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The Portrait
Part 25
"Good morning!" a soft voice whispered into his ear and Milliardo smiled. He could feel Treize's warm body pressing against his back.
"You are awake already?" He yawned as he turned around to face his lover.
"Just woke up myself. When do you have to get up?"
"Not until 7:30."
"Good." Treize smiled as he pulled the young man closer into his embrace. Milliardo snuggled against his chest with his head tugged under his lover's chin with a content sigh.
"You know I'm definitely going to miss this while you are gone this weekend."
"But it's only for a few days. Today and tomorrow, and Saturday…and by Sunday I will be back already."
"This really isn't fair, you know." Milliardo complained. "How come do you as a teacher have time off already while we are still sweating over our finals?"
"Not history finals," the older man pointed out. "But I promise I'll make it up to you when I get back." He gently kissed the top of the blonde's head.
"Hmm…" Milliardo lifted his head to look up to him, a slight smirk on his face. "How about making it up to me right now?"
Treize raised one eyebrow in a gesture of caution and surprise. "Do I dare ask what you have in mind?"
###
"Alexander! Alexander, where are my car keys?" With an edge of annoyance in his voice, Treize looked around the room and in the direction where he could sense their ghostly housemate. "I know I put them on the table in the hall, and now they are gone."
Alexander had been pretty good about not playing tricks on his great-grandson lately, but he had picked the wrong time to start again. Treize was already running late and in no mood for games. His bag was standing by the door and he had been about to leave for the airport when he discovered the missing keys. Milliardo had left for school a few hours ago in his own car, so he couldn't count on him to drive him either.
"If I miss my flight because of you, I swear I'm going to call an exorcist."
The tawny haired man felt a rush of cool air past his head and then the morning paper that had been sitting on the shoe cabinet in the hall, flattered in all directions.
"Oh, you think I'm joking? Just try me," he warned.
Once again he could feel the ghost move past him, this time back into the living room, and moments later the leather dice cup on the coffee room table moved. It rose slightly into the air were it hovered momentarily before it turned over and the dice dropped onto the table below.
Treize sighed. "You want to play with me? Now is not a good time, you know. I have a plane to catch."
Stubbornly Alexander rolled the dice again.
"Alright," the professor finally agreed. "Here is the deal. Let's roll the dice. If I win you'll give me back my keys, understood?" He reached for the dice cup and started shaking it. "Two dice, highest numbers win," he announced before dropping the dice onto the table. It didn't seem to matter what he rolled for some reason Alexander always had a point more. After the tenth try or so Treize snorted in frustration. But something, was it pride or foolishness, stopped him from just walking away from the game, picking up the phone and calling a taxi. A good fifteen minutes or so had passed by the time he finally rolled two sixes.
"Hah!" He gave his ghostly ancestor a triumphant gaze. "Try to beat that."
###
"Hey Peacecraft?!"
Milliardo held his step and turned his head. A couple of guys from his biology class had left the science building shortly after him. "What's up?"
"They are having a party tonight at 'Pete's'. You gonna come?"
The young man shook his head. "Thanks, but I still have another test tomorrow. I'd rather not show up drunk or hung over."
"Man, that's too bad. Zeuss is supposed to be playing. Just come for the music."
"Yeah maybe," Milliardo replied tentatively. Or I could also stand right next to a canon when it goes off and blow out my eardrums that way. "Got to go. Catch you guys later."
The young man made it about half way across campus to the senior parking lot before someone was calling out to him again. This time it was his sister who was running after him. He stopped to let her catch up.
"Hey, what's the hurry?"
"Milliardo…" she had to stop to catch her breath. "I just was at the teacher lounge to drop of some books and I heard…Professor Khushrenada was flying to Norwick today, wasn't he… it's on the news… everyone is talking about it…"
Her brother frowned. "What are you talking about, Relena? You are making no sense whatsoever. Why would Treize flying home to visit his mother be on the news?"
"No, I'm talking about the accident."
Milliardo felt like someone just sucker punched him in the stomach. "What accident, Relena?"
"About an hour or so ago, at Norwick regional airport; a plane coming in for landing overshot the runway and crashed into some storage building. There was a fire, a lot of injuries and a few fatalities too. The plane came supposedly from Watsonville."
Watsonville was the local airport just outside of town. Milliardo swallowed. "The flight number, Relena, do you know what the flight number was?" He had to fight the urge to grab his sister by the shoulder and shake her.
"I don't know. But there was a number for people to call if they thought they had relatives on that flight." She handed him a piece of paper with some hastily scribbled numbers.
Her brother had already pulled out his cell phone, dialing Treize's number first. The phone rang several times before switching over to voice mail. "Treize, its Milliardo. I need to talk to you. When you get this message call me at once."
He hung up only to dial the number Relena had handed him right thereafter. After following a few instructions he was finally connected to a live operator. "I believe my brother might have been on that flight," he told the woman. "His name is Khushrenada. K…h…u…s…h…r…e…n…a…d…a, first name Treize."
Relena watched her brother with bated breath.
"Yes, thank you." Milliardo closed the phone with shaking hands. His face had grown pale. "His name was on the passenger list; he was flying first class. But that's all she could tell me for now."
"Oh Milliardo!" His sister reached out to hug him and he put his arms around her as well. "I hope he is alright."
###
For what was probably the longest hour of his life, Milliardo sat at Duo and Wufei's dorm room watching the news and waiting for someone from the airline to call him back. Wufei had left for work shortly after he arrived, but Duo stayed with the young man.
"Can I get you something to eat or drink; a beer or maybe some coffee?" the braided youth asked. "I can go to the coffee shop and pick some up, you know."
"I'm fine, thanks." The blonde shook his head. He wasn't sure if he would be able to keep anything down right now.
The reporter on the news channel just announced that the death toll had climbed to ten, including both the pilot and co-pilot, and at least two dozen severally injured passengers had been taken to local emergency room.
Milliardo felt his stomach clench at the sight of the broken and burned out airplane pieces. Suddenly he could image how Octavian must have felt when he learned of Alexander's dead. Was this it, he wondered. Was history repeating itself? Please be alright, Treize. I don't want to lose you.
"He will be okay, Milliardo. Just wait and see." Duo seemed to be reading his mind.
"Thanks." The young man tried to put on a brave smile, but it probably turned more into a lopsided grimace. "I really hope so. Treize was flying first class. Looking at that plane now; it doesn't have a first class section anymore. Hard to imagine that anyone…"
"Hey!" his friend interrupted him. "Trust me on this one. Treize is going to be alright. He has been in the military, has probably seen more action than you and me can imagine. If anyone would be able to walk away from this, it's him."
"Maybe you are right." Milliardo sighed and stared at his phone on the table, and suddenly as if by power of mind it started to ring. The young man hesitated, letting it ring a second and third time. He had been waiting for this call for the past two hours but now he wasn't sure if he was better off not knowing.
"Do you want me to get it?" Duo offered.
"No, I got it." Taking a deep breath Milliardo finally picked up and phone and opened it. "Hello?"
"Milliardo."
"Treize?!" the young man nearly jumped to his feet at the sound of his lover's voice. "Treize, are you alright?"
"Um…yes. But that was going to be my question. What's going on? I just landed and when I checked my phone I found your messages." - Milliardo had left at least four of them.
"You just landed?" the young man echoed in surprise. It seemed like Treize was completely unaware of the plane crash. "Where exactly are you?"
"In Oaks Dale, at the airport."
"What are you doing in Oaks Dale? I thought you were flying to Norwick?"
On the other end of the line Treize snorted. "So did I, but thanks to Alexander, our not so friendly ghost, hiding my car keys again I missed my flight and had to rebook. The only way for me to make it to my mother's house in time for her dinner party tonight was to take a plane to Oaks Dale and then a connection. Not exactly the way I had planned in spending my day. And now it looks like my flight to Norwick has been canceled. I need to figure out what's going on."
"You don't know then?"
"Know what? I told you we just landed. What's going on, Milliardo?"
"The plane you were supposed to be on was in an accident." The young man quickly filled the professor in on what had happened.
"Oh my god." He could hear Treize draw a sharp breath. "Alexander…If not for…"
"Could he possibly have known?"
"I…I don't know. Listen Milliardo, I have another call incoming. It's my mother."
"Okay. Talk your family; let them know you are alright. I'll talk to you later."
"I'll call you when I get to my mother's house. Take care."
"You too. And Treize… I love you!"
He could almost see Treize smile and he replied. "I love you too."
Milliardo closed his phone and turned his head toward Duo who was giving him a grin and a 'Told you so!' look.
"I think now I'll have that beer you offered me earlier."
###
Milliardo was curled up in a warm blanket watching TV when the phone on the little table next to the couch rang.
"Alexander, could you get that for me please?" he asked.
Not only did the ghost pick up the receiver and hand it to him, he also stopped the movie they were watching so that the young man wouldn't miss anything.
"Thank you." Milliardo nodded in his direction as he accepted the phone. "Hello?!"
"Did I wake you, Dear?" Treize's voice came from the other end of the line. They two of them had talked a couple of times since the professor left, and each time when he heard that voice Milliardo couldn't help but remember how close he had come to losing him.
"No, we are just watching a movie."
"We?"
"Just Alexander and I." the young man grinned. "No, I'm not holding any wild parties while you're away. How was your day?"
"Quite pleasant actually; we went to an art show and then I took Mother to a new restaurant for dinner. It's how we usually spent her birthday."
"That does sound like fun." Milliardo thought he sounded sincere, but he could hear the other man chuckle.
"Just not your idea of fun, am I right?"
"I respectfully decline to answer that for reasons of self-incrimination," the blonde grinned.
On the other end of the line Treize gave another laugh. "Very well. But I assume you can answer this question. How did your last final go yesterday?"
"I did alright, I think."
"Good. It would be terrible if you failed." The other man replied with a hint of humor in his voice. "Because tomorrow morning Mother and I are going to pick up the graduation gift I chose for you a few weeks ago; and I don't think it can be returned."
"Oh? A present; what is it? Can you tell me?"
"Sorry, no can do. It's a surprise."
"Not even a hint?"
"Not even a hint." Treize confirmed. "You will just have to wait till tomorrow evening when I get home."
"Speaking of which… I'm working tomorrow," Milliardo told him.
"Working, on a Sunday night?"
"Yes Mother, I know it's a school night." The blond replied cheekily. "But guess what; I don't have school anymore."
"Very well," the older man gave a theatrical sigh. "I'll just come home from my long trip to an empty house."
"But it's not really empty, is it?"
Treize chuckled. "Alright then, I will not keep you two any longer from watching your movie. Tell Alexander I'll be bringing something for him too. I went through some of the old family stuff yesterday and found some paintings I think he might like to put up in the attic. Oh, this reminds me… I was talking to our family lawyer a few days ago about the walking cane in the auction catalogue and he said he would try to find out where it came from. Apparently he found something because he called and left a message earlier today. I'll go and see him tomorrow before flying home."
"That's great. Did he mention what he found out?"
"No, nothing specific. But it's too late to call him now; we'll just have to wait and see tomorrow."
"Alright, I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow, and I'll miss you tonight."
"I miss you too, Milliardo. See you tomorrow."
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T.B.C.
Author's Note: A few people asked about Duo and Heero's relationship. I'm afraid that won't make it in this story anymore. However, there is always a possibility that I'll write a sequel.