Another Murder of Crows
======================================================
Title: Another Murder of Crows (Sequel to A Murder of Crows)
Author: KKChitown
Part: 1/?
Warnings: Language (given), pissy characters, lack of anger
management. Yaoi, AU, wildly and utterly OOC. I want to stress this
point. It's the only basis I have for making them the way they are.
Disclaimer: This is depressing, I've done it way too many times.
Feedback: Craved, per usual
Notes:Okay, here it is! The sequel to A Murder of Crows and Quicksand. I
expect a few flames during the read of this fic, but I looooove
controversy, almost as much as chocalate ~__^ Also, this one is going
to move a hell of alot slower than the first one. I've written to
chapter 11 so far and I don't think I'm even halfway finished! AH!
This one will include lemons! Looking at three so far, with possible
songfics.
Quatre's POV
======================================================
Another Murder of Crows
By KKchitown (Karen)
I pressed the pillow harder against my face, trying–unsuccessfully–to
hide from the constant flow of words flying at me. My breath was
melting hot against the crochet fabric of the pillow, almost burning
my cheeks. The pillow itself smelled lightly of peach blossom shampoo
and Marlboro, so I know Duo has been here recently, hopefully
suffering the same way I am and worse. This whole situation was his
fault anyway.
"Quatre, are you listening to me?!"
"M-yes Sally." My voice was muffled through the pillow, so I
reluctantly took it off my face and lifted my head off the back of
the couch to see a very flustered and cranky Sally.
"Then what did I just say?"
"Never leave Duo in charge of a company party.....ever." And boy, did
I learn this lesson the hard way.
The party in question was to
celebrate the new recruits that joined the Preventers. Relena and I
were swamped with some diplomatic work so Duo volunteered to oversee
the party. I allowed him, of course, and the result party was, how
should I say, less than desirable. Don't get me wrong, the recruits
had a blast, but Heero and especially Zechs (or whatever he is
calling himself now) were less than thrilled. There was the pin the
tail on Relena game, then the dartboards with Relena's picture in the
center, and the last one I remembered was the pleasant horror house
that was built where a posterboard of Relena would pop out. Once it
popped out Duo started screaming in fake horror at it. When that
happened I passed out. I couldn't believe he would go that far.
"Right." Sally continued, stalking closer with every word she
breathed. "Zechs is pissed! Even Heero is quieter than usual."
"Oooooh." I groaned and threw the pillow right back over my face,
letting myself sink further into the white couch. Now I would have to
deal with Zechs AND Heero? Not to mention Relena when she has the
chance to see me. She is supposed to be coming back from earth today,
if she isn't back already. If I had the strength right now, I would
cry.
"Look Quatre," Sally sat down next to me on the couch and placed her
delicate hand lightly on my shoulder. I removed the pillow from my
face again to sit it on my lap. To occupy my hands I started to twist
my ring around, relaxing a bit at the new bumps on it. Before, it was
just a thick gold band with a aquamarine gem stone the shape of a
marble sitting in the middle. Now, on both sides of the gem are two
tiny, silver crucifixes, matching Duo's cross. And now, Duo's cross
has gold wire snaking up it, with an aquamarine gem sitting in the
middle. It is so gorgeous how those colors played together. Sally's
voice broke my reverie.
"I know that things lately have been very
awkward for you and between you and the ex-pilots, so Relena and I
have the idea that maybe all of us should go away for a week to a
resort where all this stuff can get out in the open and be resolved.
Kind of like a vacation."
The day has already been a rough one, since the delegates can not
agree on any proposal the others make. And now this. What does it
matter anymore? That party was last weekend. And besides, whatever
Relena and Sally are planning, I am pretty sure I don't want to be
involved. At least not today. It's been bad enough. "When you
say `all of us'," I asked very slowly, "who do you mean?"
She looked everywhere except at me. "Oh, you know, me, Wufei, Zechs,
Noin, maybe Une, Relena, you," she briefly made eye contact, "Heero,
Duo." The last two names were said in a rush.
"Oh no, no no no no no! Ba~ad idea." I quickly stood up and walked to
the far end of the room, to pace. Out of the corner of my eye, I
could see her looking at me, confused, replacing the light blue
crochet pillow I had forgotten about and knocked on the floor.
"Why Quatre?"
I turned to face her, tapping my foot in agitation. "There is
tension, you know as well as I do, between the two of them, and I
apologize for that. But the decision to reconcile is between Heero
and Duo ALONE." I tried to emphasize that point, but it looks like it
was in vain.
"Quatre, you can't be serious. They can't even look at each other
without bearing teeth and growling like animals!" By this time she
was on her feet and moving towards me, eyes blazing. I don't know if
she was angry with me or not, but I know I am right on this one.
"Oh Sally." I reached out and folded her hands in mine, resting them
against my chest. "Has Wufei told you anything?" Now that I think
about it, he probably hasn't. He is not the one to gossip or mention
things that don't concern him. "Duo loves Heero, but Heero has hurt
him. Badly. Duo's only defense against this is to be hostile towards
him, and unfortunately the same goes for Heero. They have to work
things out on their own," and this came out before I truly realized
what I was saying, "besides, I don't like the idea of Duo going
anywhere with Relena unnecessarily. I think she has done enough
damage."
Sally's eyes widened in horror and she almost violently pulled her
hands out of mine. She took a step back and examined me from head to
toe, like that was the first time she had ever laid eyes on me. I
went back over what I said and resisted the urge to slap myself on
the forehead.
Regaining her composure, her face turned a light shade of pink and
her hands curled into little fists, trembling at her
sides. "How...how could you say such a thing?"
Oh crap. Now I did it. "Sal." I took a step forward, she took one
back. Great, just great. "I didn't mean it the way it came out. I
love Relena dearly, you know that, but because of what she did, it's
hard for me to look past that every time I see Duo huddled in a
corner, crying, or when he calls Heero's name in his sleep, or her
hanging on Heero's arm so...possessively whenever Duo walks into a
room. We are suppose to be professionals and this office is turning
into a soap opera!"
"Quatre, I know you. You usually don't say things you don't mean, so
you meant that!" This time she took a step forward, and when she did
a familiar, almost ancient feeling washed over me. My hands curled up
into tiny, hard balls and my breathing started to come out faster. I
could feel the hair on my arms stand up like they were attracting
static electricity, and my jaw clenched itself shut. I could feel the
soldier in me wake up and I fought to keep it under control.
My breath was shaky, but through clenched teeth I tried to stay calm
and speak. "Sal, to be truthful, I did mean it, but not in the way
you took it."
She closed the remaining distance between us, our foreheads barely
touching, glaring at each other eye to eye. We are just about the
same height, now. "There is only one way to take that Quatre!"
Over the past two years, the other pilots and I have changed somewhat
physically. For me, I have grown some four centimeters, and let my
hair grow out as well, but its still not long enough to put in a pony
tail, so I keep it behind my ears. Wufei is the same height I am, and
a little more muscular, but that's about it. Duo has grown about six
centimeters, and his voice deepened some, but other than that he is
pretty much the same. Heero has grown taller than all of us, about
Zech's height. His features have matured, making him irresistible to
both men and women. And Trowa....I don't want to think about him. The
last time I saw him was in the war with Mariemaia, and that wasn't
exactly a nice reunion.....
Anyway, Sally and I were boring into each others eyes, fists down at
our sides, ready for the other to make the first move. We have never
so much as disagreed, and now we were about to fight in the middle of
the recreation room to defend the honor of our loved ones. I can't
believe things have gotten so bad between all of us. When did we take
sides like this? Maybe Dorothy is right when she said that mankind
wants and desires to fight. We have been living in peace for a year
now, and yet we find or make reasons to fight and hurt each other.
I don't know how long we stood there until finally I registered a
soft knock at the door. At first I didn't move, because Sally hadn't
moved. After a few more seconds, I finally yielded and stepped back,
holding my hands up as a sign of surrender. The day I hit Sally is
the day I help Zechs destroy Earth.
On second thought, maybe not. I did destroy that colony...
In the doorway was Wufei, looking angrier than usual, which he
should. His best friend was about to fight his girlfriend. Oh Allah!
I am stepping on everyone's toes.
"Are you ready to go?" He asked heatedly.
"Yes." I sighed. Without saying a word or so much as glancing in
Sally's direction, I walked out of the room into the hallway.....and
froze. I was fairly surprised to see quite a few of the employees
unmoving in their tracks, staring at me, and was even more surprised
to see Zechs leaning casually against the wall.
The shock must have been written clearly on my face because he
answered my question, smirking. "You two were loud. You could be
heard in the hallway."
My jaw hit the floor. I can NOT believe this! It's bad enough we all
are caught in this...this whatever it is and now the whole company
will know the way rumors spread around here. Once again, my mouth got
the better of me.
"Ah shit!"
I have gotten pretty casual about swearing since...something
happened, much to my dismay, but there has been plenty of reasons for
me to swear. The look of shock crossed Zech's face briefly and then
he managed to smirk even more! Great. After the shock wore off MY
face at what I said, I turned swiftly and hustled to the elevator. On
my way there Heero walked out of a door to my left and stopped,
giving me the death glare. I stopped in front of his door and threw
my arms up in the air, exasperated. What does everyone want from me?
He glared another microsecond before he told me "later," and went
back into his office, slamming his door. Fine with me. I walked
through the elevator doors with Wufei and pressed the basement button
before I was tempted to turn in my resignation.
***
We were about five minutes away from the cemetery. So far nothing
eventful happened in the car, though I could feel the anger rolling
off of Wufei's body, and could almost guarantee that it was directed
towards me. We decided earlier that day since it was such a nice day
out that we would drive to Khushrenada's grave instead of a limo.
There were two graves actually: one on earth and one on a satellite
that was built for soldiers' graves in space. We were headed for the
latter.
The sun was shining cheerfully, which contrasted greatly with my
mood. It had been scheduled to rain today, so I can't wait to see the
grey clouds roaring over to wash away the filth that could
contaminate the colony. I want the clouds to be so dark that sunlight
can not penetrate them for days on end, and that the colony and
others could see how the inside of my soul feels and what the turmoil
is for a gundam pilot, or any pilot who has lived through the war but
can not forgive themselves for the atrocities that they committed. I
love the clouds because I can be out in the open and be comfortable
in my loathing.
Wait, let me back up again.
The last two years have been hard for me and the other pilots,
especially after my father's death. Now I control my father's
company, plus trying to help Relena maintain pacifism is a lot of
work. At first, after the second war, everything was perfect. Heero
and Duo were living in one of my estates with me, trying to become
the couple that they wanted to be. Wufei and Sally hit it off very
well, and were often seen together in public. Trowa stayed with
Catherine at the circus but visited me frequently, or we went to see
him in the circus. But even then, Trowa and I had drifted apart, and
it was hard being in the same room with him alone. I always brought
Duo with me to liven things up, but there was some underlying
hostility between us that I couldn't place. Finally, one day Trowa
asked me to not see him again, and respecting his wishes, I didn't
try to contact or see him. I don't know what I did to this day.
Things went downhill from there. Heero and Duo started fighting. They
would go out, but who knows what happened that would upset either of
them. There were nights when Heero wouldn't even come home, and Duo
and I were frantic that something might have happened to him. A few
times he went to Wufei's to crash for the night, but then he started
to go to Relena's. He admitted to me a long time ago about how he
feels for Relena, and I tried to warn Duo without betraying Heero's
trust.
Since then, things had gotten *really* bad. They started to get into
fist fights. Violent ones. The kind where they broke glass and
furniture. MY glass and furniture. Argh. Anyway, both would go to
work and look like they were hit by cars. The only thing that rivals
Duo's temper is Heero's. And to make matters worse, Duo started
drinking. The last physical fight they had been in was caused at a
dinner party where Relena named Heero to be the secretary of defense.
That wasn't the big deal. Later on that night during a dance, Relena
had kissed him on the lips, right in front of Duo, even though she
KNEW the problems they were having. Back at the house, they fought so
badly, I tried to stop them and ended up in the hospital to get
seventeen stitches in my head and a cast on my arm for six weeks.
Relena tried to reprimand Duo, but somehow Sally had come to Duo's
and my defense, so that was that. But since then, my feelings about
Relena have gone from a true admirer to being more skeptical. I was
truly hurt that she would come in between them like that. When I
returned home the following day, Heero's stuff was already gone.
And if *that's* not enough, there's more for me. In less than a year
I will be eighteen, and according to my father's will, I have
to `produce' an heir before my birthday. I hate that notion so much.
But now I see it the way my father saw it. I have to protect my
sisters or we will lose everything. So after much debate with my
sisters, lawyers, and the aid of Duo and Wufei as my advisors, I
decided to have a child through genetics, like myself and my sisters.
Unlike me, however, I will make sure that he is loved and cherished,
because above all else he will be my son. I am truly disgusted with
my decision, but I vow and will do anything and everything in my
power to make sure he is happy and healthy. I cannot allow him to
feel the way I have felt my entire life. So far Wufei will be the
godfather and Sally is the godmother, and Duo, my brother, will be
the uncle.
A bump in the road brought me back to the present, watching the
colonists walking their pets or young children playing in their front
yards. I glanced to Wufei, who still had that scowl on his face, his
knuckles white with pressure from squeezing the steering wheel. I
glanced back out of the window, content to let him fume in silence.
He always does that when he is angry with me, then goes further to
tell me when we will talk, not to mention the fact that I should have
a say so but I don't. Oh well. I'm use to it by now.
"Maybe we should've let him destroy earth."
The car stopped abruptly, and the seatbelt stopped me from flying
through the windshield across my neck. Ack!
Wufei reached over and grabbed the collar of my uniform, pulling me
forward to him until we touched foreheads. The seatbelt was still
across my neck, but I held my breath in order not to cough in his
face. Allah knows what he would do then.
After a minute he threw me back into my seat, where I gratefully
started to breathe again. He continued to stare at me, his expression
saying he was upset but other than that unreadable. Finally, he
spoke. "We will talk about this when we get back." Told you.
"Fine." I straightened my uniform out more roughly than I should've,
and leaned back into the blond leather seat. Wufei continued driving,
every few seconds glaring at me. And to think he asked me to
accompany him.
***
Walking through the gates of the cemetery, we saw Lady Une and
Mariemaia coming towards us on the path. Mariemaia ran at me and I
picked her up, giving her a suffocating hug. I have always liked her.
How can you not like children? It wasn't her fault what her
grandfather was trying to do, or her father for that matter.
"Quatre!" She squealed.
"Hi, Marie. How are you doing?"
"Okay now!" She squeezed my neck tightly and kissed my cheek.
"Hello, Une." I replied, hating to be rude. She smiled at me,
acknowledging my presence, and went over to Wufei. Even though he is
the one that killed Treize, she has never held a grudge against him.
She didn't have to, he held one against himself.
Once at his side, she placed a hand on his shoulder, and used the
other one to lift his chin. He faced her, and placed one hand over
hers. Those two have a mutual respect for each other. Wufei was the
only one who had ever defeated her, and she was the only woman,
during the war that Wufei didn't accuse of being weak.
They stood that way momentarily, searching each other's eyes. I have
heard rumors about what Treize had said to Wufei during their battle,
that they were no longer enemies. In fact, I heard on terrible
authority, meaning Duo, that Wufei tried to save him, but the only
ones that know the truth are standing not five feet away from me.
Even though nothing has been confirmed about which rumors were
correct and which weren't, no one has the nerve to ask and more than
likely they will continue to remain rumors. Whatever was said, I know
that it is something that those two will probably take to the grave.
Mariemaia just about fell asleep in my arms by the time Une left from
Wufei's side and took her from me. She mouthed her thanks to me as I
kissed her cheek and they continued down the path to their car.
Retreating footsteps brought my attention back to Wufei. I had to jog
a little to catch up with him, he was walking so fast. I had the
feeling he came here often: first there was a right, then left,
another right, then we approached this opening where his tombstone
rested. The grave wasn't close to the gates, and the paths that we
took didn't look any different from the other paths. Yep, here's been
here often.
At first Wufei stood there staring at it like it held the secrets to
the universe and we were waiting for it to tell us. Out of boredom I
read the tombstone. It said: Here Lies Treize Khushrenada, Sovereign
of Our Hearts. I knew that Wufei and Une decided to put that on it,
but I find it kind of....weird that he would agree to that. It seems
so.....not–Wufei, but there are many sides to a person.
While twirling the ring around my middle finger, I faintly heard a
sob. I quickly glanced around, but no one was in the area. Puzzled, I
reached for Wufei when I noticed his shoulders shaking slightly. The
sob came from him. Without saying a word, I walked up behind him and
reached under his arms to hold on to his shoulders. I stepped up
closer to rest my chin in the crook of his neck, and held him. He
kept his arms down at his sides, his hands clenched.
And we just stood there. He needed to do this. To let go of the past.
I think he feels that if he does this enough it will become less
painful. Hopefully it will. It has been hard for him to go on with
his life; his wife is gone, his clan is gone, he is all that is left.
It's hard to let the past go when it smacks you in the face so often.
I know from personal experience. I am reminded every day when I go
over the plans for the restoration of the colony I destroyed.
But still we stood there, unmoving. I began to fall asleep myself
when the fluttering of wings drew my attention to the tombstone,
where a crow sat down to bite at its feathers. I held on tightly to
Wufei, burying my face in his shoulder as a hard, involuntary flinch
ran through me.
I also want to thank everyone who has ever commented on 'A Murder of
Crows' and other stuff I've written, especially Diane, Saishi, Genji,
and Shine. My head is swollen because of them. Time for me to shut up
now.
© 2000 by KKChitown. Please do not remove without permission.
