Title: Bullet with Butterfly Wings 2?
Author: Gaia
Pairings: 1+2, 3+4
Rating: PG-13-R
Warnings: THIS IS NOT A SONGFIC! (I promise…) slight language, slight sexual content, self-insertion, slight OOC, AU….um.. I think that's it….
Disclaimers: pouts The Gundam Pilots don't belong to me, but I love to play with them! If you wanna give them to me for free, I'll take 'em… Also, the song belongs to the Smashing Pumpkins, I just borrowed the title…
Notes: This fic is a little different from what I usually write. It's in first person and it's Heero's POV…. grins But it's fun to write.
Feedback: I'd love it!
Archived: pwease? Just ask me…
Bullet with Butterfly Wings by Gaia
The Partial Truth
"Heero… why are you tailing me?"
I flinched under his angry gaze, unable to meet his eyes.
"I… I… um… don't really know."
Duo sighed and turned away from me, following the two girls out of the bookstore.
I drew myself up to my full height and followed them, telling myself that it was for Duo's own good.
Following three flowing trench coats was no hardship. They stood out easily, despite the large amounts of people running around the store.
We piled into a Jeep Wrangler, with Dweia driving. She pulled out quickly and headed for the exit.
I sat next to Duo quietly, not knowing what to say. He didn't even look at me for the entire ride. If I looked at him, he pointedly ignored me.
The five minute ride seemed to last forever as my normally talkative partner became as taciturn as I usually was.
Dweia pulled the car to a stop in front of a non-descript gray house. She and Gaia immediately got out and walked around the side of the house, motioning for me and Duo to join them.
Gaia climbed a set of stairs quickly and slid a key into a door.
She pushed the door open slowly and then turned back to look at me and Duo.
"I hope you two aren't allergic to any types of animals…" She pushed the door open the rest of the way and disappeared into the house.
As I stepped into the house, the décor shocked me. These two girls seemed to be the type who would paint a room black or some other dark color. However, their kitchen was painted brilliant white, complete with shining silver appliances. The other rooms were varying shades bright blues, greens, and purples, with green, blue, and black furniture. The wood pieces were almost all polished mahogany.
Duo and I followed them into the living room and sat on opposite ends of the couch.
"We hadn't really planned on two people, so I hope you two don't mind sharing the pull-out bed." Gaia grinned as she plopped herself in an over-stuffed chair.
Duo glanced over at me. "We're used to having to share a bed…"
I nodded and hesitantly glanced at him, but he was already looking away and ignoring me again.
Dweia sat curled up in a rocking chair. Her eyes were closed and a slight smile was on her face.
"It's good to be home, huh Gaia?"
"Definitely." Gaia reached across a table and grabbed a small container. She started to pull off the top, when a flash of gray and white streaked across the room into her lap.
Duo and I stared in shock at the wolf that now lay in Gaia's lap, lazily eating treats out of her hand and occasionally licking it.
"Who's a good boy? Yes, you are! Did you protect the house while we were gone? Good boy." Gaia stroked the wolf's head as he finished his treat and then nuzzled under her arm and began to fall asleep.
"Now, Duo, are you going to introduce us to your friend or do I have to get Lakota here to drag it out of him?" At the sound of his name, the wolf looked at me and licked his snout menacingly, in my opinion. Those fangs looked dangerous.
"His name is Heero and he's my partner. Apparently, he doesn't trust me enough to let me take care of this mission on my own, even though he knows nothing about it." Duo glared at me. His glare was almost as strong as mine. I had never realized that before.
"Duo, that's not true." I tried to plead with him using my eyes, but that wasn't as effective as I thought it would be. He must be immune to it because he's so good at it.
"We'll talk about this later, Heero."
I sighed at his tone. He sounded pissed.
"Well… um… so you guys haven't met Taletha yet." Dweia sounded uncomfortable as she introduced us to the lynx that had draped itself over her shoulders at some point in the last five minutes.
I sat, barely listening to what was going on in the room. Duo was mad at me. The only time I had ever seen him angry was when we were fighting and one of us was in trouble.
I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Gaia looking down at me.
"I said we're going to go get some sleep. You guys should too because tomorrow is when we debrief you." With that, she mounted the stairs and disappeared.
Dweia said goodnight and followed her up the stairs after helping us set up the pull-out bed.
Duo turned his back on me as soon as they left.
"Duo… I need to explain… I…"
Duo cut me off before I could even get to my explanation.
"Save it, Heero. You obviously don't think I'm capable of taking care of my mission. Just leave me alone for now, alright?" Duo pulled out his plain duffel and rustled around for his boxers and t-shirt that he always wore to bed.
"Duo, I do think you're capable. I was just worried because I accidentally overheard your conversation with G last night and saw your reaction to it. I don't know what this mission is about or what is going to go on, but I needed to know what else you are doing."
Duo started glaring when he heard that I had listened to his conversation with G. "How much did you overhear?"
I coughed. I couldn't lie to him. "All of it."
Duo's eyes burned with anger and… something more.
"You are unbelievable, Yuy. You followed me all the way here just because you were curious? You know, curiosity killed the cat." Duo flipped his braid over his shoulder and stalked out of the room.
I sank onto the bed and couldn't help snickering. Apparently, Duo had forgotten the second half of that proverb. But satisfaction brought it back.
When Duo walked back into the room, I didn't pretend to be asleep like he apparently thought I would. The shocked look on his face told me everything.
"Were… were you really worried about me, Heero?" His voice was hesitant and he refused to look at me.
"Yes." He looked up at that and smiled slightly. Duo nodded and climbed onto the pull-out bed beside me. He sighed and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep for the first time in over twenty-four hours.
I lay there, watching him sleep for an undeterminable amount of time. I stroked his hair, satisfied to hear him purr in his sleep.
I drifted off with my hand still tangled in his hair.
Warmth. I never woke up to warmth. The beds in the safe houses were warm enough, but this was a different kind. Something was nuzzling my neck slowly, a deep purr emanating from my side.
Memories from last night flashed through my mind and I remembered the wolf. Wolf! I tried not to move, afraid that he would rip my throat out if I scared him and slowly opened my eyes.
Imagine my shock when there was no wolf next to me, but one Duo Maxwell, nuzzling my throat in his sleep.
I could feel his breath right where my pulse flickered under my skin. It sent a warm shiver through me.
Pulling my head back slowly, I gazed down at him. He really was beautiful, with his heart-shaped face and brown hair that was shot through with red and blonde highlights.
His mouth fell open more in his sleep and I felt a trickle of drool slide down the side of my throat. I pulled away more and caught sight of something that shouldn't have been there.
Duo's teeth were sharp, sharper than they should have been. His two canines were lengthened, sticking out of his mouth slightly. He pulled me back to him in his sleep and I could feel the slight prick of those teeth against my neck.
I didn't know what to do. My breath came in faster, sharper than usual.
Duo was a vampire and he was about to sink his teeth into my jugular.
My soldier's reactions took over and I rolled out from under his arm and onto the floor, hitting with a soft thump. I yelped slightly, as I had landed on my ankle, but stifled most of the sound, hoping that Duo would stay asleep.
Unfortunately for me, Lakota chose that exact moment to come bounding down the stairs and take a flying leap onto the middle of the pull-out couch, exactly where Duo was currently laying.
"Oof. Hey, get off of me, you stupid mutt." Duo tried to push the slobbering wolf away, but to no avail. Lakota decided his face wasn't clean enough and set about fixing that.
Gaia and Dweia had followed the wolf down the stairs and took in the scene. I was still sitting on the floor, on my ankle, and Duo was swatting at the wolf's nose.
"Heero, what are you doing on the floor? Did Duo make you sleep there?" Dweia asked, looking disapprovingly at Duo.
"Wait. Why are you on the floor, Heero? When I fell asleep, you were on the bed…" Duo trailed off and I could see the wheels in his mind turning, even if I didn't have the faintest idea of what he was thinking.
"You… you aren't human…" I couldn't help the words that poured out of my mouth. "You…your mouth… fangs… not normal."
Duo looked at me in shock. "What are you talking about?" He glanced up at the two girls on the stairs as he hissed out his questions. "Have you lost your mind?"
We both looked up when Gaia and Dweia giggled. "You know, Duo, you're good at the whole innocent act. Unfortunately for you, we know about you already."
"You… what? How? Who told you?" Duo stood, facing them. I stayed sitting, waiting to find out just what the hell Duo was.
"Your mentor, vampy baby. He felt that we should know so that we didn't try to kill you in your sleep. Even if he hadn't told us, we would have known."
"Vampy baby?" I choked. "You're a vampire?" I looked at Duo in shock and hurried to my feet. Backing away slowly, my eyes widened and I reached up to my neck. No puncture wounds there. I heaved a sigh of relief.
"I'm not a vampire, exactly. My mother was in labor and not anywhere near a hospital. The doctors were… not in time to save her. Al… a vampire bite her and she bled to death. They saved me, barely. Unfortunately enough for me, enough of the DNA mixed with my own that I became what is called a vampeel. Half vampire, half human. All of their strengths, none of their weaknesses. (1)"
I started laughing and couldn't stop myself. I was hysterical. My best friend had just admitted to being a vampire. What else was I supposed to do?
My laughter faded into soft hiccups when I felt arms around me. I looked up into the aqua depths of Dweia's eyes and shivered. I couldn't hear anything except a rushing in my ears.
I heard them murmuring around me, but wasn't really listening. Duo was a vampeel. That's why… I shuddered. No wonder he seemed so different from the others.
"…Heero's not part of this fight!" I tuned back into the conversation when I heard Duo say my name. "He doesn't know what's going on. He's not prepared!"
Duo looked… angry.
Gaia sighed heavily. "Duo, he can't stay here when we leave. HE knows where we live and he has Heero's… scent. He would find him and kill him slowly or turn him. He knows that Heero's important to you. Would you want to risk having to fight Heero later?"
"But…"
"No, Duo. He has to come with us." Gaia's voice held a note of finality. Duo's shoulders slumped when he heard it.
I was confused. Where were they going and why did Duo want to leave me behind? Wait… kill me or turn me?
"What the HELL IS GOING ON?" I couldn't stop myself from shouting.
The arms that were still around me tightened almost imperceptibly, as if trying to give comfort.
Gaia walked closer and put her hand on my shoulder. She leaned close and whispered in my ear.
"You might want to sit down for this."
I was pushed down onto the pull-out couch, sitting stiffly as Duo came closer and sat down next to me.
"Heero, there's a lot going on here that you don't know about."
I snorted. "No shit."
Duo glared me into silence and continued.
"There are two wars going on right now. One has been going on for nearly 200 years, the one you are fighting. The other is much, much older than that. About 4,000 years ago, a man named Algol (2) renounced God and became a vampire. Over a few thousand years, he created an army, a vampiric army. He turned military officers, thieves, royalty, basically anyone who had skills he thought he would be able to use. He never turned anyone without plans for their skills.
"His underlings, however, were not so intelligent. They turned humans when hungry, not caring about the consequences. Every so often, they would slip up, big time. Vampeels, like me, Gaia, and Dweia, were created…"
"Yeah, but they didn't just slip up with the three of us; they fucked up in a huge way." Dweia cut in.
Duo nodded. "Algol's right hand man, Vega (3), turned their mother three days before she gave birth. She was a witch."
Dweia coughed. "I prefer the term 'sorceress'."
"Anyway," Duo continued, ignoring her, "They gained her power and about 500 years to master it. They alone wiped out a quarter of Algol's army before he had the ability to place magic shields."
"What about you? Why are you needed?" I asked before I could stop myself.
Duo's manic grin made an appearance. "I was Algol's biggest mistake. He had gone into hiding on L2 after these two decimated part of his army. He met a woman on the streets there. She was pregnant and sick with the plague. She was already dying and he knew that she wouldn't turn before she died. He drained her. She was dead before she ever reached the hospital. Fortunately enough, the trauma her body had gone through forced her water to break and the doctors were able to save her baby. Me.
"I survived on the streets for… years. I don't know how long, I only know I'm about fifty years older than you or any of the other pilots. I met up with another vampeel, Solo. He's the only street kid I knew that didn't die of the plague. Algol killed him, thinking he was me. He protected me until the end." Duo broke off and looked away.
After a brief pause, he looked back into my eyes. "Algol doesn't know that I'm still alive. All he knows is that there is another vampeel joining these two. He's worried because he doesn't know what kind of powers I have, only that I am joining his two strongest enemies."
"But, Duo…" Duo shook his head, so I shut my mouth.
He stood up and walked out of the room.
Gaia and Dweia glanced at each other and shrugged. "Heero, you're going to have to come with us. I would suggest getting some food in your stomach because we're leaving in an hour."
I'm sooooo sorry. I stole it from Blade. pouts But how else are you supposed to explain what a vampeel is?
Algol is actually a star and it means Demon. It's actually from the Arabic name, al Ghul. snickers I was in Astronomy while writing this, can you tell? For information on this star, go to http/www.astro. Very informative site!
I spend WAAAAAY too much time listening with half an ear in Astronomy. Plus, I know someone with that name…giggles
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