----------------
Kyuuketsuki Duo
Sanguis Draconis
Part XI
----------------
	Heero hated not knowing.  He loathed it with a coldfire passion.  
He hated the sense of being out of control.  He hated the feeling of 
being one step behind.  He hated being at a disadvantage.  He hated 
being at the mercy of someone else's whims.

	He did know that someone was playing with him.  And he hated 
that, too.

	So it was perhaps understandable that Heero was feeling a little 
bit out of sorts.  Trant was toying with him, and Heero couldn't quite 
grasp his game.  Trant had to know that Heero would sever their 
agreement as soon as he got the information he was looking for, so it 
made sense for the Shinma to withhold it for as long as possible.  This 
was what he was doing, and Heero had no problem with that.  He just 
couldn't help wondering what the ultimate punchline was.

	Trant wouldn't just give him the information, no matter how much 
he stalled, and then let Heero go without some sort of trick.  He had to 
have something up his sleeve, some plan to try to bind Heero to him, and 
that was what was confounding Heero right now as he stalked and prowled 
the shadows, waiting patiently for his prey.

	It wasn't as if Trant could send him out against someone that 
would truly test his loyalty.  Heero had no scruples against killing 
demons or Shinma, or even innocent humans, if it really got down to it.  
Duo was the softie, not him.  He played by Duo's rules because he loved 
him, nothing more. If Duo wanted to save the humans, then he would help 
save the humans.  If Duo wanted to slaughter the humans, then he would 
help slaughter the humans.  Admittedly, though, he found it more 
interesting to save them than slaughter them, for the change of pace if 
nothing else, or perhaps the challenge.

	Fortunately, Trant hadn't sent him out against any humans yet, 
and he probably wouldn't.  Why send out his weapon against tiny, 
insignificant beings when he could actually take out someone that needed 
eliminating?  He had possession of a powerful tool, no matter how 
temporary.  He knew how to take advantage of such things.  Besides, he 
knew that there was a point for Heero that was 'too far'.  Heero 
wouldn't be suckered into doing his bidding blindly.  It wasn't as if 
Trant could order Duo's execution or the like.  If Heero thought there 
was no advantage to staying, that the cost was greater than the prize, 
then he would leave, and there would be nothing that Trant could do to 
stop him.

	Ah, there was that shifty little creature he'd been waiting for.  
Target acquired.  With a quick check to make sure he hadn't been and 
wouldn't be detected, he slipped out of the shadows just long enough to 
slit the sorry thing's throat, and then returned to the darkness to 
mosey his way back to Trant's.  He was in no particular hurry.

	Of course, dawdling was never his style either, so he arrived at 
Trant's much sooner than he would have liked.

	Walker greeted him.  The Shinma circled him like a shark, 
sniffing the air around him as if he could smell treachery, or perhaps 
simply the blood that Heero had shed.

	Heero stopped him in his tracks with his scythe extended before 
him.  Walker snarled once at him, probably out of general principle, 
before scenting the blood still fresh upon the blade.  Leaning forward, 
he ran his tongue across it and tasted its flavor like a true expert in 
such matters, chasing its undertone back across the ether to its 
erstwhile owner.  When he passed his judgment, he growled again, a bit 
of irritation and disappointment in the sound as he backed off.  "It is 
done," he declared sourly.

	Trant came forth from the darkness, an entrance unnecessarily 
dramatic in Heero's estimation, and bared his teeth in appreciation of 
the service.  "Excellent.  A clean kill as always, I assume?"

	A soft 'hn' from Heero, to be interpreted as a dry 'Of course.'  
He could have made some superfluous comments on how it was an easy kill, 
and perhaps an insult to his prowess, but he had never made small talk 
with his former master, and he did not intend to start now.

	Trant seemed amused by his laconic ways, but as he would also be 
amused by any other response, it was considered tolerable.  "Hmmm.  What 
do you think, Walker?  Has he proved himself to us?"

	Walker made another deep rumbling sound, more than just 
disapproval dripping from its tone.

	His master smiled, and tapped his index finger against the side 
of his face as if in contemplation.  "I suppose his opponent was rather 
weak, wasn't it?  And certainly not very worthy of our dear Heero's 
attentions.  I think we shall need more testing before we can be sure of 
anything."

	It was Heero's turn to frown, expressed in a subtle, irritated 
twitch of his facial muscles.

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

	When they caught up with Duo again, they approached him 
cautiously.  He paid them no heed, but Hilde cast them a reassuring look 
over her shoulder.  Of course, some of them were hesitant to accept her 
gesture, seeing as how a Duo that was harmless to her may not have been 
a Duo that was harmless to them.  It didn't help that Duo now glided 
over the land without the characteristic bounce in his step, or that he 
had spun himself a long, fitted duster from the shadows.  It swished 
silently as he moved, clinging intimately to his limbs and looking as if 
it were alive in its own right.

	An uneasy silence fell upon them, one which no one really knew 
how to break, nor even if they wanted to break at all.  Finally, Meiran 
took the initiative with a tiny exasperated sigh to herself and 
cheerfully said the first thing that came to mind.  "Nice coat."

	It was better than bringing up what the others were still 
thinking about.  There would be time enough later to dwell upon that.  
It wasn't that she didn't care about what had happened, but she had to 
admit that she probably wasn't as bothered by it as much as the others.  
Perhaps Trowa didn't mind, although it was admittedly questionable 
whether or not that was relevant.  Meiran didn't feel that she had much 
right to be outraged on his behalf since she had never really been very 
close to Trowa.  Trowa was only close to Quatre, after all, and Quatre 
seemed to be taking care of things on that front.  And Wufei... well, he 
had acted predictably.  What would it take for him to finally stop 
perceiving Duo as an enemy?  Duo was what he was, and that was that.

	The others held their collective breath as they waited for the 
guardian to respond to the comment.  There was a moment of no response, 
and then Duo turned towards her with a relatively pleasant expression.  
He smiled, but his eyes still watched her as a hawk watches its 
prospective lunch.  "Why, thank you.  I could make one up for you to 
have as well.  A little change is good, once in a while."  He spun 
around as if modeling for her, and the action came off as graceful, 
masculine, and dangerous, all at once.  They could see now that he 
hadn't simply added the coat to his ensemble.  Beneath it, his regular 
high collared, knee-length tunic with the wide slits up the side for 
mobility had transformed itself into a snug, sleeveless turtleneck 
tucked smartly into his unaltered pants.  "I thought my wardrobe was 
getting a little bit dated."

	Wufei discreetly held his tongue.  There were so many things 
wrong with the guardian's statements, but he was trying to save up his 
protests for the things that really needed protesting.  Still, he 
thought to himself, first he drank Trowa's blood, and now he's thinking 
about *clothing*?  And he would most definitely not sanction wrapping 
Meiran up in those forbidding shadows of his.

	Fortunately for Wufei's blood pressure, Meiran laughed off the 
offer.  "Thanks, but no thanks.  I don't think black is my color."

	"Black is everyone's color, my dear."  A sparse black mist 
gathered out of nowhere around her arm until it solidified into a 
shadowy ribbon twirling its way loosely from upper arm to wrist.  Duo 
studied it critically.  "Hmm, or not.  Perhaps your skin is altogether 
too lovely and fair."

	She ignored the comment since she didn't like being reminded 
that she had fair skin.  It was far too 'pretty' for her taste.  
Instead, she reached out with her free hand and ran her finger down the 
ribbon, marveling at its deliciously silken feel.  The end near her 
wrist extended and nudged at her hand like the nose of a curious puppy, 
and just because she could practically feel Wufei's unexpressed scowl, 
she scratched it under its 'chin', almost giggling when it seemed to 
convey a satisfied purring without even making a sound.  After a few 
moments, it slid lazily off of her arm and melted into a contented 
puddle at her feet before dissipating.

	"Oops," she laughed, startled.  She hoped Wufei was paying 
attention.  It wouldn't hurt him to learn that shadows didn't have to be 
sinister things, although she had to give him points for restraining 
himself from tearing the thing off her arm in a frenzy.  "Did I tickle 
it to death?"

	"No worries.  Shadows never die.  They're everywhere, always."  
Duo conjured up a little obsidian globe and spun it on his fingertip.  
He let it fall in due course, and it dissolved before hitting the 
ground.

	"It's too bad shadows only come in black," Hilde sighed, 
shifting her black bodysuit into something a little more... interesting.  
As an afterthought, she tuned the hue to something violet to bring out 
the guardian's eyes.  Her clothing was not composed of shadows, after 
all, though what it might actually be was open to interpretation.  It 
was simply something succubi could do, something they needed to do.

	"Now, Hil," Duo chided, tossing a shirt of sorts over her 
shoulders.  "Let's not sully their virgin eyes.  You've no one to seduce 
here."

	"Ugh, don't remind me," she pouted.  "How did you manage to find 
such boring people to travel with, Duo?  Virgins, every one of them!  
And you won't even let me deflower them."  Quatre couldn't help the 
faint blush that started creeping up his neck.  It wasn't like he was 
ashamed of it or anything, but golly, when you said it like that...!

	"So I suppose it's up to me to entertain you, then?" Duo 
answered with a peculiar gleam in his eye.  The shadowsilk that had 
settled over her shoulders shifted, sliding between her skin and the 
costume she had conjured to caress her discreetly and intimately.

	"Oh," she murmured in a soft, breathy moan of pleasant surprise.  
"Why Duo, you naughty little boy, you."

	Quatre choked and colored when he realized what was happening, 
knowledge that came uncomfortably in conjunction with his being able to 
sense what the succubus was projecting.  That was always the problem; he 
wouldn't have such an embarrassing time dealing with Hilde if he wasn't 
constantly privy to the air of sexuality she carried about her.  "Ah, 
are we there yet?"

	"It won't be long now," Duo answered lazily.  "Just over the 
proverbial next hill, no doubt."

	"Oh."  Quatre was simply glad that Duo had stopped his easy 
manipulation of the shadows draped over Hilde, and thought he might try 
to keep the conversation on less stressful topics.  "So... earlier, when 
you said Trowa was a null space.  What did that mean?"  He'd wanted to 
ask before, but of course, something had come up.

	"It means he's a null space," Duo replied in a bored tone.  "He 
doesn't give off any energy, so there's nothing there to sense."

	"But... that would mean that it's not just the demons that can't 
sense him, right?  But I can sense him."

	"And so can I.  But that's because we've gotten under Trowa's 
skin."

	Wufei's eyes narrowed slightly at the reminder, but he said 
nothing.  Was it just another symptom of Trowa's nullity that they 
should talk of him as if he weren't even there?  Then again, it wasn't 
as if Trowa was showing any interest in participating in the 
conversation.

	"I can't sense him," Hilde declared.  "And anything I might 
throw at him would probably just slide right off."

	"A Teflon-coated mind," Meiran observed fancifully.  "Neat.  So 
does that mean that he probably wouldn't be susceptible to any outside 
influences?"

	Duo smiled indulgently at her, knowing full well how that would 
grate upon Wufei's nerves.  "Not even mine."

	Meiran merrily dug her elbow into Wufei's gut in emphasis of the 
point.  Wufei said nothing, only noted to himself that Duo had not 
actually answered 'yes' to her question.  The guardian was, after all, 
'under his skin', whatever the hell that meant.

	"And those demons?" Quatre asked.  "They just looked at him and 
stopped."

	"They probably got confused.  They weren't very smart."

	"...Ah."  He supposed that might somehow explain what had 
happened with the previous demon horde they had encountered, and how the 
bunny-like creatures had simply went right around Trowa as if he were 
merely an inanimate obstacle in their path.  "Is this related to, um... 
Has he always been a null space?"

	It amused Duo, the way Quatre was carefully not directly 
bringing up what he had done to Trowa.  Of course, it also amused him 
that Quatre didn't question the fact that he, too, was under Trowa's 
skin.  Then again, he was finding a lot of things amusing these days, 
like how he would never have predicted that Trowa would turn out this 
way.  He certainly hadn't intended any such thing.  "If he hadn't had a 
predisposition for such a thing, he wouldn't be one now."

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

	The target was duly located after some moderate research.  There 
was a bit of waiting required before the mark separated itself from its 
pack of associates and became available.  Heero's skills lay in 
precision work, after all, not slaughter, nor torture for that matter.  
If he was sent after a target, then he would do as much as was feasible 
to take the target specified.  No more, no less.

	He wondered if it was a bad thing that he wasn't hating his 
current occupation.  His quarry was slinking through the darkness in a 
very shady part of town, and it made his skin crawl just to be here, but 
other than that, his situation wasn't unpleasant at all.  It appealed to 
something deep inside of him.  It wasn't some dark urge to destroy, but 
simply hunt, chase, surpass, succeed.  It occurred to him briefly, as he 
deftly avoided the creature's desperate lunge, that he was killing the 
so-called 'bad guys'.  Perhaps that alleviated any guilt?  He dismissed 
the theory.  In his business, past and present, almost everyone was a 
bad guy.

	It wasn't a part of his job description to question his given 
tasks, but he did spare a thought to wonder why the Shinma would even 
want such a minor rebel taken out.  That they were stalling, he had no 
doubt, but it made little sense for them to even have such a creature on 
their radar.  From what he had gathered, it hadn't rebelled against 
anything important.

	The Shinma he worked for were quite nearly rebels themselves.  
It amused him that his term with the guardian had been filled with the 
rather similar duty of dispelling strays.  Perhaps when this was over, 
the guardian would be interested in removing Trant from the scene.

	A few elegant slashes and the deed was done.  Yes, he felt the 
satisfaction that came with a mission completed, but all too soon after 
came the wave of emptiness that was accustomed to following, and he was 
reminded of why meeting Duo had been such a catalyst of great and 
wondrous things.  Letting the thought soak into his mind, he used it to 
jar himself out of the complacent rhythm he was in danger of falling 
into.  This familiar, mind-numbing waltz of briefing, mission, and 
debriefing could easily distract him from his goal.  He needed to put 
more thought into figuring out Trant's game before it was too late.

	He returned to Trant's base of operation, where the tedious 
challenge and response with Walker was repeated.  His company did not 
get better with time.

	Trant put in his appearance from a different direction.  "So, 
our pretty little pet returns.  Has he been a good boy?"

	"Are you satisfied yet?"  He knew the answer would be 'no'.  
Trant probably wouldn't be satisfied even if he had the entire world at 
his feet, let alone before he had gotten what he wanted out of Heero.

	"I expect you'll be wanting your prize now."  A long, pregnant 
silence.  "I'm sure you've wondered just what it was that the Shinma 
could offer a demon like Epyon."

	It had crossed his mind.  Would Trant actually tell him 
something?  Would it be just enough to keep him interested in continuing 
this farce?

	"He has power aplenty, after all.  And an army at his call.  
Certainly he needs no power from us.  But what we do have that he does 
not is the Dark."

	Heero raised an eloquent eyebrow, which could have expressed 
doubt, respect, or query.

	"We gave him the advantage of surprise upon his enemies.  Using 
the Dark as a waypoint between two points in the demon realms, we could 
transport his forces into territories without consent, using only a 
single spy to provide the fix.  That was how he was able to overwhelm so 
many in so little time."

	That was nice to know, but it was irrelevant unless Epyon was 
hiding out in the Dark, and as tolerant as the Shinma elders were, 
tolerant enough to allow even a demon temporary access to their realm, 
they would never permit a demon to gain a true foothold in the Dark.  He 
would not be able to hold it, anyway.  It was not a place for his kind.  
"Where he is?"

	Trant smiled at him with a benign condescension before forming 
an image in the space between them.  "This is your next target...."



-----
kd fun fact: waaaay back when i was first gathering my thoughts on how 
gw and vpm might fuse together, i briefly -- emphasis on briefly -- 
considered -- not very seriously, mind you -- casting trowa in the role 
of shiina, the fuzzy sidekick from the tv series.  i mean, shiina's got 
the floppy ear that covers up one eye, and trowa's got the floppy bang 
that covers up one eye... the parallel is obvious.

and i think there's some time dilation in this fic, so, um, ignore it.

_________________________________________
This piece of fiction is the intellectual 
property of the little turnip that could.  
The basis for this fic, i.e. Gundam Wing, 
Kyuuketsuki Miyu, et al., is the property 
of someone else.  The author can be con-
tacted at jchew@myrealbox.com.  This has 
been an entirely automated message.
http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~jchew/misc/gw.html

last modified : 4/6/2003 01:54:36 PST