Author: Sparkle Itamashii
Title: Inheritance
Warnings: Respect the rating. See profile for details.
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing AC is NOT MINE.
Chapter Four
The adoption center really wasn't like what I expected it to be. I'm not really sure what I expected it to be. I suppose I thought it would be like an orphanage or a nursery or something with a front room and a play area or… well, something. But I didn't see anything like that. There weren't any children at all. In fact, when I entered I felt like I was walking into a doctor's office. There were two people sitting nervously in the hard red chairs, alternately flipping through magazines and fidgeting. Heero gave them both a glare as though it were their fault he'd been dragged here.
Okay maybe I hadn't dragged him here but it came pretty damn close.
I'd woken up half an hour earlier than he usually gets up only to find that… he was already awake. Half-dressed with only one leg in my pants I scrambled to our front room and dashed in front of the door at almost the same instant as Heero reached for the handle. I slammed the door just as he opened it and pressed myself against it, glaring at him and breathing hard. He glared stonily back, though the effect was somewhat lessened by the half-burnt piece of toast hanging from his mouth.
"Geph ou uf ie ay, uo." He attempted, finishing pulling his hand through his sleeve and switching his briefcase to his right hand.
"I'm not getting out of your way." I snorted, hiking my pants up and buttoning them without moving from my position. "We're going to the adoption agency."
"Oh, I'n noh."
"You agreed last night." I shot.
He shifted, pulling the piece of toast out of his mouth with his left hand. "When? I don't remember that." I gave him a flat look and realization almost visibly dawned on him. "That does not count as agreeing." He growled, reaching for the door handle again.
Grabbing at his hand, I positioned myself over the handle so he couldn't get to it without physically moving me. "Yes it does."
"I have work." He objected, snatching his hand back and giving me an offended glare.
"I called them last night."
"Do you even know where you are going?" His eyes narrowed and I could tell he was beginning to understand he'd been cornered. If I wasn't careful he'd snap.
I presented the piece of paper I'd grabbed from the nightstand and held it up for his inspection. "Directions."
"I'm not driving."
Taking his briefcase as collateral, I finished changing and forced him to have a real, sit down breakfast before we headed down to the agency's… headquarters? Home base? Main office? I didn't even know what it was, much less what to call it.
Just outside the door, he grabbed my arm. I halted, confused, but I decided not to say anything when I saw the way he was looking at the doors. I fell back a pace to stand beside him and let his hand slip down my arm. After a moment of silence he pulled his gaze away from the glass and looked me in the eyes.
"Please don't mention that I'm the father."
I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why not?"
"Do you trust me, Duo," He asked quietly, "because I'm going to have to ask that you trust me or I won't go in there."
Heero never really asked a lot from me. In fact, I don't recall him asking much of anything at all. Whatever I gave to him was usually what I chose to give. If all he wanted was for me to keep from mentioning that he was her biological father, I thought I could definitely handle that. After all, no one knew anyhow, right? I suppose it was a wise decision- if Relena's assassination wasn't just about Relena it wouldn't do for anyone to be given another target.
Apparently I wasn't the only one who'd thought to keep things low-profile. We'd waited only a few seconds, a phenomenon that seemed to greatly irritate the couple that had been waiting when we got there. They couldn't have understood why, but I did. People in waiting rooms tend to talk to anyone present in an attempt to ease the tension. If Mara was being kept a secret they wouldn't be taking a chance by letting it leak here.
Of course, they were being more than wary and it was pretty clear the lady we'd been brought to wasn't exactly keen on believing anything I had to say. She didn't say that outright but it was written all over in the way she held herself and the tone of voice that she used when replying to any remark I made.
"I know no one is supposed to adopt her for another three days. I understand that." I said patiently. "What I'm talking about is taking her after those three days."
"You do understand that this process takes more than a few days, don't you? There are all sorts of things- paperwork, house inspections, individual and couple interviews… They'll all have to be done before you can adopt any child."
"We're not talking about any child, we're talking about Mara." I ignored Heero's derisive snort. "Why can't we adopt her?"
"Right now the only one who could possibly take her would be her biological father and unfortunately no one seems to know who that is!"
I jumped at the mention but I kept my word to Heero about not mentioning that he was her real father. "But if you knew… she'd have to go to him, right?"
"If he could be found, yes," she said, a little puzzled. "None of the documents on Mara say anything about her father. There would have to be a DNA match or it would never go through."
"DNA?" I echoed, just as confused. I shifted uncomfortably and glanced to Heero, who was only glaring sullenly into space. Neither one of us had DNA on file anywhere. Somehow I doubted Heero would agree to take that trip. "Well, I mean… What if a document was found that just stated who it was?"
"I'm afraid only a DNA match will be sufficient."
"No tests." Heero hissed so only I could hear, shifting his glare to me. "So you can shove that idea."
I rolled my eyes and leaned over to speak quietly to him. "Well that's gonna have to be the plan." I said with exasperation. "It proves her father and then we take Mara home without a hassle."
"I don't want to take it home," he growled, folding his arms across his chest and collapsing back into the chair like a petulant child. "What part of "no" don't you understand- the 'n' or the 'o'?"
By this time the lady was giving both of us an appalled stare. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, keeping control of myself. This visit was not going anything like I had been wishing for. I suppose there had been some small part of me that clung to the sliver of hope that if I could just get Heero to the adoption agency that he would be able to behave himself and not cause a scene. Apparently I was expecting too much.
"Forgive us; He's just really nervous about all this. I mean first Relena dies and then we find out she had a child and then we were asked to take her and… well, I'm sure you can imagine that it is a little overwhelming.
"Bullshit." Heero quipped hotly. "I'm not overwhelmed. I don't want the kid living with us!"
"Heero!" I exclaimed, intending to prevent a tirade, but he spoke over me.
"Do you know how many guns we have in our house, ma'am?" He waited for her to nervously shake her head. "Twenty-five- six rifles, two shot-guns, and seventeen hand guns. Do you know how many of them are locked up or have gun-locks on them? Not. One."
"Heero!" I gaped. I'd gotten to my feet halfway through his speech, nearly toppling my chair in my haste. "Cut it out!"
"No!" He snarled, getting to his feet and snatching his jacket from the back of his seat. "I don't know why I even came with you. This is stupid. We're leaving."
"I'm not going anywhere until you calm down." I said with an icy calm I didn't feel. When he got like this it scared me a little bit- reminded me a little too much of the war and how ruthless and cold he could be.
"I am calm." He hissed just as frigidly. "If you're not coming now you can walk home."
I don't know why Heero was being such an ass about this. He'd never shown evidence of disliking children- one would think he would care even more when it came to his own flesh and blood. There was something I was missing- something big. The pieces of the puzzle just were not fitting together properly. Unfortunately without the whole picture I didn't stand a chance at understanding.
"If you leave without me, I won't have to because I won't be coming home." I threatened defensively.
He grimaced at the words, searching me over for any sign that I didn't mean it. "You can't possibly be serious. Where would you go?"
It didn't even matter that we were still being observed by a horrified social worker. "You know I don't fucking lie, Heero. In case you've forgotten I can take care of myself in normal society, unlike some people." I snapped. Grabbing my own coat, I turned to face the wide-eyed lady behind the desk. "I apologize for our rude behavior. Thank you for your time."
Heero twitched his arm away when I reached for it to drag him from the room. We glared in a contest of wills for a single breath before I huffed and turned away again. I could hear him walking behind me. He still had a habit of never stomping his feet while wearing shoes- his training was too deeply ingrained in him to let go of that. I ignored the meek, startled stares we received as we exited the building.
"Heero." I halted the second we were outside and the door had closed behind me.
"Not now." He said tiredly, drained of the offensive anger from a few moments ago. "We need to talk but it can wait until we get home."
"No," I said quietly, wrapping my arms closely around my waist and reigning in my self control for what I was about to do. "It can't."
"What?" The doors clicking unlocked was like a thunderclap in the silence. "Just get in the car."
"I'm not getting in the car, Heero." I tried unsuccessfully to keep my voice from trembling. "You're angry and you're acting like a jerk."
He pulled the door open without taking his gaze from me. "So… what? You're going to stand there?"
"Until you calm down, yes. I just might." I said defensively.
For another few seconds he glared viciously at me and then he shook his head. "Fine, whatever. You can walk."
He dropped into the driver's seat and slammed the door. I waited until the engine roared to life and watched as he reversed, tearing out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell. Yeah, definitely pissed. I sighed. Not like he hadn't done things like this before- he really was more like a little kid than he knew, throwing tantrums when he didn't get his way. Of course they were more violent, foul languaged tantrums than most two-year-olds could throw…
God, but I hadn't expected him to actually leave me here. We were what… nine or ten miles from home? Okay so it was walking distance but I didn't want to have to walk it. Since I knew it was going to be useless and goal-defeating to call Heero and ask him to come back for me, that meant I was going to have to call someone else.
I dug into my pocket, glad that for once I hadn't left my cell phone in the car. As much as I hated to interrupt Quatre, I figured he would be the only one who would have a clue what to do now. Obviously my method wasn't working so it was time to change strategies and hope we hadn't left too much of a god-awful impression with this agency that they'd never let us bring Mara home.
"Quatre?" I asked timidly when he answered the phone. He sounded like he'd been sleeping. At noon?
"Duo! Did you go? How'd it go? Are they going to let you-"
"Hey, woah!" I exclaimed, not sure whether to be cheered by his enthusiasm or disheartened because we'd managed to fuck up even this simple task. "We went but it was horrible. I just got outside. Heero's a little… Well, what are you doing, anyway? Did I wake you?"
"Oh… a little. Not really. I was dozing. I just got back about an hour ago, had some lunch, and came up to take a break. Things were really hectic." I heard him shifting, probably laying back down to get comfortable. "Everything degenerated into everyone yelling at everyone else so I called it quits for the week. I'm really not up to dealing with who isn't satisfied with this or that for whatever dumb reason they've invented now."
I smiled faintly and moved to the side of the building, out of range of the wind. "Tough morning?"
"I'll be over it by dinner. So what are you guys going to do now?" He asked curiously.
"Well… Heero kind of took the car and I'm a little stranded at the adoption agency. I was hoping you'd either be able to come pick me up or send someone else…"
His wince was audible. "That bad?"
"Worse. I really need to talk to you face to face on this one, Quatre. I don't know what to do and I don't know if I can handle this. I know I can't alone."
"No, definitely. You shouldn't have to. I'll call someone in the area and have them pick you up as soon as possible. Do you need to get anything from your house?"
"Nah. Not for tonight. If I think of anything I'll go tomorrow while he's at work."
"Good thinking. Take care, I'll see you soon."
I hung up and leaned back against the brick of the building, letting my head crack softly against it as I closed my eyes. This was already turning into far too long of a day. Why wasn't anything ever just black and white easy anymore? Why was Heero making such a big deal about this?
/End Chapter Four, Inheritance/
