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 do 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 Thirty

"Get out of my sight," Heero growled to Zechs. He watched angrily as the older man took the painting and left the room. After Zechs had gone, Heero muttered darkly, "If I find out he's done this, so help me, I'll…"

"Son, please," Hiromi spoke up. "We must wait until we find out for certain who ruined the portrait."

Heero took Quatre's hand, pulling the blond with him as he marched fumingly out of the ballroom. They walked through the hallways in silence, and Quatre could feel the anger rolling off of Heero.

Once inside Quatre's room, he pulled the blond close and kissed him hungrily, his fury melting into fear and desperation. Turning them around, he pushed the blond back against the wall. His mouth left Quatre's, and the blond sucked in a sharp hiss of breath as he felt Heero's body line up against his own, Heero's mouth now busily nibbling along the side of his throat. "W-why are you so afraid?" He panted.

"Because I can't lose you," Heero growled passionately, pushing Quatre's suit jacket from his shoulder so that Heero's teeth could more easily get to the cove of the blond's neck. "Don't you know how much I love you? Don't you know I would die if anything happened to you? My life was so staid and meaningless before you came along. You make me feel things I never thought I'd feel. I love you, gypsy, love you…"

The words rang in Quatre's ears. He stared at the ceiling as their echo resonated, finally sewing together the hole in his heart, and his eyes stung wetly.

Feeling his sudden lack of response, Heero lifted his head, dark blue eyes widening when he saw the tears in Quatre's. "What is it?" He whispered, gently thumbing the tears away. "Don't you believe me?"

Quatre bit at his lip, reaching out and fisting the lapels of Heero's jacket, pulling himself forth into Heero's embrace. The darker man's strong arms wrapped tightly around him, and he felt Heero lightly kiss his hair. "I'm going to take you away from here," he heard Heero murmur. "Somewhere where you will be safe. There's something wrong here, kawaii, I don't know what. But until we find out, I'm not taking any chances with your safety."

"All right," the blond whispered.

"What?" Heero laughed softly. "No objections, no fighting?"

"None," he shook his head against the darker man's chest. "And I won't fight you anymore."

"Well," Heero drawled. "Don't be too sure about that part. We both have a temper, and there's that stubbornness of yours… I'm afraid our future will have its share of fighting."

"And making up," Quatre added, looking up with a small smile.

Heero cradled his jaw and kissed him again, long and slow, before releasing him and reluctantly stepping away. "I'm going downstairs; I'll need to make a few arrangements. One more night here, I swear, and then everything will be behind us. Lock the door and wait for me."

"I will."

After he had gone, Quatre knew he would never get to sleep. His body still sang where Heero had touched him; goose bumps tingled along the side of his neck where those teeth had nibbled at him. So he swiftly changed out of his fine suit and into a comfortable set of cotton clothes instead. He was sitting in a chair and reading as he waited, when a sudden knock at his door surprised him.

"Zechs!"

The older blond stood there in the hallway, his silvery eyes sad and remorseful. "I have come to apologize, cherub, about what happened tonight. I could not rest until I spoke to you about it."

Quatre immediately relaxed. This man was his friend, of course he would not be a danger. "Thank you, Zechs. And I'm not angry with you; I know you didn't have anything to do with what happened. Heero was only looking out for me, that's all."

"So it is love, then," he murmured, with a slow nod. "I thought it might be." Then he straightened and drew a deep breath. "Actually, I suppose that is why Heero sent me here, although I did not know at the time. He is in the library, and asked me to bring you down to him."

Quatre smiled, stepping into the hallway and closing the door. He followed Zechs along the corridor, wondering what arrangements Heero had managed to put together in so short a time.

It was very late; everyone in the castle was asleep by then, despite the storm that was raging around them. Zechs said nothing as they hurried along the dark hallways toward the library. When he opened the door, Quatre glanced quickly about the dark, shadowy space. But Heero was not there. Instead, the bookshelves which hid the secret door stood open. The blond glanced first at it, then turned questioningly to Zechs.

"Oh," the older blond shrugged with a soft chuckle. "It is all right, cherub. Heero is inside."

But suddenly Quatre knew. He knew Heero was not there, and that Zechs had lied deliberately to get him alone. Zechs grabbed for his arm, but Quatre backed out of reach. Something about the way the older blond was looking at him made Zechs suddenly an entirely different person.

Quatre started to panic. He might've had a mean right hook in a good temper, but he knew very little about defending himself from an actual threat. He tried to run, but Zechs proved much quicker than he would have thought, grabbing him from behind and pulling him toward the empty room behind the hidden panel.

In the midst of struggle, Quatre's ring slipped from his finger and fell with a ping, ping to the floor. He froze, watching it roll out of sight beneath a table, and Zechs used his distraction to overpower him and shove him roughly into the room.

"Let me go," Quatre said, trying again to wrench himself from the older blond's hold. "Why are you doing this?"

"I am doing nothing," Zechs answered, his voice thick and cold. "I am simply taking you away where I can talk to you alone."

"It was you," he abruptly realized. "You did destroy the painting, didn't you? You killed Duo!"

The older blond's hands tightened painfully around his arms, putting a stop to Quatre's struggling. "Yes, damn you! You left me no option. Tempting me with your angelic looks, when all the while your choice had already been made."

"You're insane," Quatre breathed.

He laughed then, a loud booming laugh nothing like the amused chuckles he had used to give. "Perhaps I am. I prefer to think I am only misunderstood." He suddenly threw Quatre against a wall of the small, narrow room, lighting a lantern and lifting it high. In his other hand was something else, something metallic - a pistol. It was pointed straight at Quatre's heart.

"Zechs, d-don't…"

"Why do you look at me like that, cherub? I would never hurt you. But you must come with me. There are things I need to tell you, and something I must show you."

Quatre swallowed, nodding. He fought desperately to remember what Mariemeia had said about the tunnel and where it led. Perhaps if waited this out… there could be a moment when Zechs was off his guard, and then Quatre could run…

The older blond opened another door, a large one of heavy stone that scraped harshly as he opened it. Then they were in a narrow, stone-lined passageway just wide enough to walk side by side. He shoved the lantern into Quatre's hand, grabbing the younger blond's arm once again, the pistol held steadfastly in his other hand. They walked for what seemed like hours, turning and twisting through doors and locked chambers until Quatre realized with a start that he no longer knew which direction they were going.

And at Zechs' cool, smug look, he knew that was exactly what the Frenchman had intended.

Quatre paused, slowly leaning to the side until his shoulder fell against the cold stone wall. "Can we stop? My legs feel like lead."

"Of course," Zechs said, watching him carefully. "But only for a moment."

He slumped to the floor, letting his legs stretch out before him. He was exhausted, and starting to lose hope. He still could not think of a way to get free. "Where are you taking me?"

"I told you, I am taking you to see something. We are almost there." The older blond looked at him as though Quatre's tiredness irritated him. He was different now. Gone was the quiet grace of the European nobleman. In his place was a frenzied madman Quatre could not identify.

"Why are you doing this? I thought you and I were friends."

"Friends?" He sneered. "Friends? I do not want to be your friend, Leia. I told you that. I want to be your lover, I want to take you away from here, away from your husband and his mistress. Why will you not let me? Why can you not see it is for you that I am doing this?" His hands, white and trembling in the lamplight, reached out imploringly toward Quatre.

The younger blond cringed away, pressing closer against the wall behind him. "I'm not Leia, Zechs. I'm Quatre Raberba."

The other man looked at him oddly for a long minute, then shook his head. "Of course you are, cherub. I seem to have gotten confused. You look so much like her. But Leia was much sweeter, much more pliable than you are. That is why it has taken me so long to get you here. You are far more self-assured than she was, did you know that?"

"No, I didn't," Quatre played along, wanting to keep the man talking. "Tell me about her. You never did tell me about your… about your friendship."

"Never?" He asked, sliding to the floor against the opposite wall. His silver eyes lit now with enthusiasm. "I loved her so much. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She reminded me of the nurse at the sanitarium in the Alps. All that passion, so sensuous beneath her façade of respectability. I like that; I have always liked that. But your mother would not listen to me, she would not believe what I told her about your father and Hiromi. Poor Hiromi, I was able to use her so easily.

"Of course, Dorothy helped; all she wanted was to see her cousin as mistress of Rosemont. Hiromi was in love with Treize, almost from the first day of her arrival. So when Leia asked her, she could deny her love with her words, but never with her eyes. So honorable… always so honorable and so easily used."

"Did you start the rumors, then… about Hiromi and my father?"

"Yes," he said brightly. "Oh, yes. I had an ally in Dorothy, although she had no idea why I was doing it. She is a stupid woman who can see only as far as the end of her nose. She served her own purpose and I served mine. Clever, no? I drove a wedge right between Leia and her poor husband, and neither of them could figure it out. I even managed to involve their friend Rasid - poor, noble Rasid." He laughed then, the sound bouncing off the walls.

"But it still didn't work. You weren't able to make her fall in love with you."

"Do not say that!" Zechs shouted angrily. "She loved me! She was afraid to admit it, just as you are. But soon… soon you will. You will not resist me as long as she did, will you, Quatre Raberba? You would not die before admitting your love for me, would you?"

"Die?" Quatre asked, a chill running through his body and straight to his heart. "D-did… did you kill her?"

"I did not kill her! I only left her alone for a little while. I told her after she had had time to think about it, she would admit she loved me. But when I came back…" He let out a small sound, dropping his face into his hands. "She was dead. Oh, she was dead…"

Seeing his opportunity, Quatre grabbed the lantern and jumped up from the floor. He ran down the long corridor, not caring that he didn't know where it led or whether he could get out.

He could hear Zechs behind him, the other man's footsteps heavy as he stumbled in the darkness. Suddenly the corridor ended, as it had at many other turns. Quatre quickly pushed at each wall, searching for a handle or a switch of some kind.

The wall opened. He was in a room, one larger than any of the others. He could hear the scurry of rats and smell the damp mustiness, could feel the cool, damp air on his face. But he could see no other doorway, no lights of any kind.

He was trapped again.

He lifted the lantern high above his head, and the light fell upon something in the far corner. Chains, heavy black chains, hung from shackled in the stone walls. Quatre flinched back as the light fell upon lifeless bones still held up against the wall by the chains. Hands, only bones now, the flesh disintegrated by the years. Upward the light moved. Skeletal arms, still encased in a dress once bright and beautiful, but now thin and crumbling like paper. A small mass of tawny hair upon a skull, now sightless and empty. And then he saw it.

His mother's talisman… the one Treize had designed as a set along with Quatre's ring… hung around the skeleton's neck.

Quatre heard Zechs' laughter behind him, and as he turned around something struck his head.

Then everything went dark.