Author: Sparkle Itamashii
Title: Inheritance
Warnings: Respect the rating. Please see my profile for details.
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing AC is NOT MINE.
Chapter Five
For once in his life Quatre wasn't waiting around the entranceway for me when I arrived. I passed the maid at the door with a polite smile and a hasty excuse. She tried to detain me, saying that Quatre had asked not to be disturbed. She acted as if I would actually interrupt him if he was doing something important. Of course… her idea of important and my idea of important probably differed greatly.
When I knocked on the doorframe to his room, I got no response so I just gently pressed the door open and walked inside. I smiled, seeing him laying sideways on the bed, fast asleep. It was quite comical; he must have been sitting on the edge and laid back thinking he would just relax for a minute. God, he looked awful though, like he hadn't slept in weeks and he definitely didn't look like he'd been eating properly. I'm sure the Maguanacs were stressing themselves as well, being unable to do anything that would force Quatre to do either.
As I didn't want to wake him, I slipped off my shoes and traversed the room as silently as I was able. I gingerly sat on the edge of the bed but he appeared to be rather dead to the world. Jumping on the bed next to him probably wouldn't have woken him. The way I saw it I would let him sleep- we could always discuss everything tomorrow. I stretched out next to him and closed my eyes, thinking I would wake a nap (after all, I'd gotten up at an ungodly hour to beat Heero to the door) and get some dinner in a bit.
When I next opened my eyes morning light filtered through the curtained windows, bathing everything golden. I peered sleepily at Quatre, who was already awake beside me. As I reached up to rub groggily at my eye he glanced over, shifting so he could lie on his side and face me. He smiled and I relaxed, seeing a bit of the old Quatre returning. Sleep had definitely done him a world of good.
"You should have woken me, Quatre." I yawned, stretching out in the most deliciously pleasant way.
"I know but you looked like you could use the sleep." He replied lazily, propping his head on one hand. "I'm sorry I wasn't up to welcome you yesterday."
"Don't worry about it. You needed the sleep more than I did." I waved a hand dismissively at him. He always worried about the littlest things. "Did you think of anything?"
He made an indistinct noise and shook his head. "Maybe you should tell me the whole story. You weren't very clear on the phone."
Groaning, I closed my eyes and after only a moment of hesitation, launched into a detailed explanation of everything that had happened since Heero and I had left the funeral home the day before. Quatre, for his part, looked properly disgusted with Heero's attitude and behavior. He said very little, only stopping me for clarification. When I finished he shook his head and lay back, stretching out as well.
"All that and you… still think it is a good idea to let a kid live on the same continent as him?"
I scowled good naturedly at his sarcasm but he only grinned sympathetically. Sighing, I nodded. "I can't just back down now, right?" I asked quietly. "I mean we've come this far and if I don't get her then he's going to have won." I sat up a little to look him seriously in the eyes. "He's still… It's like he is still living in the war, Quatre. He can't let go of the past, even though things are different now. All that is the past."
"Are you sure it's really past?" He queried skeptically. "With Relena-" He closed his eyes, jaw clenching against the memory.
Involuntarily I mimicked his reaction. The loss of our friend was still to raw for us to gain any sort of proper distance from it. "I know. But I'm trying to just ignore that factor right now, since we don't have any information. Maybe when we know something more then I can deal with that aspect of the situation but right now…" I trailed off and shook my head. "There's too much else to handle."
"I'm sorry; you're right." He digressed. "So you want to adopt Mara, correct?"
"That's the plan but I'm pretty sure they won't let us have her after yesterday's display." I said, disheartened. "If Heero won't go in to get tested we can't prove he's the real father, either."
Quatre gave me a funny look, quite like the one I'd seen him use when I was being particularly dimwitted. "Who says he's got to go in to get tested?"
"The agency said that-"
"No, Duo." He grinned, cocking an eyebrow in an amused manner. "Who says he has to go in to get tested…"
My eyes widened as realization dawned. "If we could get a biological sample from him… He wouldn't have to go anywhere."
"Exactly." He scrunched his nose as he thought. "So what's easy to get that has DNA?"
"Fingernails… Hair… Blood…" I ticked off materials on my fingers as I went.
"Uh… Well let's not try blood right away, shall we?" He replied with a hint of nervousness. "What else is there? Skin flakes, hair-"
"We got hair. What about saliva?" I grinned wickedly. "Or semen!"
Quatre finally laughed, whacking me across the chest without sitting. "Don't be crude." He chided, clearly not meaning it.
I curled up on my side and pillowed my head on my bent arm. "You really think he'd go for something like that?"
"As long as you're discreet it shouldn't be a problem." He gave me a mock appraising look and sighed hopelessly. "Although I suppose you're about as discreet as a raging bull in a china shop…" He smiled and I could see the seriousness creeping back into his features. "All you've got to do is prove he's the father. Then Mara is under your care and protection by default."
"You don't suppose Relena ever managed to get DNA from him, do you? Maybe squirreled away somewhere that only she knew the location…" I joked, grinning.
"Actually, that is entirely possible." He responded, much to my surprise.
I sat up, openly gawking. "What?"
With a shake of his head he smiled regretfully. "They're still going through her possessions and files. From what I understand she had Pagan scramble a lot of the paperwork, especially anything concerning Mara. Well you know how senile he's getting… If she did have records it might be weeks before anyone else comes across them if he can't remember where they are."
"Haven't they found anything yet?" I queried dubiously.
"Nothing useful." He huffed and looked over at me. "They haven't found any records for Mara at all. I'd suspect she wasn't really theirs except there's no way she can't be. Just looking at her you'd know."
"Why do you suppose she never told Heero?" I raised an eyebrow. "And how did you manage to keep it a secret from both of us for three years?"
He winced. "I wondered when you were going to ask me about that." He said quietly. "I really thought you knew. Relena expressly asked that no one even breathe a word about Mara until she'd made the 'adoption' official. She didn't even want us to mention it among ourselves."
I puzzled over that for a few minutes before shifting to gaze up at the ceiling. "Why do you suppose she wanted everything to be so secret?" I mused. "I mean, I can understand that she'd want to keep it quiet but not telling Heero he was a father? Scrambling documents?" I scrunched my nose and rested my hands behind my head. "Did she… you know… leave a will or anything?"
Quatre made a noise of assent, leaving a moment before he tried to speak again. "According to Phil she did have a will. She had it drawn up when Mara was born, apparently. At her insistence, though, she retained the only copy."
"Let me guess… her copy is MIA."
"Bingo." He shook his head. "I don't understand why she was being so secretive, either. She was always careful but this borders on paranoia, you know?"
"Yeah. It's not like her at all." I tried to ignore the sinking feeling that crept slowly into my gut. Yeah, something was definitely up- first Heero was hiding things and now Relena had been as well. "You don't suppose she kept it from Heero and I so we'd stay together, do you?"
He shifted uncomfortably. "It's possible but not probable. She would have at least told Heero- you just don't leave people in the dark about kids."
"So you think there's another reason?"
"It could have been a matter of time, Duo. Maybe she was going to tell him when she told the rest of the world." He chuckled, but the noise held no humor. "None of us were particularly well adapted individuals when the war ended, if you recall. I'd have put Heero in charge of a cache of nuclear weapons before I'd have put him in charge of a baby."
"Che, touché." I acquiesced.
I'm sure I was the same way- put me at the controls of a mobile suit and even now I'd be perfectly at home but leave me alone with a child who needs to be taken care of and I'd probably have a nervous breakdown. Lord only knows why I was pushing to get this kid… I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it. But I guess… I had to try.
Technically I wasn't really a part of the situation, aside from being with Heero, so I shouldn't have had any sway. I had no right or legal claim to the child. I had no duty to protect her or take care of her or anything like that. I didn't owe her anything and even though Relena had been a close friend I wasn't the one who had a responsibility to look after her child now that she was gone. So why did I care?
I cared because Heero couldn't. When Heero loved something it was tough love, rough and ragged around the edges. It hurt. It wasn't clean and it was rarely pretty. He was raw inside and out, new to being human. When something got too close he lashed out at it and if it wanted to stay he let it. I wanted to see if I could change that, heal him. Make him care.
Aside from that, aside from wanting to help Heero I wanted to help myself. Heero may not have had a parental bone in his body but… well, I did. There was no way for me to have a kid with Heero- I would never actually put a child through what Quatre had been through. Quatre had spent most of his life thinking he was just a test-tube baby and it practically ruined him. He's going to carry scars from those beliefs for the entire rest of his life. How could I do something like that and think it was okay?
This was different though.
Mara was 'real.' She was Heero's and that was enough for me and I couldn't honestly think of a person I would have chosen over Relena to be her mother. It pained me that she'd hid it from us but I knew I would get over that quick enough. Whatever the reason, I'm sure it was good. It had to be.
"Hey, Q?"
"Mmm?" He mumbled, already falling back asleep at my extended silence.
"Are you hungry?" I grinned. "Cause I'm starving and I need to get back home. Heero and I are going to have a lot to talk about."
/End Chapter Five, Inheritance/
