For the One You Love: Chapter 4

[dragonofmemory]

For the One You Love
A Gundam Wing Fanfiction
By: Memory Dragon
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing belongs to Sunrise and Bandai. I don't own it and make no claim to.

Chapter Four: Just give me a simple smile...

Four years have passed since Heero named little Duo after me. And he’s beginning to regret naming him that too. He’s quite the little devil, already playing pranks on his parents. I haven’t a clue where he gets it from, but Relena is very vocal in her opinion about it. She seems to think I’ve influenced the kid.

Too bad I really can’t take too much credit for that. Not that I haven’t helped the little guy out from time to time. He never would have gotten into Relena’s make up case if I hadn’t set it out for him. Heero never was able to completely clean it off the wall...

Little Duo has such angelic features, too. He looked so innocent after playing in the mud. Not even Relena could be mad at him for long. Though, she’s taken to locking the doors. It was still amusing while it lasted. He was perfectly safe! I watched over him the whole time whenever I left the door slightly ajar...

It’s a pity I can’t play with him directly. Oh, the trouble we could get into...

But little Duo is currently warm and safe, tucked in his bed and dreaming of more terrors for tomorrow. The little tyke has a more than capable babysitter watching over him at the moment. Quatre, who’s been dropping by unannounced quite a bit recently, volunteered for the job tonight. I think he’s getting suspicions...

Presently though, I’m more worried about little Duo’s mother.

Relena never stepped down from politics. Even now, eight months pregnant with another baby, she’s giving a speech to the world nation. She’s really done marvels too. Relena has grown much more elegant in the passing years, in looks and in speaking. It’s no small wonder that she’s one of the most respected politicians around. There’s even talk of nominating her for president, though that would be many years down the line.

But even she has some enemies. Which is why the love of my life is here tonight, not at home grading his student’s essays. Even he’s gotten wind of this one and is taking care of the security personally.

Because there was no question of Relena backing down. That’s the one problem with Relena. Her sense of right tends to over rule her sense of survival. But, I suppose that’s one of the reasons he fell in love with her. After all, she had to be at least a little crazy to chase after him!

For this reason, I have to be out in the open instead of in the shadows. Don’t want to be mistaken for the assassin after all. It was fairly easy to slip in as one of the guards. The young man who’s spot I’m taking is currently unconscious and tied up with a lack of clothing. Oh, I did leave him a note saying I was sorry. Typed of course. I’ve been planing this well in advance.

Normally, I would just take the guy out as soon as I heard about it. But for some odd reason, I can’t find the damn bug this time. I know he’s here somewhere... I also know he’s a sharp shooter. But where he’s hiding is what I’ve been digging to find out for the past several weeks. This one’s better than most.

Luckily for me, there are only so many places a sharp shooter can hide in this auditorium. It was made for politicians after all, and all politicians have to watch out for assassination. And I happen to know all of these little hiding spots.

I’ve caught more than a few ‘revolutionaries’ in this place. Enough so that I always accompany Mrs. Yuy whenever she makes herself known publicly. There have been several close calls when some random maniac decided to take a shot at her in the past. One to many for my comfort.

I looked out into the crowd once again, shifting nervously as I watched Heero doing the same from his corner. Her speech is nearly over. Was my information wrong? Maybe the shooter would wait until she was leaving? Or catch her after she was seated? Damn, I’m getting too-

There! Off to the side! Shit, there’s no time! I took my gun and aimed, even as the sharp shooter did, ignoring one of the guards yelling at me.

The room fell silent as a gun shot rang through the auditorium.

* * *

I dropped onto the small couch of my apartment, too tired to do anything else. It had been a long night.

Relena was safe, thankfully. Though she just had to pick about five minutes after I killed the sharp shooter to go into labour prematurely. With drugs, as promised this time, little Duo now has a new baby sister named Leyna. She’s a little small, but there’s no doubt she’ll be a healthy baby.

It had been a real pain getting out of the auditorium. Not easy, let me tell ya. At least they weren’t trying to shoot me. They knew I was the one who had saved her. I guess they figured the poor lad who fired thought he was in trouble and ran.

My leg won’t stop throbbing. Think I landed on it wrong, trying to get away. I’m getting too old for this kind of thing...

After they found the real guard tied up, there was a lot of confusion. But by that time, I was long gone. Let Heero try to figure out who saved his wife till the early hours of the morning. Right now, I just want some sleep...

But the ache in my leg won’t let me do that. Pain killers... I know they are around here somewhere...

There. Over by the computer, where I left them. I groaned, remembering I still had to hack into Quatre’s bank account tonight. I don’t do it too often, but lately I’ve had no time for small jobs. I took two little pills without water, frowning at the conclusion of my thoughts. This leg will keep me out of action for awhile... No way I could pick up any jobs.

Now’s the best time to hack into it, when he’s watching over little Duo. Someone’s bound to notice it, though. I’m surprised they haven’t stepped up the security already. But then, Quatre has been appearing suddenly. I think he might be trying to catch me off guard.

Well, good luck to him on that. There’s no way he could prove it. Besides, the few times he has caught my presence, he put it down to a spirit. Why wouldn’t I check up on Heero from the after life, hm?

I’ll do it tomorrow. He’ll probably still be caught up with Heero trying to figure out who saved Relena.

It was worth it though. All worth it. I’ll get to see Heero with that small smile again when he’s watching over little Duo. And now Leyna too. That small smile that’s worth a thousand hellish nights like this one. The one that gives me something to look forward to when the painkillers don’t do their job... Like now...

But even if the painkillers aren’t working, I’m tired. At least they’ve started making me drowsy. In fact, falling asleep on the couch is beginning to sound good... Less walking... Good night...

* * *

Quatre smiled at Heero, congratulating him on the new baby. His old friend still seemed slightly out of it, deep in thought. And the blond had a sneaking suspicion that his hacker had something to do with it. “Heero? Anything wrong?”

Heero sighed, shaking his head. He moved over to look out at the window of his small study. “No one knows who shoot the man. It wasn’t one of our guards.”

The blond perked up at this. The hacker... yes, he was sure of it. Quatre had known that the money being stolen from his account had something to do with Heero. Not sure why, but there it was. The money wasn’t really an issue, but his curiosity had peaked. Now...

Heero continued on. Quatre counted himself lucky that the other man’s back was turned, as he schooled his fact to a more neutral expression. “The man who was stationed at that spot was found tied and gaged, stripped to his boxers with a note next to him. The guard said he didn’t remember anything.”

“Note?”

Heero turned back, facing the blond once more. For the first time Quatre noticed the paper between his fingers. He held out the message for Quatre to take.

Quatre reached forward, fingers barely brushing the paper when he received a jolt. He pulled back, startled.

There. It was that feeling again! It had to be the same person! But who-

“Quatre?” Heero sounded concerned. Later. He’d figure this out later. Quatre shook himself visibly for Heero’s sake before smiling. “It’s nothing.” The brunette didn’t look too convinced, but he let it drop.

The blond took the note and unfolded it. To his dismay, it was typed. Who ever wrote it did it well in advance...

Blue eyes fell over the words, his eyes widening slightly as he took in the meaning. ‘Yo! Sorry to take you out like that, but I’ve got some business to take care of. So just sit tight. I’m sure they’ll find you eventually.’ It was signed ‘Me.’

Quatre shook his head in confusion, blond locks falling into his eyes. It sounded so familiar. He could almost picture the voice that wrote it... So close... But who could have possibly...

“Quatre? What’s wrong? Do you know something?”

He kept the slightly dazed expression while he thought of what to say. Best to stick with the bare truth, or Heero would get suspicious. “I... I don’t know. It feels like I should, but..” Heero sighed and looked away.

Quatre hated not telling his friend, but... Something held him back. And he was getting the oddest sensation of déjà vu by doing it... “Either way, whoever it was saved Relena. So I guess they’re trying to help you.”

Heero nodded. He was about to reply when there was the faintest creak of a door opening. “Daddy?”

The two men turned to see a frightened little boy in his pajamas, clutching a teddy bear tightly to his chest. “Daddy, I had a dream where Mommy got hurt and some bad people came and took her...”

Heero smiled gently. He walked over to the child and picked him up, bear and all. “It’s alright, Duo. It was only a dream...”

“Where’s Mommy?”

“She’s in the hospital with your new baby sister. I’ll tell you what, why don’t we go visit her?”

The little boy grinned mischievously. “So I don’t have to go back to sleep?”

A soft chuckle escaped from the ex-soldier’s lips. “No, Duo. You don’t have to go back to sleep. Teddy can even come too.” He set the child down, pushing him slightly to the door. “Come on, I’ll help you get dressed.”

Heero started to follow the delighted little Duo out when he remember Quatre. He turned to the blond, who smiled at him.

By that time, Quatre had managed to compose himself, though he still felt slightly numb. Maybe that was why he said, “Go on. I’ll meet you downstairs.” Heero nodded, following his son.

Quatre took the opportunity and sat down on the couch heavily, eyes returning to the wild state they had been when the child first entered the room. Why hadn’t he seen this sooner? But it was just too impossible...

Duo...

That feeling. It was Duo. It had to be. Who else would want to protect Heero so much? But Duo was dead...

Later, Quatre told himself firmly. Later, when Heero wasn’t watching. Because that would have been the last thing Duo would have wanted, for Heero to find out...

Quatre got up slowly, steeling his trembling fingers as he folded the note again and put it in his pocket. Then he walked to the door and turned out the light.

~TBC~


Quote of the Chapter:

Why have I fallen in love with you?
Just give me a simple smile to answer my love.
--Translation from Myself, by Changin' My Life