Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the GW universe and make no monetary profit from writing.

Note: Many thanks to KS for editing, and to all the wonderful people who have left reviews.

Chapter 83/94: Roses and Blood

Heero's assistant survived almost ten minutes of Wufei's increasingly curt comments and black glares before deciding that the dog needed a walk. Quite impressive actually, Zechs thought; of course, working for Heero Yuy would presumably increase one's level of tolerance for such things.

Zechs was glad to see the dog leave though; animals held way too many painful memories. His mother had had silky-eared miniature spaniels, who curled around her feet when she read bedtime stories, or painted with him, and his father had had a magnificent German Shepherd.

Jason had been in the nursery with them on the night the palace fell; he'd leaped forward to defend the little prince and princess. Zechs had never seen anything die before then.

When they'd all moved in together, Duo had suggested getting a puppy a few times. He'd stopped after a while; Wufei must have said something.

Wufei sniffed as the door banged. 'One would imagine Heero would have employed an assistant with a modicum of decency. He was practically drooling over you.'

'Aren't I worth drooling over?'

'You're far too full of yourself without finding any more admirers. And just because he was blatantly ogling you, didn't mean you had to look back at him. You're a married man now.'

'Well, I'm not blind,' Zechs teased. 'Don't worry. I'll speak to Heero about rethinking his hiring policies. Assuming he ever comes downstairs.'

'What? He just took Duo up to lend him some new fresh clothes.'

'Oh, I'm sure there's taking going on.' Zechs winked, and inched his chair a little closer around the table.

'It's the middle of the day!'

'They do say there's no time like the present,' Zechs coaxed, one hand reaching out to give Wufei's ponytail a tug, and then curve around the back of his neck.

'Not in somebody else's house! And certainly not in Heero Yuy's kitchen.' He let Zechs lean over, though, and kiss him. 'It wasn't just him I wanted to get rid of. I know you'd rather not have the dog around.'

'I do like them. They just remind me of things.'

'I know. My mother had a Chow,' Wufei said abruptly. Five years, they'd been together. Wufei had mentioned his family perhaps as many times. 'I used to walk him sometimes. He was a good companion.'

A companion for a lonely little boy who'd never quite fit in, Zechs thought. 'Perhaps we could think about getting a dog when we go home. A Chow, if you like?' He tilted Wufei's head back for a kiss. 'Perhaps it's time we both moved on a little?'

'Perhaps.' Wufei took a deep breath. 'Mil, I'm not going to let another colony die.'

Oh, God.

'There's nothing we can do,' Zechs said shortly. 'We've talked about this already. Neither of us has any sort of influence with the ESUN, with Preventers. I hate this as much as you do, but there's nothing we can do to stop it.'

'You could. You're Relena's brother; you're a prince; Lucrezia Noin would do anything for you. Half the Preventers in Florence would probably do anything you asked, because of who you are.'

'What exactly do you want me to do? Walk into the Preventers building and stage a takeover? Wufei. I do know how strongly you feel about this, but I don't know what you expect me to do.'

'Stop it,' Wufei said simply. 'We have to. We can't just sit by and watch Earth attack a colony. And it only gives Barton an excuse to destroy L2, along with most of the Earth.'

'Sweetheart.' Zechs squeezed his hand. 'I know. It's all wrong. I know. But I'm not sure how we can stop it. There are very definite protocols in place for such a situation, as Heero said. Noin may not like them, but she's a Preventer. She has to carry out orders.'

'But we have to talk to her, to convince her not to do it.'

'We can't. Lucrezia was an OZ cadet at the age of ten. She's spent her whole life being trained to obey orders, however she may personally feel about them.'

'But during the war, she…'

'That was different. Everything was different then.'

'Barton wants L4 to be attacked. Then he can retaliate, and claim it was all in self defence. He wants a war; he wants to carry out the original Operation Meteor and destroy Earth.'

'Well then, I'm hardly the best person to stop him, am I? Considering my rather unique past and the fact that I did my level best to destroy the planet myself?'

'You didn't. You stopped!'

'Heero Yuy stopped me,' Zechs snapped. 'You know I can't get involved in any of this. You know why.'

Half of the ESUN – at a very conservative estimate – had wanted him executed after the war. He'd spent months waiting for the sentence to be carried out. Wanting it to happen, mostly.

He'd been released because of Relena; because of his sister's pleas for clemency for a brother she didn't even know, and because a few of the older councillors had known their parents, or because they'd known Treize. No other reasons. As freedoms went, it was highly conditional. A man who'd elected to live on another continent, who dabbled in art and occasionally appeared in the gutter press as a result of his romance with a former Gundam Pilot was acceptable.

A man who attempted to do any of the things Wufei was calmly suggesting would be highly undesirable, regardless of his connections.

Wufei knew that.

'You know damn well I can't do any of that,' he said again, very quietly.

Wufei almost touched him then, but the hand fell back by his side. 'Do you have any idea how many people will die if we don't try to stop it?'

'Maybe it's about time you realised that I'm not good enough. I never have been.'

He banged the front door behind him, hard. No one came after him. He followed Heero's street to a main road, then took a smaller, twisting side street that led to a small park. There were roses. Of course. There were always roses.

Treize would have laughed, in that subtle way of his, loving the irony. Zechs running away to hide in a garden of roses.

'Damn it all, anyway,' he whispered, collapsing on the nearest bench.

He would go back in a minute. Just a moment. He would go back and tell Wufei that of course he would do whatever he wanted to save the world because Wufei was the only person in the universe whom he'd never disappointed.

There were climbing roses sprawling all over the back of the bench. Red, naturally. And he scratched his hand on a thorn as he reached for one. Naturally. He watched the thin line of crimson form on his palm and then crushed the flower in his hand, letting the tattered petals fall at his feet.

Roses and blood.

He plucked a second flower, methodically shredding it.

'So, what the hell do you think I should do?' he asked a third rose, holding this one carefully, an invocation. He didn't talk to Treize much anymore, although he had in the first years after Treize's death. Long conversations in that prison cell; the cell he'd expected only to leave for his execution. Treize had answered him, sometimes. And if Treize Khushrenada's spirit were anywhere, it would be in a rose garden.

With him.

He couldn't remember his life, really, without Treize. The Khushrenadas were Russian, but distantly related to the Peacecrafts, in the twisty, Byzantine tangles of the old European royal dynasties, and frequent visitors to Sanque.

He had hero-worshipped the older boy, and envied him the many small freedoms denied to the heir to the throne of Sanque.

Zechs had been a rather docile little boy, brought to be very conscious of the weight of his position and responsibilities. Treize was the one who'd challenged him to slide down the palace banisters and sneak treats from the kitchen and play pranks on his tutors; to horse races and fencing matches. Treize had given him his first drink, his first kiss. That had been later, though, after Sanque had fallen.

Treize had been his first lover, when he'd been sixteen.

At that stage, most of his Academy classmates had experimented, at least, and some had paired off. A few of the more attractive ones had had affairs with older cadets, or had been chosen to share the beds of instructors or senior officers. He'd caught a few lingering glances, a few half-heard comments, but no one would dare to approach the boy who so very obviously belonged to Treize Khushrenada.

There had been roses that night, of course; the dark red ones that Treize liked, petals just on the cusp of opening fully. The scent always brought that night back; something he'd never told Wufei. Never told anyone; so much about Treize that he'd never told anyone.

'Happy Birthday, little prince.' Treize raised his glass, candlelight glowing on crystal; on the carnelian glints of the wine.

It had been Treize's nickname for him when they were children; half-mocking, half-affectionate. Nowadays, he used it sparingly and as something of an endearment.

'Sweet sixteen.' He lingered on the words, blue eyes lingering on the boy across the table from him. 'And so very lovely, by candlelight.'

Of course, it had been leading up to this. He'd known perfectly well what was going to happen once he'd received the invitation to a birthday dinner, for just the two of them, in Treize's private quarters.

Refusing had never even been a possibility. One should feel honoured by such attention. Grateful.

The meal had consisted of all his favourite dishes. Naturally; Treize was very good at that sort of thing. Treize had been the one to choose the wines though, a different one for each course, because a minor thing like plotting to take over the universe shouldn't impact on the small pleasures of life.

Zechs dropped his eyes under the warmth of that gaze, so very blue, feeling his skin flush, and Treize reached out to touch his hair, very gentle.

'You're not usually so quiet, my prince. Are you nervous?'

'A little,' Zechs managed. Of course, he was. He was just sixteen and a virgin and a fairly sheltered one at that. Of course he was damn well scared.

And Treize hadn't asked, not once, if he wanted this. It didn't make a whit of difference. It was generally understood at the Academy that a cadet's duty occasionally consisted of warming the bed of a senior officer. It was generally understood to be something of an honour; a way to be noticed, to perhaps gain a small favour in return.

No one would refuse Treize Khushrenada. No one. And certainly not Zechs. Treize, after all, knew who he was.

'Oh, hush. There's nothing to fear.'

Treize had kissed him before, but not like this; deep and devouring and darkly passionate.

When he pulled back, his eyes were very dark; shades darker than the usual shining blue. 'Will you let me show you what it's like?'

He couldn't – actually, couldn't - speak, but he managed a nod, and Treize kissed him again, a lazy, luxurious sweep of his tongue, tasting Zechs' mouth, before standing and pulling Zechs up with him.

More roses in the bedroom, naturally, the scent almost over-powering on a warm summer's night.

He was shaking, just a little, as he began to take off his dress uniform, fingers fumbling with the stiff fabrics until Treize did it for him.

'I won't hurt you, little prince.'

Zechs gave him another jerky nod. He wasn't worried about the pain. He'd been injured often enough in training exercises that it didn't scare him. He was scared about not being good enough, of disappointing Treize.

Treize was very careful, but it did hurt, a little. It was awkward; and briefly, achingly embarrassing as Treize began to touch him intimately, and then painful; then pleasant, and then very pleasurable indeed. After the first few moments, when it was shatteringly clear that Zechs hadn't a clue what he should be doing, he'd just let Treize guide him, tell him when to move and turn and spread his legs just so. And it was nice, after, lying in Treize's arms, being petted.

'I think,' he said, a little drowsily, half-dazed from too much wine, and Treize, 'that you just deflowered me.'

'What a phrase!' Treize laughed at him. 'It makes me sound like the villain in a gothic romance. But yes, I rather think I did.'

Zechs rolled over to face him, and winced a little. Treize had been careful, but there'd still been a few bright beads of his blood on the towel Treize had used to clean them both.

'It gets easier,' Treize said, noticing. 'And better.'

'I'm not sure it could be better, actually.' He felt a sudden surge of mingled affection and gratitude and leaned over to kiss him on the mouth. Treize took it deeper, capturing his lips and then tugging Zechs on top of him.

'Treize, I don't think I can do that again. Not yet.'

'Of course not.' Treize took one of his hands, guiding it down and down. 'But there are other things we can do.'

'I know something.' He'd been sheltered, yes, and he realised that a huge part of that was due to Treize's influence. But he wasn't particularly naive; he'd listened to his fellow cadets talking in the dormitory and the locker room, he'd watched porn, he'd surfed certain websites.

He hadn't really imagined how big Treize would be, though, or that he'd gag when he tried to take him in deeper, or that his teeth would scrape a highly sensitive place, causing Treize to hiss in pain. He pulled back then, mumbling apologies, and Treize guided his head back, holding him in place. He forced himself to swallow at the end, not wanting to spit all over the crisp linen sheets.

Treize patted his bottom, a gesture that managed to be casual and possessive all at once. 'You'll get better, lovely one. It's all about practice and I'll see you get plenty of that.' He chuckled, fingers still stroking. 'And I certainly can't fault your enthusiasm. You're not as shy as I thought you might be.'

The phone ringing stopped the caress just as it began to probe a little. 'Infernal object. Excuse me for a moment?'

Treize hadn't closed the bedroom door or possibly he'd left it open deliberately. Short of putting a pillow on his head, or sticking fingers in his ears, it was impossible not to hear, although most of it didn't make any sense; just a few names Zechs didn't know and one he did.

It was beginning then. He'd known Treize for most of his life; known that he simultaneously liked secrets, but also liked showing off how clever he was. It was usually possible to winkle information out of him. And now, Zechs realised, he had the extra blandishment of his own body.

He was artfully arranged on the bed when Treize came back, sprawling on a nest of pillows with his hair falling just so and a few rose petals scattered on his pale skin.

Treize took in the scene with a smile and a slight arch of one eyebrow. 'I'll have to leave you more often if this is what I come back to.'

'You shouldn't have left in the first place.' He shivered as one of Treize's' hands brushed his bare shoulder, moving the heavy swathe of hair out of the way so he could drop a kiss.

'It wasn't exactly by choice.' Treize's lips settled on the curve of his neck. 'Forgive me? It was important.'

'Who's Quatre Raberba Winner?'

Treize smiled. 'You listened.'

'You meant me to.'

'True. Quatre Winner is the young man who is going to pilot the L4 Gundam.'

'Winner? The Winner family on L4?'

He'd even met Mr. Winner a couple of times; he'd been a friend of Zechs' father. He'd been shy, at first, of the stern-looking man in his flowing robes, but Mr. Winner had crouched down and told him fantastic stories about princesses and demons and magic carpets. He'd brought two of his daughters with him once; solemn, dark-eyed girls who'd rarely spoken but who'd cooed over his newly born sister. He stopped that thought; he never thought about Relena around Treize.

'They're staunch pacifists.'

'Not this particular one, apparently.' Treize sounded positively charmed at the thought.

What's he done?'

'Run away from home.'

'Have you met him?'

'Not yet, no. He's going to be very useful to us, though.'

'Yes?' Zechs tried to make it sound casual, hooking one arm behind his head and tilting his chin so his hair fell forward in a blond mist.

Us, Treize had said. He'd done that when they were children too; spinning shining webs of fantasy that encompassed only the two of them. Except they weren't children any more, and this wasn't a fantasy. Not any more.

'Oh, you are getting to be very good at this,' Treize smiled down at him. 'Who's been giving you lessons in seduction, hmm?'

'Well, you.'

'My own fault then. Listen, my prince. We need the Colonies, as you know, and they have no great love for Earth right now. Who can blame them? But they'll follow one of their own, if we can provide the correct person.'

'Quatre Winner.'

'Possibly. There's a girl on L5 also, the daughter of one of their oldest clans. But I favour the boy.'

'I've noticed you do that, yes,' Zechs said dryly, making him laugh. 'What's Quatre like?'

Treize considered. 'Rather lovely, or will be when he grows up a little. He's only thirteen and small for his age. One of those children who were very delicate growing up. He plays the violin. I believe he is highly gifted.' It was an apparent non-sequitur except that with Treize nothing was, particularly nothing to do with music.

Zechs liked music. He'd had piano lessons as a young boy and still played when he could; he let Treize take him to concert halls and opera houses all over Europe. But he wasn't passionate about it; not like Treize was. Not highly gifted.

'Where do I fit in all your grand plans?'

'I think you fit here rather nicely.' Treize slipped an arm around him, tugging him close. It felt wonderful; they did fit perfectly together. And he could feel his body starting to stir again, to want more. 'You'll be with me, of course. When you're not off reclaiming your kingdom. I'll find plenty for you to do, Millie.' His free hand slid down Zechs' chest, cupping between his legs in a gesture of pure ownership.

'Don't,' Zechs said shortly, not sure whether he meant the gesture or the name or the plans for his future.

'Zechs, then, if you must. But it doesn't suit you at all, you know,' Treize amended, having no doubts whatsoever

He hadn't believed in doubts.

'I don't know what to do,' he admitted to the rose in his hand, the one that had somehow stayed intact.

'Does anyone?' Duo Maxwell asked, and Zechs jumped. Duo had always been far too good at sneaking up on him.

'Hey.' Duo's gaze took in the ruined flowers at his feet, and grinned. 'So, are you on a mission to single-handedly exterminate every rose in the world or can anyone join in?'

'I think I can take care of it.' He moved up a little on the bench, and Duo sat.

'Look, if it helps at all, 'Fei looked pretty much ready to fall on his sword once he realised you'd really left.'

'You're the one who came looking for me.'

'We didn't know which way you'd gone. It made more sense to split up. Can I call him?'

'Not for a minute. Please.'

'He doesn't understand,' Duo, who did, said quietly. 'He never had to go through anything like that. They never broke him.'

'It was assumed that I was going to be sentenced to death,' Zechs said tonelessly. 'No one exactly needs to be gentle with someone who's shortly to die. One may as well take what one can from them.'

He'd been under sentence of death for the first six months after the war; a prisoner in an Alaskan fortress hastily constructed to hold serious war criminals before trials that would almost certainly end in execution. Even after his life had been spared, he'd been kept there for a year and a half before Relena had finally managed to get him released. Then there'd been over a year being moved around various isolated houses owned by the Peacecraft family until his sister had judged the time was right to start re-introducing him to polite society. And he'd met two former Gundam pilots at a party and everything had changed.

Duo drew a shuddering breath, and his voice shook slightly. 'After what happened at the church, I didn't officially exist any more. There'd been records before. I remember Sister Helen showing me a birth certificate she'd got for me. I thought it was cool; I'd never seen my name on anything official before. It was like it made me real, you know? They were all destroyed in the fire. I didn't exist after that; I was what I'd been before. Just a street kid on L2 who didn't even have a real name.'

Zechs put one arm around his shoulders, flinching at the raw pain in his voice, wanting to beg him to stop because of course he knew perfectly well what was coming. But Duo was giving him something unbelievably precious; a piece of his past.

'It didn't matter anyway,' Duo went on. 'L2 was never like the other colonies, with child protection laws and such. The population had always been so small that they'd needed kids to work. Made it a great playground for Ozzies, if they were into that sort of thing. Plenty of kids to choose from, and no pesky laws saying it was wrong. If you were under sixteen, and a prisoner, they could do anything they damn well wanted and it was legal.'

'It was wrong,' Zechs hugged him closer. 'Duo, it was. You know that. It was still abuse. Still rape.'

Duo shrugged. 'What happened to you, that was wrong too.'

'Was it? After everything I'd done?'

'Yes,' Duo said fiercely. 'Zechs, we would never let anyone hurt you like that again. Never. Either of us. You do get that, right? Do you have any damn idea what 'Fei'd do to anyone who even thought about hurting you? They'd have another fucking war on their hands.'

Zechs managed a smile for that, looking down at the rose, cradled carefully in one hand.

Duo reached out, touched the petals with one finger. 'You still miss him?'

Duo had asked him that once before. This time, he told the truth.

'Yes.'

Duo nodded. 'I never met him, but from what I've heard, it would have been damn easy to fall in love with him.'

'It was, yes.' Another truth he'd never properly acknowledged. 'I never said goodbye, Duo,' he whispered. 'We parted in anger; I never really told him…anything.'

'He knew.' Duo said instantly, utterly certain. 'Everyone says he was a smart guy. And, come on, you're not exactly subtle when you're into someone. I think Fei'd understand. If you ever wanted to talk about him, ever. You know, stop having this big ginger elephant floating around between you?'

'Perhaps.' Zechs' fingers lightly closed about the flower. He'd give it to Wufei. Treize would approve of that, would approve of the decision he'd made while he breathed in the scent of the roses he'd destroyed.

'You ready to go home now?'

'Heero's house is home now, is it?' Zechs obediently got to his feet, trampling on ruined roses.

'Oh. I don't know,' Duo looked suddenly uncertain. 'Maybe. Like my other home.'

Zechs bent down and hugged him. 'Your home is with us, always. Nothing is ever going to change that.'

'Yeah.' Duo's voice came out slightly muffled, with his cheek pressed into Zechs' shoulder. 'I know. Thanks. It's all just a bit…. you know.'

'Oh, Duo.' Zechs sighed, held him a little closer. 'We have done a very good job, these past few years, of pretending that the real world doesn't exist, haven't we, you and I? I think reality's finally caught up with us.'

'Yeah,' Duo said again, and pulled away. 'I guess. We'd better get back.'

Zechs watched him head for the park gate. In another life, another universe, perhaps. He held the red rose carefully, avoiding the thorns, as he followed his friend, and picked another red flower from a bush by the gate.

Duo called Wufei and Heero on the walk back; they were both standing in the hallway, waiting. Heero gave him a brief nod and took Duo into the kitchen.

'I'm so sorry.' It came out as a muffled gasp because by then Wufei had hurled himself into his arms and tucked his head into Zechs' chest. 'I'm so sorry, Mil.'

'Not your fault in the slightest,' Zechs assured him. 'You were perfectly right. Of course, we have to do something.'

'I would never let anyone take you away from me,' Wufei said forcefully. 'Never.'

'I know, my darling. What do you want me to do?'

Wufei managed a smile. 'Come and have dinner first. Please.'

'I have something for you first.' He handed him the rose, still perfect, the deep crimson colour Treize had loved, and imagined his first lover, his first love, smiling. Oh, yes, he would have approved of this. 'As I said, we do maybe need to move on a little.'

Wufei took it silently, holding it like the precious thing it was, and Zechs gave him the other flower, the peony.

'I believe you like these.'

Heero Yjuy had told him in a bar, weeks ago. Heero, who Wufei had once been attracted to, and who'd known Wufei's favourite flowers.

'They were special, on L5. My grandmother used to grow them in her garden, for festivals.' Wufei, who'd always claimed not to like flowers very much, glowed up at him. 'They are very beautiful, both of them. Thank you.'

'You are very welcome. Now, you mentioned dinner, didn't you? Let's give this saving-the-planet thing over with, so we can go and have a proper honeymoon.'

Dinner was slightly overcooked pasta with sauce. It was rather nice; just the four of them around the table, and the dog under it. No assistant; he'd apparently dropped the dog off and gone home. Duo was teasing Heero about his criminal lack of sugary, fizzy drinks and Heero was playing host a little self-consciously, making sure everyone was offered black pepper and grated parmesan and bread to dip in little bowls of olive oil.

'I have butter if anyone would prefer that.' He looked ready to leap up and head for the fridge, but Duo tugged at his sleeve.

'Babe, we're all good. Just sit and relax, OK?'

'OK.' He raked his shaggy hair off his forehead with one hand, the nearest thing he had to a nervous gesture. 'So. We should probably talk about what happens next, don't you think?'

'Heero,' Duo interrupted. 'There's hours 'til anything's going to happen. Maybe this should wait 'til morning.'

'I don't think so, love. I imagine by then, our guests will have tried to do something incredibly reckless and probably got themselves into all sorts of trouble. Yes?'

Wufei, astonishingly, blushed; Zechs met Heero's blue eyes squarely. 'Do you have a better idea?'

'I'm the only one of us who is currently a serving member of the Preventers.'

Zechs nodded; it hadn't been too hard to guess. Duo didn't react at all; he'd known too, then.

'As such,' Heero continued, 'it makes sense for me to be the one to do, ah, what I assume you two were planning to do.' He looked over at Duo. 'I do have something of a plan. Back-up would be greatly appreciated.'

'You never said anything,' Duo stared at him. 'We talked about this and you never said a word about what you were planning. And when the hell did you get time to work it all out?'

Heero grinned. 'Some of us are capable of multi-tasking. Now, eat your dinner before it gets cold. We have things to decide.'