26-July-2000
Title: Mission Arcadia
bonnejean & vonceia *present*Category: yaoi, AU
RavynFyre & Kateri Marie
in The B&V Guest Authors Series!
Duo - words, thoughts, actions - RavynFyre
Heero - words, thoughts actions - Kateri Marie
Rip & Jack, Their World and General Production - bonnejeanne & vonceia
Heero rolled easily to a sitting position, feeling suddenly cold without Duo in his arms. He turned his eyes down on his lover, "We should get up."
Duo sighed mightily, disappointment clouding his elfin features as he pouted up at Heero.
"Do we hafta?"
Heero jerked his head towards the bathroom, "Hai." Then his blue eyes clouded over with seriousness, "Do you want this, Duo?" He meant more than just the kids though they were in the question. He meant... everything.
Duo considered his lover for a long moment, eyes distant and expression unreadable. He finally focused on Heero again and a wide, merry grin broke out.
"Hell yeah."
A rare smile broke out on Heero's face, one that he couldn't have stopped for all his iron control. "I'm glad."
But he couldn't say anything more.
"Me too. I was just thinking about an added bonus..." he said, voice trailing off as he grinned up at his partner mischievously.
Heero's eyebrows rose by way of inquiry.
"No Relena."
A look of sheer and utter bliss passed quickly over Heero's face and a small breath escaped him - almost a sigh. "Hai." And he'd never said the word more reverently in his life.
"Thought that might cheer you up more," Duo said, smiling widely as he sprang out of bed with his customary explosive nature. He grabbed his discarded clothing and eyed it for a second before turning back to his lover.
"Think they left our other clothes around here anywhere?"
Heero lifted his shoulder and let it drop, passing by way of a shrug. Then he stood and peered around the room. Spying a closet he opened the door expectantly.
Heero saw that their original clothing had in fact been cleaned and placed neatly on hangers or shelves in the closet. There were also a few extra pieces that looked new. Extra jeans, more than one pair, a couple of extra t-shirts, black and white, and two outfits unlike anything they had seen before.
One, placed on the side where Duo's old clothes were, was a suit made of what appeared to be red velvet, with a vest and mock turtleneck matching.
On Heero's side was a beautiful blue silk shirt with a black satin pair of pants and vest.
"Take your pick." Heero said somewhat dryly, for some reason not in the least surprised at what he saw.
Duo bounced up and examined the new clothing, eyes growing wide and very thoughtful as he took in the blue silk and black satin on Heero's side. He cast an appraising glance over his partner, and then peered back at the clothing. A wicked little smile flashed across his face as his thoughts turned... well.. He started to giggle a little.
"I have GOT to see you in that sometime."
Heero augmented his usual glare with a growl that was not in any way encouraging. Then he grabbed a pair of jeans and one of the black t-shirts. "Baka." He muttered as he stepped away from the closet to change.
"Yeah yeah yeah. Broken record," Duo quipped, his tone light and not as teasing as the words.
He grabbed a fresh pair of jeans for himself and for a change of pace, the white t-shirt.
"Sugoi! Clean clothes!" he murmured, reveling in the feel of the cloth.
"Hn." Heero grunted in agreement, slipping the perfectly tight jeans over his hips.
Duo quickly got dressed, eyeing himself in the mirror curiously.
"Wow... White. weird."
Heero looked him over with an appraising glance, a glint coming into his eyes that was becoming more and more familiar the more time he spent around Duo. "Good." He commented.
Then his head disappeared into the black t-shirt for a moment, coming out just as unruly as always.
"Good? Naw... I'd say you look downright sexy. I could get used to seeing you in black," Duo said, smirking as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall.
"Hn." Heero commented, though he made a mental note of it. Then he grabbed a handful of Duo's hair and tugged him away from the wall. "Come on."
"Yow... I may as well just go get myself a collar and a leash... It'd be easier on my head," Duo grumbled, following in Heero's wake as he led them out into the main part of the suite.
They heard some splashing from bathroom and conversation between the kids. The door was a tiny bit ajar.
"Hang it up here, Duan," Kenny said.
Duan took his still dripping wet shirt and reached it up and over the bar, placing it next to Kenny's. "There's some room for the pants too," Duan offered.
Reaching up behind him, Duan grabbed his braid. "My hair is all wet. I'm gonna pull it apart. You wanna help me?"
Kenny nodded, coming behind Duan and helping to undo the long braid. Then he found a wide-toothed comb in a drawer.
"Be easier if we sit down," he muttered.
"Yeah," Duan said, sitting down on the floor near the edge of the tub. "You sit up there. It'll be easier...."
"You guys all right in there?" Duo called.
"Yes!" Kenny called, hearing Duo. Then to Duan, "No, someone else might need to come in here, baka. Come on."
"Ok," Duan said, then stood up and wrapped the big towel around himself, securing it tightly. "We can do this on the bed."
The bathroom door opened and the two boys came out, wrapped in towels. Their clothes, which they had washed as best they could in the bathtub were hung on towel racks. There was quite a bit of water everywhere though Kenny had tried to mop some of it up with a towel.
Duo chuckled to himself as he noticed the mess in the bathroom, casting an amused glance over at his almost obsessively neat partner.
"What were you saying before about wanting this?" he asked with a grin.
"Baka." Heero grumbled again, fighting the urge to stick his tongue out at his lover like Duo always did. He glanced down at the kids, his eyes lightening, "Morning." Four syllables he could handle.
Kenny smiled tentatively. "Left ya a note," he said, pointing to the wall. "I took Duan out."
"We had breakfast!" Duan offered. "If you wanna know what they got, I can tell you!"
Heero sighed. He knew what was coming.
Duo's stomach chose that moment to growl loudly. He grinned down at Duan and nodded.
"Ok," Duan said, "They got the Arcadia Sunshine Breakfast... you can have grits with it... We did!" he began and then reeled off every single item on the menu.
Duo's eyebrows shot up. Damn. This kid had a good memory to remember all of that!
"Wow! Sounds great. Breakfast, Hee-chan?"
Heero considered for a moment and then his own stomach growled. He blinked for a moment, surprised at the noise, affronted that his body made any sounds without his express approval. "Breakfast." He admitted grudgingly.
Kenny picked up the remote and began pressing buttons. Glancing at the big boys he started ordering room service. Pointing to the vid screen where he had ordered 2 Arcadia Sunshine Breakfasts with extra of each item, orange juice, milk, coffee, and a dozen doughnuts a la cart, he said, "Um... what else?"
Duo glanced over at Duan, sharing a conspiratorial wink with him.
"Any suggestions, kiddo?"
"Might as well send up the whole kitchen." Heero muttered under his breath lightly.
Duan looked up at Duo and Heero. "They do give you way lots of food. Just tell 'em you want double.. Should take care of it."
Duo laughed. "Well, if YOU think it's a lot... That should be good for us then, Kenny," Duo replied with another wink.
Kenny nodded and sent the order, and there was a message that said, "Delivery 5 min."
"Cool. Hmm.. you guys have any other clothes? Those are gonna take a while to dry."
"Nope," Duan said, looking up at Heero. "We can just stay in these towels till our clothes are almost dry, then put ours back on... They'll get dry."
Heero considered for a moment. Even Duo and he had more than one set of clothes. He glanced down at Kenny, "You two should order more."
Kenny nodded. "Yes sir," he said. He wasn't going to presume but having Heero's word was as good as an order.
Heero frowned at the address. "You don't need to call me sir." He said, his voice somewhat gruff from his efforts to make it gentle.
Kenny flushed. "No, s... " he stopped and took a breath. He'd been brought up in a military environment, it was going to be a very hard habit to break.
Heero nodded, his hand briefly resting on the boy's shoulder before he glanced back at the bathroom, "We should clean up."
Duo nodded, tossing his unbound hair over his shoulder. He was feeling a little guilty about everything that the citizens of Arcadia had been doing for them all this time. Besides... a little water wouldn't kill him.
Kenny flushed again. "We'll do it," he said, his voice almost a whisper.
Duan looked down, stepping closer to Kenny.
"How bout we all help?" Duo temporized.
Heero's glance included the three, no small amount of amazement flickering through the blue eyes. "We'll do it together."
"Besides. It'll be practice," Duo chuckled, "I'm fairly certain with the two of us around, this won't be our last mess to clean up," he said, smiling down at Duan.
"Heaven help the planet." Heero commented though the smile ghosting around his lips softened the statement.
At that moment there was a tap on the door.
"Room service!"
Duo spared a glance at Duan, his eyes twinkling.
Duan grinned and dashed for the door, having a good idea that Duo was going to do the same.
Duo let the boy get a step ahead of him before he launched forward, too. Between Duan's wily quickness, and Duo's longer legs, they managed to get there at the same time. Two hands grabbed the doorknob and ripped the door open.
Faun stood there with the large cart.
"Good morning!" she said cheerily. She bustled the cart in, laid all the dishes and things out on the table, then pushed the cart over to the bathroom and proceeded to whip through that area just as she had done on the previous morning, collecting towels, and snagging the wet clothes too. In about 90 second the bathroom was done with fresh towels and everything else was in the bottom of the cart.
Duo's jaw dropped open in stunned amazement. Damn! She was even more efficient than Heero!
"I'll have your clothes back in an hour," she told Duan and Kenny, winking.
"Thank you very much, Faun," Duan said, with a smile.
"Hn." Heero grunted, in admiration and approval.
She smiled back, and stopped, pulling something out of the cart. A small tissue-wrapped bundle. "I had a hunch," she said, and handed the bundle to Duan. Then she winked at Heero and swept out, closing the door behind her.
Duan sat on the floor and ripped open the bundle.
"I think she's sweet on you," Duo teased Heero.
Heero refused to dignify that with an answer. It didn't even deserve a grunt.
The bundle proved to be two sets of children's clothes. One was a replica of Duo's black outfit with the white collar and the other was a pair of bike shorts and a tank top.
"Faun is pretty," Duan said, then his eyes lit up. "Hey Kenny! Clothes!" Without thinking, he grabbed the black outfit and handed Kenny the other one.
Duo noticed the kid's new clothes. He blinked, almost at a loss.
Kenny pulled on the shorts and top silently, collecting the towels they had both been wearing and folding them neatly.
"Hm.. this almost scares me," Duo said, watching Kenny folding up their towels. "Almost."
While Duo watched the kids, Heero slipped behind his lover like a phantom and gathered up the silken locks in his hands. Spying the comb nearby, he started threading it gently down the long strands almost before Duo knew he was there.
As he felt Heero ghost up behind him and start brushing through his hair, he sighed happily in the back of his throat.
"Whatcha doin', Hee-chan?" he asked innocently.
Heero gathered the hair from the sides of Duo's head before he answered, savoring the feel of the hair as he pulled it back, "Unless you wanted it flying around, I was going to braid it for you, baka."
"Hmm... okay," Duo purred dreamily.
Heero divided the hair with the ease of long practice and manipulated the three strands with the same perfection that he operated his Gundam. Within moments, he had Duo's hair wrapped into its usual tight braid.
"Done." He said succinctly, though he didn't release the end of the braid, merely let his hand drop down to their sides.
Duo smiled, glancing down at Duan.
"Nice threads, man."
Duan giggled. "Yeah," he said. Then he ran over to Duo and hugged him hard. "Thanks for everything," he said.
Duo knelt down and grabbed the boy up into his arms.
"Nah... t'wern't nuffin," he said, smiling happily.
"The water was mostly me," Duan confessed. "My hair got all wet and it dripped."
Kenny snagged the comb and sat on the floor, waiting patiently.
Duo nodded, fingering his own long braid.
"Yeah... it does that."
"Kenny is gonna comb mine," he said, seriously, glancing over at Heero, cautiously. He squirmed a little in Duo's arms to be let down. "You go on and eat breakfast."
Duo nodded, his eyes reflecting the seriousness in Duan's gaze as he set the boy back down. They'd have to sit and have a talk later. Duo had the feeling that Duan's braid meant as much to the boy as Duo's braid meant to him.
His stomach growled loudly again, breaking the rising tension.
"Yah. Sounds like a good idea."
Heero looked at the two boys once more then nodded in his usual fashion. "Hai."
When Duan came over, Kenny sat behind him and carefully combed the wet hair. Then he braided it, going slower that Heero had, very carefully. His expression was also quite serious, as if he were remembering something. He finished and patted Duan on the back.
Meanwhile, Duo wandered over to the table and plopped down before the steaming plates.
"Hmmm... where to start?"
Heero shook his head with affectionate exasperation and grabbed a few plates before Duo could get to them. He wanted to eat something after all.
Understanding his partner's actions exactly, Duo stuck his tongue out at Heero childishly before he started working his way through one of the breakfasts in record time, even for him.
Heero was only slightly behind his partner in clearing the breakfast away. After all it had been a while since they had eaten and they'd done a considerable amount of ... exercise since then.
"Man... I could really get used to this," Duo said, leaning back in his chair with a satiated smile.
"Hn." Heero responded, watching his partner as he piled the plates.
Duo paused, glancing up at Heero with a thoughtful, almost concerned look on his face.
"I was thinkin..."
"Yes?" Heero asked evenly, his expression settling into neutral within a second.
"Do you think... I mean... Do you think the others, Quatre and Trowa and Wufei.. Think they'll worry?"
Heero's brow drew together slightly. "Not sure." He hated admitting the lack of knowledge but it was inevitable. "I did not remember Quatre was gone. It's possible they aren't aware either."
"Yeah, but... They'll realize we're gone... eventually. Right?"
Heero thought about it for a long moment. But he was brought to defeat on that as well. "Perhaps we should ask our guides. They'll know better than us."
Heero pushed his chair back and stood determinedly, "Should we go ask them?" It wasn't really a question but...
"Yeah. Sides... As much as I hate to, I'd better give Rip back his babies," Duo replied, voice a little regretful and wistful.
He wandered off to the bedroom and returned with the belt and knives Rip had lent him.
Heero took out the gun as well from the amazing space he'd hid it in and looked at it with an expression that might almost pass for regret.
As Duo returned, he saw Heero's longing scrutiny of the weapon clutched in his hands.
"Too bad you couldn't clone that thing or something," Duo said with a smirk.
"Then again... It'd just be another of your high-tech toys I'd have to hide in the closet if I wanted to see you," Duo muttered sotto voce.
Heero glanced at his lover and back to the amazing gun, then his eyes narrowed. "Think..." He muttered to himself.
The gun warmed in his hand as if returning affection.
Heero took a fraction of a second to flash a glance of warning at his lover, in case this didn't work, and then he looked back down. Bringing to bear every ounce of concentration he'd learned from years of fighting, and a will that had been honed by the Zero system, he formed the command and pushed...
The gun became very, very warm. Then it began to glow. The heat did not hurt Heero's skin at all. The glow did become bright enough to cause everyone in the room to blink. Then it dimmed. The back of the stock seemed to swell. The bulge got bigger. Then it split and something came out. It looked like a small egg with a silvery shell. The seam that had opened closed again and the gun went cold in Heero's hand. He had a distinct impression of exhaustion from the weapon. The little silver egg however was warm. It was not large enough to contain anything the size of the gun itself.
"Arigato." Heero murmured to the gun before sliding into a resting position once more. He held up the egg carefully, examining it more fully.
"Please tell me that I did not just see your gun lay an egg," Duo deadpanned.
"Wow!" Duan whispered to Kenny, pointing at Heero.
It seemed to be made of the same strange metal that the gun had been, as well as the instruments they had seen. As Heero examined it, it warmed a little more in his hand. It seemed to swell slightly. Then it stopped.
Kenny watched and his eyes got very big.
A corner of Heero's mouth curved up into a very satisfied half smile.
Duo scowled, sighing in disappointment.
"I thought I was home free when I realized that your laptop was back on earth... Now I'm gonna hafta compete with a gun. Where's the justice?"
Heero tweaked his lover's braid, "Baka." Then with one final satisfied caress of his new toy, it too was deposited in the fathomless space.
"Let's go."
Duo glanced down at Duan.
"What was it you had to compete with?"
Duan frowned a little at the question, then looked back at Kenny. Then he glanced at Heero and blushed, looking down real quick. "Nothin," he said, quietly.
Then, he looked back up, even more distressed. "Ok, that's not true. I think I know what you mean. And I didn't have.. I mean me and Kenny were friends a long time. He didn't have a gun, though."
Kenny grabbed Duan's hand tightly. Then he looked at Duo and whispered. "My mom."
Heero looked down at the boy, surprised at the sudden constriction in his own throat.
Duan looked up with watery eyes. "Yeah," he said. "His mom. I'm sorry."
"For what?" Duo asked, voice low and thick.
"Cause... Kenny's mom is gone now," he said softly.
Kenny squeezed the hand he was holding very hard. "Shut up," he said. "Not your... fault. Mine."
"No." Heero managed to get out. It sounded almost like a command. He crouched down in front of the two boys and looked them both in the eyes solidly, making sure they'd understand. "Not your fault."
Duo echoed the motion, his own gaze as firm and slightly pleading.
"And you aren't mistakes. Okay?"
Duan trembled slightly and blinked as Heero looked at them. He frowned deeply, hearing Duo's words. Reaching out, he tapped Heero on the arm. "B..but, like one time, I said that I wanted to play with Kenny always and .. I wished.. her away." he confessed. "That.. makes me bad. It's my fault, not Kenny's"
Kenny heard these words and the pain in his eyes was almost overwhelming. He dropped Duan's hand and ran, not really looking where he was going. He ended up in a bedroom, facing a wall, hitting his head on it once, then sliding to the floor.
Duo glanced at Heero, read his lover's expression, and then quickly followed Kenny into the other room. He slid to the floor beside the boy and gathered him into his arms, murmuring soothingly.
Kenny's body was rigid with tension. He shook his head over and over. He was fighting to keep from going to the place he had been before, which the sensitive, blond young man had coaxed him away from. His jaw clenched. He grabbed Duo's arm.
"Tell... him... tell him... not... his...."
Duo rocked Kenny back and forth, crooning the same song Sister Helen had once used to sooth his nightmares away with. His hands stroked Kenny gently, trying to ward off the tremors shaking the boy.
"It's okay... I will... Please come back to me, kiddo... Heero and I... We love you... You know that?"
Kenny shivered, becoming even more tense. He seemed to be fighting with something terrible. Then he looked up into Duo's eyes, gripping his arms. Words all but exploded from his taut body.
"I have a SECRET!" he all but screamed, and buried his head in his arms.
Tears sprang to Duo's eyes as he watched the boy struggling with some terrible inner demon. His arms tightened around Kenny's slight frame and he murmured into the top of Kenny's head.
"Me too... You tell me yours, and I'll tell you mine?" he asked in a shaking voice.
Kenny shook. He reached up blindly and put his hands over Duo's eyes.
"Ma... died... because... of me... we left... because she broke a promise... because... I told her... I didn't want to go to the professor any more... it was a secret... Duan didn't know... when I wasn't able to play... it was..." Kenny curled up in a ball, his words faltering.
Duo started crooning the song again, softly soothing as he pulled the shaken boy closer to him.
"It's okay... You're safe now..." he repeated between verses, over and over like a mantra.
End of Part 12
bonnejeanne & vonceia present
RavynFyre and Kateri Marie
Please feel free to direct feedback to any or all of the authors!
ravynfyre@hotmail.com,
nacl3salaris@hotmail.com,
vonceia@yahoo.com,
bonnejeanne@yahoo.com.