The Mysterious Affair at Victoria (or, the Worms' Mistress)




Part 5




The Victoria Club - Front Terrace

Zechs had run down the stairs two at a time, leaving Noin and Duo trying to keep up. 
He quickly scanned the lobby, then ran out to the Club's entrance. No sign of the man 
in the OZ uniform. No sign that anyone had ever stood beside the bushes and looked 
up at his window.

He was still standing at the spot where he'd seen the man when Noin and Duo caught up. 
"Any sign of him?" Duo panted.

Zechs shook his head. "He was already gone when I got out here. I have no idea where he 
went, but I'm going to find out. And I want you two to *stay here.*"

"Zechs!" Noin and Duo replied, almost in unison.

"Let me go with you," Duo insisted. Then, looking over at Noin, he added, "Or better yet, 
let's all look for the guy together. The odds of finding him will be better with three 
pairs of eyes, eh?"

Zechs turned to look at them. "I don't want either of you wandering around by yourselves. 
Who knows what that lunatic might do."

"But we're supposed to let you go off by yourself?" Noin came to stand in front of Zechs, 
her hands on her hips. She wore a look of steely determination. "Who's going to protect 
*you* from the lunatic, then? It was *you* he seemed to be looking at, after all."

Steely determination was good, but, at least this time, it was no match for the Lightning 
Count. "That's exactly why I want to go alone. If this man has a problem with me, then 
he and I will have to work it out. I don't want him trying to involve either of you."

He looked down at Noin and his expression softened. "I'm sorry, Noin. I just think it's 
too personal this time." Noin just lowered her eyes and shook her head.

"I don't want either of you to be alone for any length of time, do you understand? Stay 
with each other if you can. At the very least put yourselves into a crowd of people. Don't 
get isolated. I'll be back as soon as I can."

And, with that, he disappeared around the corner towards the large side garden of the 
Victoria Club.

**********

Somewhere Nearby

It had gone beautifully. Everyone had fallen into their expected roles, been in the right 
places at exactly the right times. And that last touch - blowing Treize's boy a kiss - well, 
that had been purely spontaneous. He hadn't expected Merquise - that is, Milliard - to have 
that effect on him. Perhaps he was finding so much empathy with their cherished leader that 
his preferences were beginning to change. Maybe he was finally seeing Milliard Peacecraft 
through the leader's eyes; a beautiful, golden toy for his amusement and his alone. In any 
case, the effect was there. Seeing the beautifully handsome face, the thick white-gold hair, 
the sleek muscles...

/This could turn out to be very pleasant indeed. After all, I don't need to kill the man, 
just put the fear of God in him, for what he did to the leader. And now that I think about 
it, there are so many delicious ways to strike fear in a man's heart.../

**********

The Victoria Club - Front Terrace

Noin and Duo had followed Zechs' tall figure until he was gone from sight. Now, they were 
both simply staring at the corner he had turned. It was certainly easier than looking at 
each other.

Noin couldn't decide if she was more angry or worried. /How could he do this to me! First, 
I find out in the worst of ways that he and this... this boy are... lovers. Then he puts 
off talking to me about it for the whole night so he can make his boy feel better... And 
I seriously doubt that he just knelt by the bed holding Duo's hand all night. I know what 
a bed looks like after Zechs has... used it, and Zechs had definitely used that bed! So 
now, I'm supposed to spend quality time with the boy who was on the receiving end of it? 
Zechs what *are* you thinking?/

Duo thoughts weren't any calmer. /Great. Just great. Not only do I *not* get to spend time 
with *him*, but I have to spend it with Noin instead! Noin - who I always liked and 
respected - until she practically called me a slut. I even tried being friendly to her 
this morning, but all she does is glare at me. Man, how am I supposed to handle this?/

Noin slid her gaze over to Duo, who was still staring straight ahead, lost in his own 
thoughts. /Honestly, Zechs. There is "being civilized" and there is "too civilized for 
your own good." Must be just as hard on Duo as it is on me...

/This is so like you - just trusting that two people you care about will get along 
perfectly together. You are so hopelessly naive when it comes to these things. You really 
don't seem to have an understanding of the passion you inspire in people... Well, I guess 
that's part of what makes you so delicious, cara. You're a genius at military strategy, 
the best I know at fighting techniques, and you can run circles around anyone when it 
comes to creating code that no one else would have ever thought to try.

/And with all that, you're still completely out of your depth when it comes to handling 
romantic relationships. Two of your men could probably have had a knock down, drag-out 
fight and the next day you could've told them to work on a project together. And they 
would have. But it just doesn't happen that way with lovers, Zechs.../

Duo was kicking the grass at his feet, now. He felt the beginning of a pout forming on 
his lips. /I miss him already. Geez, you'd think that we would've touched and kissed 
and... yeah, that too - more than enough times in the last 24 hours. You might think I 
could go, say, 15 minutes without thinking about doing it with him again, or about how 
he looks coming out of the shower... all those muscles... Man! He's like some kind of 
addiction or something. No way I can ever seem to get enough... I wonder if I'm abnormal?

/I wonder if he thinks about me like this. Do I do stuff to him that he can't forget 
about all the next day? God, I hope so. I want to make him happy. He doesn't smile 
enough - always so serious. Yeah, that's your problem, Mr. Prince. You're too serious. 
What's gonna make you happy...? Me making nice with Noin? Ah, man, I knew you were going 
to say that! All right, all right - I'm trying. But I can't promise anything. She's not 
exactly feeling warm and fuzzy towards me right now, ya know!/

He cocked an eye in Noin's direction and she looked at him immediately, in the way a 
person might cast a wary eye towards a rattlesnake. Duo took a deep breath.

"Care for a drink, Noin? We can charge it to Zechs."

She was speechless for a moment.

/How can he possibly say something like that to his lover's girlfr-, uh, ex-girlfriend./

She, too, took a deep breath and willed all of her manners into the next sentence. 
"Thank you, Duo. I am a bit thirsty."

They found a couple of large wicker chairs in a quiet part of the terrace. When they 
were both seated, a waiter emerged, seemingly from the ground itself, and asked for 
their drink order. "Bloody Mary, please" Noin murmured.

Duo looked up at the waiter and said, "What kind of soda do you have?"

For the first time since his arrival with Zechs, Noin looked closely at Duo. Superimposed 
on the boyishly beautiful face she saw an image of him, braid flying, running to Shinigami 
when Dekim Barton's troops were threatening their fledgling peace. She remembered bravery, 
and loyalty as fierce as she'd seen in any "real" soldier. And she saw something else. In 
looking up at the waiter, the sides of Duo's long bangs had fallen back from his face. 
High up on his right cheek, hidden until now by the thick hair, were bruises. They were 
several days old, but they were there. And for some, inexplicable reason, they caused an 
inconvenient stir of sympathy in her.

She waited until the waiter had glided off to fill their order. "Duo? Where did you get 
these?" Without thinking, she reached out to push his hair away from the pale purple and 
yellow marks.

Duo pulled back as if he had been hit. "Oh, these? They're... they're nothing. Just had 
a little scuffle last weekend, in Sank, no big deal." He grinned, as she knew he would, 
but it wasn't genuine. Even she could tell that.

/A scuffle? In Sank? Only one person I could think of that he might fight with there. 
Was that how it happened? Is that why he's with Zechs?/

Something driven and perverse in her had to find out. "It was Heero, wasn't it? Heero 
tried to hurt you. Zechs had told me he was acting oddly..."

"Look, Noin." Duo's voice trembled a bit. "Heero... he's had to live through a lot of 
crap, you know? He doesn't really know how to deal with other people, when he's not 
fighting them..." He ducked his head and picked up the end of his braid, running it 
over his fingertips. "Sometimes, the only way he knows to tell you how he's feeling 
is... is hitting."

/He's too young for this. Just like all the rest of them. But it's not fair that the 
person he thought he loved ended up turning on him. Seems Heero's still fighting his 
own war, and Duo's been the one handy for target practice. Damn! I don't want this! I 
don't want these 'insights' into him. I'm *angry* at this boy! And here I am feeling 
sympathy for him... I'm trying, really trying. But he's a hard one to hate.../

"I'm sorry, Duo. That really sounds awful." Her voice sounded stiff to her own ears. It 
was hard to get past the events of the last 24 hours.

He was still playing with the end of his braid, brushing it across his cheek. "Thanks. 
Maybe we could talk about something else though."

"Oh, certainly. Was there something in particular?"

"Yes, yes there was." Duo looked up, his grin back in place and looking for all the world 
like it had never slipped. He leaned in a bit closer to her.

"Do you like mysteries, Noin?" he asked in a hushed but cheerful voice.

She stared at him for a moment. "Uh... yes. I do. Very much. Why?"

The waiter skillfully deposited their drinks and faded discreetly away into the background. 
Duo dropped his braid and began playing with his straw.

"Well, we're in one of those classic mysteries, aren't we? I mean, we're in this ritzy 
place, someone's wife is missing, everyone around is acting a little suspicious themselves, 
and there are things that aren't being told to the authorities - important things. So what 
do the detectives do in those kinds of books?" His voice trailed off and he looked up at 
Noin hopefully.

Something about the combination of his practical approach to their circumstances and the 
huge, violet-blue eyes tugged at her too much. She felt obliged to answer, to play along 
with whatever Duo was setting up. A long drink of the Bloody Mary, and she gave it her 
best shot.

"What would they do?" she mused. "Well, they would try to see the scene of the crime, 
and... they would want to talk to everyone who saw the wife in the day or so before she 
went missing."

"Yes!" Duo said, warming up, "*And* they would need to find out from those people what 
kind of relationship they had with her..."

"And who stood to gain by her disappearance," offered Noin.

"Right! And if she was worried about anything just before she disappeared."

Noin leaned forward, chin in her hand, lost in thought. "What is it that detectives 
always look for: motive, method...and..."

"And opportunity!" Duo grinned.

"Okay, okay," Noin said, feeling herself drawn in, focusing, blocking out things that 
didn't apply. "So what if you and I did some... discrete questioning. Just by talking 
to people and asking the right questions here and there. We could try to find out who 
talked to her and what she said."

Duo frowned and looked a bit skeptical. "But do you think we can get folks to talk 
about that kind of thing?"

Noin leaned in so she could lower her voice. "It hasn't worked for me so far, but 
with this latest police problem..." She looked up at Duo, her eyes full of determination. 
"If there's anything that a bunch of soldiers AND their wives love to do, it's gossip. And 
if they can gossip about something that may well be a scandal or a tragedy, so much the 
better. Take it from me."

"Well, you're the expert..." Duo said thoughtfully. He turned his head as a tall blond-haired 
man walked past.

"Duo, pay attention. Why don't we split up the main rooms people are using. There are the 
Gentleman's Study, the Morning Room, the Pub, and the Conservatory. I'll take the Study and 
the Pub, you take the Morning Room and the Conservatory." She got up and began walking 
toward the Study, leaving a perplexed Duo in her wake.

"Morning Room and Conservatory?" he called after her. She was out of sight around the 
corner, so he turned and muttered to himself. "Aw, man, this is gonna be like, lots of 
little old ladies in feathery hats." He crossed his arms in front of him, staring petulantly 
in the direction Noin had gone. "I know she did this on purpose..." He sighed heavily and 
began walking towards the men's room to double-check his appearance before he went on stage.

**********

The Victoria Club - Northern Gardens

"He has to be here," muttered Zechs. "A man just doesn't disappear - he disappears 
*to* somewhere. And he didn't have any time to go anywhere else!" He sat down heavily 
on a bench nearby and listened to the savanna sounds that found their way through 
despite the best human attempts to control them.

He had been searching for any piece of evidence he could find for over an hour, and 
aside from a nasty insect bite on his neck that he had gotten about thirty minutes 
ago, he had nothing to show for it. He was hot, unusually tired, and somewhat discouraged. 
And he wished like hell that he'd thought to bring water.

/Have to take a break... it's so hot... my entire body feels like lead. I'm probably 
getting dehydrated... muscle fatigue... better get back to the Club... just a short 
rest first, though.../

Zechs leaned his head back against a tree and closed his eyes. He saw an image of Duo 
as he had been this morning, his hair long and loose, cheeks flushed from their lovemaking. 
It made him smile faintly. Duo was, now, always the first thing he thought of, the first 
image that came to him when his mind was free to wander. Then, it was Noin, and a wave of 
bittersweet feelings to accompany her lovely and haunted face.

/Noin... Noin I'm so sorry... don't want you sad - never wanted that at all... but I love 
him so much... didn't think I could love anyone again... thought that had all died with- /

And then, quite unbidden, a third image moved in to overshadow the other two. Behind Zechs' 
closed eyes a man stood, tall - elegance itself - and his stare was seductive and penetrating. 
"Treize!" Zechs breathed.

/Treize! Ah, God - beautiful master... my beloved... trying so hard... to accept everything... 
to go on with my life... life without you... Will you forgive me, I wonder? I'm in love with 
someone again... don't want to betray you... again./

In the outside world, smooth gloved fingers brushed Zechs' lips and were immediately replaced 
by a warm, insistent mouth. Strong hands held him gently but firmly against the tree trunk in 
back of him.

/Who...? Ah... No... No! /

He tried to fight back against the one holding him, but his muscles wouldn't cooperate.

/Ah, God - what's wrong with me! I can barely move! Nnnn.... Nnnnnnn... The mouth... just 
like... *his* mouth! Nnnnn... Everything about it - the same touch, the same strength... 
that feeling of... ownership... Ah... could swear it was *him*. But... it can't be! /

A feeling of panic washed over him. He was being held, kissed, by Treize Khushrenada and 
yet... Treize Khushrenada was dead... the feeling and the thought were at war with each 
other in his mind. The feeling pulling him close to this person, his beloved master. The 
thought - this isn't him! - sending his fighting instincts into overdrive. Which was it? 
His mind felt so clouded...

Zechs tried to move his arms, tried to push the ghost and the man away, but found he 
couldn't even lift his fingers. The lips were hovering above his now, brushing them 
ever so lightly, moving sometimes to the tender spot on his neck, other times to his 
ear, licking and biting and coming back to kiss. He felt so dizzy. Couldn't open his 
eyes... Not sure he wanted to... As a comforting blackness rose up around him, the 
strong hands were moving down his chest, his belly, his thighs... his clothes were 
being taken... he was naked, free and vulnerable, and the man was close... so close...

***********

The Club at Victoria - Gentleman's Wash Room

Duo leaned over the sink and stared at himself in the mirror. He waited nervously, but 
no religious icons appeared this time. With a sigh of relief, he assessed his potential 
impact on a group of elderly ladies.

"Little. Old. Ladies." He said the words as he watched the face in the mirror, searching 
for a way to ingratiate himself with the group in question. Just then, he heard a flush 
behind him, and a tall, aristocratic-looking gentleman with salt-and-pepper hair emerged 
from one of the stalls. He was looking at Duo as one might a particularly unpleasant 
insect - a mixture of disgust and fascination.

"I beg you pardon?" the man said. "What did you say?"

Duo looked around sheepishly, then launched into one of his best known defensive 
maneuvers - talking.

"Little old ladies. Yup - they're *everywhere* here. Ya just can't avoid 'em!" He 
shook his head in a manner suggesting the inevitability of something dreadful. "It's 
stupid, isn't it?" he continued, looking straight at the older man. "They come up to 
you and pat you on the shoulder," (here he demonstrated by patting the man's shoulder 
in a grandmotherly way, causing him to look down at Duo in alarm), pinch your cheeks 
(he demonstrated on his own this time, much to the older man's relief) and tell you 
how cute you are," (a goofy grin here to finish things off.) "Well, I'm *tired* of it!" 
he said emphatically, his hand coming down on the wash basin. He looked up innocently at 
the man. "They do that to you, too, mister?"

The man cleared his throat. "Uh, no... no they don't that to me much at all..."

"Lucky you," Duo pouted.

"Yes, well, graying hair has its advantages," the man said, awkwardly patting Duo's arm. 
"Just wait a few years, my boy. When your 16 or 17, they'll stop doing it." He smiled 
nervously at the odd boy with the braid, then left hurredly.

Duo had been about to congratulate himself on getting out of another one, when he realized 
what the man had said. He put his hands on his hips and announced to the empty washroom, 
"Hey! I *am* 16! Almost 17!! Geez, when are those growth hormones s'posed to kick in, 
anyway..."

He looked back in the mirror. The bruises were there. And Noin had noticed them, even 
though he thought he had them so well hidden.

/Bruises! That's it! Little old ladies would really feel sorry for a kid with bruises!/

He grinned at himself, then tried out a frightened puppy dog look. He liked it - it looked 
very authentic. Moments later, he was on his way to the Morning Room.

************

The Victoria Club - Gentleman's Study

Noin had come into the room about three steps when she heard a polite but firm voice say, 
"I'm sorry, miss, no ladies beyond this point except by permission of the room."

Noin looked up at the excruciatingly young face of the porter and tried not to laugh. "Is 
that so?," she said in a fine, projecting voice, "Well, it's too bad I won't be able to say 
hello to my colleagues. "Hello, Owen! D'Angell! Oh, Captain Brisban, lovely to see you sir!"

She nodded to them all politely, and made her smile especially warm. Before she knew it, the 
room had voted her in, and the foolish young porter was being told more about her exploits in 
war than he'd ever wanted to know.

"So, Lucrezia, where have you been the last couple of days - haven't seen you about much. And 
where's that earnest young troublemaker you always seem to have following you, eh?" Captain 
Brisban gave her a warm smile and a wink.

"Yes, yes," Major D'Angell coughed out rheumatically. "Where *is* young Merquise? Thought that 
sister of his had this place built for him, so why doesn't he show up now and again?" More 
observations from the Major were put off by a coughing fit.

"I believe he's out looking at the local wildlife at the moment," Noin replied. "He's always 
loved that part of Africa."

"Well, drag him to dinner tonight, Noin. Has he proposed to you yet?" the feisty septugenarian 
asked, and when Noin shook her head, smiling, he responded, "Oh ho, well, the boys and I will 
take care of that! Bring 'im to you on his knees we will - hah!"

Noin had an image of Zechs being dragged to her place at the table in chains and being forced 
to propose with gun at his head. No, scratch that, it would be entirely more effective with 
a gun at Duo's head. She shook her own head briskly to clear the horrid scene.

"Enough about that gentleman, you really do have a way of putting a woman at a disadvantage!" 
Noin flirted. "But seriously now, whatever is going on in this place? Policemen and missing 
persons, people being led away in handcuffs. Has the place gone mad? I mean, people just 
*do not* disappear from the Victoria."

The men around her became visibly nervous, eyeing each other, and plainly hesitant to speak.

/Damn it, I'm not giving up this time! I can charm the dentures out of any one of these old 
dears and if I can do that then I can get some kind of information out of them./

Lieutenant Major Owen was the first to speak. "It's got us all a bit stumped, I'm afraid, 
Noin. No one knows quite what to make of it." The Lt. Major was in his late 50s now, the 
youngest of the group, with a square jaw and dazzling teeth that could make any military 
groupie swoon. "The man today, well I didn't know Koss well enough to make any kind of 
judgment about him. But with Trentes, well..."

"What are the local police saying?" Noin asked.

"Next to nothing," Captain Brisban joined in. "They're not a very bright bunch, sorry to 
say. And, well, Trenty being Trenty - you know how that goes."

"Trenty being Trenty?" Noin said as casually as she could. "You mean his lying to them 
straight out?" It was an enormous risk to take, but she felt she had to do it. She waited 
a few moments for someone to reply - anyone.

When no one did, she continued bravely, her best one-of-the-boys smiles on her face. "Oh, 
come on, you all know he was never married, so who *was* he with? As I recall the one time 
*I* met him he was chasing after every woman in the Academy."

The men seemed to make a collective decision and they all relaxed.

"Yes, that's him all right! Trenty was never much one for settling down with one woman. 
Must have been a laugh for him to fool the police like that!" Owen seemed to relish the 
thought. His utter disrespect for the law made Noin's skin crawl.

So *that's* why he did it - for a lark," she put in. "How'd he ever hope to get away with 
it?"

Brisban was laughing now. "Don't know, but he told me that he wanted to feel "official" 
with this one - said it would make her happy. So, he cooked it all up ahead of time and 
pulled it off with the Club management." He stopped and looked down at his hands. "Until 
she disappeared that is."

"I suppose she was good looking?" Noin asked, trying to sound casual.

Another deep silence.

"Well? Was she? What did she look like"

This time, the old major, D'Angell, spoke first. "She... uh... she stayed inside the room 
mostly, Noin." The other men were looking away with red faces. "He told us about her, of 
course," the Major continued, "but, well, *I* never did see her."

Noin frowned. "Did any of your ever see her? In the dining room, the gardens, the sitting 
rooms, anywhere?"

The men looked at each other, then back at Noin and shook their heads.

Captain Brisban looked intently at his hands and said softly, "As far as any of *my* 
friends knew, she could just as well have been a ghost."

**********

The Morning Room

In the Morning Room, the sofa cushions were extra plump, the light from the tall windows 
filtered softly through lace curtains, and the pale yellow walls were enlivened with lovely 
portraits of 19th Century gentry. It was a profoundly female room, and the women guests who 
took ownership of it felt that sense of power.

On this particular morning, a group of four women had formed a tight circle and were 
discussing the new "scandal" in hushed but excited tones. Duo had slipped in, he thought 
without being noticed, and positioned himself in a pale blue chintz armchair by the window. 
He sat now, a book in his hands, listening to everything he could.

"Goodness, I'd never of thought it would have been Mr. Koss!" said a woman in a lime colored 
shift dress. She looked to Duo to be in her late 50s.

"I didn't know him well at all, although he certainly seemed quiet enough. But then he was 
here for so little a time, wasn't he? Somewhat hard to judge, I suppose...", put in another, 
similar-aged woman, this one sporting a pink play suit with a chubby kitten on the pocket.

"It gives me the willies," another spoke, brushing non-existent dust from her impeccably 
tailored khaki suit. She was older, Duo thought - possibly in her early 60s. "Someone so 
normal as Mr. Koss, getting away with a false identity for goodness knows how long. Honestly, 
first Mrs.Trentes disappearing and now this? What's one to *think*?" The circle of women shook 
their heads in understanding.

The oldest-looking of the bunch, and the most formidable, who had yet to speak, leaned in 
towards the others in a rather conspiratorial manner. "Has anyone noticed that young person 
sitting in the corner pretending to read a book?" The eagle-eyed woman was tall and broad, 
dressed in a white button-down and a modest khaki skirt. They all tried to look in Duo's 
direction while at the same time giving the impression that they were looking everywhere 
*but* in his direction.

"Is it a girl or a boy?" the one in the lime shift whispered.

"Hmmm, I don't know, but it looks bored," offered the khaki suit. "I suppose it's here 
with it's parents and they've left it to entertain itself, poor thing. I've said time 
and again that the Victoria is really not the appropriate place for offspring."

"Perhaps we should invite it over?" suggested the pink play suit. "It does look rather 
lonely."

"Well, goodness!" the lime shift dress put in. "We can't keep calling it... "it" can we? 
That seems most impolite."

The play suit spoke up again. " But how can we possibly ask without embarrassing... it, 
or ourselves?"

They fretted for a moment, unsure of what to do, when their leader took charge and suggested 
inviting it over, asking it it's name, and trying to determine from the sound of its voice 
and the type of name what gender it was.

Thus agreed, the leader turned to Duo, who was now staring out the window plaintively, and 
cleared her throat. "Good Morning! I don't believe we've seen you around much. Did you just 
arrive? How do you like the Club so far?"

/It worked! Hah hah, how could they resist me - I looked so pathetic, so lonely. Works 
every time!! Too bad I'm not a pickpocket anymore; I'd just make a few discreet grabs and 
be done. Naw - this is gonna be much harder... Just remember - the pity factor, the pity 
factor.../

Duo got up, stuffed his hands in his jeans pockets, and smiled shyly at the circle of women 
on the other side of the room. "Hi. I'm... Duo Maxwell. I got in yesterday, but I've been... 
spending a lot of time in my room... 'til now, that is." He ducked his head and looked up at 
them, large violet eyes looking warily out through long honey-colored lashes. The ladies of 
the Victoria Club never had a chance.

"And you *are* a boy!" the play suit said happily.

The rest of the women turned red, but Duo told them he had been expecting it. It always 
happened, he said - just something he put up with in order to keep his long hair. "But, 
it's all right," he laughed shyly. "Lots of people think I'm a girl before they talk to 
me."

/Okay - time for the trump card. One, two, three.../

He looked down at the floor and, at the same time, ran a hand through his bangs, pulling 
up the hair on the right side of his face.

"Oh, my dear!" the woman in the pink playsuit cried. "What ever has happened to you?"

Bingo.

He looked up at them, timidly, put a hand to his cheek, and stuttered out an answer. "Oh-oh... 
it's... n-nothing... just... clumsy... I guess..." He had to be careful. The words were 
cutting a little too close to home. He had used that excuse a number of times when friends 
had asked him about marks that Heero had left.

/Tone it down, Maxwell/ he told himself, forcing down the small lump that was forming in 
his throat.

All of the women were murmuring in concern, now.

"I see," said the formidable woman he took to be the group's leader. She looked at him 
knowingly, and he looked back as if to say, "Don't tell my secret!" Her expression softened. 
"Why don't you join us, dear? It would do this old woman's heart no end of good to have a 
young, handsome face to look at for awhile."

The other women joined in and Duo, blushing to the roots of his gleaming, chestnut hair, 
was made to find another chair and join the ladies of Victoria, who fussed over him and 
made him feel guilty for what he was doing.

The leader spoke now, her voice full and somewhat lofty. "I am Mrs. Donamaria Octan. My 
husband is Rear Admiral Octan, formerly of the Federation Sea Force." Duo began to reach 
out a hand to give her a good shake, but thought the better of it and took her hand in his, 
bowing slightly over it instead. Inwardly, he made a face at himself.

/Geez, I've been spending *way* too much time around Zechs. /

"And here are some dear friends of mine," Mrs. Octan continued. "Mrs. Sylvie Hannak,"

/she of the lime shift/

"Mrs. Kiki Inoue,"

/pink play suit/

"and Mrs. Blaise Korrin, who, by the look of her outfit is ready to go off on safari! 
Is this true, Mrs. Korrin?"

The khakied woman blushed deeply and, looking coyly at Duo, replied, "Oh, yes! I have 
ever so much film. If anyone wants a shot of something in particular, just let me know!"

Duo took the opportunity for another endearing moment. "Oh!..." He stopped and put 
his head down.

Mrs. Korrin looked at him expectantly. "Yes, my dear?"

"Oh... nothing. I don't want to be a bother."

"Not at all, Duo," she replied. "Now tell me, what is it?"

"Well," he began softly, "I've never seen any wild animals before and I was wondering 
if... well... do you think you could get a picture of an elephant for me?" The large 
violet eyes worked their magic behind long, blinking lashes.

"Oh! My goodness, well, it's certainly not everyday that I can do a favor for such a 
handsome young man! Of course, I'll get a shot of an elephant - just for you, my dear." 
She giggled (which, unfortunately, did not suit her at all.)

"Thanks!" Duo beamed shyly at her. "Thank you so much!"

Having done everything he thought necessary to endear himself to the women, Duo felt 
that the time had come to move the conversation forward. "You know," he said, looking 
around at the women, "this is my first time here."

"Are you with your parents, dear?" Mrs. Octan asked.

Duo blushed. He hadn't thought about having to explain why he was here and with *whom*, 
and there was the fact that he never lied.

"Uh, a family friend, actually. He... he thought I might like to see the place. Things 
were a little rough at home and, well, he thought it would be good for me."

"How wonderful," Mrs. Hannak put in. "I'm glad someone is looking out for you."

"Yes, he must be a very good friend to bring you all the way to Africa," Mrs. 
Korrin remarked. "And, has it worked yet? Do you like it here?"

"Oh, I like it okay," Duo replied. It's just that... well..."

The women leaned forward and looked expectantly at him.

He glanced around the circle, touched the end of his braid to his bruised cheek, 
and looked a bit frightened. "It's just that... I'm not so sure this is such a 
safe place to be."

Mrs. Korrin looked shocked. "Why, my dear boy, whatever would give you that idea?" 
The rest of the women murmured their concern as well.

He leaned in closer to the group and whispered in his best love-me-I'm-an-orphan voice, 
"I've heard somebody's missing! And then this morning, someone was taken away by the 
police. Do you think he was the kidnapper?"

The women looked at each other knowingly.

"Now, now, Duo - there's no reason to feel frightened about any of this." Mrs. Octan 
patted his knee soothingly. "I must admit we were all very disturbed to hear of someone 
trying to pass himself off as someone he wasn't. And I can certainly understand your 
being a bit skittish. But you don't have to worry here! The man they took away this 
morning was trying to use a false identity code, and I say good riddance to that sort 
of trouble! Our security here is top-notch and that just proved it, as far as I'm 
concerned."

"But," Duo crumpled his bottom lip adorably and looked around the circle, "what about 
this lady who was kidnapped? Have they found her yet? Should... should I be worried 
about getting kidnapped, too?" He was close to overplaying it, but the women seemed 
to be lapping it up.

"Of course not dear!" the pink-clad Mrs. Inoue soothed. "Besides, *that* woman was a 
bit strange from the time she got here." She looked around at her friends, who gave 
confirming nods. "No, she was definitely *not* a normal guest."

Duo opened his large eyes to huge proportions. "Was she a spy or something?"

"No." Mrs. Octan looked at him with a critical eye. The stare lasted a good 10 seconds, 
during with Duo prayed. If only she would see him as harmless, then she and her friends 
could talk to him about what *they* thought had happened.

"Can you keep a secret, Duo?" she finally asked.

"Oh, absolutely. I'm very trustworthy," he replied in the most trustworthy voice 
he could muster.

"Well," Mrs. Octan said, leaning in closer to the circle, "we've been talking this 
past day or two about the strange things we noticed regarding Mrs. Trentes. That 
was the name of the woman who disappeared."

"Strange things?" Duo looked around the circle, eyes still huge, expression (he hoped) 
encouraging.

"Oh, yes," replied Mrs. Inoue. "Mrs. Octan and I found a very strange little puzzle 
about her this morning that we still haven't worked out." Mrs. Octan nodded in agreement.

What... what is it?" Duo asked softly.

"Well," Mrs. Octan said in hushed tones, "*I* say Mrs. Trentes drank coffee with cream 
and Mrs. Inoue insists she drank only tea with lemon." The older woman nodded significantly.

Duo tried hard not to drop his head into his hands.

/Ah, God - what have I gotten myself into?/

"It's true, you know." Mrs. Inoue was adamant. "I heard her say it herself! 'I don't 
like coffee - tea with lemon.'"

"And yet *I* was there," Mrs. Octan put in, "when the Admiral ordered for both of them: 
a brandy for himself, and coffee with cream for his wife. Now how is *that* for a puzzle, 
young man!" She eyed Duo with a hint of self-satisfaction.

As it was, he was barely hanging on to consciousness given the way the conversation 
was going.

"Well," he said to the two women, trying hard to sound interested in the topic, "there's 
an easy way to settle that. Which did you *see* her drinking?"

"See?" said the pink-clad Mrs. Inoue.

"Yes, 'see', which did you observe her to drink when you, say, ate dinner with her?"

"I suppose one of the others will have to address that question because, actually, 
I never met her," Mrs. Inoue confessed.

"Oh, well, then I don't feel so bad," giggled Mrs. Hannak of the lime green ensemble. 
"I never actually met her either."

Duo looked at Mrs. Korrin and Mrs. Octan, his eyebrows two question marks. Both women 
shook their heads. Something inside him began, cautiously, to sit up and take notice.

"Oh." he said, " So, then, none of you ever *met* Mrs. Trentes?"

"No," said Mrs. Octan slowly. "In fact, that was another strange thing about her. We 
all assumed she was an invalid, because she was so rarely out of her rooms, you know. 
And Mrs. Korrin and I asked Trenty - that's Admiral Trentes - if we could come for a
 visit, just to pay our respects, you know. Well, he said he couldn't allow it! She 
wasn't feeling up to it, he said."

"We must have asked about four or five times, too," Mrs. Korrin joined in. "But the 
answer was always 'no.'"

Duo put on a face of concern. "She must have been very lonely. Did anyone actually 
*see* her? Anyone at all?" He held his breath - it could be construed as a very odd 
question.

"Oh, well, of course - they must have, musn't they! That is..." Mrs. Korrin stopped 
and blinked. Several pairs of eyes were fixed on her. "Well... now that I think of 
it... I don't think I know of anyone who actually *did* see her. Not in person."

The other women were astonished, saying things like, "Surely Mrs. Korrin, -" and "You 
must be mistaken - ", and "*Someone* must have seen her..."

Duo looked around at the flustered women. He couldn't resist. "Well, did any of the 
rest of you actually see her? With your own eyes?"

Silence, and many looks out of the corners of eyes. But not a single woman came 
forward.

"Wow," Duo continued. "This is kind of creepy. Is it really possible that no one ever 
*saw* her? I mean, I know *I've* been kinda reclusive, but I'm a teenager. Really? You 
guys never saw her?"

Silence.

He offered an easy alternative to them. "Maybe she hung with different people? That is," 
he struggled for Zechs-like wording, "perhaps she, uh, moved in a different... um, circle?"

"Oh no, Trentes is always with our group at dinner. Simply always," Mrs. Octan stated. 
"So his wife, of course, would have naturally choosen our group in which to socialize."

"And she didn't," Duo stated.

"No," Mrs. Octan confirmed unhappily. "She never joined us. That was another of those 
strange puzzles..."

"Surely we must have seen her at dinner once or twice, Mrs. Octan?" Sylvie Hannak ventured.

The older woman thought for a bit then shook her head. "Now that I think about it, Trenty 
always had some excuse for her," she said. "One night it was a liver complaint, the next 
that she had got too much sun during their photo safari. Once he even said she suffered a 
contusion after pulling the tail on a rhinoceros! Can you imagine anyone being so stupid?"

Duo was getting a very strange feeling. /No one knows anything about her, because no one met 
her. In fact, no one even *saw* her.../

"Poor thing. Then she must have been an invalid for the better part of their stay." Mrs. 
Korrin looked properly sad.

"Yes, and leave it to Trenty to rub it in, that bastard," added Mrs. Octan.

Duo jumped at the language. "Rub it in?"

"Well, I mean," the woman began. "Wasn't she in an invalid state, so bad she couldn't join 
us at table? And wouldn't he just stand there in the hall, when she couldn't go to dinner, 
bellowing about having to see his friends and how he'd say hello to everyone for her. And 
of course *everyone* in our wing could hear. An absolute beast, that's what I say he was."

Duo's mind was on the edge of something. There was an insight here and he was trying very 
carefully to reach it, knowing that the slightest miscalculation on his part would send it 
plummeting out of reach.

That's when little pink Mrs. Inoue chimed in,"Well, he's always been a strange man, Mrs. 
Octan. I mean, really." She leaned in very close and whispered her next comment. "Just 
look at the lengths he went to to try and unseat General Khushrenada during the war!"

Duo was falling... falling into something deeper than a missing wife or falsified medical 
records. The only thing he wasn't sure of was whether he still had hold of that little insight...

**********

The Victoria Club - Gardner's Outbuilding #7

Zechs didn't know how much time had passed, but he knew that he had been carried into a 
small room and laid on a silk throw. He tried moving his legs, but they were still too 
heavy. He could tell, though, that what ever the attack had been, it had not been sexual.

The silk he lay on was a deep red color. It looked and felt the same as the throw that 
had been on Treize's bed that first time... that color... after their explorations that 
night, the older man had told Zechs that he always wanted him to wear that color. Treize 
picked Zechs' uniform, the one he would wear until he left OZ, as a symbol of his desire 
for the young royal. Anyone else looking at Zechs Merquise might have seen an officer, 
but Zechs knew that Treize saw a young boy, scared and excited, lying on a bed of silk, 
his long, silky platinum hair in vivid contrast to the dark red of the material.

/Why would anyone do this? Making it seem like he's alive... seems so cruel...God, I miss 
him! There was so much... unsaid, undone... I thought we'd spend our lives together... 
Dreamed of nights we would spend together when we were free of the war... I'd take him to 
Sank and show him everything there was to see, and then, give it all to him. 'Marry me 
and the entire kingdom is yours, Treize'... Oh, beloved... I did mean *everything*.../

The blackness came then, and swallowed him whole.

When he floated up to consciousness again, he found that he had wound the silk throw 
around him, caressing himself through it as Treize had done. Everything was so fuzzy... 
time... place... where was he again? Had he been dreaming? Was his beautiful master here,
 waiting for him to wake up as always?

He stroked the silky material above his growing erection and arched his head back, 
sighing the beloved name over and over. 'Treize... Treize.... nnnnnnnnn...

Blackness for a time, then a long, warm body was on top of his, grinding the silk 
sheet between them. A hot, skillful mouth was taking his own. Strong fingers were 
exploring every inch of his body.

/Ah, yes... he's here... everything... the same... he's here... Dear God... uhnnnnn!/

Something warm and hard pushed at him. He sighed in anticipation, lifting his hips, 
wanting so badly to feel taken... possessed. The shaft was pushed inside and a stab 
of pain seared through him.

"Aaaaah!" he gasped, the pain growing ever more intolerable.

His eyes flew open. He was being invaded now... the shaft medium length, but thick... God, 
much too thick! He froze. Not Treize! Not the long, slender sword of his beloved. Someone 
else! Pain washed over him like a wave and cut through the hazy euphoria he had been in.

With a growing sense of clear-headedness, he realized something was wrong - very wrong. 
He pushed against the other body with every bit of strength he had. The man, whoever he 
was, had Zechs' wrists pinned above his head, and his body was so close, moving now in 
a steady rhythm - but Zechs managed to get one foot in between his attacker's thigh and 
his own. He pushed as hard as he could and felt the painful shaft withdrawn. Another 
push, with the last of his strength and a tremendous yell, sent the man sprawling off 
of the bed.

Zechs stumbled to his feet, crouching automatically into a defensive position that 
Treize had taught him. It offered protection and was also an excellent starting 
point for attack. He shook his head, trying to clear the fog and the strange 
double-vision he had. When he looked back up, he noted with grim satisfaction 
that he had accomplished the goal he had set out with. He was now face to face 
with the tall, elegant man he had seen outside his window.

**********

The Lodge at Victoria - Lobby

Duo saw Noin coming halfway down the hall and willed himself to remain calm. It 
wasn't easy in the least.

As she got closer, it was clear to Duo that she, too, had significant news. "Noin! " he 
hissed as she came up beside him. "Somethin' really weird's goin on..."

"I know - but we can't talk in the middle of the lobby. Let's go over there." She motioned 
to two large winged armchairs chairs in a secluded spot.

When they were settled, they each recounted the stories they had to tell. Noin was the 
first to speak. "It seems to be assumed knowledge that that the Admiral is just fooling 
the police about being married. Told some of his buddies he was doing it. They all seem 
to think it's supremely funny, the bastards."

"What was even stranger, though, was the fact that no one I talked to, absolutely *no 
one* had any memory of ever even *seeing* this woman. She's supposedly the "wife" of 
a good friend of theirs, and not one of them so much as got a glimpse!"

"Oh, man. This is even weirder than I thought..." Duo was frowning and shaking his head.

"What is it?" Noin said. "What did you find out?"

Duo took a breath and looked around, making sure no one was in the immediate vicinity. "I 
talked to a bunch of big-wig's wives. And what do you know? *None* of them *ever* remember 
seeing Admiral Trentes' wife. And I don't mean they just didn't *meet* her. They never 
*saw* her! Not the whole time she was here! Same as your guys."

Noin was staring into space, her face a study in concentration. After a few minutes, she 
looked up at him. "Duo, do you realize what we're saying? *So far, no one we've met ever 
actually saw the woman who was pretending to be Mrs. Trentes.*"

Duo sat back and stared at Noin for several moments. It was if he could almost feel his 
brain making the connections. "You don't mean -"

She nodded at him. "How do we know that there really *was* someone pretending to be Mrs. 
Trentes? Did she ever exist?" She shook her dark head and stared at the braided boy opposite 
her. "I'm not certain, Duo, but I think it's highly possible that there was never anyone 
with Trentes in that suite at all."

to Part 6

back to fic page