Yaay for another chapter! (happy dance) I love having free time again...Now time to go finish the chapter for my Harry Potter fic while I leave you guys to enjoy the latest cliffhanger filled installment of Midnight Masquerade!
"Mother, how may I help you?"
Heero kept a neutral expression on his face as the blonde woman breezed into his office as if she owned the place and sat in his chair.
Dorothy's chilly laugh tinkled like shattering icicles. "Now that is a much better attitude," she raised a forked eyebrow. "I see you have made absolutely no progress in life whatsoever since abandoning us."
"If you remember correctly this -was- Treize and Zechs' establishment," he replied curtly.
"Yes, but they at least kept in with the right crowd, not these arrogant children who think they rule the night world," Dorothy sneered. "Now, I'll be willing to ignore this little...indiscretion...and let you go about your hermit existence away from us only if you cooperate with me." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and sent him a smile that -she- may have believed maternal.
"What do you want from me? You have Lucrezia to occupy your every whim and need," Heero said flatly, folding his arms over his chest. "I am of no use to you."
"Oh, I do protest!" Dorothy demurred lightly, her blue eyes taking on a lethal gleam as she leaned forward. "You know I am here because I was informed of the slayers little stunt a few months ago, and I know you know what they look like. So I want you to assist Lucrezia and Middie in finding those slayers and the betrayer of our kind and bringing them to me, so I can exact justice to the deaths of Relena, Sally, Treize, and Zechs. Considering your relationship with the betrayer Wufei, I would very much like to hope that he plotted their deaths on his own accordance, and that he did not have any...encouragement...from you."
"Of course not, I would never do such a thing," Heero replied almost robot-like, even though his heart felt like it had just plummeted to the other side of the world and all his insides turned to stone.
"I thought so! Good, so you will begin the search tonight! I will go tell Lucrezia now and you can be off as soon as possible!" Dorothy was positively glowing with glee as she got to her feet and glided around the desk, giving Heero a small pat on the cheek with her icy hand before leaving. "I knew you would never let me down!"
Heero collapsed in his chair as soon as she was out of sight and let out a long shuddering breath. There was no way to call them now; they would already be long gone from their apartment and out on patrol. And having to search with Noin will be like have a spy camera on him at all times, so there would not be a chance to find them alone and warn them.
For what must have been the billionth time that night he hissed a very loud 'Fuck!' and left a splintering dent in his desk after punching it in frustration.
This was definitely not good.
Duo didn't know what to feel now as the four left Irea's and hit the streets for their nightly routine.
On one hand, yes it was nice that they informed him -now- about his origins, especially since the root of his origins was the big bad vampire in town. It would explain why he was able to do what he does, he knew his adoptive family were slayers, but he knew nothing of his real family. He had just assumed they got killed like the Maxwells had. At least he was in the same boat as Wufei, so that wasn't too big of a problem.
On the other hand however...It would have been nicer to know all of this from the beginning, instead of the Winner sisters acting as if it were some sort of 'problem' that could be ignored and just forgotten. What if he had run into this sovereign by accident and she could manipulate his mind or something horrible like that because of their failed connection? And he wouldn't have known a thing! She could have made him kill Quatre and Trowa without thinking twice about it!
Thankfully, Catherine assured him that the probability of her having any control was slim to none because of the time span since the failed Blood Exchange. And the fact that the sovereign would have obviously had many more successful ones since that would have diluted out his blood from her system.
But there was always the possibility, so he had to be extra careful until the threat had passed on.
Or he killed her. Either way sounded fine to him.
"Duo?" Wufei asked tentatively, breaking him out of his reverie.
"I'm fine, 'Fei!" Duo smiled reassuringly. "Honestly, I've made it so far without a problem, so why let it bother me? I'm a pretty damn good slayer, if I do say so myself, how I got to where I'm at now doesn't matter." He latched onto Wufei's arm and snuggled up to the Asian as they walked ahead from the other two.
"Well, it certainly explains why Duo's nightmares and headaches returned all of a sudden," Quatre said thoughtfully, watching them gain distance.
"Yes, but Catherine believed that she had no influence, so why have nightmares and headaches when she shouldn't be able to have any affect?" Trowa replied with concern.
"I don't know," the empath answered honestly. "I mean, Catherine knows what she's talking about, so why question it?"
"Whatever the case may be, I think we should switch up our routine tonight," his unibanged lover said. "Heero must know something, or else he wouldn't have called and told Duo and Wufei to stay away from him. She must be there with Noin and Une. So Duo and Wufei need to stay away from that side of the city, they can have our route."
"That sounds like a good idea," Quatre nodded. "Let's go catch up to them before they disappear on us."
Une laid back in the warm, bubbling Jacuzzi melting in the indulgence of letting Noin have her way with her. As much as her partner infuriated her with her insane obsession on getting revenge for Sally and the others, she knew there was good reason. They had all cared for them...maybe not Relena...but Sally had been Noin's love before her. If Sally weren't dead, she would still be alone watching everyone else revel in their content.
She didn't want to be alone again.
So why not let Noin have this closure? Even if she did go so far as to call Dorothy into their haven... Une had not been happy when she had seen Noin just sitting there at the sovereign's feet like some pathetic, obedient dog and had let her know it as soon as Dorothy left with Odin when he arrived with Heero.
And now Noin was making it up to her in her favorite way. She had never been able to refuse a good dose of pleasure in the hot tub while drinking a bottle of expensive champagne.
"I swear I was going to tell you everything, I just wanted to make sure my plans were going to be perfect," Noin said huskily into Une's ear as she pressed their naked bodies closer, then nibbled on the lobe teasingly. "I didn't want to look like an idiot if it didn't work out, and I wasn't expecting Dorothy to arrive so quickly. I am so sorry."
Une kissed her gently. "Stop apologizing, you've been forgiven a hundred times over already. I told you it's fine," she smiled. "Now enough talking. Finish what you've started."
"Of course," Noin smirked and started suckling at her throat when the door to their room slammed open and Dorothy waltzed right into the bathroom where they were enjoying themselves.
"Well! No wonder I could not find you downstairs," she said airily, looking extremely full of herself as she brushed her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "I will just let you two know that I convinced my son into assisting you in your search for the slayers and that vile betrayer, so you two can go back to doing your...business." Dorothy vanished just as quickly as she had appeared.
"Damn, he's not even here and Heero -still- manages to interrupt us," Noin remarked irritably. "Shall we continue later?"
"Yeah, let's get this mess done and over with so we can have privacy again," Une brushed a wet strand of purple hair from her lover's face.
They climbed out of the Jacuzzi and changed into some clothes before heading down into the club where Heero was waiting at the end of the bar. He looked as pleased about the situation as Une was, judging by the sour frown on his face while watching Dorothy and Odin talk to each other at one of the tables.
"So what's our plan?" Heero asked the instant they were at his side.
"I think it's best that we split up," Noin said decisively. "Middie and I know different parts of the city than you, and I should think I can trust you to go on your own, despite our recent misgivings."
"How generous of you," he replied dryly as he got up and they headed out into the streets. "I still can't believe you dragged my mother into this."
"Well, she was the most effective way," Noin shrugged. "Besides, she practically volunteered to come as soon as she heard the news."
"Of course she would! Give her any reason to start another battle and she's all for it!" he said exasperatingly. "She didn't get her social ranking by just looking pretty, that's for damn sure. You have to be careful, or Dorothy will seize the reins and leave you in the dust."
"We won't let that happen," Une replied forcibly.
"I hope not," Heero sighed, then with a wave he vanished into the crowd.
Luck was on his side for now, but he wasn't sure how long it was going to last, so he had to hurry and find Duo and Wufei before the others did. Where they were was going to be a problem, Heero knew Wufei would have listened to his warning and forced Duo to comply as well. So where would they go when it wasn't one of their usual spots?
Heero started heading uptown. If he was right, to avoid his area of the city, they would trade shifts with Quatre and Trowa. Which would put them on the richer, classier side of the city where the wealthy wandered through fashionable stores or attended parties in their penthouses. It was usually where Treize and Zechs would run off to once they were sure the club was fine without them.
He just wished he was correct in assuming and that Noin and Une stayed close to the Masquerade...This would be a total disaster if he was seen conversing with a slayer and a betrayer out in public by one of Dorothy's associates. He didn't doubt that his mother had eyes all over the city to keep tabs on everything while she lounged in social bliss at the club with Odin.
Heero searched for what seemed like ages before finally spotting the couple loitering around outside the Metro Court Suites an hour before sunrise as a crowd of gaudily dressed businessmen and their wives was trickling out from the hotel. It looked like some sort of special party had just ended and everyone was heading home, so their slayer work there should be done now.
He wove his way through the clusters of people, until he was directly behind Duo and Wufei.
"Listen to me, don't turn around and acknowledge my presence, I don't have much time," Heero muttered lowly into their ears. He felt them both stiffen at the sound of his voice and struggle to not turn to demand answers. "I'm sorry for leaving the message with Quatre like that, but it was the only way. The information you wanted, Dorothy is at Midnight Masquerade with Noin and Une. She has everyone out on the hunt looking for you; they will most likely try to kill you on sight. I'm supposed to be looking for you too, so not a word that I found you, unless it's only to Quatre and Trowa. I'm going to do my best at misleading them and getting them to leave, but I can only do so much...Hope that Noin or Une doesn't find you." He touched their clasped hands as a way to tell them he was departing, with an odd, fluttering sensation flaring up in his chest at the feel of their warmth.
Duo and Wufei waited a second until Heero's presence was entirely gone from behind them before chancing a glance over their shoulders.
"Shit, 'Fei, they have a bounty out on our heads," Duo said nervously. "We seriously pissed off the wrong people."
"I know..." Wufei frowned. "You wouldn't be having this problem at all if I didn't come barging into your lives. I feel like this is all my fault."
"No! Don't you even think that!" he retorted. "It's not your fault! It would have happened eventually anyways, just because we are slayers, and we always run the risk of this happening. It's what killed my foster family after all. It's even the same woman...at least Heero gave us a name to our unknown enemy."
"Dorothy..." the Asian frowned even deeper. "It sounds vaguely familiar...I don't know, but we should start heading back home. It's close enough to sunrise that I don't think we'll be having any more problems here. We can fill in Quatre and Trowa and then go back to Irea's, they should be able to tell us more now that we have a name, right?"
"Yeah, that's Catherine's area of expertise," Duo nodded. "She's followed a bunch of sovereigns and spied on them, does a lot of undercover work. That's what she was doing in Europe, tailing a sovereign that was stirring up trouble in the underground. Kinda like a fire alarm, ya know what I mean? She can warn the closest slayer community so they can keep the wars under control."
"Good, then she's exactly who we'll need," Wufei replied. "I just wish Heero won't try too hard at covering up for us...what if they figure out his connection to us? The last thing I want is for him to put his life on the line to keep us safe when it was my insecurities that started this whole situation in the first place."
"From what I can tell, Heero is perfectly capable of handling himself, just as I'm sure he knows that we are perfectly capable of handling ourselves if we -do- run into these psycho vampires," Duo stated matter-of-factly. "And you need to stop blaming yourself, what's done is done."
"I know, but-"
"No buts!" he interrupted firmly, planting a kiss on his lover's cheek. "I don't wanna hear another word about it, okay? It's not your fault."
"All right, you win," Wufei consented, disgruntled. "I won't say another word about it if it makes you happy."
They walked the rest of the way back to the apartment complex in a comfortable silence, reaching their home at sunrise and finding it empty. There was no sign that Quatre and Trowa had come home yet, so they waited...and waited...
"Maybe they're already at Irea's, I mean Quatre hasn't seen his sisters in a while..." Duo suggested after almost two hours of waiting on the other couple to show up. He went over to the phone and punched in Irea's number.
/Hello/
"Irea, hey, is Quatre and Trowa over there?"
/No, they're not. Neither is Catherine, she left a note saying something came up but she never returned either./
"So you haven't heard anything?"
Wufei turned around and looked over at the braided slayer as worry trickled in his voice.
/Not a thing since you all left last night./
"Shit. All right, thanks Irea," Duo ran a hand through his bangs as he hung up the phone, the only outward sign of the concern that had been in his voice during the conversation. "Nada. Irea said Catherine's gone missing too."
"They got to them before we could warn them..."
"Now, we don't know that for sure, we'll wait a little while longer and if they don't show...then we'll get -really- worried," Duo said, chewing his lip.
Unfortunately, he couldn't shake the ominous feeling of dread that had settled in his stomach. There was no doubt in his mind that Quatre and Trowa weren't coming home this time.
(dun dun dun) Don't you just love cliffhangers?
Reviews!
LIKESTOLOL: Interesting name...But yes, I do roast marshmallows with any flames that I get...I've actually been lucky, I don't think I've ever gotten a flame in all the fics that I've posted here at (shrug) But I'm glad you're enjoying my fic!
Nelia: Oh my Nelia! You've always been one of my favorite reviewers! Yes, I finally came out of my fanfiction hibernation (aka: senior year and college crap) and started writing again. And, as always, you will definitely see that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to my ficcies, and Duo's predicament is no exception! (wicked grin) DVG is back and ready to throw some of the evilest plot twists I have ever written at you guys! I'm glad you're liking the new chapters so far!
Hikarii: Yep! I'm updating on a regular basis now, at least until I move to Tampa this September. I want to try and get most of this fic and my Harry Potter fic done and out, because who knows how long it'll take me to get internet in my new apartment when I start college. Ick, just thinking about it is giving me internet withdrawals...But I'm glad you're enjoying my story so far!
LadyDragonWolfKnight: Yaayness! Yeah, I was feeling a bit rusty cause it's been so long since I've been able to sit and write, but thankfully no one has seen anything to complain about yet! I'm back in action again, and you can bet there's going to be plenty of action soon enough now that we've got Quatre and Trowa captured by the bad guys! (grin)
WingedBonnie: Thank you! I'm glad you like my story! Heero's gonna have some really tough crap to deal with here soon, and it only gets worse before it gets better! Just you wait!
Crysania Fay: Of course, I had to throw a little humor in there, I can never be completely serious, even in the most angsty of my fics. (grin) Leave it to Trowa to lighten the mood up a bit!
Reviews are nice and author-friendly, so if you could be so kind as to leave me one...I'd really appreciate it!