Another day, another chapter! I apologize for lateness, this was supposed to come out after 4th of July weekend, but then I lost everything I had written when our power went out, so I had to start over from scratch and rewrite the chapter. And I found out my dad is coming home tomorrow, so my mom has been busting my ass on cleaning the house and doing all sorts of crap, and thus limiting my time on the computer to write. But it's here now and ready to read! With my dad being home, it might be a couple of days before I get back on the computer to write, but once I do, I'll have Chapter Three out ASAP!

Enjoy!

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

Duo and Wufei stood on the sidewalk, staring uncertainly at the building in front of them.

"This is the club we last saw Heero in, right?" Duo asked, raising an eyebrow at the red neon sign with Midnight Masquerade blazoned on it in dripping archaic letters.

"Yes, it is. I guess they changed it a little."

"A little?" he remarked. "Looks like they took B.B. King and replaced him with Marilyn Manson. I didn't know Heero had this side to him."

"If he does, then I sure as hell didn't know either. And I lived with the guy for two years," Wufei replied.

Duo shrugged. "Whatever. Let's just find Heero and see what we can worm out of him about all this mess." When they entered, the braided slayer's eyebrow rose further as he took in the interior change.

"Well, at least one thing stayed the same," Wufei pointed over at the bar where the Japanese vampire sat with his back to the threshold, clad in form fitting black pants and a blue shirt that matched his intense gaze.

"Oi Heero, what happened to the club?" Duo greeted, clapping him on the shoulder as they sat down.

"When did you two get here?" Heero inquired, looking confused. "I didn't even sense you coming in."

He tapped the side of his nose. "It's a trade secret, you should know that by now. Q-bean has enough on his plate already without having to cover our sorry asses, so we helped lighten the load. We've been kept busy lately, so it's harder to sneak off to come here and bug you."

"And here I thought that I finally scared you two away," the Japanese vampire said dryly.

"Sorry, you're not that lucky," Wufei replied just as wryly. "We're actually here on business anyway. Not that we're doing any killing in the club," he amended swiftly at Heero's withering glare. "Because we're not, I swear. In fact..." He did a quick once over through the crowd. "Are Noin and Une wandering around in here?"

"No, they went back upstairs a few minutes ago to finish what I interrupted," the corners of Heero's mouth twitched perceptively. "I'm surprised -they- haven't killed you yet," Duo snickered. "Wufei's right though, we're just here to get some information if you'll give it to us."

"It depends on what kind of information you're looking for."

"What do you know about the situation in the underground?" Wufei inquired. "So far, all we have are bits of rumors that Quatre's sister gave us today when she came by. And those are only rumors, so who knows how much truth there is to them."

Heero shifted in his seat and let his gaze flicker over the club, his discomfort clearly visible. "The sovereigns are always at war with each other. It's been quiet for the past couple of years, but the brief calm was broken a few months ago."

"So about the time we had our little party," Duo guessed aloud.

"It was just afterwards," he concurred uneasily. "I don't know details, nor do I wish to, so that's as far as I know. I try to stay out of the aristocratic business."

"So you didn't hear about one of those sovereign people coming this way?"

Heero looked even more uncomfortable. "No, that would be one thing I -would- know if it were true."

"You wouldn't lie to us, would you?" Wufei asked quietly, watching his movements critically.

"Of course not!" he retorted, then, after a few interested looks were directed their way, added in a lower tone, "I may not be able to tell you everything you want, but I can't lie to you, not anymore."

The two Asians held a steady gaze for a moment. "I understand, I'm sorry Heero," Wufei apologized. "We just have to be certain, you know? There's too much at stake here, no pun intended."

"Yeah, we can't have one of our best allies backing out on us after all we've been through," Duo added with a grin.

"I'll see what I can find out without becoming too suspicious," Heero allowed finally, with considerable reluctance. "Then we can arrange a rendezvous point. I don't trust you two coming in here, not with Noin and Une hanging around all the time. I think Noin's beginning to catch on, she's been keeping a lot closer to me since the last time we saw each other."

"What about Chasing the Dragon? I was one of only a few vampires that went there, and we'll have more privacy that way," Wufei supplied.

"All right, give me two nights."

"Are you sure that's enough, 'cause we can wait a few more days if we need to," Duo offered helpfully.

"I'm sure," Heero insisted firmly.

"If you say so," he shrugged. "But we've gotta get going, or Q-bean's going to send a search team out for us if we're late."

Wufei glanced up at the clock. "You're right. We'll see you at the Dragon in two nights then, right?"

Heero nodded brusquely and the two headed out after brief goodbyes, unaware of him watching them the entire way out. Duo slipped his arms immediately around Wufei's waist as they hit the sidewalk and were swallowing into the crowds.

"Why's Heero so bent out of shape with the underground? He said he tries to stay out of their business, but he was obviously unsettled about something."

"I don't know," Wufei replied. "I never really pried into his past, I asked one time and found out what a mistake it was, so I didn't bother attempting again. I liked my limbs too much."

"I guess that answers my question then," Duo said amusedly. "Ah well, I probably don't need to know anyway. With my luck, it'll only get me into an ass of trouble."

"Curiosity did kill the cat."

"Very true," he winced slightly and touched his forehead.

Wufei slowed his stride, concern clearly etched on his features. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... no... I dunno. I've been having this dull headache the past couple of days and just all of a sudden it flared up and went back to the dull pain," Duo pushed the heel of his hand into the spot in between his eyebrows.

"You haven't been sleeping well either, that may have something to do with it..." he hesitated before biting the bullet. "And you've been having terrible nightmares."

Duo made a noncommittal sound then went silent, still massaging his forehead with his palm and refusing to meet Wufei's penetrating onyx eyes.

"You don't have to talk to me about it if you don't want to," he continued as if the braided slayer had replied. "I just thought I would tell you that I knew."

He remained mute for a while as they walked. "How much?"

"No details," Wufei answered. Duo seemed to be holding back a sigh of relief. "You just wake me up with a death grip around my chest and you're muttering in your sleep, though it's so jumbled I can't comprehend a word. The one thing I do know is how scared and pained you feel."

More silence.

'Gods this is awkward. Normally he's the one chattering away and I'm the quiet one, now it's the other way around. I should never have brought this up.'

"But, I mean, like I said before, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," he rambled on aimlessly, feeling more and more regretful as the reticence stretched further. Duo's arms came around his waist again and he nestled his head on Wufei's chest, as if sensing how he felt.

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just, how am I supposed to talk about it when I don't even understand what the hell's going on?" Confusion seeped into the braided slayer's voice. "What do you mean by that?"

"The last time I had these dreams, it was when Quatre and Trowa recovered me from the ruins of my old house. They told me how some vampires had destroyed it and killed my foster family. I don't remember anything from that night, all I had to go on were my nightmares, but just a few days after they stopped completely."

Wufei nodded, hugging Duo closer against him. "I can see why that would make you a bit disconcerted. Though, why come back for no reason whatsoever after years of not having them?"

"I dunno, 'Fei. I just don't know."

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

Replies:

Nelia: Of course I remember you! I remember everyone who reviews to my fics! Yes, I finally got around to writing the sequel to 'Blood Lust'. I'm not too sure if it'll end up 1x2x5, it's the general direction I'm going in, but I'm also introducing a ton of other Gundam Wing characters into the plot that weren't in 'Blood Lust', so you'll never know who Heero gets paired with until something happens! And as for Duo...nightmares and waking up are going to be the least of his worries here soon enough. ::smirk::

Mako-chan! Yeah, I'm pretty happy I started this fic too, it was driving me insane, you know how it is when your muses get going. ::sweatdrop:: But yesh, I'm afraid I didn't get enough Duo torture in on 'Imaginary', so I think I'll give him another healthy dose in this fic. Yeesh. I'm horrible. But the new vampire is the main backbone to the fic, once everything starts falling into place, you'll see. Heero will get his just rewards soon, so he won't be suffering in vain for too long! ::squee!::

Well, that's it for replies...I live for feedback, so if you're willing to leave it, I'd love you forever!