Author: Sparkle Itamashii
Title: Inheritance
Warnings: Respect the rating. Please see my profile for details.
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing AC is NOT MINE.
Chapter Eight
Instinct and trained reaction both kicked in at the same time when Heero made a grab for my knife. In a fight you never let the enemy have your weapon and… well, Heero was fucking scary when he wielded knives. No one in their right mind would willfully let him have one if they could help it- especially not me. So instead of surrendering my weapon to my pissed-off opponent, I let my legs buckle and dropped out of reach. With a hiss of pain he snapped his hand away from me.
I rolled and got to my feet as quickly as possible, facing him with wide eyes. I was too stunned to feel anything but shock and my heart was kicking wildly against my chest, making it hard to breathe. "I'm sorry!" I blurted, before I could think of anything more intelligent to say.
"Like hell you are." He growled, pressing the palm of one hand to the palm of the other. Blood leaked out around the edges of his grasp.
My stomach lurched at the sight of it, though I wasn't sure if it was the blood or the fact that I'd actually hurt him. It brought me around and I suddenly realized what was going on as my brain caught up with the rest of me. I'd really cut him. Twice. We'd gotten into spats before this but neither of us had been armed. Neither of us had gotten hurt for real. Not like that.
"Oh god, Heero," I breathed, my hand trembling as I stared at his hand, "I didn't mean- are you all right?"
"I'm fine." Somehow Heero managed to make 'fine' sound like 'when I get my hands on you I'm going to take that knife and shove it down your throat'. "Or I will be when you give me the knife."
Yeah right, good try. "Calm down and maybe I'll give it to you." I said cautiously. I hadn't cut him on purpose either time but I was pretty sure he wouldn't afford me the same mercy right now. When Heero got pissed he fought dirty and I'd been on the wrong end of his wrath before today. I knew better.
He glared fiercely for a second before relaxing back half a step and offering a blatantly false peace. "I am calm." Very carefully he drew a controlled breath and let it out before extending his hand. "Give me the knife."
"You are so bad at lying, you know?" I swallowed nervously, knowing that I sounded a lot more confident than I felt. He made a half-hearted attempt to take the knife and I ducked away again, finding myself back against the counter.
As much as I hate to admit this, Heero was better at fighting than I could ever hope to be. He was acting calm now but all I had to do was look at his eyes to know that the second I got close enough he would go after me. Maybe if I could just convince him I wasn't going to do it again…
"I didn't do it on purpose," I entreated gently, making as though to put my knife on the counter top. It was only as I did so that I noticed how tightly I'd been holding it. My fingers had cramped around it, knuckles turning vaguely white.
"You expect me to believe you didn't do this on purpose? How much blood is on the knife? Enough for a DNA test?" He replied stonily. I watched warily as he took a controlled breath and straightened. I could almost believe he was calming down now. "Don't lie to me."
My eyes narrowed at the accusation. He knew damn well I didn't lie, especially not about something trivial and especially not to him. Never to him. "Go to hell." I said scathingly, giving up the notion of setting the knife down for him. "I wasn't even thinking about that."
Truthfully, I hadn't been but now that he mentioned it… that was a very good idea; in the 'this is the most horribly stupid idea I've ever had' sort of way. There might not have been enough from the first cut on his arm but the blade definitely shone with red at the edges from the second laceration. It would be more than enough…
But that still didn't mean I'd done it on purpose.
Yeah, I was determined to get DNA but I wasn't stupid.
It pissed me off that he thought I was. It pissed me off more to think that he knew I wasn't and was only saying it to get under my skin, which was a more likely option. Heero was like that a lot of time; he knew exactly what was going on and chose the words that would raise the most reaction, good or bad.
"You know I didn't do it on purpose," I continued testily when he didn't respond. "You were standing too close when I turned and then you made a grab for the knife." My words sounded clipped with anger and I knew he heard the change in tone clearly because he stopped moving as well. Things were getting too serious.
"Don't make this out to be my fault." He snapped in return, standing stock still only a few feet from me. "Give it to me."
Extending one hand, he looked me directly in the eyes and I knew that he was calming down; he knew I hadn't done it on purpose but there was no way he could back down without admitting he was wrong. We both knew he wouldn't do that and I didn't expect him to, quite honestly. I'd have thought something was wrong if he'd done something like that. He was expecting me to do something to alleviate the seriousness of the situation, just like I always did.
"Why; so you can clean it?" I returned mockingly and the ire had left my voice as well. I froze up as soon as the words left my mouth, eyes widening. My gaze dropped suddenly to the knife as I realized what I'd just said.
Clean it…
I glanced to the very raw chicken still sitting on the counter.
Aw, fuck.
But… that did give me an idea.
"Heero, listen." I told him, holding up my hands in surrender at last and moving away from the sink. No stand off was worth letting him get salmonella poisoning; especially not on his hand. I liked his hands. I liked them a lot. "You've got to get those cuts cleaned right now. I didn't clean the knife after cutting the chicken."
He looked to his still bleeding hand and seemed to take a moment to consider my words before acquiescing to the fact that the wounds did need some sort of attention. Keeping his eyes on me, he closed the distance to the sink. I moved so that I was a fair enough distance away from him and watched him turn on the water. As soon as he reached for the soap, though, he took his gaze off of me.
Perfect.
While he was distracted washing his hands I could safely escape with the knife.
It was a golden opportunity, so I took it.
Of course it was a horrible idea to try.
Everything happened so fast that I barely had time for a reaction. The second I thought he was distracted I made a dash for the exit but in that same moment he grabbed another knife from the counter and latched onto my arm. I recoiled as best I could, hoping to drop away again but his grip was too strong. I faintly registered the fact that Artemis was cowering under the kitchen table still, watching her masters fight. The base of my spine banged sharply against the edge of the table as I suddenly found myself flat on my back atop it. I closed my eyes as I saw the knife descend, flinched when I heard the solid thunk of it embedding… into wood.
Slowly, I opened my eyes.
The handle of the knife wavered beside me to my left, looming into my vision from next to my jaw. It was sunk deep into the table, pinning me through the cloth of my shirt, right by the crook of my neck. I choked as I took a breath, trying to start my systems up again from the automatic, terrified shut down I'd just experienced. Adrenaline coursed in my blood so heavily that I swore I could feel it- I could certainly hear the blood rushing past my ears and my panicked heartbeat was practically thunder all around me.
Heero's fingers wrapped around my right hand, prying at the death-grip I still had on my knife. I almost instinctually responded by struggling away as I turned to face him. The knife at my shoulder bit into my flesh, sending an electric, stinging sensation all down my arm. I cried out, jerking away from the source of pain and reaching over with my right hand to yank the knife out of the table to avoid a repeat performance.
"You know, screw you, man." I griped, irritated but feeling strangely safer now that Heero had what he wanted. Glaring over to him, I raised an eyebrow at the blood smeared on his uninjured hand. He must have turned on me without even touching the soap. "What's your problem?"
"You're my problem." He growled, wiping the sides of the blade on his thigh; it left a thin line of red-brown as it seeped into the cloth. A second later he wiped his hands on his pants as well, leaving bloody handprints. Great. He would probably insist on doing laundry, too.
"I'll give you a problem." I mock-threatened, still irritated as I sat up, wincing at the cramping pain that tingled along my spine. With my free hand I made a half-hearted jab in his direction but he easily dodged, even though he hadn't been looking at me. As he dropped into an en guard stance with his pilfered knife, I raised one eyebrow and managed a breathy chuckle. "What are you doing?"
"I've had enough being attacked for one day."
Forcing myself to relax, I nodded. Okay, I could follow that path. He was done fighting and I was done fighting back. Things like this between us- fights, I mean- often ended this way; abruptly. I knew how he would handle it; he would pretend that nothing had happened and I would go along with it and we would be as normal as we ever were until the next time. I was used to that sort of reaction by now. It was a part of Heero and as much as I hate to admit it… well, it's a part of me, too. More often than not I'd rather ignore a problem or make light of a situation than face it and risk worse things happening.
"You and me both." I said lazily, as my irritation faded to simple weariness. Trying to see my shoulder while dabbing gingerly at the slice with two fingers, I shook my head. "Marring a perfect being like me should be an offense punishable by death. I should have your hide for this, you know." I joked quietly, pulling my shirt collar down enough to get a good look. "Shit, I'm really bleeding…"
"Stop whining and go do something about it."
He was staring at my shoulder when he said it, more than likely assessing the wound and coming to the same conclusion I had- I'd been hurt worse in the past. I closed my eyes against the memory of being locked in a cell, beaten and broken. Past was past, I reminded myself. What mattered was fixing things now.
"Fine," I responded, tucking my left arm close to my body so I wouldn't move my shoulder. With a small smile I headed for the bathroom.
On my way past him I considered lightening the mood just a little more. Containing a laugh, I flicked my hand out and tried to smack him on the ass with the flat of the knife. Almost as if he'd predicted I would do something, he turned away my knife with his own and slapped my hand for trying. That was better. He was definitely a lot less tense now- hadn't even tried to break skin. I hissed and jerked away, still grinning.
"Don't make me kick your ass." A smirk snuck onto his lips. "Again."
I struck out with the knife in an easy arc and he caught me halfway with a clatter of metal. "Wash your hand, stupid." I stared at him for a second before shrugging and giving him a more concerned look. "You should probably get it checked anyhow."
"You worry too much," he said, heading for the sink again. "I'm fine."
"What if I slice you up a little more?" I suggested cheekily, dogging after him. Yeah, he was definitely acting more like himself- irritated but tolerant. I fully expected a 'shut up' any time now. "Would you come with me then?"
"Where?" He asked, batting at me with his knife in a half-hearted attempt to get me to listen to him and leave.
I knocked his knife back as if I'd seen it coming, and huffed. "Where do you think? Doctor's office. What if you get salmonella poisoning? What if it infects your whole hand and it falls off and- ah!" I dodged as he stabbed at me and gave me a look that told me exactly how insanely stupid he thought I was. "What! It could happen!"
"Do you even know what salmonella is?" He asked, exasperated.
"…Yes." He cocked an eyebrow and I rolled my eyes. "No, not really. But I know it's not good!"
"If you're so worried, go get a band-aid, right?"
It was my turn to raise an eyebrow as I glanced over his shoulder to the gash that went clear across his palm. The silver of the sink was stained with red as he washed it. "Heero, band-aids are not- shouldn't you get stitches or something?"
"Will you shut up if I do?"
"Yes." I responded instantly. I hid a smile at the way he finally did tell me to shut up, just like I'd expected.
"Fine. Go get some gauze from the bathroom and I'll get the keys." As soon as the words were out of his mouth I darted for the bathroom so that he wouldn't see me grinning.
Score! As far as I knew, Heero had never been to a real hospital before in his life. Hell, I'd watched him set his own broken leg- what use did he have for doctors? I'm sure he could have fixed this ourselves, but why would I let him do that? If the office saw us they'd have to put us on record and what Heero didn't know was that it entailed a blood test. Maybe a long time ago they'd have needed a lot of blood but they didn't need much now. They'd have enough just cleaning his cut.
I was pulling a container of bandages out of the cupboard beneath the bathroom sink when I heard the doorbell ring. Confused, I rose and stuck my head out the door, looking down the hall to where Heero was emerging from the kitchen. He shot me a look asking if I'd invited anyone over and I shook my head. As far as I knew we weren't expecting company.
His brow furrowed and he shuffled the towel in his hand so that he could reach for the handle with his uninjured one. After peeking through the peephole, he glanced back to me again for a split second. The click of the door unlocking was too loud in the complete silence.
/End Chapter Eight, Inheritance/
