Another Murder of Crows
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Title: Another Murder of Crows
Author: KKChitown
Part: 6/?
Feedback: Desired most greatly
Warning: Shounen ai, language, references to mall archades, and two
pissed off pilots. Oh yeah! Very very very very very slight citrus
squirt. That's it. I think.
Disclaimer: GW doesn't belong to me, they belong to other people I am
very jealous of.
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Another Murder of Crows: Part 6
By Karen
We made it to Wet Desert mall without anything major happening, which
was both good and bad. Good in the way that Heero and I weren't in
any immediate danger, but bad in the way that there might be danger
ahead. Regardless, I forced myself to shake off the negative feeling
and enjoy the day. It has been a while since I was able to spend time
with Heero.
On the way to the mall, I let Heero use the car phone to call Relena
and invite her to come along with us. She and Dorothy were at the
office, going over the arrangements for the trip to the Sanc kingdom.
They were leaving Thursday evening around seven or so, and I will
join them Saturday afternoon. Anyway, the two of them will meet us at
around five o'clock in the food court. It's a little after three now.
The other pilots, especially Duo, have always commented on how Heero
and I made the perfect team when it came to being in pairs. We always
complemented each other. If I was day, he was night. If he pushed, I
would pull. Our bodies and minds seemed to be in tuned with each
other in a way that even I don't understand. Colleagues at the
Preventers made the same jokes too, often going as far as to say that
we were telepathically linked. I knew exactly what he wanted when he
wanted where he wanted without him so much as blinking. The same rang
true with me. Une always stuck Heero and I together for any type of
project because of this understanding. The trip to the Sanc kingdom
is going to be the same.
Whatever the case, the force was very much awake now as we maneuvered
through the crowd. I would slow down knowing he would speed up to cut
in front of me, and he would stop and parry to the side just enough
for me to glide past him, cross in front of him, and take the lead
again. Our movements were smooth and fluid as we slivered our way to
the game arcade room.
Our resolve at being mature died instantly when we stepped over the
threshold. The sound of beeps and buttons, with bright, colorful
lights flashing from numerous machines had me drooling like an
infant. In another split second I darted to the race car driving game
(no matter how many times I play it, I can never remember the name)
and jumped into the drivers seat on the left. Heero was a split
second behind me jumping into the right seat. On an almost primal
level, I dug in my pocket and revealed four credits, where Heero
immediately swiped two and inserted them in his slot. I inserted the
other two in mine and soon the image of a woman wearing a pink bikini
and black high heels appeared, counting down from five to go.
After thirteen games (Heero won 7, I won 6), we decided to go tackle
the arcade games. We played X-men so many times we could beat the
game with our eyes closed. Terminator 2 was broken, and I knew better
than to go anywhere near a dart board when Heero was around. Call me,
oh, I don't know, sane. The skiball machine lanes were all occupied,
so we decided on Mortal Kombat. The game of games. Ah. I am in heaven.
We just finished the third game when I realized I was out of
change. "Do you have a few credits on you? I'm out. I thought I had
more."
"Yeah, but they're in the car. I'll have to go get them. Of course, I
shouldn't do that for a cheater."
"Cheater?" I asked, laughing in his face. "Just because I won all
three games doesn't make me a cheater."
He almost pouted. "I can't believe you beat me, and you did it using
Sonya!"
"Well, you always pick Scorpio and you always do the same moves! It
gets hard not to notice when you're about to pull the mask off and
shoot me with flame, Odin." I placed my hands on my hips with a sassy
smirk on my face. He is such a sore loser.
"Fine. I'm going to the car and I'll be right back." He pulled out
some credits from his pocket and handed them to me. "Stay out of
trouble until I get back."
I tried to look appalled, but I'm sure I looked more like a big
mouthed imp. "I can't believe you think that I will get myself in
trouble. I'm not you or Duo you know!"
He turned around with a smug grin of his own. "Yeah, but you hang
around me and live with Duo, so what does that say about you?"
His smirk got even more smug before he turned and jogged his way out
of the dark blue room. Unable to get the last word in, I stomped my
foot in irritation. I guess he's not the only sore loser after all.
Argh!
Slightly flustered from not getting the last word in, I turned back
towards the game and inserted the few credits Heero handed to me. I
guess the best way to deal with my misfortune of losing a *verbal*
battle, which is worse since I work with a lot of *politicians*, is
to take out all my frustration on Reptile and Sub-zero.
I delivered a swift roundhouse kick to another character's jaw when
the joystick of the machine got stuck. Again. That has to be how they
make their money. The game is old enough to where everyone on earth
and the colonies could beat it easily, so instead of conjuring up new
games, they make the existing ones difficult to use. Right. I'm going
to end up buying the mall just to fix this thing, if I don't own it
already.
In the time it took me to unlock the joystick, I was defeated. I had
ten seconds to add more credits when I noticed that I was out and
Heero wasn't back yet. Completely exasperated, I pouted at the screen
when a hand came out of nowhere and inserted two credits for me. My
palm slapped across the white start button and kicked the game back
into life. Once a safe distance away from the enemy, I paused the
game to see my savior.
"Thank you so much! I've never made it this far up in the level
before and I'm so happy you had an extra credit. Hold on just a
minute, my friend will be here any second and I can pay you back." I
tried to be as nonchalant as possible, considering the way my heart
was starting to tingle with pain. That was kind of weird. After
another second I realized there was something wrong about the guy. He
was of Middle Eastern descent, that much was for sure, but he seemed
to be from earth rather than the colonies. His skin was brown, about
the shade of honey, and his eyes were bright hazel. His black hair
was almost purple as it extended down to the base of his neck. All in
all, he was cute. However, he wore silver. I know that my ethnicity
would never wear silver, only gold, and this guy had on so much
silver it was almost blinding. His smell was also familiar. One of
cool, running water. I know that scent from somewhere.
He responded, shaking his head slowly, but his eyes never broke
contact with mine. "No, that is not necessary. It is nothing."
Another thing that was familiar was his voice. It was deep and
sensual. Very sensual. He had one of those low, tenor voices that
could carry across a crowded room, cutting through any conversation a
group of people could be having. It also made you weak in the knees
just by its clarity and smoothness.
"N-no, I insist that I pay you back." It's getting harder to move.
"Oh, you will pay me back, but not with money." He took one step
closer to me and traced my face with his fingertips. He started with
my eyebrows, smoothing them back into place, then his thumb trailed
down to my cheek, where it glided down to my chin. Once at my chin,
his thumb slid up to my lips, where he started tracing them. At the
same time, he closed his eyes and leaned forward, kissing me on the
bridge of my nose. My breathing became fast and hard as he tried to
gently pry my mouth open with his thumb, and the heat and the smell
of cool running water flowing off of his body was intoxicating.
I wanted him. Badly.
He must've sensed this because he used his bottom lip to make a moist
trail down my nose. My eyes slid shut as I felt his soft lip continue
down until he captured my lips in a tender kiss. And then I did the
unthinkable.
I kissed him back.
At first it wasn't anything major. I mean, our mouths were still
closed for the most part, just him taking my lip between his and vice
versa. But then my fingers started itching to touch his skin and I
seemed to be wearing way too many clothes. I wanted this so badly,
but I am destined to be tortured. As soon as I lifted my hand to
touch his face, the cool water and heat disappeared, leaving me
thirty and cold.
I opened my eyes in enough time to see Heero slam his body against
the wall. The man landed loudly against the wall, where he caught
himself on his hands and knees before falling face down on the floor.
Heero placed himself between the other boy and myself, but not before
shooting me a very, very, VERY nasty glare. Uh oh.
It wasn't long before the young man made it to his feet. He wiped
what little blood he had on his lip away with the back of his hand,
and preceded to examine it like he had never seen blood before. After
a few more seconds he glanced up at us, seeming to straighten out his
hair and clothing.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know he was taken," he replied wryly and gave
Heero a sinister smirk. Double uh oh. Of all the people to talk trash
to, he picked the worst one in the universe. Heero didn't answer
though, he just waited for the mysterious boy to either comment some
more or throw a punch. Allah was on my side today, for the youth only
chuckled softly and left the arcade, coughing a bit from the force of
the throw. And that was the end of that.
I wasn't aware of the crowd that surrounded us until the other man's
departure. I couldn't stand the quick glances and quiet whispers that
the other occupants of the arcade room gave, so I covered my face in
complete humiliation. I know, that doesn't do a whole lot of good,
but at the time it made me feel better.
Heero's rough hands grabbed and squeezed my shoulders, ushering me
out of the arcade room and into the hallway of the mall, since I
didn't want to uncover my face. Once again we were in our rythmn.
Heero and I coiled easily around each other, making it through mall
traffic with ease. Once at the food court he guided me to a table
where he sat me down and disappeared. I finally uncovered my eyes to
allow them to adjust to the bright lighting. Soon, Heero came back
with two lemonades. He sat one of them in front of me, as he took his
straw and poked it through the plastic top. He took a quiet sip
before placing the cup back down and staring at me. I took a sip and
tried to shake off the chill I was having, and the twinge of pain
that I felt earlier had dissolved to a very slight tightness.
Heero's unwavering stare didn't help at all. I know you must be
thinking that he is not the boss of me and that I shouldn't take this
from him, but the reality of it isn't that way. We are a family after
all. Dysfunctional to the fullest, yes, but a family nonetheless.
Heero's an older brother to me. Actually, they all are. Its like
this: Duo is the type of brother that would let you drink beer, even
though you aren't old enough, and sneak you into rated R movies,
stuff like that. Wufei is the type of brother that will be stern with
you, making sure you did your homework and had good grades, but knew
how to relax at times. Now Heero is the type of brother that is a
bully. Nobody would dare lay a finger on you because he would beat
them up, but at the same time he would beat you up too. Not to say
that I'm afraid of Heero, but that fear has been at the back of my
mind. I would've never thought he would ever lay a hand on me, but
from the few times he beat up Duo, I really can't say that anymore.
It didn't take too much longer before he reached his limit. "Explain."
I took a careful sip of my lemonade before beginning what I knew
would be a very long conversation. "What time is it?"
"Just about five. Explain." I could never change the topic with him.
"Explain what? There is nothing to–"
I didn't get much further than that. Heero raised his hand and
slammed it violently against the table, nearly knocking over my
lemonade. My quick save was the only thing that prevented it from
spilling. The sound of flesh smacking against a fiberglass table
echoed throughout the cafeteria. Once again, we were the center of
attention.
"Don't you even *think* about giving me that shit," he growled. "I
know everyone you know. I know practically every person you ever met,
talked to and slept with. I know all of your business contacts,
employees and relatives. Out of all of those people, his face does
not ring a bell. Not a single one. And by the way you reacted, I
don't think you know him either. Duo would not appreciate it, so
explain."
I gawked. What does Duo have to do with this? "Don't tell me you're
going to accuse me of sleeping with Duo again? And by the way, you
still haven't apologized for that! Also," I leaned forward across the
table, forgetting the people watching us, "I don't appreciate you and
Duo talking about me this morning like I'm some kind of....of
omnipotent entity that needs to be protected! I'm not. I was a gundam
pilot too you know! Sure, I'm not as strong as you or Wufei, but I
can hold my own."
"Quatre, the key word is that you WERE a gundam pilot," he said, as
if this didn't apply to him. "Now, you're the owner of Winner
enterprises, and a diplomat. Diplomats are not soldiers. And for the
last time, explain."
I noticed then that I was standing over the table, and I don't even
remember getting up. Heero's voice, throughout this whole
conversation, has not risen one bit. He stayed as calm and collected
as if he was telling me the weather. I don't have that talent. My
shouting could be heard in outer space, I'm sure of it. "Well, this
diplomat IS a soldier, and I don't have to explain shit!"
"Quatre!" The sound of Relena's voice brought both of us at
attention. I turned wildly to face her, almost losing my balance. She
and Dorothy had the look of absolute horror on their faces, and I
felt terrible, since I was the one that put it there.
"Relena!" I tried to hide my anger and embarrassment with
delight. "I'm so glad you could make it. Hello Dorothy." I moved
towards Dorothy where I kissed both of her cheeks as our greeting.
She kissed back but when I pulled away, her face was a clear
reflection of how confused she felt. I moved to greet Relena when she
held up her hand, gesturing for me to stay right where I was. Not a
good sign.
"I think," her voice trembled slightly, as if she was trying not to
cry, "that Dorothy and I would like to enjoy the rest of the
day...alone. It appears that you two have some things that need to be
worked out. It would be nice if you did so before Saturday, or at
least come to a compromise."
"There isn't anything to compromise," Heero said coldly. I would
think he could have a little more animation in his voice when he
talks to her, at least.
She shrugged her shoulders slightly. "Maybe not. Of course, it isn't
my concern though, is it Quatre?" She turned to face me a moment, I
guess anticipating a retort. I didn't give one. "Well, good day
gentlemen." And as quietly as she came, she left with Dorothy in tow.
My legs gave out and I fell back into the chair, dropping my face in
my hands. If I could kick myself in the forehead, I would. Instead I
ran my fingers through my hair, pulling on the strands hard, almost
to the point of ripping them out. I want to go home. Home. Good idea.
The best I had all day.
I stood up and pulled the top off of the lemonade, downing it.
Tossing it in the trash, I started making my way for the parking lot,
with Heero two steps behind me. Just like before, we navigated our
way through the crowd with ease, and soon we were rapidly approaching
the vehicle that will take me away from here.
At that thought, I started running.
***
I moved from lane to lane, trying my best to get around all of these
cars that seem intent on slowing me down. I wasn't speeding, but I
was right on the borderline. It was a twenty minute drive to the mall
we went to, so hopefully the drive back will be even shorter.
I was coming up on the bumper of the car in front of me, intending to
jump in the right lane in front of another car to race to freedom.
While about to make my move, flashes of something, a memory, a dream,
I don't know, appeared right before my eyes. What bothers me the most
is that it wasn't complete. One flash showed that I was in a car, a
station wagon actually, and Duo was there. Another was us in the car,
kissing. Well, you can't call it kissing. We were on our way to
having....you know, in the car. Anyway, another one was of Wufei
trying to pull me out, but for some reason Duo was trying to keep me
in. The last one was of Duo bashing my head against the dashboard?
"Quatre!"
I just about ran into the car in front of me and had to stomp on my
brakes to keep from crashing. My sportscar is so light that while
moving the clutch to first gear, I broke something in it. It swirled
out of control until I managed to pull over on the side of the road,
out of harms way. Running out of the car, I popped the hood open to
see the steam rising out of it, and notice that the smell of
something burning was not a good smell, even for a car. I had to
resist the urge to lay my head across the engine and let the hood
drop on me.
Heero was beside me in a few heartbeats, going over the engine with
an expert eye. I didn't care what he wanted to do, and I didn't care
what was wrong. I was just mad that I broke it, and it would take
longer for me to get home.
"Get in the car." I sucked my teeth in irritation for a moment before
I complied with his order. Arguing now is not going to help me get my
car fixed sooner, so I would let him do whatever he felt he had to do
to get it going again.
Sitting in the passenger seat, I slammed the door and sat with my
arms crossing my chest. I watched as car after car went along the
freeway, completely oblivious to us stranded alongside the road. Many
of the cars that passed us I cut off, so maybe they thought that us
being stuck was justice. Ha. There are more and more Wufei's in the
world.
Heero came back and sat in the drivers seat, starting the ignition.
The engine wouldn't turn over, so he paused, waiting for it to cool
before starting it again. I continued to watch the cars go by.
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
I acted as if I didn't hear the question. I don't want to talk to him
right now. He tried the ignition again. It still didn't turn over.
"Damnit, Quatre, I'm tired of arguing with you–"
"And I'm tired of arguing with you!" I snapped and went back to
watching the cars. He tried again. No luck. He sat back hard in the
seat, causing the car to rock a bit. I didn't say a word.
"What do you want from me, huh? Do you want me to apologize about
accusing you and Duo of being together? Do you want me to break my
agreement to Duo? What?"
It's so hard to listen to Heero when he talks in that monotone voice
of his. It makes me want to scream or hit him or something, anything
to get a real reaction out of him. A lot of people don't understand
Heero. They think of him as a cold, one-track minded person. I know
differently. I was there when he got sick, whether it was the flu or
just a cold. I was there when he woke up screaming from nightmares,
either from the war or from his training. I was there when he called
out for a dead girl and her puppy, crying like he would never stop.
And it upsets me when he reverts back to what I call a `machine frame
of mind.' Emotionally, it's like he moves up one but then steps back
two.
I turned to him then, and I could feel my eyebrows draw together in
anger. His features were totally slack and passive. Typical. "No. I
don't want you to apologize unless you mean it. You should apologize
not because of what you said about me and Duo, but because what you
said crushed him and *hurt* me! And I don't like your agreement with
him. You should want to watch after me because YOU don't want me to
get hurt, not because its your job or that someone else put you up to
it. Now take me home!"
I stared back out to the freeway and watched the cars zoom by. I
heard Heero turn the key and the car started with a jump. Pulling out
carefully, we managed to ease onto the freeway, but the transmission
was shot, so we were stuck doing 15 miles an hour.
With a very long drive ahead of us, I leaned back into my seat and
thought about my newest revelation, contemplating how much Duo's
kisses tasted like that guy's.
© 2001 by KKChitown. Please do not remove without permission.
