Author: Sparkle Itamashii

Title: Inheritance

Warnings: Respect the rating. Please see my profile for details.

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing AC is NOT MINE.


Chapter Fifteen

Despite the problems with the car seat and the fact that Mara proved more intelligent than either of us, strapping herself into the carseat the second time, we made it home in relative peace. Well, I shouldn't say we made it home because we only made it as far as the park down the street. It was actually Heero's idea to pull over and let her have a go at the playground, which surprised me. The way he'd been acting he made it seem as if we were definitely going to break her now that she was in our care.

It was actually quite an enjoyable afternoon. I left the two of them in the sandbox (although Heero was more sitting on the edge while Mara immersed herself in the sand as completely as she was able) to forage for some kind of lunch. Luckily there was a hot dog vendor not too far away and when I mentioned having just gotten a child he suggested I offer her the hot dog without the bun. It wasn't a half bad idea, either, as I found out soon enough. At first I ignored him but when I offered the hotdog and the bun she refused to eat it. Confused and a little rattled at the defiance, I removed the bun and she happily accepted the hotdog with sandy hands.

"Is that… sanitary?" Heero asked, watching her eat.

"Probably… not," I surmised, though I couldn't bring myself to stop her. If Heero wanted to cause a public disturbance by trying to take it away from her he was perfectly welcome. As long as she was eating it, that was enough for me. "I bet she'd like the swings over there." I mentioned, motioning to the large swings across the park. There were a few on the end obviously made for younger children.

"They look dangerous."

I raised an eyebrow, taking a bite of my own hotdog. "You can strap her into the ones on the left, see? It can't hurt to try."

"Why? Everyone is happy right here."

"Oh-kay," I said, raising my hands in surrender. "But you're giving her a bath when we get home."

She made a very high pitched noise and trampled the dirt castle (really more of a mound) that she'd been building and looked to us to see what we made of the action. I waved and smiled, kicking Heero's ankle when he didn't respond. He glared at me before forcing a smile as well.

"Very nice Mara," he said, a sullen note tainting the overly happy tone.

Well, it was a start at least.

We stayed for a few more hours after that and I did manage to convince Heero to give the swings a try. Oddly enough, I ended up on the swing next to hers, kicking my legs and closing my eyes to really feel the wind on my face. It was getting dark, though, and I didn't know how much more patience Mara would have for staying in the confines of the park. I didn't want to set a bad routine, either. If we let her stay up on the first night back I had a horrible feeling that she would want to stay up for every night after.

She was surprisingly cooperative with us, although I suspect it was because she was tired. She fell asleep on the two minute car ride back to the house. If it had been up to Heero, she would have spent the night in the car seat ("why do we have to wake it up?"). Thankfully at least one of us was thinking.

"Don't argue with me, Heero," I said sternly as soon as we'd gotten into the house. I moved toward the front room to check the messages. "You heard Sasya tell us how to give her a bath. You let her into the sand box, not me."

He gave me a grumpy look as he helped Mara out of her shoes, but didn't respond. I waited until both of them disappeared down the hall before taking a seat on the couch by the phone. Two messages. I clicked the button and began to unlace my boots. The mechanical voice whirred to life, repeating a time and date for the first call. I came dangerously close to pressing delete without listening to the message, because it should have been Quatre's voice, telling us about Mara.

But it wasn't.

At first I was confused because I didn't recognize the voice, even though I had heard it before somewhere. The man didn't leave a name or a callback number, simply said "They want meteor. Call me."

What the hell? Wrong number?

The second message began to play and I made a scramble for a pen and paper when the lady's voice started. "This is Katie Helms from Doctor Spangler's office calling to tell you we have your results, if you'll please just give us a call back at-"

I scribbled down the number as the recording clicked off and rewound. I snatched up the phone and dialed, hoping that they hadn't found anything wrong. Certainly that lady would have said something or sounded more urgent if they had, right? I jumped when the phone stopped ringing and the same voice I'd just heard answered.

"Oh. This is Duo Maxwell. You guys called me earlier?"

"Good evening Mr. Maxwell. Yes, our office called about the results of the blood testing you had done?"

"Right!" I sat up, shifting the phone so that I could hold it between my ear and my shoulder. I picked at my boot laces again as I spoke. "Do I have to come and get them or…"

"That won't be necessary, sir. If you want to obtain copies I can have them mailed directly to you, otherwise I can transfer you to someone who is authorized to give you the results over the phone."

Tough, I thought to myself. If I had them mailed to us then I risked Heero finding out I'd had it done and that wouldn't be any good. "If you could just transfer me I think that'd save everyone time."

"All right sir, please hold for just a few minutes."

That annoying, vaguely heard elevator music began in the background as I waited. I didn't have to wait very long, as someone picked up the other side after only a minute or two. "Mr. Maxwell?"

"That's me!"

"You called for the results of your bloodwork?"

"Yes," I affirmed, wondering how many times I'd have to say it before someone told me.

"For the most part the results were unremarkable although I will say that I was a little concerned."

"Concerned?" I echoed, suddenly worried. "Why?"

"Well, to put it simply there's a strange marker in your blood. I admit to being confused as to what it was because it was obviously not there naturally. It looks almost like an antibody of some sort, though it doesn't act like one. It's not a full… program if you will. Were you ever exposed to any strange diseases?"

I winced internally, remembering the plague that had swept through the streets when I was only a child. "Yeah. I'm from the L2 colonies."

"Oh dear… I wasn't aware anyone that caught that survived…"

"I don't know if I caught it but I was around it and I'm still here. Would that account for the marker?"

"Now that you mention it, yes. I can double check for you but I seem to recall a similar pattern in some of the research they were doing on that disease."

"They never found a cure, did they?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"But it's not hurting me, whatever it is?" I crossed my fingers as I said it, hoping that this would not turn into a bigger deal.

"Not as far as I can tell. It's not doing anything except existing and if you are not experiencing any adverse effects, I can't see it being an issue."

Well, that was one problem avoided. "What about Heero's bloodwork?" I asked quietly, finally taking off my boots. "Anything unusual?"

"I'm afraid I can't give out that information; it would be a violation of our privacy policy for me to give the results to anyone outside of himself or his immediate family."

"I am his immediate family," I said irritably. "He's busy putting our daughter to sleep right now so if you would please just tell me everyone can get on with their lives."

Obviously flustered at the implication, he apologized and reported that Heero's blood appeared to have the same sort of marker, slightly altered, but was otherwise nondescript. That was fine- Heero had probably been exposed to a lot of the same things I had, growing up on the move like he had. Though the doctor asked me if I would allow either sample to undergo further testing, I denied him the privilege and hung up without saying goodbye.

Almost as soon as the phone clicked off, however, it rang. Startled, I answered it before realizing that it was probably just the office calling back. "Hello?"

"Duo?" It was Quatre.

Leaning back on the couch, I smiled. "You're a welcome interruption," I said quietly. "How're things there?"

He sighed heavily. "I've got good news and I've got bad news. What do you want to hear first?"

Wincing, I tossed around the idea of hearing the good news first but decided it would be better saved for last. "The bad news."

"No sign of Trowa. Catherine called to talk to him earlier today; apparently he didn't drive her home after all. I rang the circus master and a couple of his contacts in the area but none of them had seen him." I could hear him pacing on the other side of the line.

"Airlines?" I suggested worriedly.

"I had them checked but either he didn't go anywhere or he used an alias he hasn't told me." Some of his frustration leaked into his voice. "I left a few messages on his phone but beyond that there's hardly anything I can do. I'm worried, Duo."

"After what happened with Relena, you have every right to be," I said, trying to keep my voice level. "But you've got to think that he knows how to take care of himself. If he hasn't turned up dead, chances are pretty good that he's fine. If he had to go to ground somewhere because of something… well… I mean, I'm sure you'll be the first to hear from him. I mean, it could be as simple as him wanting a bit of space, right?"

"He would have called for that," Quatre insisted.

"But what if he didn't?" I knew as well as Quatre that Trowa would definitely have called if he were changing plans, especially if they were plans he'd made with Quatre. There was always a chance, though, that something had happened and he just hadn't called yet. "I'm just saying… don't make yourself sick worrying over it. You know very well that does no one any good."

"I know."

I waited for a moment before shifting and trying to lighten the mood a bit. "So, what's the good news?"

"Rashid just called. He's in the colonies and he's been in and out of the lab." I heard him finally settle somewhere. "He says there doesn't appear to be anything of interest; at least, nothing that could hurt anyone. I don't think it would hurt to let the public into the labs."

"What are you planning?" I asked suspiciously. Surely he wasn't thinking of handing over the access codes…

"I'm not planning anything," he said, sounding a little amused. "I'm just saying that if they can get in, they can have at it. I asked Rashid to investigate a little closer but I honestly don't think he'll find anything. If he does he'll bring it back with him."

"That's good news for you," I said happily. "Has he said if there was anything about the other labs in that one?"

"Ah, no." He let out a half-chuckle, half-sigh. "Sorry. I asked him to look, though. I think we're just being paranoid about it. If the doctors had had something worse, I think they would have used it, don't you? They were rather ruthless at times."

I groaned internally, remembering. They were royal bastards in their own right, despite how much they had done to help. I wasn't so sure that some of the sacrifices they'd made were really worth the reward but… well, it was because of what they'd done, what they'd created, that the war ended. I couldn't help being at least a little grateful to the old geezers. "Yeah, I guess."

He let me think for a moment before asking "How's Mara, by the way?"

"Heero's putting her to bed right now, actually."

"…You left them alone?" He sounded concerned.

"I uh… yeah." On second thought, maybe that wasn't the best idea ever. "You know," I admitted after a second, "I think it had to happen. He's going to have to get used to her sometime. Might as well be now."

He laughed and I relaxed a bit. "True enough. If you haven't heard anyone panicking yet, chances are that you'll be all right. You might want to check on them soon."

I heard the bathroom door open. "Ah, hold on a second." I covered the mouthpiece. "Heero, is everything okay?"

"It's… really wet."

I contained a groan and took a breath. "Are you going to put her to bed?"

"Do I have to?" He didn't bother waiting for a response. "I will."

"Quatre says hi!" I called.

"Hello Quatre," he replied in a patronizing tone. "Ask him if he knows how we get Mara's documents."

"Documents?" I questioned loudly. I uncovered the receiver. "Heero wants to know how we get Mara's documents."

"Like a birth certificate," Heero clarified as Quatre began talking.

"I know, Heero," I said patronizingly, even though I hadn't known. I'd never had real papers before in my life, although I assumed it made sense that she would have them. She didn't have anything to hide and unlike us she'd lived at a legit, stable home since she was born. I returned my attention to the phone. "I'm sorry, Quatre- what?"

"I said I didn't realize that you hadn't gotten them." He sounded a little confused. "Didn't they give them to you when you picked her up from the Peacecraft estate?"

"Should they have?" No one had said anything about taking anything but Mara. It was completely logical that we'd have to have that information now that I thought about it, but I guess it just hadn't occurred to me before now.

"Odd…" Quatre mused almost to himself. "They certainly should have given them to you."

"Maybe they didn't have them there? No one said anything so maybe they thought we already had them. Should I check with the adoption agency that she was registered with, do you think?"

It was quiet on the other side of the line for a few minutes and then finally he made a noise of surrender. "Yeah, that would be best. Do you want me to look into it?"

"They can fax them," Heero called. "It'd be best to have copies anyhow."

I relayed the message. "Heero says if someone finds them that they can fax us copies."

"You really should have the originals. I'll get someone on it in the morning."

"Okay." I smiled. "Hey man… thanks. I mean, for everything. I don't know what we'd all do without you."

"Die," he said casually, and I could hear the note of amusement in his tone. "None of you would make it without me running your lives."

"Ladies and gentlemen, the sad, sad truth." I paused, thinking I should probably go help Heero. "Are you busy tomorrow night?"

"Not particularly, why?"

"Come by," I suggested hopefully. "You sound like you need a break."

He laughed at that and I heard him switch ears. "All right. How does eight thirty sound?"

"Perfect. See you then."

"Good night and… keep an eye on those two."

I grinned. "Will do. Night."

Clicking the phone off I leaned back on the couch fully, bringing my arms up to rest my hands behind my head. Geezus. Things could never be black-and-white simple for us, could they? Just when what promised to be a normal life begins to come together, all this shit happens. Relena, leader of the world and mother of one, is killed, leaving The World's Most Inept Father in charge of her child. The press, for lack of anything better to do, starts breaking into the labs that could have open nasty old wounds about our past making everyone just a little bit nervous. Wu Fei starts acting nicely and Trowa goes missing.

Where does it end?

When do we get to call it quits and live an even semi normal life?

I want my biggest problem, for once, to be that gas has gone up in price or that our dog needs a bath. I want the only thing I have to complain about to be that I couldn't find what I wanted at the grocery store or that the kids across the street were being too loud. Or maybe even something fantastically simple like not being able to open the mayonnaise jar. Those are the sort of things I want to go wrong; the ones where no one's life is in danger if you screw up- even if you screw up a lot.

Heaving a sigh I clambered to my feet to see how far along Heero had gotten. The house had grown suspiciously silent and I was a little afraid something had happened. I stashed my boots by the front door and turned off the lights we'd turned on when we entered. Heero was so bad about leaving lights on where-ever he went; it really drove me crazy sometimes. But I never complained. I think in his own way it was a proclamation of safety. It was a small, silent declaration of 'I'm so safe now that I can leave the lights on and not worry about someone finding me' and that made me feel very, very good inside.

When I pushed open the door to Mara's room, I found him next to the child bed, half sitting on his knees and half laying draped on the edge. The little night-light in the corner bathed them both in a soft blue glow. Mara was asleep already, tiny fingers wrapped around one of Heero's. He was just staring at her, thumb stroking gently across the back of her hand. Smiling, I leaned against the doorframe, crossing my arms. Without even looking over, he broke the silence.

"Were we ever this little?"

"Yeah. Once upon a time…"

I know I sounded a bit more regretful than I should have, but I couldn't help it. Both Heero and I had missed most of our childhoods. He'd been in heavy training even then and I'd been trying too hard just to survive to be able to be a kid. How could I not regret losing everything our lives could have been?

Then again, I should have to ask because I know that it was all worth it. I know that surrendering our lives to a chosen path like we did saved countless lives. Our sacrifice meant that children like Mara all over would be able to grow up normally in a world not torn by war. Their happiness had to be worth it.

"I don't remember. It makes sense but I just don't… I remember being young, but not like this. We were never like this."

I shouldered away from the doorframe and crossed the few steps to his side. He looked up at me and I sighed. "If we had been, no one else would have been able to be like this, right?"

Very gently he tugged his finger out of her grasp and clambered to his feet. "Yeah. I guess you're right."

I put my arms around his neck and smiled for him again, wishing that he would tell me exactly what was going on inside that mixed up brain of his. "Don't wear that face, it doesn't suit you. What are you worried about?"

"I just don't want anything… bad to happen." Sighing, he rested his head against my collarbone. "It's nothing, really."

"Heero," I murmured, laying a quick kiss to his temple. "It's going to be okay. Hey, if we made it through the first day we can make it through anything."

He made a sort of noise and I couldn't tell whether he was agreeing or disagreeing but he picked up his head and moved out of my grasp toward the door. "Yeah, yeah. Come on, let's just go to bed. I have work…" He paused in the doorway and turned to look at me. "Actually…"

I grinned. "Actually you don't. Unless you were lying about taking the time off work…"

"I wasn't." He watched me take a few steps toward him before continuing. "What are the plans for tomorrow?"

"Haven't really got any." I almost completely closed the door behind me as I exited. "We showed her around and she met the dog already… I guess we should just spend time with her and get her used to being here." We moved down the hall together in silence.

He let me enter first and I flopped down on the bed, clothes and all. Raising an eyebrow, he removed his shirt. "You shouldn't get on the bed in those dirty clothes, Duo," he admonished.

I watched as he folded his shirt and dropped it neatly into his clothes hamper. "Are you suggesting I strip before getting into bed?"

"Don't make me repeat myself." He smirked, unbuttoning his pants.

Grinning, I followed his example and began to undress. "Wouldn't dream of it." Before I got very far, however, I recalled that we now had a toddler in the house. "Hey, close the door."

Again, he raised an eyebrow at me. "Why?"

"Because Mara's in the other room."

"It's asleep already."

"She," I growled, sitting on the edge of the bed. Of course, Heero had never been around young children. While I can't say I'm an expert, I could very clearly recall waking up in the middle of the night for any number of reasons when I'd been young. I'd been woken on numerous occasions by the other children, when they woke. "And they don't sleep through the night like we do, Heero."

Moving so that he was standing between my knees, he shrugged. "Then shouldn't we leave it open? It probably can't open doors yet and if we're needed then that could be a problem."

"Call her "it" one more time, Yuy, and I swear I'll- hey!"

He'd grabbed both my wrists and pushed me back on the bed so that I was laying on my back, my legs still over the edge. "You'll what?" He crawled halfway onto the bed atop me, teasing with an obviously fake scowl.

"I'll knock your nnngh…" Whatever I'd thought I would knock was promptly forgotten with the way he shifted against me. "Ah!" my head tilted back as I caught a wandering hand and smiled. "Close the door or I'll knock your fucking lights out, Heero Yuy," I managed, trying to catch my breath.

He grinned, not taking me the least bit seriously. "No." With a quick slip and flick motion he'd grabbed hold of both my wrists and pinned my arms above my head. Gravity was definitely on his side. "Now what?"

Closing the last few inches between our faces I kissed him, feeling him smile beneath my lips. It was so, so nice to see him happy again. He'd been so weird the last week that it had begun to scare me. He responded like his normal self now, though, moving and flowing with my motions. I could have lost myself to him completely in that moment.

Finally we pulled apart and he switched control of my hands to only one hand, trailing the other lightly down my chest. I shivered, watching with inexplicably focused attention. I know I made a noise when his fingers dipped into the lines of my hips but I lost quite a bit of coherency a moment later so I can't tell you what sound it was.

"Daaddyy?"

We both froze, eyes widening. Heero moved first, although it was less of a motion and more of a falling off the bed as he scrambled for a blanket. I rolled onto my side and grabbed the edge of the sheets, pulling them over myself just in time to sit as Mara came into view at our door. She gave us both a funny look; although I suppose she had every right to do so. Heero was hiding behind the side of the bed and I must have been quite the sight.

"Yes, Mara?"

"I'm firsty."

I gave Heero a dubious glance before replying. "Firsty?"

She nodded very seriously, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Please?"

Racking my brain for what she could possibly be asking me, I finally stumbled upon an answer. "Oh! Thirsty!" Not quite sure what to do, I said the first thing that came to mind. "Would you like some water?" Again, she nodded. "Okay sweetie. Why don't you go back to your room and I'll bring you a glass of water."

She looked at me for a second before shuffling away again. Relaxing, I clambered to my feet and snatched up my pants from where I'd left them on the floor. Before I left, I fixed Heero with a very stern glare. "That is why you close the door, Heero."

"Shut up. How was I supposed to know it really would get up in the middle of the night…" He began quickly fixing the bedcovers, glaring sullenly at the task instead of meeting my eyes.

"Hm, maybe because I told you?" I said sarcastically. "I'll be back," my voice dropped on the edge of the last word, "and when I get back, I'm going to teach you how to listen."

"That'll be the day," he muttered, glancing over with half a grin.

I only smirked, setting off down the hall to fetch a glass of water.


/End Chapter Fifteen, Inheritance/