of the bowl a few slow stirs. After a thought, he held up what was in his right hand and pointed to it. "Spoon?" "Saji." "Saji," Duo repeated, putting it back in the bowl. "Thinking about what? About tonight? I think you're dead lucky, getting to go to that ball as a guest instead of just to serve drinks......bowl?" "Hachi," Heero sighed. "I don't look forward to social gatherings of any kind." "Hachi." Duo stared at the bowl, mentally recording the word on his inner gramophone. "Why not? It's a chance to get out and do something different!" Heero slumped in his chair, looking decidedly grouchy. "I should be here, working, not prancing around wearing some ridiculous costume in front of a room full of moronic, upper-crust, stuffed-shirt, two-faced--" "Hey, hey! What's gotten into you today?" Duo exclaimed. "You're not usually this miserable, even when I burn your dinner, and granted that was only one time..." The butler rubbed his eyes and winced. Why am I so edgy this morning? He replayed what he could remember of the last eight hours and discovered that Anna Maria had been meowing at the door most of the night. Duo must have slept right through it. "Sorry. I didn't get much sleep." It was very odd for the cat to even venture past the third floor, let alone camp out there until sunrise... "Aw, you'll start having fun once you get there, don't worry about it," Duo suggested, patting his friend's shoulder with one hand and reaching for a bag on the table with the other. "Flour?" A bit groggily, Heero turned the bag around to see exactly what kind it was. "...chuurikiko." Duo paused. "...right. I'll have to work a bit on that one." He dumped a half-cupful of flour into the bowl and kept on stirring. Every few minutes, Duo would prompt the boy for a new word to add to his rapidly growing Japanese vocabulary. It was rather like the shameful linguistic circus Heero had been forced by Relena to participate in, with one important difference; Duo was quizzing him in order to learn, not to be entertained. It implied a degree of respect that Heero didn't get from the rest of the household. Moments later, a set of heavy footsteps plodded down the stairs, and Elsie appeared, not dressed in her usual maid's uniform, but instead wearing her coat and hat, along with her tattered little purse. She threw Heero a sour look, then stomped over to the cookie jar and took out a handful of oatmeal-raisin. "Morning, Elsie!" Duo said with his chipper grin. "French toast and buttermilk biscuits for breakfast!" Elsie turned around slowly, very slowly, with tension in every muscle comparable to that of a lioness about to slay an innocent baby gazelle. "Oh, French toast! Ain't that lovely!" she whined sarcastically. Duo's face fell. "Don't you like it?" "Like it? It's only my favourite, not that it makes a bleedin' bit o' difference!" the woman shouted angrily. "I'm not gonna get any, am I? I'm too busy for breakfast, aren't I? I've got to go into town to collect some poxy costume for Little Lord Fauntleroy 'ere!" She flung an arm in Heero's direction to punctuate her argument. Heero glared. Duo smirked, trying to get her back into good spirits. "Can't really argue if it's what her Ladyship wants." "That's puttin' it mildly," Elsie sneered. She walked back towards the stairs, stopping behind Heero's chair. "And you...madam wants you upstairs, in costume, ready to leave by six-thirty, prompt! And don't make difficulties with Otto or you'll catch the rough edge of 'is tongue!" She stalked off in a terrible huff. "...hn." The butler folded his arms and came dangerously close to pouting. He looked in the direction of the stairs and scowled. "Ikeike..." "What does that mean?" Duo asked innocently. Heero slumped forward. "...never mind." **********Otto left the girls eating breakfast in the conservatory, as usual, but instead of going straight to the study to open the household mail, he went to Lord Peacecraft's private lounge on the second floor, for another meeting with Count Khushrenada. They had a little 'discussion' now and then, mostly about what they thought was best for Relena and how to make it happen, but in all matters, Treize called the shots and Otto had to agree. He knocked cordially on the door and awaited the Count's blessing of entrance, which was promptly given. Treize was seated in Lord Peacecraft's chair, as always, in his velvet dressing gown with a cup of coffee and a newspaper. It was quite the domestic scene. "Have a seat, Otto." "Thank you, m'lord." Otto took his usual place on Treize's right hand, opposite the window. "Begging your pardon, sir, but I was rather hoping you would be able to stop the youngsters going to the ball together. Weren't you going to warn Mr. Yuy off altogether?" Treize sipped his coffee thoughtfully. "I have done all I planned to do up to this point. I can't make the boy follow my instructions," he said with a hint of a grin. Otto couldn't believe what he was hearing. "But you said you were going to make sure he knew what could happen to him if he--" "Otto, please," Treize said, holding up a hand to stop him. "I know far more about the criminal mind and how it works, so you must simply trust me." The house steward looked down. "My apologies, m'lord." "Not at all," the Count said, setting down his coffee. "I'll give you a crash course, shall I? There are, in fact, many types of thieves and rogues out there, and they all have a distinctly different modus operandi. Take your average minor street villain, for example." He kicked his feet up on the velvet footstool and lit one of Lord Peacecraft's slim imported cigars. Otto noted how much the Count seemed to enjoy all the things that didn't belong to him. "One sees pickpockets, petty thieves and shoplifters in that category," Treize continued, "clever, but not terribly brave. Almost always work alone because they are so lacking in honour that they would betray their partners for a fifth of gin. "Then we have the charmers and the firebrands. These are witty con men or masters of intimidation who use pretty words to get what they want, control who they want--and when words fail, they switch to fists without a moment's thought. Much more interesting, but volatile." The Count picked up his coffee cup and studied it. "And then there are people like our dear Mr. Yuy. Cold, calculating...possessors of vast knowledge and able to get the better of the other two sorts quite easily, but lacking in the personal power to do so. They take their orders from a higher authority, and are fiercely loyal to that authority. These are by far the most deadly, and the most rare...the spies and assassins." Otto bolted straight up in his chair. "Miss Relena!" "Calm yourself, my good man...I seriously doubt that her Ladyship is in the slightest danger...at least, not after tonight." "My Lord," Otto begged, leaning forward in his chair, "are you absolutely sure that Mr. Yuy falls into this last category?" "Quite sure," Treize said, taking another sip of coffee. "I knew as soon as I had that 'quiet word' with him on the third floor. I admit that I was a trifle...brusque with the lad, but it was necessary." Otto's brow knit, and he leaned back slightly. "You mean to say the two of you fought?" Treize chuckled. "Not exactly...but a little applied pressure was needed to determine exactly how dangerous he is. Threaten and abuse a petty thief and he cries, and begs for mercy, and even promises to reform since he only stole in the first place because of his miserable upbringing. Push the thugs and the con men too far, and they push back, either verbally or physically. They'll insult you, curse at you, deliver an impressive repertoire of threats with which to answer your own, but whatever form it takes, there is always a reaction. "But the assassin...do any violence you wish to him, but he will not, cannot react unless he is specifically ordered to do so, or unless he fears for his life. I pushed our Mr. Yuy far enough to make a thief fall to his knees, far enough to make a thug take a swing at me, far enough to make a charmer try to buy his freedom. He did none of these...he just stared...stared right past my eyes as if they were bits of broken glass lying in the street." Treize drank the last of his coffee and set the cup and saucer back down, setting his elbows on the arms of the chair and steepling his fingers in front of him. "The poor boy probably thought he was doing his master a favour by not returning the abuse I visited upon him, but if not for his total lack of any reaction, I would never have known that he has a master. His silence told me all that I needed to know. He's nobody. He's nothing. Just a pawn of a greater man...the true mastermind..." The Count trailed off, staring out the window in a sort of trance. Otto was wringing his hands with worry. "We can't have him around Miss Relena! Shouldn't we inform Scotland Yard?" "No, no, no, my dear fellow," Treize said in a sly voice. Otto's protectiveness was an admirable quality, but it sometimes blinded him to the fact that he was being manipulated. "Mr. Yuy is just having a bit of a lark in this house before he carries out his orders. He's probably watching someone in London..." He leaned forward to create the appropriate air of secrecy. "...it could be someone living on this very street. Now, if we let the authorities go meddling in the affairs of the aristocracy, all of Regent's Park will be known throughout London as a den of spies and enemy agents, and Miss Relena wouldn't like that, would she?" Otto thought it through; it could very well damage Relena's social position to drag the police into this, and her standing among the upper classes was very important to her. He nodded. "What should we do?" "Ah, for that I'll need to call on the favour you promised me when we reached our little 'understanding'," Treize said. "Now that I know what type of villain Mr. Yuy is, I have a much clearer picture of what to do with him. Simple threats and intimidation will never make him crack. Firmer action is required." Otto nodded again. "I'm listening." "Do you have many friends in London, Otto?" "Some..." "Do you have acquaintances the sort of which you hope you never get close enough to become friends?" A sinister gleam crossed Otto's eyes. "The sort that belong in your second category of criminal?" Treize nodded with a wicked little grin. "Find me six strong men by tonight, and find out their price. Have them meet us at the ball, quietly." "Yes, m'lord," Otto agreed, rising respectfully to go. "And while you're at it, I should advertise for temporary domestic assistance if I were you," Treize said, taking a long drag of the imported cigar. "Something tells me our Mr. Yuy won't be feeling well enough to come to work tomorrow." **********Heero felt the hunter creeping down the halls after him, stalking him like a wild jungle cat, up one set of stairs and down the other, running in an endless circle that did nothing but wear out the prey. I refuse to be captured, by far the greatest dishonour... He concealed himself in darkened rooms, behind doors, even under tables, but still the hunter persisted, following with tenacity as much as with ease. Finally, distracted by some noise or other, Heero took a wrong turn and found himself in a room with no exit. Dead end! I've got to get out of here before it's-- "Found you!" called a voice from the doorway. ...too late. "I've been looking everywhere for you, Heero," the blond intruder said sweetly. "You're a tough person to track down." But not too tough... The butler looked fondly at the window, wondering if he could survive a three-storey drop well enough to serve tea later. Reluctantly, he decided to bite the bullet, and slowly turned around to face his triumphant captor. "What can I do for you, Quatre?" The blond boy, who was toting an assortment of boxes tied up with string, smiled knowingly. "Now, now, you're well aware that Miss Relena wants you to try on your costume early so I can make any needed alterations by tonight." Heero sighed. Might as well get it over with. He nodded and followed Quatre to one of the guest rooms with a full-length mirror. He couldn't understand how the boy had found him so easily; as soon as he saw Elsie coming up the walk with the first of several armloads of packages, he took off running, but Quatre seemed to home in on him without any difficulty at all. It was most disturbing. Quatre put the boxes on the bed and set up a decorative screen with herons and lilies painted on it, secretly smirking to himself at how well his sixth sense came in handy sometimes. "Alright then," he said, happily cutting the strings around the packages, "we gave the costumier your measurements from when you arrived, so as long as you haven't gained any weight, we should be okay!" With a tiny grumble, Heero stepped behind the screen and removed his suit, draping each piece over the top of the screen as he did so. Quatre passed him one article after another from the opened boxes, and he grinned as waves of confusion and frustration seeped right through the screen at him. Finally, like a clock that had just ticked down to Doomsday, came the moment of truth. "Right, come on out and let me have a look at you," Quatre said, readying a pin cushion and a measuring tape. As he slowly stepped out from behind the screen, Heero regretted being too wrapped up in anger and self-pity while getting dressed to notice Trowa and Duo sneaking into the room and standing beside Quatre with breathless anticipation. He froze as soon as he saw them. "What are you doing here!?" "We came to see the unveiling!" Trowa said with a smirk. Duo was speechless and simply gave a little queen-like round of applause with mousey cries of 'Bravo!' Quatre fought hard not to giggle as Heero positioned himself in front of the mirror. They all took in his reflection starting with the shiny black shoes, decorated with brass buckles, that ended in rather squarish points. Leading up from the shoes were opaque black tights, and black knee britches with gold embroidery down the sides, made of the finest gaberdine. The tunic was also mostly black, a combination of silk, satin, and metallic gold crepe, with billowy sleeves and brightly-polished brass buttons. Trailing down from the gold epaulets was a sumptuous three-quarter black cape with gold edging and black fur around the collar. "Oh wait, one more thing..." Quatre turned around and opened the last box, pulling out a very grand, squarely-cut hat in black and gold stripes, with a huge black feather perched in the brim. He set it neatly on Heero's head and stepped back to take in the overall effect. ".......tell me again why I'm doing this?" Heero asked, in a voice barely above a whisper. "To make Miss Relena happy!" Quatre said. "To conduct reconaissance on the aristocracy!" Trowa said. "To stuff your face and get drunk off your ass!" Duo said. Heero shook his head in defeat, hoping word of this humiliation would never reach Lord Jeffrhyss' ears. Despite being thouroughly disgusted by the whole situation, some tiny part of him was just a little curious about something... "Who am I supposed to be?" Trowa and Duo blinked. It was a very lovely costume, but they nevertheless had trouble identifying it. They shrugged. "I know who you are, but only because I've seen Miss Relena's costume already," Quatre offered. "You're Prince Siegfried from Swan Lake!" He was met by three very blank stares. "...Prince Siegfried? ...the one who goes out hunting on his birthday and sees this beautiful girl who's really a swan and falls in love with her? ...come on, you guys!" Trowa scrunched up his face. "Relena's a swan?" Duo poked him in the ribs. "I've always thought of her as a turkey, personally." Quatre frowned at them teasingly. "You could be a little more helpful, you know," he said, tugging at bits of Heero's costume to see if it fit properly. "Don't you have anything positive to say?" "I like the hat," Trowa mused. Quatre smiled widely. "Yes! Very French Renaissance, isn't it?" "I thought it was rather Baroque," Trowa replied, rubbing his chin. "Hey, if it ain't Baroque, don't fix it!" Duo quipped without missing a beat. Quatre frowned again, narrowing his eyes at the pun. "You're just awful." "Are you all quite finished?" Heero growled. He had about as much patience left as a six-year-old being dragged around town all day looking for school clothes. "Yes, stop teasing him, both of you!" Quatre rebuked the two smirking lads. "I think he looks very nice, and he's very lucky to be going to this ball. It's very prestigious, you know! All the most important people in London will be there! You're looking forward to tonight, aren't you, Heero?" He stepped in front of the mirror and gave him a bright smile. Suddenly, there was a savage, murderous look in the butler's eyes; Quatre made a little 'eep' noise and retreated to the pile of empty boxes before the fuming youth had a chance to snap him in two. Trowa took his place, blocked the mirror and grabbed Heero by his silk-wrapped shoulders. "Heero, focus," he said firmly. "You may look like a reject from the Ballet Russe, but you've got a job to do tonight. You have to eavesdrop on as many conversations as possible to find out just how far rumours of the tontine have spread." Heero took a deep breath, shut his eyes, and nodded as if in pain. "Right." As silly as it all seemed, this was the right thing to do. "Right. Now back to work." Trowa slapped Heero on the back as he plodded off behind the screen to become human again. Duo couldn't take his eyes off the costume, watching it sway from side to side with a strange little grin, until it disappeared completely; the pity of it was, he thought Heero looked rather good in it, and was disappointed by the thought that he'd probably never see it again. Quatre clapped his hands. "Alright, you two gawkers, out!" The party broke up quickly after that, as the erstwhile costume-fitter shuffled the other two boys back out into the hall for good. He drew the back of his hand across his forehead and sighed. Only three more costumes to go... **********The entire house was abuzz after tea while the five priviledged ones prepared themselves for the evening gala. Relena was the first to be dressed and ready, bouncing down the stairs in her costume with enough enthusiasm for five girls, not one. While she waited for the rest of her entourage, she twirled around on the front hall floor, modelling her outfit for the housemaids, who gasped and applauded with reverence. As Princess Odette, the magical swan maiden, her costume was almost entirely white. Her gown was an exquisite piece of art combining satin, beads, lace, and of course feathers, that floated and swirled around her as she walked like a cloud following an angel. All who attended the fancy dress ball were required to wear some sort of a mask as part of their costume; Relena's mask was more of a feathered headdress that featured a tiny model of a swan's neck and head that sprang up from the part covering her eyes. Between six and six-thirty, the other party-goers trickled downstairs at a steady pace. Treize sailed down dressed as Dracula, without fangs, and left early after being picked up in a carriage by Lady Une, who no doubt wore a silk scarf around her neck to cover his teethmarks. Otto appeared dressed historically and deferentially as a French peasant, just in time to be presented with last-minute invitations for himself and Dorothy, whom he would be officially escorting. Dorothy, for her part, had chosen Marie Antoinette for her costume, and playfully promised to feed Otto cake throughout the evening. The only one missing at half-past six was Heero, who was in the same guest room as before, perfectly attired and receiving a pep talk from Quatre. The Arabian heir desperately wanted to know if word of his plight had spread to the aristocracy; he had a feeling Dorothy knew about the tontine, but unfortunately, there was no way to prove it. In time, Quatre left to say goodnight to Relena; they wouldn't be back until late. Heero looked at himself in the full-length mirror and shook his head. I can't believe my life's come down to this. A light knock came at the door. "Is your princeliness receiving visitors?" "Come in, Duo." The chef strode in casually, folded his arms, and leaned against the wall. He looked Heero up and down with a faint smile and seemed to be on the razor's edge of speaking, but couldn't quite get started. That struck Heero as very strange. "What is it?" he asked. Duo shrugged. "Just came for a last look," he said with his classic grin in place. "You may not realize, but that's one hell of an outfit." At the moment, the butler was adorned in all but his black velvet mask and something sticking out of one of the boxes on the bed. Duo walked over and picked up the object; it was a little toy bow and arrow, a replica of what Prince Siegfried was meant to handle in the ballet. "Hey, aren't you gonna take this along and go swan hunting?" Duo joked, plucking the bowstring. Heero scowled. "Don't tempt me." "Yeah, yeah," Duo chuckled. He quieted down again and stared at the carpet for awhile; Heero began to seriously worry about the boy's health. "Well, I just thought I'd see you off, so g'night, Prince Siegfried! Have a blast!" With a cheery wave and a less-than-convincing smirk, he walked out. Sadly, Heero could only afford a moment or two of wondering what seemed to be bothering the chef before he realized he was late, grabbed his mask, and marched downstairs. Relena didn't even scold him for his tardiness, only squealed like a schoolgirl at the sight of their respective characters, side by side at last. At twenty to seven, the two couples paraded out the front door, down the walk, and into the carriage, held in waiting by Trowa in full dress uniform. Quatre and all the housemaids were there to see them off, and even Arthur appeared by the side of the house and tipped his cap as they drove past. Only one member of the household was missing from the happy scene. Down in the kitchen, with his feet half-heartedly kicked up on the worktable, was Duo, sitting there and wondering why he suddenly felt so alone. **********By quarter-past, the gardener hadn't had a chance to do hardly any work outside, and the sun was already beginning to set, so he opted to pack it in for the day and have a cup of tea. Walking brightly into the kitchen, he saw Duo with his feet up on the table and grinned. As he got closer, though, he felt something wasn't quite right with the usually jovial chef, and grew concerned. "Duo?" he asked quietly, taking a chair beside him. "How long have you been sitting here?" The braided boy shrugged. "Dunno. Awhile." "Is anything the matter?" Quatre prodded. Another shrug, sharper this time. "Nah, nothing...I just like to be where the action is, y'know? Sitting at home waiting for people to come back from an exciting night out really isn't my thing." There was more, but he couldn't bring himself to discuss it, fearing rejection and harsh judgement. Quatre smiled with more understanding than he was prepared to reveal. "I know what you mean, but there's nothing to be done about it. Nothing to be done about anything, really...it's too late to do any real work outside, and there's no chores left inside. I'll probably just go to bed early." Suddenly, Duo looked keenly contemplative, as if hatching an idea worthy of an international patent. "Nothing to be done," he repeated. "You're right. There's no more meals until tomorrow, and if someone wants a midnight snack, they can come and help themselves. You're absolutely right!" Quatre blinked. "I am?" "Yeah!" Revitalized, Duo leapt up and slapped the smaller boy on the back, making him lurch forward in his chair a bit. "I think I'm gonna go to bed early too! Thanks, man!" He practically skipped up the servants' stairs to his room, whistling a happy tune, leaving Quatre puzzled, but glad he was of some help. Duo shut the bedroom door behind him and went immediately to the chest of drawers at the foot of his bed, pulling out a change of clothing and an old rugby sock with some coins hidden inside. Having real money that he didn't have to steal was the finest of luxuries, because it brought all the other little extras in life along with it. He shoved everything into a dusty old carpet bag that had been stuck in the attic for umpteen years, and went out again. He deftly avoided being seen by any of the maids as he crept to the front of the house and out the door. Sorry, ladies, no time to chat. I've got a party to crash. Not just an elegant social gathering, but the crowning glory of the summer entertaining season was the Lord Chamberlain's fancy dress ball. No expense was spared in preparation for the event; the finest of everything, from food to furnishings, to the orchestra and the decorations, was absolutely essential. A highly superior hall in a very exclusive district was the locale, and hundreds of London's most well-to-do were filling the place to the rafters, dressed in all manner of exotic disguises, a breathtaking carnival of colour. If the chandeliers sparkled any more, if the floor shone to a greater degree, or if the gilded wall ornaments gave off a stronger glow by even the tiniest margin, any man among them would have been instantly blinded. The ball was a feast for all senses, and a flurry of delectable temptations for every heart. Every heart, it seemed, bar one. A single soul among the crowd felt no sense of uplifting; a single pair of cold blue eyes seemed unimpressed. The mere ability to be awed by such opulent splendour was conditioned to be absent from this heart, perhaps forever. Prince Siegfried alone was left untouched by the joy around him. "You've hardly said a word in the last hour," said Princess Odette. "My apologies, m'lady." The swan ruffled her feathers, a little exasperated. "You needn't address me formally for social occasions." ".....my apologies, Relena." The girl's eyes danced at the sound of her name being spoken by her elegant prince, and she smiled warmly. Satisfied that her escort was loosening up a bit, she went back to studying her dance card, while the orchestra was on a break. Cake and champagne were being passed around during the interval, and Relena partook heartily of both, while Heero went back to listening to the ambient conversations. So far, he hadn't heard one single syllable regarding the tontine, which made good sense. If Dorothy knew, she would naturally want to keep Quatre's secret all to herself, lest every young girl in London would be on his doorstep. And if she wanted to manipulate him without anyone noticing, her strategy would have to be-- "Heero! This is out waltz!" Relena cried joyfully, derailing his train of thought. "My next two dances are with the Earl of Chichester's nephew, so make the most of it!" She would have preferred to save every dance for Heero, but it was terribly uncouth to turn down any of the other gentlemen who asked her for a dance. The orchestra charged ahead into a Viennese waltz, and the Prince and Princess of Bridlewood began sailing across the dance floor with a hundred other couples. Partners were frequently swapped during the course of an evening such as this, and indeed, Heero noted that both Dorothy and Lady Une were being entertained by other men. That meant that Treize and Otto should have been dancing or at least talking to other women, but as Heero surveyed the room, they were nowhere to be seen. Both gone at the same time; he found that a little bit unsettling. He kept an eye out for them for the duration of the waltz, despite Relena's best efforts to attract his eye back in her direction. To keep her happy and secure in the 'knowledge' that he only had eyes for her, he occasionally worked some of his mystical charm on her, peppering the conversation with compliments that never failed to bring a blush to her cheek. He needed to stay in her house very badly, and couldn't afford to have her lose interst and fire him on the grounds of romantic indifference. **********Outside the dance hall, dressed with an almost military air, was a tall, portly man attending the door. It was his duty to check the invitations of all those who approached the door, costumed or not, and make quite sure that the riff-raff were kept well away. In the last hour and a half, he had seen all manner of cheats and liars from the lower classes trying to trick their way inside, but he could never have anticipated the visitor who was now walking swiftly towards him--a young priest carrying a carpet bag. "Your invitation, sir?" the doorman said dryly. The priest blessed the man with the sign of the cross and presented an outstretched palm in a regal fashion. "I implore you to let me pass, my good man, for the spirit of the Lord is greatly needed in this den of sin and licentiousness!" The doorman squared his shoulders. "No admittance without an invitation, sir." "Whatever. Step aside, tubby." The priest tried to walk around the man but was caught by the arm and dragged back away from the door. "I don't think you're achieving comprehension, sir," the bouncer said gruffly, leaning down closer, "no invitation," and closer, "no admittance," and closer, "no exceptions!" Their noses were almost touching. "Now, on your bike!" The priest pouted angrily and stomped away. "The Bishop of Canterbury is gonna hear about you, pal! Him and me go way back! And you'd better make up for this at your next confession!" He marched in the opposite direction with his carpet bag, scratching at his neck where his long brown hair was tucked down the inside of the black frock coat he'd spent nearly all his money renting from the costumier. Sheesh, what a way to treat a member of the clergy! Looks like I'll have to find another way inside... **********Some time later, the evening's activities turned from waltzes and two-steps to lively group dances, but by the end of the first quadrille, Treize still hadn't returned. Otto was back with Dorothy, however, ending a long and tiresome gossip session between her and Relena during which Heero was forced to absorb entire novels on the subject of whose gown was made by which high-class designer. Soon, the guests gathered for the Virginia Reel, danced in a circular style. Two rings were formed, one encircling the other, ladies on the outside and gentlemen on the inside. Heero and Relena started the dance opposite each other, but after a few steps, turns and twirls, both circles faced each other and took a step to the left so that everyone received a new partner. In the space of ten minutes, Heero danced with Catherine the Great, a fairy princess, an Amazon, two Juliets, and a very realistic Queen Elizabeth. As it happened, his next partner was Lady Une. He had never been given ample opportunity to needle her for information about Treize, and if he wanted anything from her that night, he had less than two minutes to get it before everyone switched partners again. He gave her a daring smile. "Your Count isn't taking very good care of you tonight, is he?" Lady Une smiled seductively back at him. Though she loved to tease Relena about her secret crush, she had no idea the normally docile butler was such a shameless flirt when let off his leash. "Do I take that to mean you could do better?" Heero tightened his grip on her hand a little as they maneuvered through the steps of the dance. "I certainly wouldn't run off and disappear, leaving such a charming woman alone with a pack of hungry wolves such as these so-called 'gentlemen'." "I only see one hungry wolf at the moment," Une teased, "and I'll have you know he didn't simply 'run off'. He spotted a business acquaintance across the room and went over to have a chat, that's all." 'Business acquaintance?' Now we're getting somewhere... "I hope he gave you the gentleman's name. You wouldn't like to think he was entertaining another fair lady in some dark corner, would you?" He kept throwing her the same smouldering glances he used on Relena, and they seemed to work just as well. For Heero, charm and charisma could be turned on and off like a light switch. Une smiled coyly at what she interpreted as an attempt to make her jealous. "He didn't need to prove who it was, I've seen the gentleman myself! Nice try, though...I can see why Lady Peacecraft keeps you around." They completed a series of twirls and swings, and the entire group began to promenade around the circle, preparing to swap partners yet again. Something caught Heero's eye; standing over by one of the ornate crystal punch bowls was Treize, speaking very closely in low tones with a tall, stocky man without much in the way of a costume. In fact, the man was simply wearing street clothes. The lively music covered any scraps of their conversation that might have flown Heero's way, but whatever it was kept both men deeply engrossed. The dancers stopped their circular procession, took four steps forward and four steps back in time with the music, and took their partners by the arm once again. It was then that Treize and the stocky intruder looked directly at Heero. They whispered back and forth, and Treize nodded. Heero fought to appear calm, but inside he was struck hard with a terrifying thought. I've been made... The 'business acquaintance' Une spoke of looked nothing more than a common street thug, but she was probably having too nice a time at the ball to be bothered noticing the difference. Heero was being pointed out to the man, singled out, recognized, and he cursed his own foolishness for attending the ball unarmed. Regrettably, there had been no place anywhere on the close-fitting costume to successfully hide his gun. A few partner-changes later, and the dance was finally over. Heero was immediately looking for Treize and his thug, but they were both gone again. There were many possible explanations for what he had seen, but the one that stuck with him the longest was also the worst. Treize will make some excuse to leave early, some pretense on which he can separate me from the rest of the group. Then, the very next moment I'm alone, his 'hired fist' will come find me and-- "Don't let me interrupt your little hypnotic trance," a snide female voice said, "but there's a gentleman looking for you, it seems." Heero turned around to meet the frosty eyes of Marie Antoinette, wearing an impeccable Dorothy disguise. "Who is it?" he asked curtly, wondering if Treize's thug was even going to bother waiting until the ball was over to come after him. "Well, I don't know, do I!?" Dorothy whined in a huffy tone. "People are just saying that there's a guest looking for the gentleman dancing with the swan. He's not wearing a nametag!" "I don't exactly have exclusive rights to her Ladyship," the butler pointed out, "several other gentlemen have been entertaining her tonight." Dorothy's eyes blazed. "Fine, you ingrate! Do what you like. I only meant to be helpful, but obviously I was just wasting my time!" She turned on her heel and walked briskly away, only to look back after a few paces. "And I'll expect you to address me with a little more respect when we get back to Bridlewood, young man!" Heero shook his head as the mass of frills and lace stomped away. Any further help from Dorothy truly wasn't required, as he only needed to question two other people to find out that the person looking for him was dressed as a priest. He looked across the room; Relena was still safely coiled around the arm of the Earl of Chichester's nephew, and seemed to be enjoying herself just fine without him. He set off in search of the mystery man, confused after remembering that Treize's thug wasn't dressed in any sort of costume at all. If it's not him looking for me, then who is it? Who else even knew I'd be here? As he wove his way through the crowd, Heero wasn't looking at faces, but collars. He finally spotted the traditional white-on-black, but as soon as he did, the man wearing it darted out of sight, almost deliberately. A brief, shining flash of violet and chestnut, and he ws gone. Heero stopped and blinked, as if he'd merely seen a phantom of his own imagination...but it seemed too real not to be true. He dove forward and chased the figure in black all over the ballroom, no quicker than a brisk walk, until he saw his quarry duck through a door leading out onto the terrace. Heero burst through the door. Leaning quite languidly against the cast-iron railing, dressed completely in black except for his collar and a silver cross, was a broadly smiling Duo. "Caught me!" he said. Taking a hesitant step forward, Heero raised his mask and let it sit on his forehead, as if hoping to get a clearer view of the apparition. Duo was clad in a black waistcoat and trousers with a priest's neckpiece tucked underneath, over his shirt. Flowing over the ensemble was a black frock coat, slightly gathered at the back around his middle, in such a way that it gave him a rather shapely silhouette. Heero was at a loss for words. "Like it?" Duo asked, twirling once for effect. "Nobody lasts five minutes in there without being dressed as something...only problem was, that greedy bunch of snooty snobs took all the good costumes! This was all they had left!" It was hardly standard fare for a fancy dress ball; it didn't even come with a mask. Heero's mind worked feverishly; his friend had arrived at positively the worst possible time, when it seemed Treize was plotting to make him disappear in a dark alley. He walked up close to Duo and grabbed him roughly by the arm. "You've got to get out of here." Duo looked hurt that he didn't seem glad to see his faithful assistant. "But...after all the trouble I went through to get here, just...so I could..." "No arguments," Heero said firmly, shaking him a little. "This is a direct order. Go home now!" Duo seemed to think it over; in reality, he could tell something wasn't right. "I know you don't do anything without a good reason," he said, "so if you can give me a good reason for leaving, then I'll go." He looked Heero silently in the eyes, then glanced away sadly. "Unless you're just having too good a time with Relena and the rich folk that you don't want me around to ruin it." The words struck Heero hard in the center of his chest, and again he was speechless. How could you think I'd let class decide who my friends are? he thought bitterly. Then he decided; if Duo wanted a good reason to obey orders, he'd just have to give him one. He dragged the boy over to the glass panel door and pointed. "There's a man in there, wearing street clothes, about six-foot-four, weighs at least fifteen stone, looks like an escapee from Dartmoor Prison. Do you see him?" Puzzled, Duo peered through the glass. There was indeed a brutal-looking ruffian milling about, though the guests seemed to dismiss him as either being in a ruffian costume or being one of the bouncers. He knew, however, from recent experience, that the real bouncers didn't look nearly as menacing. The man kept strictly to the outside walls of the room, avoiding people in general; he seemed to be looking for something, or someone. Duo pulled away from the door. "Yeah, I see him." "Treize pointed me out to him from a distance. I suspect he's waiting for me to leave the premises, at which time I also suspect he's been ordered to silence me in whatever manner he chooses." "Oh my God," Duo gasped, eyes wide, "we must've really ticked him off." "But as far as Treize knows, you were just following me around and had nothing to do with anything," Heero said, "and if you leave now, you have a good chance of getting home safely." Duo shook his head in horror. "No! I won't leave you here if it means you're honestly going to be attacked in some dark alley somewhere! I should be with you!" "You don't know the first thing about defending yourself in a fight," Heero said compassionately, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Remember how easily I've subdued you in the past? And I'm only half his size. Anyway..." He tried to manage a small smile to console the boy. "One or two thugs in an alley I can handle. For me, it's not that difficult." "What if there's more of them?" Duo cried. "You don't really know what you're walking into, until it happens!" He lowered his head and appeared close to tears. "If you already know they're coming for you after the ball, why don't you try to avoid them? Why don't you just leave early? It's not worth the risk!" Heero stepped back and folded his arms. "That's an odd thing to hear from you, after you almost got us killed, twice." "Yeah, but that was different!" Duo hollered with his hands in the air. "I was totally in control then, and I never dared you to walk into an ambush of hired goons! If you just hate backing down from a fair fight, okay, I can understand that, but I don't see this as very fair!" The heated exchange cooled down a little, after a few tense moments of silence. Duo walked up to the stoic Prince Siegfried, until their toes were almost touching. He reached out and unfolded the other boy's arms, letting them fall gently while lacing their fingers together. He stared solemnly at the ground. "Don't go," Duo whispered. "Come with me instead. It might only be delaying the inevitable, but at least it'll give you time to prepare, to make it a fair fight. We can slip out the back, and they'll just think you went out drinking or something." He let a faint smirk past the wall of fearful concern. "Hell, I even brought you a change of clothes so we could both go out drinking, but that was before I knew Treize wanted your kneecaps relocated to a new postcode." Heero couldn't help but smirk back a little. Running away didn't seem very honourable, but only because he knew of the ambush ahead of time. He could always assume he might not have seen Treize conspiring in a corner, that Duo might have arrived at the same time that he did, and that they might have decided to stuff the party and go have a pint at the Muddy Nag. He doubted very much that anyone at the ball would particularly miss him, especially since Relena's dance card was filled with other lad's names, and he certainly wouldn't miss them either. Duo saw that he was just barely teetering on the edge of acceptance, and decided to give him a push. "It'd really cheese Treize off bad if he went to all this trouble of hiring goons and it turned out they had no one to whack." He grinned. Heero slowly grinned back. "It would, wouldn't it?" **********Treize steered Lady Une over to another pack of gossipy females for what he hoped would be the last time. He preferred to keep her separate from his shadier dealings, and one of Otto's men had just given him a hand signal from across the room, requesting a quick conference. They met covertly behind a tall potted plant, and the churlish brute gave the Count a brief report on where the target had last been seen. Treize nodded. "I'll leave the fine details up to you, but make sure you get the name of his employer. If it's not too far to walk, leave him on his master's doorstep. He ought to be discovered by morning and taken to a physician. We don't want a murder case on our hands, now do we?" he said with a devious smile. The cockney brute nodded and complied in a gravelly voice. "Right you are, gov." "And if his master is too far out of the way..." Treize tilted his head back and forth, and hummed, thinking. "Any street that's busy in broad daylight will do." Seemingly unnoticed by the pair, two darkly clad boys crept back into the ballroom, hoping to avoid their eyes, and slipped past them into the hall. Abandoning the glitz and pomp for good, they chose instead the darkened, unused passages towards the back of the building. The priest led the prince through a maze crafted of plaster and Persian rugs, to the room where he had secretly stashed his precious parcel earlier. Duo opened the door to the empty cloakroom, let Heero pass, then shut it tightly behind them. Without turning on the gaslamp, which might have alerted someone to their presence, Duo retrieved the carpet bag from under the counter and passed it to his partner, who immediately retreated to the darkest corner of the room to swap garments. "I don't suppose you happened to pack my gun," he called out from the blackness. "Sorry," Duo replied meekly, with an unseen smirk. He stood at the one tiny window in the room and stared out at the empty street, bathed in soft moonlight, and the few stars peeking out from behind the clouds. Behind him, the sound of rumpled cloth falling to the floor was becomine more unnerving by the second. I must be losing my mind... Duo was often plagued with the most peculiar thoughts, and they seemed to be increasing as the weeks wore on...and it had not escaped his attention that they always occurred when Heero was near. He folded his arms and fixed his eyes on a lamppost across the road. Take a deep breath and count to ten. Heero came up close behind him and put the carpet bag on the counter between them. "Do you want your chef's uniform?" He was just buttoning his shirt. Duo swallowed. Make that twenty. "No thanks, I'm actually kinda used to this getup." And maybe it'll deter me from impure thoughts... As soon as the butler was his old self in one of his everyday suits, they packed up, went to the cloakroom door, and... "Itai?" A series of clicks was Heero's only reward for turning the doorhandle. "What?" "It won't open." Outside in the hall, the second of Treize's hired thugs, this one an experienced thief trained in stealth, crept away clutching a little silver key. **********The party started breaking up around midnight, and the Count treated it as his solemn duty, as Relena's only blood relative present, to see to it that his little niece was home in bed at a decent hour. When the time came to leave, however, Heero was strangely missing. She pointedly refused to go until he was located, whatever his condition, and packed into the carriage with the rest of them. "He wouldn't just wander off without telling me where he was going! He's not like that!" the swan girl cried. She paced back and forth in front of Dorothy, who gave a sympathetic ear. "We were really starting to communicate! He was responding to all those things you told me to do! Why would he just leave?" Dorothy led her by the arm from the nearly empty ballroom to the front door. "Maybe he saw you with all those other charming gentlemen and thought perhaps he wasn't needed," she said in a sarcastic tone. "So...it's my fault?" Relena asked sadly, taking off her feathered headdress. "Certainly not!" Dorothy proclaimed as they walked to their carriage. "If he sees you being entertained by a rival, it becomes his duty to win you back! Your escort should treat you like a goddess at all times, and if it looks like you might stray, he's supposed to lavish attention on you until the temptation is overcome." Treize and Otto followed the girls a few paces behind, and Trowa sat up straight in his driver's perch, above the drowsy horses; all were listening to Dorothy explain the finer points of capturing a man. "If he's so weak as to let his pride be hurt by you having a perfectly innocent, amiable chat with an eligible young man...or two," she said, putting on her gloves, "then he's most likely gone off somewhere to sulk. He'll probably crawl back home tomorrow morning after a night's carousing, with his tail between his legs and begging you for forgiveness." Relena looked doubtful, but had to admit it was a possibility. "I suppose so." The girls climbed into the carriage and waited for their elders. Above them, Trowa mulled over what he'd just overheard, and decided something didn't sound right about it, but also that there was nothing he could do, one way or the other. A few feet away, Treize turned his back to the carriage and smiled cunningly at Otto. "She's probably right about the crawling bit," he joked without mirth. Otto swallowed and shuffled his feet. "My Lord...now that I've thought about it...well, it's not too late...if we want to call it off..." Treize raised an eyebrow. "Second thoughts, Otto? There's no room for that in my army," he whispered. "Now, take the girls home, and I'll be along in Lady Une's company before long." The house steward lowered his eyes and nodded. In a little while, he would be guilty of a serious crime, albeit in absentia, but the Count could not be defied in his infinite wisdom. The party-goers boarded their respective vehicles and disappeared down the darkened street. **********Picking a lock from the wrong side of the door, in the dark, was difficult but not impossible, at least for Duo. They had discovered, after realizing they were locked in, that the gaslamp they thought they were ignoring earlier, in actuality, wasn't there at all. The window was too small to climb through, so the door was the only way out, and the former thief was hard at work for a good half-hour before the boys were freed from the dark cloakroom. The entire building appeared empty; all the guests were gone, and the front door was also locked for the night, with a key; after a lengthy examination of the mechanism, Duo sadly announced that he couldn't break through with only a hairpin and a brooch from the lost-and-found bin. They had to find another way out. Only one door in the place was left unsecured, a door at the very back of the building, going from the kitchen into what appeared to be a dark alley. Heero realized with dismay that the situation Treize was trying to set up, the one he and Duo had been trying even harder to avoid, had come to pass regardless. Heero pulled his head back inside the kitchen and turned to his partner. "Listen very carefully. I want you to go out this door, straight down the alley, and don't look back. Keep walking until you find a pub that's open, or a brightly-lit area with lots of people. Stay there until I come to get you. Understood?" He was banking on the probability that even hired goons wouldn't strike a man of the cloth. Duo struggled for excuses not to leave Heero on his own, but the Japanese boy wasn't budging. Still carrying the carpet bag, he tiptoed nervously into the alley and looked back at Heero one last time before the door shut behind him. "Be careful," Duo whispered. Trembling with every step, he walked towards the end of the alley, towards safety, towards escape... Towards the line-up to register as a certified coward, he thought bitterly. It felt utterly awful running away, but it was what Heero wanted, and he reminded himself of that when he felt eyes looking him over. He adjusted his priest's collar and whistled a hymn for good measure. Coward. If there really was anyone lying in wait, they let the clergyman pass without revealing themselves. Once he was out of the alley, Duo walked a little more quickly to the other side of the street, but instead of heading for a safe area as instructed, he ducked into a doorway and watched the gap in the walls where he had emerged. Minutes ticked past, but Heero didn't appear. There was no activity at all until two darkly-dressed men converged on the alley from opposite sides of the street, nodded to each other, and slipped inside. Duo's breath caught in his throat. **********Heero counted to fifty, and stepped out into the alley. To the right was a dead end, and to the left was the long walk out to the street. Thankfully, he couldn't see Duo, and assumed he'd made it out safely. Now...do I go to them, or wait for them to come to me? He could sense their presence, one to the left and one to the right as he took a few steps towards the exit. It was only a short wait before the first of his assailants sprang out at him. A tall, moustached brute jumped in front of Heero and took a fast swing at him. Heero grabbed the flying arm with his left hand and used the man's forward inertia to drive the heel of his right hand into his jaw. The second thug slithered up behind him wielding a wooden board, swinging it back and taking careful aim at his victim's head. Heero heard the man inhale and threw a savage back kick behind him, just as the villain swung; the kick connected with the board and shattered it. While the man jumped in shock and looked at the splintered remains of his weapon, Heero landed another kick to the first thug's stomach, grabbed him by his scraggly coat, and threw him into the second thug, sending them both into the wall. More footsteps rang out from the open end of the alley, and another two goons, at least six feet tall apiece, ran in to join the fight. The butler delivered enough blows to the man with the wooden board to knock him out before they arrived, and by then it was a whole new ball game. He was pushed to the limit holding off the pair, and now the first thug was picking himself up off the ground. Having wasted most of his energy dancing throughout the night, he was already fighting tired and moving slower than usual--Treize had probably counted on that. The goons were just beginning to overwhelm him, and had actually landed a punch or two of their own, when an angry voice pierced the din. "Hey, you big, clunky meatheads! I've seen bull terriers with leprosy that had better faces on 'em than you!" Duo had run a few paces into the alley and was throwing stones at the villains. Heero pinned one of the surprised thugs to the wall and came close to panicking for Duo's safety. "No, don't! Get out of here!!" Duo kept throwing stones and caught one of the ducking brutes over the left eye, hard enough to draw blood. "You want a fight!? Come and get me!" The goon struck by the rock left Heero and went after the priest. Heero used the confusion to flatten one of the two men remaining and run past the third, hoping to reach Duo before he did. Smaller size and greater speed won out, and the boys were out of the fracas and a short dash from the exit, when suddenly two more burly men appeared from the street. The boys froze. Duo clung to Heero's arm, certain that he'd bitten off more than he could chew this time. There were two thugs in front of them and three behind, plus one unconsious, and Heero was already tired out from battling. This is exactly how he planned it, to wear me down little by little...and now they'll get Duo, too. All because I was careless...so careless... Keeping Duo behind him, he backed up close to the brick wall as the five ruffians closed in on them from all sides. Duo wrapped his arms protectively around Heero from behind, hyperventilating. The boy craved excitement, but this was too much of the wrong kind. He buried his face in Heero's shoulder. "I'm sorry..." Heero reached up and clasped one of Duo's pale hands, eyes ablaze at his opponents, offering his friend a split second of reassurance before the boys were forcibly wrenched apart. It took only one man to subdue the petrified priest, but he struggled enough that his braid escaped from the back of his coat as he thrashed vainly in the rogue's grip. That left four men for Heero to deal with, and he poured all he had left into a barrage of kicks and punches only faster than the thug's reaction time by the blink of an eye, but it wasn't enough. Eventually, they fought past his precise, surgical blows and grabbed hold of him, one on each arm and a third restraining him from behind. The fourth wiped a fresh trail of blood from his split lip, glowered at the child who had caused him so much trouble, and slammed a fist brutally and viciously into the boy's stomach. Duo cried out and struggled harder as he witnessed the unbreakable Heero Yuy doubled over from the force of the blow. The stoic boy didn't make a sound as a second punch connected with his jaw, but his mind reeled with thoughts that he didn't have enough breath to verbalize. Foremost on his list of worries at that moment was not how disappointed Lord Jeffrhyss would be, or what form his punishment might take, but how the cruel tormenters might hurt Duo once they were finished with him. The bitter defeat weighed heavily on his guilty heart. Without warning, as Duo watched the horrific scene, he felt something heavy fall on him, or perhaps near him, as he didn't feel the full force of the impact. The scoundrel that held him by the arms, however, gave a cry of pain and dropped to the ground, taking the braided boy down with him. Nobody was more surprised than Duo, who got up and immediately scampered across the alley, away from a strange black form that seemed to have dropped out of the sky right on top of the man. More confused yells spread through the ruffians' ranks as the leading man who struck Heero was suddenly levelled by something none of them could see. Then the man holding Heero's left arm was taken out with one blow. With the assailants broken apart into more manageable chunks, Heero got a second wind and launched another attack on the villains. Duo watched from a crouching position a few feet away. There was a dark blur, about Heero's height, moving almost too fast to be seen and aiding him in the battle. Stray bits of moonlight invaded the alleyway at random, and Duo could just make out a lithe silhouette, wrapped head to toe in black except for a slit around two dark, slanted eyes. Between Heero and the blur, the four thugs still standing were given a sound beating, while two now lay unconscious. Soon, they opted to do the sensible thing and make a run for it. They abandoned their fallen comrades and bolted out of the alley, leaving three young victors to revel in their triumph. Heero went straight to where Duo was still curled up on the ground and helped him to his feet. The shaky chef wanted badly to hug his brave protector, but restrained himself out of concern that the goons might have broken Heero's ribs. Slowly, both their gazes fell on the figure in black, who stood facing the open end of the alley, fists clenching and unclenching in dissatisfaction over the brief duration of the battle. Heero got a strange feeling from the intruder. Motioning for Duo to stay put, he crept up behind the figure to get a closer look; there appeared to be some sort of black hood covering it's head. In one swift movement, he snatched the hood off; the figure whirled around and they stared at each other in shock. It was the asian boy that had been following Heero since Treize arrived. Before Heero even had a chance to demand his name, the boy struck him with a palm fist to the chin, knocking the fatigued lad off balance and straight into Duo's worried arms. In a flash, the boy was gone, using Heero's stunned fall as a cover to escape. ...sometimes you just don't know who your friends are, Heero thought, rubbing his chin where he was hit and wondering about the mysterious asian's true motives. He felt tentative arms snake around his shoulders, curling into a concerned embrace as Duo laid his head on his left shoulder and nuzzled his neck. Heero managed a faint smile. Then again, sometimes you do. **********After the melée, Duo and Heero didn't stick around very long, preferring not to be there when the last two thugs woke up. Duo magically produced the faithful carpet bag from a doorway, stuffed his dog-collar into it, as it was now digging uncomfortably into his neck, and they half-ran, half-jogged down the street. They were much too far from home to walk, there were no cabbies out at such a late hour, and for once they didn't have enough money between them to find a room somewhere and crash for the night. Worse than that, Heero seemed to be favouring one ankle, and twice he had to pause altogether, leaning against a building and coughing as he clutched his ribs. Duo couldn't take watching it for very long, and insisted that what Heero really needed was a doctor. "Absolutely not," the butler protested. "What the hell's the matter with you?" Duo chided. "You took a pummelling back there, and now you're not walking right!" Heero shook his head. "It wasn't that bad, and we can keep it from getting worse by not letting it be publicly known. Treize probably had eyes and ears all over London, and if he hears I'm injured, he'll think he's won." The words had only just left his lips when another coughing fit gripped him, and he had to fight to stay standing. Duo propped him up, ignoring his objections. "This is nuts! You think he won't notice you limping around the house for the next week? And you think those goons won't tell him what happened?" "None of that matters," Heero said weakly. "I don't want him to think he can get to me with these sort of tactics." He straightened up and tried to assess his own injuries. "Besides, I shouldn't be asking for anyone's help...this was all my fault to begin with. I knew he'd try something..." Duo twitched. "Wait a minute, back up. You knew before you saw Mr. Escapee from Dartmoor Prison walking around the party, or after?" Heero exhaled sharply from frustration and self-reproach. "In a way, before..." He proceeded to tell Duo all about his run-in with Treize on the third floor, omitting no details about the way he was shoved around, insulted, and threatened to stay away. After listening to the story, Duo stepped back, eyes wide, and looked like he'd just been asked to turn water into wine. He paced and huffed and ran his fingers through his bangs for a full thirty seconds before facing Heero and finding his voice. "How could you be so stupid!?" This time, Heero twitched. That wasn't the response he'd been expecting. In fact, he was hoping to use it as a demonstration that he and Duo should part ways for his own safety. "...what?" "Don't you see what he was doing?" the chef hollered. "He was testing you to see how dangerous you really are! If you'd just swallowed your pride and acted even a little scared while he was pushing you around, he wouldn't have clocked you as that much of a threat! He would've figured you really weren't worth bothering with, and he certainly wouldn't have sent a platoon of gorillas to take you out! "If there's one thing I learned from life on the streets, it's that anyone who looks like they can challenge the big fish gets cut down before they get the chance! That's why you appear weak and inferior on purpose, no matter how much it stings, because if you don't, you get your face smashed in!" He stopped in front of Heero and poked him in the uninjured center of his chest. "You've got a serious problem, but it's not Treize, it's your own damn pride!" "I wouldn't complain about that if I were you," Heero snapped, shoving the hand away, "my 'own damn pride' is what pushes me to go on your little thrill-seeking ventures when common sense tells me to stay at home with a good book!" Duo shrugged and smiled. "Okay, so it's not totally a bad thing. But if you wanna make up for a surplus of pride at all the wrong times, you start by choosing to have a deficit of the same at all the right times." He folded his arms and looked his battered friend over from head to foot. "Let me take you to a doctor. Please." Heero held his aching side and looked doubtful, genuinely too tired to argue any further. "I...I don't know if there's anyone I can trust...I don't want anyone to find out about this." Least of all, Jeffrhyss. The pair stood there and thought for a bit, then Duo perked up and smiled. "How about that lady doctor? She seemed like a decent sort of person, and I'll bet she'd keep it a secret if we asked her to! Do you remember where her office is?" The braided ball of energy spoke so fast that Heero didn't even realize that he was giving in to the boy's demands. "...Trafalgar Street..." "That's not too far! We can make it! Come on..." Duo gave Heero his free arm to lean on and led him carefully down the road, letting him rest along the way whenever he needed to. It was actually farther than either of them thought, but they were using up the last of their collective pride on not giving up. **********Somewhere in the twilight world between sleep and wakefulness, a young woman was dreaming of a green and beautiful land, with great rivers and tall trees, and a long wall lit by the setting sun, winding across the hills like a dragon's tail. She envisioned herself running happily through the woods as a child, among ginkgo trees and bamboo shoots, until she came upon a magical black and white bear-like creature, with whom she often spoke. As she knelt down to hear it's wisdom, however, it decided to surprise her with something completely new. When the creature opened it's mouth to speak, it sounded like a doorbell. The girl sat back and looked puzzled. The striped bear tried to speak again, but the sound of someone knocking on a door came out. It bashfully covered it's mouth with it's furry paws, and the woman woke from her dream. She sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes, heard the bells and the knocks with sickening clarity, and frowned. "Ohhhh, what on Earth...." She lit the bedside lamp, looked at the clock, and frowned even further. If this is some sort of perverse joke, I swear... Hastily wrapping her dressing gown around her shoulders, she picked up the lamp and plodded downstairs, while the knocking grew louder and more insistent. ...better be a good reason...ugh...two in the morning... "Alright, alright, I'm coming!" The woman reached her front door and angrily threw it open. "Yes!?" "Uh...medic?" came a weary, timid voice. As soon as she saw the pitiful figures on her doorstep, her eyes went wide and she gasped, recognizing the visitors as the two young men she met in the street only a week earlier. The long-haired one had the other's arm hung around his neck, and seemed to be holding him upright. "What happened to you!?" "He walked into a door." "Duo..." the injured one growled. "Alright, it was a swinging door, but he's a little sensitive about it, okay?" She quickly let them in and showed them to a sitting room at the back of her modest two-storey townhouse that served as an examination room. It was warmly decorated and quite feminine, and for the patient, there was a red plush chaise longue in the middle of the room. Duo set his blue-eyed parcel down on it and backed away, giving the strawberry blonde woman plenty of room to work. "I apologize for this, Dr. Poole," Heero said. "It's alright," she replied as she collected her diagnostic instruments from a nearby cabinet. "There's nothing in the Hippocratic Oath that says being a doctor is strictly a nine-to-five job." She tied up her dressing gown and turned to Duo. "You can wait in the next room while I have a look at your friend." Duo bit his lip and looked at Heero. He nodded, but Duo didn't really want to leave. "Well..." "And you can help yourself to the lemon tarts in the kitchen," she added with a knowing smile. The boy's expression brightened and he agreed at once, disappearing down the hall with a word of thanks. Dr. Poole shut the door after him and sat down next to her patient. She glanced him over once, surveyed the extent of the damage, and folded her arms. "You have something you want to tell me?" Heero could tell she was a real get-to-the-point woman. He respected that. "It took some cajoling on his part to get me here, mostly because I have to demand the utmost in secrecy," he said, propping himself up a bit. "Not only do I require that nothing you learn of go any farther than this room, but I will also have to ask you to keep some of it from my friend as well." Dr. Poole raised an eyebrow. "You've piqued my curiosity, alright." Her hair wasn't up in it's typical puffy pompadour style, but hung past her shoulders, and she quickly tied it into two little twists to keep it out of the way as she worked. "Well, let's have a look at you." Slowly, with as much pain as reluctance, Heero took off his jacket, waistcoat, and slowest of all, his crisp white shirt. There were several bruises underneath, of varying depths and sizes, but they weren't what caught the doctor's eye and made her crawl closer to him in shock. "...good Lord above..." she whispered. Criss-crossing the boy's back were dozens of long, thin scars, seemingly no wider across than spidersilk. They were the tiniest bit lighter than the rest of his skin, and when she looked closer, there were dozens more that were even lighter, going back for years and years. "I take it this is what you don't want him to see?" Heero nodded uncomfortably. He was holding himself up very stiffly and had a deathgrip on the chair's edge with both hands. "How did you get so many scars like this?" she asked in a soft, motherly tone, tracing the network of lines gently with her fingertips. Someone's taken a whip to this boy even since he was a child... "Just fix what needs fixing," Heero said gruffly, "enough that I can go about my regular duties tomorrow." Dr. Poole sighed lightly and opened her black Gladstone bag. "I'll let it go, but not forever," she said firmly. "If you're officially my patient from now on, someday I want to hold someone accountable for this." "....hn." That was the third time in a row that someone had been needlessly concerned for his well-being that evening; he wasn't used to it. True to her word, the doctor ignored the old injuries and focused entirely on the new ones, and Heero came to recognize what Duo found so pleasant about letting her examine him earlier, even though it was in the middle of the street. She had a kind, gentle touch that genuinely meant to heal him rather than hurt him; he wasn't used to that, either. In the next room, Duo slowly took his ear away from the wall and swallowed, trembling. It made sense now, why Heero always went into another room to change clothes for bed. Someone must have done something awful to him, and he doesn't want me to know, he thought, sadly curious about what sort of scars they were. He remembered all the times he playfully punched Heero in the arm, or slapped him hard on the back. He hugged his knees to his chest and silently promised never to do that again. After a little while, Dr. Poole invited Duo back into the examination room, and he went quickly to his friend's side. "How 'ya doin', champ?" he said with a grin. Heero gave him a weak copy of his own grin while Dr. Poole ran over the list of injuries. "Your friend here was actually pretty lucky. His ribs are bruised, but not broken, he has a slight sprain in the right ankle, which I've taped up, he's inhaled some carbon dust that's making him cough, but the rest is just bruises. He'll be fine, although I'm not all that thrilled with him going straight back to work." She brushed a stray lock of hair over her shoulder and looked at the pair suspiciously. "I also haven't been told how all this happened, and I'm betting I'm not going to know either...unless you think the police will be knocking on my door come the morning?" Duo shook his head. "Doubt it." "Alright then," she said with slightly narrowed eyes, "you can both spend the night, and take a cab home in the morning. I think I can trust you boys at least that long, and I certainly don't want him walking home in his condition." She picked up her lamp and turned to go. "I'm going to say help yourself to anything you need because I'm honestly too tired to do otherwise." She and Duo said their good-nights, and she went back upstairs. Duo pulled a big armchair next to the chaise longue where Heero was lying, well-bandaged and heavy-lidded, and curled up in it. "I was a naughty mouse again today, wasn't I?" he said, blowing out the only light in the room. "Hn?" "I disobeyed orders. I came after you in the alley even though you told me to run for it." "I'm not angry, if that's what you're worried about." Duo propped his head up cozily with a throw cushion. "Actually, I'm more worried about you going back to work tomorrow like nothing's wrong. She's right, you know, you should be resting." Heero smirked faintly at the darkness. "I want to see Treize's face in the morning when he sees me up and about." "Yeah, I wanna see that too!" Duo laughed. "Even thought it's just your pride talking again...and by the way...I didn't mean to call you stupid back there, I didn't mean it. It's just...for all you know about the world, all those languages, and how to solve mysteries and all that, the one thing you haven't got is street smarts." Duo yawned and stretched and stroked his braid. "Lucky for you, I've got enough street smarts for both of us. Face it, Heero...you need me." Heero thought long and hard about that; after all the trouble Duo had gotten into, he still wanted to be his assistant, regardless of the risks. Somehow, firing him to keep him out of danger didn't seem like such a viable option anymore. He didn't know why, but he felt relieved. "Heero?" the chef said sleepily. "Mmm?" "How do you say mouse?" "Nezumi." Duo smiled. "...that's cute...I like it..." Heero settled in a little more comfortably and laid his head back. Sleep was rapidly overtaking them both. "...Duo-nezu..." Duo giggled a bit through closed lips before his breathing slowed and evened out. With his last ounce of strength, Heero reached out to the mouse and let his hand come in contact with his spiky bangs, feeling them fall softly over his weary fingers and marvelling at the boy's courageous loyalty. .....little brown mouse.....Duo-nezu..... His last thoughts were of his friend before falling into a long, peaceful, pleasant sleep. |
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Next, in Episode Fifteen: In the aftermath of the fancy dress affair, Treize is none too pleased that his nemesis remains, but must focus on comforting his niece in her emotional trials. Quatre becomes the victim of a flashy attempt on his life, while Heero confronts the mysterious boy from the alleyway.
=*_*= ....hell yeah. I haven't worked so hard on anything before this episode. Wow. I love the whole mouse thing, you might as well know. =^-^= *girlish giggle* Some questions have been answered, but a whole lot more new ones have popped up! They'll all be taken care of in the fullness of time, and I guess everyone knows now why Treize acted so un-Treize-like. *winkywinky* He's a smarty, that one...I wish I was that smart, then maybe I could write a little faster, but hey, this is a pretty good pace, ne? Episode 15 is already out, and 16 will arrive August 29th. NOW...this episode was rather starved for reviews since it was released during the FFN outage, so don't hold back, friends! Let the comments fly and stick where they may! =^_^= And don't forget, if there's another breakdown, you can always get the next episode at my website: