A/N: Inspired by just about every supernatural sci-fi/fantasy thing I've ever read. In particular, a shout out to Jim Butcher's Dresden Files… 1x2X3, 5x?, 4x? Expect multiple pairings, some het and some not, and also some breakups and…changes.
Warnings: Language, violence, sex, language. Angst. AU. Gore.
A/N #2: Thank you so much to the lovely Cuzosu, who is my wonderful beta!
A/N #3: I've started posting chapters for my next fic, Lost Dreams. It's another Gundam Wing AU fic – of a very definite fantasy bent, featuring Duo, Trowa, and Heero as the main characters. The first six chapters are already up. Check it out – if you want.
A/N #4: I'm not sure if anyone even reads these things, BUT, if anyone out there does: can I offer/request a challenge/trade? Lost Dreams was supposed to be a Tangled/Rapunzel thing, but it was immediately derailed – for the good. However, I really love the idea of a 2x3 Rapunzel fic. So… if anyone out there loves me and wants to write one, I will gladly accept any challenge you want to offer me. Seriously, I will write any GW fic you want me to - AU, canon, 1x2, 3x4, 1xR for that matter (although, seriously, please no?). Anyway… all you writers out there, give it a thought?
A/N #5: 100+ reviews! Thanks everyone! You make it so much fun to write and share my crazy ideas!
Umbra
Chapter Sixteen
Not since Anthony's execution had Duo felt this kind of blinding rage.
It was fortunate that his motorcycle was still at the hotel. Less fortunate that he didn't still have the valet ticket. Even more unfortunate for the kid working the valet booth that Duo had absolutely no patience for arguing and simply used his magic to induce so much fear in the kid that he literally ran from his post.
Duo collected the motorcycle keys and his helmet from the valet booth and within five minutes was speeding down the freeway back to Las Vegas.
Even the freezing wind whipping against him did little to chill his anger. He could have spent the nearly half hour bike ride making a plan to break into Mandalay Bay and see Treize – but it took him only a heartbeat to decide that he had no interest in using stealth and even less interest in doing this the polite way.
Duo had never bothered to hide his magic, and as he rode the elevator up to the Council penthouse suite he made every effort to broadcast his fury. He wanted them to know he was coming, and he wanted them terrified.
When the elevator doors opened he was greeted by four vampires. None of them were older than a few hundred years, and none were powerful enough to even slow Duo down.
He projected the pain and agony of sunlight eating through their flesh, and within seconds all four were writhing on the ground, crying out in pain.
Duo sneered as he walked over their bodies.
He swept through the empty living room and into the Council room. It was empty save for a handful of shape shifters. Duo recognized Martha, Ralph, and Catherine. The other two that stood with them he recognized as belonging to other Council members.
"Where is Treize?" Duo demanded.
"Where is my brother?" Catharine countered.
Duo rolled his eyes.
"He's with the Emissary. And he's not my problem. Now tell me, where the hell is Treize?"
"I think the better question is what the hell you think you're doing here, storming into a place where you have NO friends, and failing to realize that none of us are afraid of you," Catharine said. She tossed her hair. "You tortured my brother and if Treize orders you to, I've no doubt that you will kill him. I'm not about to let that happen."
"What – oh for fuck's sake I do not have time for this!" Duo shouted at her. He looked to Martha, but the one eyed shape shifter looked every bit as eager to rip Duo apart as Catharine did.
"Listen, lady, I don't have any beef with you. Just tell me where Treize is and we can continue this fight some other time. But right now –"
Before he could finish Catharine leapt at him, transforming into a lion in midair. It was one of the most fluid shifts Duo had even seen, and if had any doubt how powerful Catharine and Trowa were as shape shifters those doubts were now erased.
He barely managed to roll out of her way as she landed on the marble where he had been standing.
She snarled at him and started to charge again.
Duo couldn't get out of the way fast enough, and she sank massive teeth into his right forearm as he brought it up to shield his neck and face.
"Fuck!" He cried out in pain as she ripped through flesh and muscle and snapped bone.
He used all of his physical and magical strength to hurl her away from him.
Catharine slid across the marble floor but hadn't even come to a stop before she was back up on her feet.
"Enough!" Duo channeled his anger and pain towards her, stopping her completely in her tracks. He kept the onslaught up, sending wave after wave of rage towards her until she was whimpering.
"I do not want to harm any of you," Duo directed this to the shape shifters behind him. He noticed Martha was only barely holding them back. He glared at her. "You know that. Now tell me where Treize is before I'm forced to do any more harm to your pack leader's sister!"
The shape shifters cowered under his fury.
"He's feeding," Martha finally spoke up. "In his suite." She jerked her head to indicate the hallway that continued past the Council hall. "The golden door."
"Thank you." Duo sneered at them but ceased to use his magic on Catharine. She collapsed on the floor, her breathing labored.
He stalked out of the room, cradling his right arm and mentally cursing.
Somehow Duo didn't think Treize would be overly intimidated by him if he stumbled into the room unable to use his dominant sword arm.
The thought didn't slow him down, however. Duo was determined to get answers, and revenge.
He again used his magic to induce fear into the two vampires guarding Treize's door and then barged in, flinging it open with his magic.
Treize was reclining in an armchair beside a roaring fire. He was dressed only in a loosely belted dressing down, and seated by his feet was a naked human. The man was built like a body-builder, his tanned muscles straining against his skin in unnatural definition, and his short blonde hair was spiked up with gel. Two puncture marks in his neck slowly leaked blood.
The human's eyes widened as they focused on Duo, traveling from his bleeding arm up to his furious face.
Duo's own eyes narrowed as he recognized him. It was Chris, the dancer from Chippendales that had tried to pick him up at the bar.
"Executioner, not that your manners have ever been what they should, but it is considered impolite to barge unannounced into someone's room."
"Where is he?" Duo demanded.
Treize arched an eyebrow and looked on the verge of offering a witty comeback, but something in Duo's face must have given him pause.
"You've finally figured it out. That only took four hundred years," Treize muttered.
"Where is he?"
Treize shrugged.
"I've no idea. You're his servant – why don't you reach out to him?" Treize smirked.
Duo sneered. "I can't, and you know it." When Duo had given in to the Old Council's torture and tried to bargain for Solo's freedom, the Ephemeral had completely cut off their magical connection – the pain of it had been even worse than one hundred lashes from Deathscythe – and Duo had only ever felt a raw, aching void where they had once been attached.
"He's been alive – you knew he was alive – this entire time," Duo thundered.
"I never did understand why Jason wanted you," Treize mused. He steepled his fingers and balanced his chin on them. "As soon as we had captured the two of you, Jason decided that you were the one of greater use to him. Solo was destined to die from the start." Treize shrugged. "But, of course, Jason was concerned that your power might not be as great without your master alive, and Jason didn't want his toy to be broken before he even had the chance to play with it. So he ordered Solo to be thrown into a silver coffin for the rest of eternity."
Duo's eyes narrowed.
"He's been in a coffin for four hundred years? You sick bastard."
" If you want me to tell you about him, then you have to shut sup." Treize glared at him. "When I emigrated, Jason gave me leave to bring Solo with me. He never knew that you would follow me to the new world. It was my task to keep him hidden from you. Which I did, admirably."
"Clearly he isn't in a damn coffin any longer," Duo growled.
"No, he isn't." Treize sighed in irritation. "I released him five years ago, when all of this nonsense about legalizing magic first started to be discussed."
"Why?"
"Because if there is anyone alive who hates magic users more that you, it is him. I counted on his cooperation to bring about an end to this ridiculousness."
"Let me guess, he told you to fuck off."
"Yes," Treize growled. "At first he seemed to want to cooperate, but then he developed his own agenda."
"Funny how you just can't seem to make friends by throwing people in a coffin for a few hundred years," Duo muttered. "Where is he now?"
"I told you, I have no idea."
"When did you last see him?"
"The night you first returned to the Council," Treize answered. "He felt you." He smirked. "And he asked for my assistance in punishing you."
"Wha –" Before Duo could finish the question he felt the burn of silver on his throat as someone strangled him with silver chains.
He struggled against his attacker, but Treize rose from his chair and removed a stiletto dagger from the mantle of the fireplace. He approached Duo, and he could see the gleam of silver in the firelight.
"I always thought Solo was the more powerful of you two, certainly the more intelligent," Treize said. He traced the dagger over Duo's cheek, using the flat side of the blade to burn his skin. "But he's also much harder to control. I told him that I would give you to him if he would assist me in getting rid of the new Arbiter. But he took entirely too long to deal with that situation, and his recent behavior… has not been very cooperative."
Treize pulled back and then shoved the dagger deep into Duo's gut, jerking it upwards until it was buried under his ribs.
Duo choked on the pain and the rush of blood he felt travel up his throat.
"So now it's time to show all of you just what it means to cross the Head of a Council." Treize sneered and pulled the dagger free.
"Noin, take him to the dungeons. Let him rot for a time."
"Treize, Jason –" Noin's voice sounded strained and distant, and Duo started to lose focus on the room.
"Jason is in Europe," Treize said coldly and sat back down in his armchair. "And the Executioner is here. He attacked my servants and had every intention of attacking ME. He will be punished accordingly." Treize sneered. "Under the damn laws that his Arbiter is so happy to enforce."
Duo lost consciousness.
He had no idea how much time had passed when he woke up in a dark cell, wrapped in silver chains, and with only the distant glow of a florescent light casting a blue glow over him.
"It lives."
Duo looked up at the droll statement.
Noin was on the other side of the dungeon, leaning back against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest, surveying him. In the shadows Duo could make out little of her expression.
"It fucking hurts," he added.
She smirked.
"Then maybe it should learn to stop acting like an idiot," she shook her head. "You would think, that after four hundred years, you would learn to recognize a losing fight with the Council when you saw one."
"No such thing," Duo muttered and then spat out blood. He cleared his throat and instantly regretted it as the silver chain around his neck tightened.
"There's not much I can do to help you, Executioner," Noin said.
"You've done plenty already," Duo assured her, "what with the silver chains and holding me still while Treize gutted me. Really, you don't need to do anything else."
"Relena would have my head if I allowed you to die," Noin said with a sigh.
Duo frowned, and then laughed.
"It's you? You're her spy? Oh – that's just – that's genius!"
For as long as Duo had known her, Noin had been desperately in love with Zechs Merquise. She had abandoned her position on the Old Council to follow him to the new world when he left to follow Treize, and Duo had seen her kill men for even insulting the Light Court Faery. She wasn't an idiot, she knew he was only interested in men, but that didn't stop her from protecting him. When she had first caught Duo in Zechs' bed, hundreds of years ago, she had been ready to kill him out of jealousy, and had spent years warning him off of Zechs.
"Relena has her brother's best interests at heart, and it's clear that Zechs is blinded by his devotion to Treize," Noin said in self-defense.
"Uh huh, yeah. Zechs isn't the only one who's blind here. So which side are you going to be on when Treize kills me and brings on a war? You going to fight for Jason and Relena or for Treize and Zechs?"
"I gave my oath to obey Relena," Noin growled.
"But Zechs –"
"It's clear that the only solution is for there to NOT be a war, isn't it?" Noin interrupted. "If you hadn't stormed in here waving a damn flag and alerting EVERY magic user within three blocks of your presence, you might have actually been able to kill Treize! Now look what you've done!"
"I'm so very sorry to ruin your plans," Duo apologized with a sneer.
They glared at each other.
"So when's the execution?" He asked. "Because that's what he's going to push for – right? He's got a whole list of crimes I've committed and he's going to suggest to the Council that I'm too unstable to leave alive, huh?"
Noin reluctantly nodded.
"He's convening the Council right now. Relena and the Arbiter are on their way. Your human servant –"
"She can't be here! Promise me, Noin, do not let her be here when they kill me!"
"Promise you? I owe you nothing, Executioner. Why wouldn't I want your human to suffer through your death?"
"Because you know what it feels like!"
"Yes, I do."
As much as Noin worshipped Zechs, it was Noventa she had served, when the vampire had been alive, and Duo knew that she had felt his death as keenly as though it had been her own.
"Look, you're getting your revenge on me – for everything. Don't punish her."
Noin sighed.
"I'll do what I can. But when Jason declares war and puts a price on Treize's head, no magic user in the States will be safe."
"You know, you could just let me go… avoid the whole war thing and letting down Relena."
"No, I can't," Noin told him. She shook her head. "And your master is still out there – still ready to kill all of us."
"Why? Why the hell would Treize ever think that Solo would listen to him?"
"The same reason you ever listened to Jason in the first place. You had no alternative, and you wanted vengeance. That's what Treize offered Solo – he proved to him that he had no other options, and then he offered him the chance to finally get revenge."
"After he'd been in a coffin for four hundred years. How many magic users have you met that stay sane after that?"
"None," Noin growled. "Which I pointed out to Treize repeatedly. But Solo is the most powerful Ephemeral any of us have seen and Treize… Treize likes to win."
"Well, it looks like he's finally going to win the fight against me," Duo muttered.
"Shame, too." Noin looked down at him for a long moment and then shook her head. "I'll come get you when they're ready for you, Executioner."
She swept from the room, and Duo leaned back against the dungeon wall. He tried to ignore the burn of the silver chains wrapped around his throat and chest. The pain from the wound in his side was easier to ignore, but the overwhelming sense of failure he felt was perhaps the worst.
He had thought Solo was dead, and all this time he had been alive. And now he had been driven to madness and apparently wanted his revenge on Duo.
"Fuck my life."
He had no idea how much time had passed, but he must have lost consciousness at some point, because he snapped awake at the sound of the cell door opening.
But it wasn't Noin come to escort him to his death.
Heero and Trowa stepped into the cell and Heero set to work removing Duo's chains.
"What the – how the hell did you two get in here?"
"Magic," Trowa said with a smirk that quickly turned into a grimace when he took in Duo's wounds. "What have you been up to?"
"Getting stabbed by Treize and then wrapped in silver chains. Oh yeah, and learning that my master was locked into a coffin for four hundred years and now he's out and wants to kill me. What have you been up to?"
"When you took off I went back to your apartment to get Heero. I figured I'd need him."
"He's injured," Duo pointed out.
"I think I'm in better shape than you," Heero argued and removed the last of Duo's chains. He looked at his arm. "That looks like a shape shifter tried to rip your arm off."
"Yeah. That's pretty much what happened."
"Who?" Trowa growled.
"Your sister," Duo sighed. He stood up with Heero's help.
Trowa's eyes narrowed.
"I told her –"
"Can we talk later and escape now?" Heero interrupted. "When Trowa got us in here it looked like the entire Council was assembled."
"Quatre and Relena too?"
Trowa nodded.
"They're arguing for your release right now… but Treize is trying to twist the law to his side of things. The Council has always been split about Jason – half of them would rather follow Treize, while the other half want to keep things the way that he ran the Old Council. I'm not sure he can convince them to go against his wishes."
"We're leaving, now," Heero spoke up and started to drag Duo out of the cell.
Trowa led them out of the dungeons and down those same back stairs that Duo had once dragged him.
"Brings back memories," Duo said.
"Want me to slam you against the wall a few times?" Trowa offered.
"Nah, I'm good."
They made it to the residential level and got into an elevator. The doors were just about to close when a group of drunken tourists piled in.
It took only a few seconds for the first of the tourists to notice Duo's bloody arm, chest, and neck.
One of the girls pointed and started to scream, and all hell was clearly about to break loose, but then Duo felt the wash of Trowa's magic fill the elevator car.
The tourists seemed to instantly calm down, and Duo watched in shock as they started to talk to one another – completely ignoring the three of them.
"So that's how your magic works," Duo said, turning to Trowa.
"Usually," Trowa agreed. It didn't even look like the magic was an effort for him, and Duo was impressed.
They made it down to the ground floor of the hotel, and Trowa pulled off his jacket and draped it over Duo's shoulders in an attempt to cover some of the blood.
"Where's Hilde?" Duo asked as they got into Trowa's car and the shape shifter started to pull out of the parking lot.
"She was on the phone with Wufei when we left the hotel," Trowa said.
Duo frowned and reached out, searching for Hilde, and he was relieved when he felt her. She was safe, if stressed, and Duo trusted that she wouldn't do anything stupid.
"Can I ask what the hell you were thinking?" Heero asked, reminding Duo that while Hilde wasn't likely to do anything stupid – he had.
"I wasn't," he admitted.
"Trowa said something about Solo being alive – and being your master. I thought he was an Ephemeral."
"Yeah… Solo's probably the last Ephemeral who was – is – powerful enough to become an Old One. I was still a kid when we bonded, and he was already incredibly powerful." Duo shrugged. "So he became my master."
"And you aren't concerned that he's going to use that to his advantage? Maybe to torture you to death?" Trowa suggested.
"Not until you just mentioned it, no," Duo sighed. "I didn't – hell, I've spent almost half a millennia thinking he was dead. I'm having trouble adjusting to the idea of him being alive."
"And wanting to kill you," Trowa added.
"Yeah, okay, I've got it."
"He's the serial killer," Heero said.
"Yep."
"And he's likely insane."
"I think it's safe to say it's more than likely."
"And he's strong enough to be your master." Heero looked back at Duo in the backseat. "We have to kill him."
"No! No, we do not have to kill him!" Duo reacted immediately.
"Duo, he's butchering innocent people."
"I just need to find him, talk to him. He –"
"Wants to kill you," Heero interrupted. "You said it yourself – you've always said that he never forgave you for giving in when the Council tortured you."
Duo opened his mouth to argue, but Trowa abruptly slammed on the breaks.
"I can feel exactly what you're thinking," he said, his voice a dangerous growl. "And if you think for one second that you're going to let him kill you, I'll do the job myself. You do not deserve to die at his hands, and you're an idiot if you think that your life is worth that little."
Cars started to honk furiously, but Trowa continued to glare at Duo in the rearview mirror.
"Duo."
He looked away from Trowa and met Heero's gaze.
"We need to get you healed and when need to sit down and talk."
"The Council will send someone after me as soon as they realize I'm gone," Duo pointed out.
"Which is why we aren't going back to your condo. We're going to our new house."
Duo had to laugh.
"What a great housewarming – hiding out from the Council as they plot my execution!"
Trowa finally put the car back in gear and started driving again.
"Don't forget hiding from your psychotic master," Trowa mumbled.
The rest of the car ride was in silence, and by the time they arrived at the house, Duo had sunk into a deep depression.
Heero had, true to his word, selected a house that was on a street lined with 'For Sale' signs. Only the dim glow of a distant street light illuminated the two storey stucco house that Trowa pulled up in front of.
Duo could make out few details, and as he stumbled in the dark towards the front door he discovered that there were quite a few cacti in the front yard.
Heero let them in and locked the door behind them before flicking on a light.
They had entered through the living room, and Duo was pleasantly surprised to see that it was already furnished.
He hoped that Heero had thought to get a bed also.
"The master bedroom is upstairs. You should shower."
"Okay…"
"There's a Walmart down the street. I'll go and get a few supplies."
"Supplies?"
"Linens – towels – food."
"How are you even functioning right now?" Duo asked him.
"I'm fine," Heero growled. "I don't have a gaping hole in my stomach or parts of my bones outside of my body."
"Yeah, but –"
"Duo. Shower. Now."
He resented being ordered, but Heero looked intractable, and Trowa looked ready to carry him up the stairs if he started to argue again.
"I'll be back in twenty minutes," Heero assured him. "Mind if I borrow your car?" He asked Trowa.
The shape shifter passed him the keys.
"Don't do anything else stupid until I get back," Heero instructed. Before Duo could offer a comeback the human left.
"Bastard," Duo muttered.
Trowa crossed his arms and jerked his head in the direction of the stairs. Duo sighed.
"Fine. Fine. Treat me like a damned incompetent."
He started up the stairs and Trowa followed closely.
The master bedroom was enormous, and was dominated by a king sized bed that looked like heaven to Duo at that moment. He barely resisted the urge to just collapse on it and give in to the darkness already clouding his vision.
"Turn around," Trowa instructed.
Duo did so without thinking to argue, and Trowa started to undress him.
"I can undress myself," Duo protested.
"Really?" Trowa asked, amused. "With that arm and that hole in your side?"
Duo frowned and tried to undo the fly on his jeans with his good hand. The movement had him reaching across his side and he gasped in pain and gave up.
"Okay, you win."
"You have to realize that you're out numbered," Trowa pointed out as he started to ease Duo's clothes off. "Heero and I aren't nearly as unified as you seem to think we are, but we're in complete agreement that you don't put as much value on your life as you should."
"Yeah, well, it's my life so I think I have a greater say in it."
"So Heero and I just get to pick up the pieces and clean you up after you pull stupid stunts like this."
"This wasn't a stupid stunt, this was – son of a bitch!"
Trowa had taken Duo's rant as an opportunity to rip Duo's right sleeve away from his wound, and the flash of pain was intense.
"Shower," Trowa directed when he had Duo naked.
Duo followed him into the master bathroom and pushed Trowa aside when he moved to turn on the taps.
"I can do it," Duo grumbled. He adjusted the water to near scalding and then climbed into the shower.
He was surprised when Trowa joined him a moment later.
"I can wash myself," Duo pointed out.
"But you can't heal yourself."
"I am not up for sex right now."
"I don't think we need to go that far," Trowa mused. He ran one hand along Duo's jaw, and he leaned into the touch. "I'm better at sharing magic than you, and I have experience healing pack members. We just need to jump start the connection and I think that I'll be able to heal you."
"Jump start it how?" Duo asked. "Because as amazing as you are in bed, all I can feel right now is a lot of pain."
"Just shut up for a minute, will you?" Trowa suggested, but he was smirking, and Duo found himself relaxing at the expression.
Trowa closed the space between them, and pressed his front against Duo's back. He bent his head down and kissed Duo's neck, sucking slightly on the sensitive skin under his ear.
Duo shivered at the sensation and he felt their bond start to emerge.
Trowa's hands ghosted over his hips and lower, stroking Duo's penis into an erection. He turned Duo slightly so that their lips could meet, and Duo welcomed the familiar cinnamon flavor of the other man. The sharp, exotic taste filled his mouth and Duo felt a rush of heat and energy.
Trowa pulled away and knelt in front of Duo and licked his way down the length of Duo's erection before taking it into his mouth.
Duo groaned at the sensation and had to lean back against the shower wall to steady himself as Trowa continued to suck on him.
He tried to focus on the pleasure and the golden magic that was rising between them. He made himself shut out thoughts of Solo and the aching pain of failure that was worse than the physical pain of his wounds.
When he came a few minutes later the orgasm felt somehow cathartic.
Magic surrounded him – the same golden magic that they always created, but Duo could also feel the magic that was distinctly Trowa's. All of it washed over him, and he could feel it start to knit his flesh back together.
Trowa was still kneeling in front of him, and there was a look of intense concentration on his face as he directed the magic to heal Duo.
It took nearly fifteen minutes, but Duo felt his radius and ulna bones start to shift and heal. It was painful, but the pain was welcome in comparison to the throbbing of the injuries themselves.
Heero found them still in the shower when he arrived twenty minutes later – considerably later than his projected return time.
"What took you so long?" Duo asked. He ran a hand over his freshly healed side. The flesh was tender, but there was no longer a gaping hole revealing his intestines, so Duo had little to complain about.
"I've never seen anything like that," Heero said, and there was a hint of awe in his voice.
It wasn't easy to impress Heero, but Duo knew that this situation – the incredible rate of healing that Trowa was forcing Duo's body to undergo – easily warranted the reaction.
He had only ever experienced something like this when Zechs had healed him after being tortured with Deathscythe.
Trowa finally finished and he rose to his feet, a satisfied smirk on his face as he surveyed his handiwork.
"Damn," Duo said as he felt his newly healed arm, "I don't think even Zechs could have healed me this well."
"Son of a god," Trowa reminded him. "And I've had thousands of years of experience healing those kinds of injuries. I'm sorry my sister did that."
"Yeah, well, she's not really on my priority list of issues to deal with right now," Duo said. He looked over at Heero. "How are you holding up?"
"I'm fine," Heero assured him. "I'm healing faster than usual. I think it's because of the transfusion – something about your blood is different."
Duo sighed. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it has to do with the fact that Solo's gotten more powerful. He might be trying to shut me out of our connection, but even he can't stop the flow of magic." He shook his head. "And if he's more powerful –"
"Help me make up the bed," Heero interrupted him.
Duo glared, but caught the towel that Heero threw at him and dried off. His hair was a heavy, wet rope down his back, but he ignored it.
He wrapped the towel around his waist and then followed Heero into the bedroom, Trowa close behind him as he too dried off.
"Please tell me you also bought some clothes. There's no way I'm putting those back on," Duo said, indicating the bloody and ripped clothes he had previously discarded.
"Yes," Heero assured him.
"Thank god."
Duo helped him make up the bed, and no sooner had they pulled the comforter up than he dropped his towel and climbed under it.
Heero looked amused, but undressed and joined him. A moment later Trowa climbed in on the other side of the bed.
"Tomorrow I'll contact my pack and have them start to look for Solo."
Duo sighed. "Careful about that. Solo can control shape shifters."
"Control how?"
"As in force them to shift and then do what he directs them to do. 'S how we used to get the bastards back in the days of the Brotherhood."
"You never mentioned that before," Heero said.
"Yeah, well, he was never still alive before." Duo groaned. " I am so fucked."
He still couldn't wrap his head around the concept of Solo being alive. It was considerably easier to accept the fact that Solo wanted to kill him – and Duo wondered just what that said about the state of his mental health.
"Quatre won't let the Council execute you," Heero assured him.
"He might not have a choice. Treize is willing to risk a war with Jason over this."
"Then we'll kill him before he has the chance to kill you," Heero said matter of factly.
Duo looked into his eyes, and he could see that Heero was deadly serious.
"Killing Treize likely means killing half the Council to get to him," Duo pointed out.
"I like our odds," Trowa spoke up.
Duo snorted.
"What, the three of us versus the world?"
"No, we have Hilde, Quatre, Relena, and my pack. But even if it was the three of us – I still like our chances."
"I'm more concerned about Solo," Heero said. "And your reaction to him."
"You and me both," Duo muttered.
He noticed that Heero's eyes were starting to blink less frequently.
"Let's sleep on it," Duo suggested. "Maybe we'll be inspired. Besides – I'm thinking we aren't going to get the chance for any peace coming up soon."
"Hn." Heero rolled over so that his back was to Duo.
Duo also rolled over, so that he was facing Trowa.
The shape shifter got up and turned out the overhead light before climbing back into the bed.
"Your sister is a crazy bitch," Duo told him as Trowa reached out and draped an arm across his hip.
"Try living with her for a few thousand years," Trowa responded, his voice tired.
"Pass. Please." A sudden thought occurred to him. "When you tell her we're Soul Mates – she's really going to try and kill me, isn't she?"
"Yeah."
Up Next: Some lemony goodness... and some more plot development. But, more importantly, lemony goodness!
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Definitions:
Council: the body that presides over magical creatures and users in the US. The Old Council refers to the European Council.
Dryad: A nature spirit, like a Sprite. Another Old One. Usually associated with a tree, and different 'families' of Dryads are associated with different trees.
Ephemeral: a human who can use magic. Used interchangeably with witch.
Jinn: alternately Djinn or Genie. They are spirits, supposedly created by God (if you're Muslim), and can be good or bad.
Old Ones: the powerful magical races. Vampires, Shape shifters, Faeries, and a few more to be named later!
Old Ways: reference to the way that the European Council ran things or the way things were before magic was legal. Sally Po refers to the old ways – a reference to the practices of Native American Shamans, and NOT the Council.
Null: a human without magical ability.
Shaman: A Native American mystic or holy person. Used in this context to mean an Ephemeral.