A/N: Hey guys thanks for reading this chapter and bearing with the long update time. I just moved in to my house a while back and I'm getting into my routine with school to figure it out and stuff. I'd also like to thank my reviewers! Beautiful Innocence, XxMeli J NightlyxX, Shamma, and Kat Cora. Y'all are hot! Ssss. I hope you like this chapter as much as I did, especially towards the end ;) Hope to hear from you soon! Oh, and do tell me what you think of Michael and the interaction of the characters with him and him with them; I love feed back.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or it's characters.
My Memory of Her: Can I Sleep On The Bed?
Heero's eyes shot open at the sound of a loud knocking on his door. It sounded urgent. He jumped out of the couch, went straight to the door through the dark lighting in the house, and opened the door swiftly to see Duo with his hand full of bags. Heero blinked out the sleep from his eyes and knew that Duo was saying something based on that fact that his lips moving. He just couldn't make out what he was saying.
"What was that?" said Heero as he closed the door after letting Duo in and turned on the porch light and locked the door.
"I said that I brought Chinese for dinner Heero. I didn't know you were sleeping, but since I don't have a key and the bags were not getting any lighter," said Duo as he dropped the bags of food on the kitchen table, "Where's Michael!"
In one swift motion Heero placed his hand firmly on Duo's mouth to prevent him from speaking loudly, and speaking period.
"He's asleep," said Heero as he let his hand off of Duo's mouth.
"Ah, well, get him up! A growing boy's got to eat. And I wanna see his cute mug!" said Duo as pinched Heero's cheeks and moved them back and forth. The annoyed look on Heero's face was intimidating, but Duo couldn't help but continue his antics. For one, Heero wouldn't yell because Michael was asleep, and two, Heero looked funny when you messed with him, especially when he had to keep his cool.
Heero squinted his eyes and Duo knew that he had to stop and ran off to go find Michael. When Duo saw him, he couldn't help but make a barely audible, "aww…" at the sight of the boy sleeping soundly on top of his covers. Sure, he couldn't see him very well, because it was still dark in the house with the only the kitchen's light on, but the night light that was near by and Duo's good sense of seeing in the dark allowed him enough to see his nephew. Heero appeared next to Duo without a sound and startled Duo a bit. Duo looked at Heero. He didn't say a thing; he just moved his head in Michael's direction and made his way back to the kitchen. Duo smiled from ear to ear and had to resist the urge to cheer in excitement and flicked the light on to reveal the white room with the essentials of a boy's room; a chest, a nightstand, a dresser, and a place to put his toys and video games in. Duo kneeled down next to the different shades of blue comforter that had Michael sleeping on it like a little angel.
"Hey," Duo nudged Michael, "Hey kiddo, wake up. Dinner's ready. Maky. Maky…"
Michael groaned and turned over with an eye that was only cracked open and then both eyes shot open.
"Uncle Duo!"
Michael jumped from his sleeping position and hugged his uncle. Duo picked him up and tossed Michael on the bed and began tickling him. Between giggles and wails, Michael was flailing around the bed as Duo continued the tickling. The little boy just looked adorable when he smiled. Seriously, who could resist? Duo's antics were stopped though at the sound of someone clearing their throat.
"Dinner's ready," Heero walked out of the room and back to the kitchen to wait for Duo and Michael.
Duo tickled Michael for a couple of more seconds and then got up off from the now messy bed.
"Come on Michael, put some shorts over those tidy whities and let's have some grub," said Duo as he patted Michael on his head and ruffled his hair.
Duo went down to see Heero and saw that he was in the process of pouring their drinks. Heero looked up to see Duo and saw that he still had that goofy grin on his face. He was glad Duo loved Michael just as much as he did, God knows Duo had and still is a lifesaver. Heero never thought he'd need Duo as much as he has in these six years.
Michael was eating contently with an interesting combination of a fork, knife, and chopsticks that Heero had split apart for him, while Heero and Duo discussed things about work.
"Hey, do you remember that case that happened a good while back about a drug bust and several murders?" asked Duo as he reached for his glass of sweet tea and took a gulp.
"No, I wasn't here, but are you talking that case that made big news a while back?"
"Yeah, that huge one that involved," Duo paused in trying to think of a word to use that would be okay to say in front of Michael, "stuff, that was stopped but had signs that it was still going to continue but didn't have enough evidence to get the then DA to do something about it?"
"Yeah, I vaguely remember that one," said Heero before he took a bite out of his egg roll wondering where Duo was going with this.
"Well, I have a hunch that these people have started the act again. 'Cause two murders happened a while back and there were done in the mob like way and now the sir wants you and I to see her when you get back into the office. I have a feeling that we're going to be put on the case," said Duo matter-of-factly with his mouth somewhat full of General Tso Chicken, with some rice on his mouth, and pointing at Heero with an egg roll that he was about to take a bite out of.
"Hn, that would be interesting. I haven't gotten a good case in a good while, given I try to be careful when I pick them," said Heero. He didn't want to say that he hadn't gotten any good cases because he had Michael, because that would definitely hurt Michael's feelings but it would be because Heero wanted to make sure that Michael would still have a dad.
"Yeah, I know what ya mean bro. You gotta be careful," said Duo understanding Heero's situation quite well. He would have to be that way too if he was in his brother's shoes, which he still wondered how he got there but didn't like to think about it for too long.
"So, how was Relena, Maky?" asked Duo curious as to what their old friend was up to and how Michael had enjoyed the trip since it hadn't been discussed yet.
"Oh, she's good. Her house is HUGE though! I sort of got lost a few times," said Michael embarrassed that he got lost in a house.
"Yeah, I'm sure that place is huge! Did she treat you nice though? Did you have a good time?"
"Yeah, Uncle Duo! It was a bit embarrassing that some of the boys and girls that worked with her were going to give me a bath, but I said I'd do it on my own. 'Cause I'm a big boy! They smiled and said okay, but if I needed help, not to be afraid to ask. I almost had to because they tub was also big, like the house. The food wasn't very good though; it was different. It was fun going everywhere in a limo, but she always chose the pink one. But Pegan understood that pink limos aren't for boys and would take a black car whenever he'd take me out. She said to say hello to everyone, and she was also sort of busy. I think Aunty Dorothy called a few times, I wanted to talk to her but was afraid to ask."
"Aww, why kiddo?" asked Duo.
"'Cause sometimes Relena sounded upset, and would say something about 'ugh, that woman,' sometimes and it sounded sort of important and she always had someone watching her door. I could only hear a little bit of them when I would walk by to go to the bathroom."
"Typical of Relena. But as least you had fun!" said Duo as he ruffled the boy's hair. He smiled in return, but that smile soon faded as Duo leaned in and started sniffing. Michael looked confused, and looked at Heero and he shrugged, letting him know that he was just as confused by Duo's antics.
"Oh yeah boy, you need a bath! You should've gotten one of those cute girls to help ya pal! I would've!" said Duo playfully at Michael. The boy pouted in return and felt bad. He thought that he did a good job and washed under his arms and all the places his father would usually bathe him. Sensing that Michael was in distress Heero spoke up.
"Cut it out Duo. You know that you were the one who once went without a shower for two weeks just to impress that hippie girl. And when I picked up Michael, he didn't, and I'm sure he doesn't smell," said Heero as he crossed his arms and stared at Duo with a small glare that only Duo would be able to pick on that clearly said, "cut it out Duo or I will personally scalp you and sell your braided hair to a Predator impersonator at the next sci-fi convention." Duo gulped and knew that it was time to hold off on the jokes a bit.
Michael of course felt better that his dad came to his aid and that made him feel good about taking a bath by himself, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to do as good of a job as his dad did. Maybe in a couple of years he'd know how to do it like the bigger boys, plus, only his dad had ever seen him naked and didn't want someone else to. The mere thought of someone other than his dad seeing him naked mortified the little boy and made him blush.
"Well, I'm done!" said Duo as he burped and patted his belly.
Heero nodded and got up and looked at Michael's plate.
"The food wasn't good?" asked Heero concerned that his son hadn't eaten much more than some chicken nuggets after the airport.
"No, it's fine, I'm just really tired daddy," said Michael with his eyelids drooping like they usually did when he was ready to go to bed.
Heero nodded and proceeded to pick up Michael's plate but was interrupted by Duo saying to leave his food out so that he would have something to munch on incase he was in the mood for a midnight snack. Heero mentally shook his head in his brother's habits but as long as it got him through the night without him setting the house on fire, he didn't mind much.
"Come on Michael, let's give you a bath," said Heero as he helped Michael off of his chair and walked him to the bathroom.
Michael sat in the bathtub with some soap foam floating on the water and a rubber duck floating near by the boy as he sat with his eyes closed contently as Heero scrubbed head and washed his hair. Michael missed having his dad taking care of him and his uncle's crazy behavior. He didn't know how to go about telling them how much he missed them but thought that as long as he made the best of their time together, it would be just as good.
Heero thought Michael was clean enough, after giving the boy a couple of washes to make sure to get him cleaned up since he hadn't seen him in a week and he might've missed some areas. Heero knew he had done a good job, but in the back of his mind the dreaded "what if?" came to mind. Parent hood, and he mentally shook his head at himself.
"Alright, you're done. If you want you can stay in there for a bit longer and play around," said Heero as he still remained seated on the bathroom floor to be able to give Michael a bath comfortably.
"No, I want to go to bed daddy," said Michael covered in a shine of moisture from the water and his hair plastered to his head from the water that Heero poured form a cup to wash Michael's hair clean of the shampoo.
Heero got up off the towel that he was sitting on so that Michael wouldn't slip or get the floor wet. Before Michael would get up though, he waited for Heero to hold out a towel so that he could dry his body.
Once clothed in an over sized nightshirt and boxer shorts, Michael was in bed, eyes shut, on the verge of dreaming as Heero hadn't even tucked him in yet. Poor boy was exhausted. Heero kissed the boy on his forehead and was glad that he was finally home with him. He wasn't too thrilled with his room being so far away from his, but he knew that pretty soon Michael was going to need his space. Heero stood in the doorway and studied Michael for a few seconds longer to make sure that he was asleep before turning the light off.
In the hallway, Heero checked the thermostat to make sure that he house wouldn't get too cold at night and saw that Duo was sitting on the couch in the living room watching TV with Michael's leftovers.
"What you said at dinner, were you serious?" asked Heero as he took a seat in his recliner next to Duo.
"Yeah man, the drug business has been booming and so have the killings. It's to the point where I can't be seen in anything associated with the city or the cops and the same goes with my truck. That's why I had to get a new one last year remember?"
"Yeah, I remember that. You have to be careful being an undercover cop Duo."
"I know that Heero, I'm not stupid, that's why I have to find a place soon. I can't been seen with you being the detective that you are. Shit, it's you who did a good number on the other case that was similar to this one. I love you bro, but shit, I don't want to put your life in danger, especially Maky's. God knows he needs you Heero. You know what it's like to grow up without a dad."
"Fuck Duo, don't you think I know that? Guess why I'm still taking the desk jobs over the real shit? But if this does get as bas as I have a feeling it will, I need to do as much as I can to make sure that the streets are safe for Michael."
Duo sighed, "Damn it Heero, I shouldn't have said anything."
"Either way, you know I'd be told about it. We're going to have to work together again. It happened last time, when I didn't even live here so imagine now."
"Fine, I guess you do have a point. Sorry, it's just been a rough couple of days for me," said Duo as he rubbed his temples with his eyes closed.
"Want to talk about it?" asked Heero doing his best not to make it sound awkward because he wasn't the best with feelings and such.
"Got any liquor?" asked Duo with a grin.
"No, I don't drink and I don't want you drinking around Michael at all."
"Alright papa. We'll save this for another time, 'cause I know you're tired," said Duo with a yawn as the TV flashed news about a potential thunderstorm or something.
Heero opened his eyes slowly at a soft nudging and whispering and whimpering coming from an area close to his face. Soon, his eyes adjusted in the darkness and could make out that it was Michael. Heero's eyes instantly grew wide and was now clearly able to see in the dark, he even surprised himself at how he did that. But before he or Michael could utter a word, lightning flashed and then the splintering sound of thunder sent Michael from his feet on the floor to clinging to Heero for dear life under the blanket.
Heero held the shivering boy and turned over so that the boy wouldn't be floating over the floor.
"Michael, it's okay, it's just a thunderstorm," said Heero softly as he brushed Michael's hair with his hands.
As Michael was going to look up and say something to Heero the room lit up and the whole house shook with the loud sound of thunder.
"Ah shit!" Duo yelled loudly that it echoed through the house.
Heero did his best to cover Michael's ears but to no avail the damage was done. Michael himself probably didn't hear much due to the thunder and him burying his face into Heero's night shirt, at least that's what Heero told himself.
"Man, that was loud!"
Heero looked at Duo now in the doorway, only being able to tell by the sound of his voice because the house had suddenly become pitch black.
"Yes Duo, we know."
"We? Aw man, don't tell me Maky beat me to your bed!"
Michael looked around but couldn't see his uncle as he didn't need to because suddenly he threw himself on the bed but didn't land over him. A nervous laugh and a loud thump was all that was heard as Michael did his best to see in the dark.
"Heero, it was an accident, I was going to Maky."
"Don't care. Stop fooling around, the power went out and if you keep it up you're going to make it hot in here."
Heero's words were emphasized by the flashing light coming through the window and it's accompanying sound of thunder.
"Okay Heero, but can I sleep on the bed with you to instead of here on the floor?" asked Duo somewhat scared.
"No."
A E/N: Hey, I'd also like to mention that I'm going to post a new story tomorrow, given that it's Labor Day, and I know that not everyone has the day off for school or work and I empathize with you guys so I thought that if you didn't get the day off or you did, you'd enjoy my Roast of Gundam Wing. The first chapter will be up tomorrow and I hope you all enjoy it, and as a heads up, it gets better with every chapter. Spread the word, tell your friends, I've never seen a roast of this anime and I think that it really needs it. Good Will! Sincerely, CA.