Title: Whispering Winds
Author: Caroline
Pairing: 1x2
Rating: PG-15 to R for language and suggestive situations.
Notes: I will be slow to update this. I am trying to get myself back into writing a longer story, but I don't have a lot of time. So, I'll post what I have done here, and see what I can do about updating it as quickly as I can.

This fic will contain lemon; however, the lemon scene(s) will be edited out to be able to post this on But that won't happen for a while...

-Part One-

Relena knocked softly on the slightly open door leading to Heero's office, clutching a brown paper bag carefully in one hand so as not to spill the contents inside. Receiving a gruff reply to enter, she pushed open the door and frowned at the scene in front of her.

"Heero, I thought we agreed you wouldn't work through lunch anymore. It's not healthy," she admonished, crossing the room to place the bag on his desk.

"Hn. Couldn't find the time. I have to close the Wexler deal, plus submit those appraisal reports."

"Weren't you supposed to take care of those this morning?" Relena asked, opening the bag and setting out a styrofoam cup and plastic spoon.

"I was, but Mark and Cindy Johnson decided they wanted to look at even more houses," he said, voice laced with frustration.

"More? How many does that make?"

"Twelve in that last two weeks. But judging from the way Mrs. Johnson kept turning up her nose, I doubt I'll be seeing a sale. I finally suggested that if they didn't see anything they liked, they might want to consider hiring an architect to build a new house from scratch."

"Ouch. Pawning those two off onto some unsuspecting architect. I'd pity that poor bastard. Still, I think you're right. Cindy Johnson will never be happy otherwise, even though it means you won't be seeing a sale."

"I am nothing, if not practical," Heero replied wryly. "Getting those two off my back will save me time and money in the long run. But now, thanks to Mrs. Johnson and her very specific tastes, I'm hours behind."

"That is still no excuse to skip lunch," she said as she peeled the lid off the container and waved away the steam that wafted into the air.

Heero sniffed cautiously. "What's this?"

"Bean soup from the diner on Broad. I knew you were going to ignore me again and work right through lunch, so I brought some back with me for you." She shoved the spoon into his hand and tucked a napkin under his chin, ignoring the death glare being leveled at her.

"Relena, I told you, I don't have time..."

"Nonsense. You can spare five minutes. I'm going to sit here and watch you eat all of that soup, mister."

He glared at her again. "You're not going to leave until I give in to your demands are you?"

She shook her head. "No. I'm not. Now eat."

Heero sighed and dipped the spoon into the piping hot soup. Relena smiled victoriously as her boss gingerly tasted the soup, then looked at it in surprise.

"This is good."

"Isn't it? It's their specialty. Now eat up. The sooner you get finished, the sooner you can leave."

Heero set down the spoon and sighed. "Relena, I can't leave, at least not yet."

The blonde secretary crossed her arms in front of her chest and narrowed her eyes. "Yes, you can. You've been working way too hard, especially since your grandfather died. And that was over a year ago. You need this vacation before you work yourself into an early grave."

"Yes, Relena, I know. You've been harping at me to take some time off for months now. And I will. Starting tomorrow. Until then, I have work to do."

Relena rolled her eyes, sighing in frustration. Heero was her boss, but she cared about him - probably more than she should, though she would never admit it. Not that she had a chance with him anyway. Still, he was a friend, and he had helped her out by giving her a job when she had needed one. The least she could do was take care of him and make sure he was taking care of himself. From what she could gather of Heero's past, no one had ever really cared for him except his crotchety old grandfather. She knew Heero had loved the old man, and he had taken his death really hard. She suspected he had thrown himself into working at his real estate business in order to deal with the loss, and as a way to keep his grandfather's memory alive. Heero's grandfather had always believed in working hard to get ahead in life, and Heero seemed determine to live up to his grandfather's expectations. But all that would be in vain if he worked himself to death. That was why she was pushing him into taking a little time off. The man needed to relax, and a week's vacation would do him a world of good, or so she thought.

"Heero, can't you just call it a day and leave now? I'm sure whatever you need to do can wait until you get back. And if it can't, I'm positive Wufei can handle whatever needs to be done."

Heero shook his head. "No, Relena. You know I don't like to leave anything unfinished." He stared at her and put his spoon down again. "Look, I promise to get out of here on time. If there's anything not finished by five o'clock, I'll leave it. Deal?"

Relena searched his face for any signs of trickery, but in the end decided her boss was being sincere. If he promised to leave by five, he'd leave. She'd already gotten him to take a whole week off. She could live with that.

"Deal. Five o'clock, and not one minute later."

"I promise." He picked up his spoon and ladled it with some soup. He noticed her still staring at him and frowned. "You really are going to stand there and watch me eat this, aren't you?"

"Oh yes. Just because I believe you when you say you'll leave on time does not mean I trust you not to get so involved in your work you'll let your soup go cold. That's good soup, Yuy. And you're going to swallow every drop. Now... eat."

"Yes, ma'am," Heero replied, lifting the spoon obediently to his lips.

------------------------------------------------------

Heero sighed as he slipped the last form into the manila folder and set it aside. Two reports down, one to go. He glanced at the clock. It was a little after four. If he hurried, he would be able to meet Relena's deadline after all. He really didn't feel like facing another lecture from the woman. She could be damned stubborn when she set her mind to it. Not that he minded too much. It was good to have someone he considered a friend. He hadn't had very many of those in his life.

He was reaching for his third and last folder when a little red blinking light on his phone caught his attention. Lifting the receiver to his ear and propping it up with his shoulder, he punched the button with his finger before taking out the papers in the folder.

"Yes, Relena?"

"There's a call for you on line one," his secretary's voice said.

Heero sighed. So much for getting his work done by five. "Does it sound important?"

"You should probably take this call, Heero." Funny, Relena's voice sounded a little... weird.

"All right. Transfer please."

Two little clicks signaled the transfer. "Lowe Real Estate. How may I help you?"

"To whom am I speaking, please?" a very cultured female voice came from the other end of the line.

"This is Heero Yuy."

"Ah, Mr. Yuy. Just the man I was searching for. Your mother was Hokuto Lowe, yes?"

Heero frowned. "Yes, that was my mother's name. Is there something I can help you with?"

"My name is Helena Carrington-Maxwell." Heero sat up a little straighter. Everyone around these parts had heard of the Maxwells, the local family that had made it big with their paper mill back in the 20s and had made it through the Depression relatively unscathed to become one of the wealthiest families in the Northwest. He didn't know much about the current family, save that they had their roots in Tranquillity Bay and owned several choice pieces of property in and around the area.

"Mrs. Maxwell," he acknowledged smoothly. "How may I be of assistance to you?"

"I was at boarding school with your mother when we were girls. She was such a dear friend to me. I was sorry to learn of her passing."

"Thank you, but... my mother died nearly fifteen years ago," Heero replied, not quite sure where this conversation was going.

"I know. I sent my condolences to your grandfather. I'm sorry I couldn't make it to her funeral, but I couldn't make it out to California at the time. I wish I had. I would have loved to meet you. Hokuto always said if she ever had children, she wanted a son. I'm sure she would be proud."

"Thank you." He was more confused than ever, but didn't want to offend the woman by asking her to get to her point.

Fortunately, the woman seemed to read his mind. "The reason I am calling you, Mr. Yuy, is because I have decided to sell the family's summer home, Whispering Winds."

Heero blinked. "I... see. Would you like me to direct you to one of the larger real estate agencies in the area or..."

"No, I want you to handle it yourself."

Heero felt his heart leap into his throat. Whispering Winds was a multimillion dollar estate. A sale of this magnitude was unheard of for a company as small as his. But oh, the commission alone would be enough to pay his bills on the building for the rest of the year with perhaps enough left over to make those much needed repairs on his grandfather's - now his - house.

"Mrs. Maxwell, I am... honored you would have thought of me for this, but don't you think one of the larger agencies would have a better chance at selling Whispering Winds? My agency is very small, and I'm not sure we would be able to accommodate you."

"Nonsense. My accountants have told me that even small companies can reach the right clientele with well placed ads and the Internet. I'm sure you will do fine. You will, however, need to come out and look the place over before you put it on the market. You'll have to hire a landscaping crew to clean up the grounds. They've been rather neglected these past few years. I'll need you to inspect the house for any repairs you might think need doing. Hire whomever you want and have the bills sent to my accountants."

Heero hurriedly jotted all this down, frowning as he did so. "How soon would you like this done?"

"As soon as possible. I'd like to have it ready to be looked at by the end of the month."

Heero glanced at his calendar. That didn't leave much time. "I'm supposed to begin my vacation tomorrow, but I suppose I can drive out to Whispering Winds and have a look around."

"Splendid. In fact, if you did not have any other plans, you are welcome to stay as long as you like in order to see what needs to be done. I had the power and water turned back on a couple of weeks ago so my accountants and I could go through the house, cataloguing what could stay and what family treasures needed to be shipped to my home. The estate is fully furnished, if somewhat neglected."

Heero thought it over quickly. Whispering Winds was an oceanfront estate. He could take his vacation there and still have work to do to keep him from being idle. It seemed like the perfect solution. He had been dreading having a whole week of nothing to do. Now he could relax and go through the estate at a leisurely pace.

"I'll take you up on that offer then, ma'am. I can leave for Whispering Winds tomorrow afternoon."

"Excellent. I'll have a representative from my accounting firm drop of a set of keys and the catalogue lists and other papers at your office tomorrow morning."

"My secretary will still be here," Heero said. "Just leave anything you wish to send with her, and I'll pick them up before I leave."

"Wonderful. Please call me as soon as you have an estimate, Mr. Yuy. Thank you."

"No, thank you."

He hung up the phone and sat back in his chair, staring at his desk in amazement. He was actually going to get a chance at selling one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in the area. He glanced at a photo of his grandfather, wondering if the old man would have been proud of him.

The door opened and Relena stuck her head inside. "Was that who I think it was?"

Heero nodded. "Helena Carrington-Maxwell."

"And... what did she want?"

"She wants to sell Whispering Winds, and she wants me to handle it."

Relena's eyes grew as wide as saucers. "Whispering Winds? That huge mansion on the cliffs? Really?"

Heero winced. Relena's voice got really squeaky when she was excited. "Yes. She wants me to have it fixed up, then place it on the market. I'll be going out there tomorrow to see what needs to be done."

"Heero, that's wonderful! That's... that's..." She frowned. "That's not going to happen. You start your vacation tomorrow!"

Heero sighed. He had known this was coming. "Relena, I'll go mad if I don't have anything to do for an entire week. This will be perfect."

"No! You're supposed to go do something fun on your vacation, Heero, not sit alone in a dusty old house. You should get out, go to a few parties, meet a nice... guy... and have some fun!"

Heero resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He knew Relena was still a little hung up on him, even though she knew where his preferences lay. But he'd had enough. This argument was getting old.

"Relena, I'll be fine. I prefer to be alone anyway. I can relax by the ocean and see what needs to be done in the way of repairs in the meantime. I'll make sure to not to work too hard and enjoy myself while I'm there."

Relena opened her mouth as if to argue, but one glare from Heero changed her mind. "Fine. Do what you want. You will anyway," she conceded.

"I'm glad you see things my way, 'Lena," he answered, smirking at her.

"Yeah, yeah. Just... be careful, okay?"

"Careful? Why? Afraid I'll go swimming right after I eat, get a cramp, and drown?"

She frowned at him. "That's not funny." She fidgeted and looked embarrassed. "It's stupid. Just forget I mentioned it."

"No, Relena. Tell me."

"It's just... well... Whispering Winds is rumored to be... haunted."

Heero laughed. "Trust me, Relena, I think I can handle myself against a few ghosts."

"I know. Just... be careful anyway, okay? Because if something happens to you, I swear I will kill you myself."

"I'll be sure to remember that, Relena," he replied dryly. "Now go away. My vacation starts in half an hour and I still have a last bit of paperwork to finish."

"Right. Five o'clock, Yuy. And not one minute after."

"I hear and obey, Relena. I hear and obey."

tbc...