Title: The Devil Has Blue Eyes
By: Aina Song
Fandom(s): Gundam Wing
Genre: Yaoi (with some Het thrown in)
Rating: PG-15
Warning(s): Contraband; Fusion; Language; Death; Murder.
Pairing(s): Heero/Quatre (constant mentionings of Het pairings)
Reviews: Yes, please.
Author's Note: (I'm afraid my usual Disclaimer will not be enough this time, so bear with me.) I, Aina Song, hereby acknowledge the illegality of the following fusion fiction, which is based very thickly upon Clara Wimberly's The Jeweled Heart of Rosemont Castle. I do not claim any rights or privileges her book may have earned her, nor due I claim credit for the book itself. This fanfiction follows her plot almost to the letter, with few changes tossed in here and there, but I must again press that it does so without the explicit permission of Ms. Wimberly, her editor(s), or her publisher(s). This fiction was not written for money; I do not profit from this in any way, shape, or form. Please excuse the illegality of it all, and I do hope my own readers will try to look past my unlawfulness and enjoy the fiction nonetheless. Thank you.
Teaser: He did not care that he was the lost heir to a winery fortune - especially since he couldn't remember that earliest piece of his childhood. He only wanted to reclaim the family that had been kept from him. But there was another who was determined to unmask him as an imposter. And, at the same time, a strange cold presence stirred again at his return, anxious to finish what it had started so long ago…
Chapter Three
Instinctively, Quatre flinched back, startled by this man's reaction to him. L-Leia? But 'Leia' was a woman's name, and despite his full gypsy's tail Quatre was very much in fact a male. Was the man touched in the head? He certainly looked that way as he stood gesturing soundlessly at Quatre, his dark eyes wide and fixed upon the blond's face.
Heero Yuy moved forward quickly, grasping the man's arm and leading him to a chair by the fire. "Treize," he murmured, gruffly. "Are you ill?" Then he turned to Quatre, his eyes sparking with anger. "Get Wufei, get someone…" Dismissing the blond, he turned back to the older man, who sat gasping for breath.
Quatre did as he was commanded, without thinking. But he, too, was alarmed by Treize Khushrenada's strange behavior: What if the man died right there on the spot and Quatre was somehow held responsible?
Luckily Wufei had not gone far. He stood in the hallway, his hands clasped behind his back. It was as though he had sensed something dreadful might happen and was only waiting to be summoned. Or was he always so ready to be called upon?
"Wufei… Mister Chang," Quatre cried breathlessly. "We need help. There's something wrong with Mister Khushrenada."
He seemed stunned for a moment. Then, with a quick nod of his head, he raced across the hallway and disappeared. Quatre ran back into the room. "I told Mister Chang," he said. "Is there anything else I can do?"
The other man was on one knee beside the chair, and he had loosened Treize Khushrenada's shirt and tie. The man who Quatre believed to be his father was extremely pale, and his head reclined against the back of the upholstered chair.
Heero Yuy glanced around at Quatre, his face dark and cold. "I think you've done quite enough for one day."
His words hit Quatre as though he's been physically struck. He backed away from those hateful blue eyes, which seemed almost iridescent in the dimly lit room. Quatre's legs hit the edge of a chair and he slumped into the seat wearily, hardly knowing what to do.
As he sat there, listening to the dark-haired young man who knelt beside Treize's chair, he began to calm a bit. Heero Yuy seemed to know what to do and was reassuring the older man, and Quatre found the darker man's soothing voice was doing the same for him.
"This is my fault, Treize," he said quietly. "I shouldn't have insisted on your coming here this evening. As soon as Wufei gets here, we'll take you back to your room."
"No," the man gasped, his gaze darting about. "Where is she? I must… I must see her. My sweet Leia. She's come home to me at last, Heero. Didn't you see her?"
"He is not Leia, sir," he denied, sympathetically. "He's not even female."
"Yes… yes, she is," the man insisted, his eyes searching the darkness for Quatre.
The blond cringed back into the depths of his chair, not knowing what to do or say. Who was Leia, and why was the man confused enough to believe Quatre was she?
When Wufei came in later with a couple of other men, they quickly carried Mister Khushrenada from the room. The poor man seemed almost in a state of shock and did not look Quatre's way again. Wufei glanced at him with a look that the blond though held a hint of sympathy. After everyone was gone and Quatre was left to face Heero Yuy's fury alone, he discovered why.
He strode quickly to Quatre, his face hard and angry. Silently he reached forward and dragged Quatre from the chair, pulling the him into the lamplight and twisting the blond around to face him. He held Quatre's arms tightly pinned to his sides and looked beneath fierce dark brows into the blond's face.
"Now, my little troublemaker… Who are you? And what the hell do you think you're doing?"
Quatre had never been treated in such a manner. He jerked away from the other man, going to the opposite side of the round table to put a barrier between them. Heero did not follow, but glared at him across the light. Quatre rested his hands on the table, trying desperately to steady their trembling as he spoke.
"I am Quatre Winner," he managed. "I was told that Treize Khushrenada is my father. And I came here to find out whether it's true. I wrote a letter at first, asking to speak to him, but I received a reply from another man, a Mister Odin Lowe. He dismissed my claim without a thought."
"I might've known - the boy who wrote the letter. Well, Mister Winner, was it? Mister Lowe was only acting on my orders, so I'm afraid you have me to blame for the dismissal, as you call it."
Quatre's stomach tightened with anger as he looked at the other's smug, self-assured face. He reached into the only back pocket his trousers sported and pulled something out, tossing it across the table. "Then you're probably also responsible for that."
It was a crumpled square of paper, a bank draft. Heero Yuy smoothed it upon the table so that he could read it. Then he looked up into Quatre's eyes.
"Not enough?" He drawled.
"I don't want your money," the blond snapped.
"Oh?"
Quatre's face burned as those dark blue eyes raked slowly over his worn and rumpled clothes. His gypsy pride kicked in.
"I may be poor, but I don't need your charity, or anyone else's!" He reached across the table, crumpled the paper in his fist, and hurled it into the fireplace.
The other man took a deep breath, gritting his teeth before he allowed himself to speak again. "All right, Mister Winner. Who exactly told you that you were Treize Khushrenada's son?"
"Rasid Maguanac," Quatre answered. "The man who raised me."
"Never heard of him," he said with a challenging lift of his brow.
Tiredly, Quatre reached back and ran his fingers through his gypsy's tail, wondering how he might convince this stubborn man that he was telling the truth.
"It's a long story, Mister Yuy," he said wearily. "But I'd like a chance to speak with Mister Khushrenada about it before you dismiss me completely. If I'm mistaken, then of course I will leave here and never bother you again."
"Oh, that you will, my little urchin. The problem is, what am I to do with you tonight?" Heero turned back to the fireplace and picked up a poker, stirring the dying fire into life. The room seemed cold and dark until the flames began to cast their shimmering reflection upon the golden walls. He turned, resting his elbow casually against the mantelpiece as he stared at Quatre thoughtfully. The blond could hardly take his eyes off the other's face as his white teeth chewed at his bottom lip. He watched Quatre pensively for a moment, then slowly took a step toward the blond.
Quatre stepped backward, wary of the look in the other's eye. The man had a habit of looking at one from beneath his brows, and it gave him a sinister and quite dangerous look. But no more than the way his jaw clenched and unclenched tightly as he regarded the blond before him.
The door opened and a woman burst into the room, looking about wildly before she went to the darker-haired young man and placed her hand on his arm. "Heero, what has happened? Chang said that Treize was here and that he became ill." She seemed very agitated and worried. When she turned toward Quatre he recognized her. It was the woman at the tea party, the one who had practically thrown him from the room that afternoon.
"You!" She said, and turned to Heero. "What is he doing here?" She asked. She had a very distinctive, heavily accented voice, much like the blue-eyed man's but thicker. Quatre still had not placed it.
"That's exactly what I'm trying to determine," Heero replied slowly, still staring at him. "He claims to be Treize's long-lost son."
The woman gasped and took a step toward Quatre. She stared at him for a long moment, then moved to another table and struck a match, lighting lamps until the small area was aglow with light. She turned to him then, and her eyes seemed huge in her small, heart-shaped face. "Heero," she said quietly, "look at him. He does look like… he looks exactly like Leia." She seemed unnerved by her own words.
Heero placed a reassuring arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She slumped against him and shook her head as she continued to stare at Quatre in disbelief. "Yes, Mother," he said, his own eyes speculative. "Now that you mention it, the resemblance is uncanny. In fact, Treize thought he was Leia, and it seemed too much for him."
Quatre was irritated that they continued to talk about him as though he wasn't there.
"Oh no," she whispered. "I must go to him." As she turned to leave, she whirled angrily back toward the blond. "If you are lying… if you hurt him, then I swear, whoever you are, you will live to regret the day you ever came to Rosemont Castle."
Quatre stared after her as she rushed out the door. "She's… your mother?"
"Yes."
"But who… what is she to my… to Treize Khushrenada?"
"She's his wife," he said slowly, watching Quatre with a hint of fire in his eyes. "Her name is Hiromi(1) Une-Yuy Khushrenada."
"I… s-see," Quatre responded, looking away from those fathomless blue eyes.
"I suppose we have no choice but to find a room for you. Treize will want to speak to you… when he's able." It was as though a mask had been drawn across his handsome face as he glanced over at the blond. "Do you have luggage?"
Quatre felt the heat flush his face as he stammered like a child beneath that frosty gaze. "I-I have a small bag. But I left it with my mare out front. Sally said…"
His dark eyebrows shot upward and his lips quirked at one corner. His features had become animated with interest.. "The golden Arabian is yours?" His tone was one of disbelief.
Quatre had the feeling Heero thought he had stolen the horse. The man's smug, amused looks made Quatre so furious that his fingers itched to curl into a fist and hit him. But even as he thought it, the blond had the distinct feeling that this was a man one should not strike… ever.
"Yes, the mare is mine," he said coldly, never looking away from those blazing eyes.
"And how would a boy like you happen to be in the possession of such an animal?"
"How did I know you were going to ask me that?" He snapped, just as sarcastically. "I didn't steal her, if that's what you mean. And where I got her is really none of your business, your majesty."
The blond was surprised to hear the other's quiet laugh. "I realize that you're in awe of me," he said. "But there is no need for you to continue to use such titles as 'lordship' and 'majesty.' I'm only a simple farmer."
Quatre knew the man was laughing at him.
"Just point me to a room, please," he said. "And perhaps tomorrow, after I've spoken to Mister Khushrenada, you won't be so self-satisfied."
"Perhaps, little Quatre," he challenged with a quick grin. "Perhaps not." He went to the door and yelled into the hallway. "Wufei? Are you there?"
The dark-eyed man came quickly, stopping just before the doorway. He peered into the room with a bright, curious gleam in his obsidian eyes.
"Mister Winner will be staying the night, Wufei. Show him to one of the guest rooms." Then, to Quatre, he said, "I'll have one of the maids bring your things in directly."
"Thank you," Quatre muttered as he followed Wufei from the room.
As they went up the long curving stairway, he glanced at the man leading the way. "How long were you in the hallway?"
"Long enough, young sir," he said with a short nod of his head.
"Mister Yuy is certainly not the friendliest man I've ever met."
"He is, if he likes one."
"Oh," Quatre started. "Well, I can't say that I'm particularly fond of him, either."
The man smiled, his teeth gleaming brightly in the shadows. "Then you'd be the first that ever felt that way, young sir. Our Heero is quite the bishonen,(2) attracting young men and women from miles around. They say he's irresistible." He laughed as he motioned Quatre into the dark hallway. "This way, young sir."
The blond sighed heavily and said nothing else until they'd reached a door near the end of the hall. The room was dark and Wufei went in quickly to light the lamps. He stood for a moment, waiting for Quatre to come in. Then, with a little wave of his hand and a nod of his head, he laughed again. "Well, this is it. Don't just stand there gawking, lad. Better enjoy it while you can, because I have a feeling come morning Mister Yuy is about to send you packing."
"Not if I have anything to say about it," Quatre muttered softly, stepping into the room with a swift, brief look around. "Mister Chang, before you go… Could you answer something for me?"
"Well, what is it?"
"Who exactly is Leia?"
His mouth turned downward, and he shrugged. "Well, lad… I'd think that if you were really Mister Khushrenada's son, you might know your own mother's name." Then, with a quick little grin, he turned and left the room.
Reluctantly, Quatre moved further into the room as Wufei closed the door behind him with a bang. The blond stood for a moment, willing himself to stay calm when what he wanted to do most was run back out into the night, find Sandi, and chase after the Maguanac caravan to beg that they take him back.
He had not thought his coming here would be easy. But neither had he been prepared for such antagonism. He felt a sense of dread move over him, and he wished he knew more than what Rasid had told him.
That they thought he looked like Leia Khushrenada was a hopeful sign. But how was he going to prove anything to these people? They obviously thought he was a less-reputable gypsy, one who wandered the roads, looking for a rich family to dupe.
Remembering the sarcastic amusement of Heero Yuy, he knew he should probably give up now. And another strange thought occurred to Quatre, one that disturbed him more than he cared to admit: If he was Treize Khushrenada's son, then this man with the wild hair and potent blue eyes was his stepbrother. And he found that the feelings Heero Yuy evoked in him had little to do with anything brotherly.
1) Hiromi - No one ever revealed Lady Une's first name in the series, so I threw one in.
2) Bishonen - I realize this might not be the proper term, but it was the one to best sum up what I was trying to have Wufei explain.