Pairings: 6x2 (primary), also 1x3 (just in chapter 1)
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Sotsu, Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment, I neither claim them nor certainly make any money off them!
Rating: Lemony in places
Archive: "Orphans" is at "Tresses: The 6x2 ML Archive" at: http://6x2ml.cjb.net/ (This story will be archived there as well.)
Time Setting: Post-series, three years later (minus events in Ground Zero, Blind Target, Endless Waltz as when I started "Orphans", I hadn't seen or read about these yet)
Summary: Zechs and Duo are planning to get married.
Note: The vast bulk of this was written well over a year ago, all but chapter six. Just FYI.
About noon, Zechs called the college. "Dr. Howard? This is Zechs. You know, it's really bad form to keep someone busy with schoolwork on their wedding day. Send Duo along home, please?"
"Huh?" the scientist with the fringe of steel-gray hair and goatee replied, puzzled. "I haven't seen Duo at all today. Heh, I figured he has enough on his mind! What, you're saying he's not with you?"
Zechs was shocked. "N...no. He left for the college this morning."
"Well, I wouldn't worry about him," Howard reassured him in his gravelly voice. "Duo can take care of himself! Besides, he probably is working up some sort of surprise for you!"
"Sure, that's it," Zechs replied, bewildered. "Thanks, Howard."
"No problem! See you in a few hours!"
Zechs wandered around the house for a few minutes. [What is he up to? Where did he go? If he wasn't going to be here for a few hours, wouldn't he say something?]
At 2 pm, Zechs called Heero. "Duo left to go to the college this morning about 9 am," he explained gravely. "But Howard hasn't seen him. Have you?"
"No," Heero replied, gesturing to Trowa to join him by the phone.
"Maybe he has cold feet?" Zechs asked uneasily. Already he had a sick feeling in his stomach that something had happened to his beloved. Or that Duo was truly not sure about the wedding. But... he'd just said the day before...
"Not likely," Heero replied. "Trowa and I will look for him, Zechs. Just take it easy."
"This can't be happening," Zechs muttered, feeling faint.
Duo awoke to a splitting headache. "Oh, man, take that axe outta my brain, somebody," he moaned, managing to sit up.
"You're awake," someone nearby observed unnecessarily.
Duo opened an eye. "You! Damn you, Wufei, what the fuck did you do that for? What's going on here? I'm getting married today, damn it!"
Chang Wufei regarded Duo with sympathy. "He really did a number on you, Maxwell. Thank goodness I intercepted you in time."
"WHAT?" Duo tried to leap up, but belatedly he discovered to his horror that he was unable to because of bindings on his ankles. In addition, he seemed to have bindings keeping his wrists together in front of him as well. "What the HELL are you doing?"
"Saving your life, probably," Wufei murmured mildly. "Duo, you were about to marry *Zechs Merquise*. I couldn't let that happen."
"Ah, fuck, not you, too!" Duo exclaimed, groaning. "All right, look, are you going to let me explain?"
Wufei scowled at him, leaning in, his arms folded across his chest. "The man nearly destroyed the Earth! What were you thinking? Never mind, it's all over now anyway."
Fear shook Duo's spine suddenly. "W...what do you mean? What's all over?" [If he's hurt Zechs, I'll kill him... slowly...]
"He'll think you don't want him when you don't show up... or that something's happened to you. Eventually Merquise will forget all about you, Duo. And you'll be safe on Earth, safe from that madman."
[Oh, SHIT, Zechs is going to be frightened for me... he knows I love him desperately!] Duo worried, fear gripping his heart now. "The only madman I see is right before me," he snapped, anger surging up. He couldn't think about Zechs's pain, he just couldn't. Focusing on hating Wufei would help with that.
"It doesn't matter," Wufei sighed, moving away. "We're on our way to Earth."
"WHAT?" Duo screamed, and for a moment struggled violently but uselessly against his bonds. "Wufei, get me out of these right now! We have to TALK, damn it! YOU said 'we need to talk', and man, do we ever! You are so very WRONG about Zechs, and I'll KILL you if we don't make it back for the wedding, Wufei, so help me God..."
"Okay, okay," Wufei relented, frowning. Duo Maxwell in full rant was more than he was willing to bear even in Duo's best interests. "Look, I'm not taking off your binders. But... I'll let you talk as long as you stop screaming at me!"
"Deal," Duo muttered, subsiding. He wriggled up to a sitting position as Wufei sat smoothly on the floor before him, but out of reach. "First of all, we absolutely have to go back to the colony. If not that one, another - like C-125 or 134."
"Why, what's there?" Wufei asked, bewildered.
"I have to show you something to prove you wrong! Please, Wufei, and if it doesn't work, do your worst." Duo blew hair out of his eyes. "Then you can take me to Earth. Please?"
Wufei sighed deeply. "Perhaps. Go on, you had something to say?"
Duo took a deep breath. "I have a LOT to say. Fei, Zechs is not the man you think he is. He's deeply repentant and remorseful - hell, he was clinically depressed when I ran into him! He's been in therapy, too, these last few months since we got together." He leaned forward, his cobalt eyes earnestly gazing at the other's black ones. "He's a gentle, loving man, Wufei. He's *sane* again. And deeply caring. And here's the big one... wait until I tell you what he's been up to since the war."
"Yeah?" Wufei replied, trying to be patient. [Duo's so messed up... gotta get him back on Earth where I can find some help for him...]
Abruptly Duo launched himself forward on his knees, bringing both hands up so he could grasp Wufei's shirt. "Fei!" he gasped even as an alarmed Wufei tried to pry his hands off his shirt. "Zechs has been building orphanages!"
Stunned, Wufei stopped struggling with Duo, who promptly released him so that they both sat back with a thunk. "What did you say?"
"Orphanages, Fei, like the home I LOST to the Alliance, only better -they're really cool places and the kids are happy! Hell, he's got me working part time at one while I go to college!" Duo felt the tears in his eyes spill over, and didn't care. "Wufei, Milliardo Peacecraft is building orphanages all over the colonies!"
"Huh?" Wufei gasped, then frowned. "You *are* delusional..." Then he noticed the tears on the other man's face. "Duo...?"
"Turn the shuttle around, Wufei," Duo snapped in a cold, hard voice Wufei hadn't heard since the war. "If we aren't going back to 241, then go to one of the others. I will show you solid evidence of how very wrong you are!"
Wufei glowered at him, black eyes narrowed dangerously. [Fuck... he's so messed up... but I wonder what harm it would do to humor him? When he shows me what he thinks is an orphanage... maybe being faced with the truth is what he needs. Damn...] "All right," he bit off, getting to his feet. "We'll go to one of those other colonies. We're closest to C-125, actually."
"YES!" Duo crowed, ecstatic. [I'll take 'im to Peacegarden, get this all straightened out, then I can go home and marry my MAN! Whoooo!]
"Unbelievable," Wufei muttered, and went to tell the pilot to turn around.
Trowa let himself into the house quietly, then came over to where his lover sat beside a distraught Zechs Merquise, sitting on the sofa. "How are we doing? Heard anything?" he asked, sitting down on the other side of the blond man.
"Nothing," Heero reported, a hand on Zechs's shoulder. He'd been trying to calm the man down, but Duo's continual absence was wearing on him. "No luck, eh?"
"Well," Trowa sighed. "No one around the college campus has seen him all day, nor anyone at the orphanage. However... I stopped at a magazine vendor which would be on Duo's route to the college. He was there this morning."
"So he *was* on the way to the college!" Zechs exclaimed, looking up with red-rimmed eyes. "Tell me, Trowa!"
Trowa nodded quickly. "The man said Duo had stopped there to get a newspaper, as he often did. He's not sure, but he remembers a black limousine pulling up. Duo seems to have talked to someone in the car... and probably got in it. The guy had too many customers, didn't see anymore."
"A black limousine!" Zechs gasped, now certain Duo had been abducted. "They've taken him!"
"Zechs, take it easy," Heero said mildly, patting his shoulder. "Tro, did the man say Duo seemed to know them? I mean, surely he would have noticed if there had been a skirmish, wouldn't he?"
"That's what the guy said," Trowa replied. "Duo's voice can cut through anything, you know, and the vendor said he can't believe Duo wouldn't have called out or something if someone tried to pull him into a car. So, yeah, it looks like Duo knew whomever it was."
"Oh, no..." Zechs was up off the sofa abruptly, and began to pace. "What does this mean? I don't know what to think - he went off with someone? They tricked him? Was he planning to meet someone?"
Heero and Trowa exchanged worried glances. Zechs was overreacting, thinking that Duo would go off with someone all of a sudden. "Zechs, please... calm down!" Heero exclaimed. "We don't know what happened!!"
The phone rang. Zechs rushed for it. "Duo?"
"Zechs?" came the voice of Sally Po.
"Oh, Sally... sorry, I was hoping it was Duo."
The woman chuckled. "Sorry. This is a weird call, though - I'm calling to see if you've seen my husband. He seems to be missing."
Zechs gestured quickly for the other two men to come over, then hit the speaker button on the phone. "Your husband is missing?" he asked by way of clueing in Heero and Trowa.
"Oh, damn... I didn't tell you, did I?" Sally laughed. "Yeah, I married old Wufei, isn't that a scream? He's been a total pill since coming here to the colonies, though. I thought maybe he'd stop by to see you guys. No? You haven't seen Wufei, have you?"
The three ex-pilots all gaped at one another. Sally and Wufei *were* married! And now Wufei was missing... as was Duo! This was sounding extremely suspicious to all three of them. "No," Zechs replied. "As a matter of fact, Duo is missing, too."
The reaction from the other end was unexpected. "No!" Sally exclaimed with a definite note of fear. "Oh... damn, he wouldn't... no, I can't believe..."
"Sally, what is it?" Zechs asked, alarmed.
"Shit. Okay, Zechs," Sally replied with a heavy sigh, "I'm afraid I can guess all too well what's happened. I'm pretty sure Wufei has intercepted Duo... to talk to him, I'm sure. He was pretty upset when he heard you two were getting married."
"Wufei was... upset?" Zechs frowned, bewildered. The other two shrugged, not understanding either. "Why? What's he going to do?"
"Oh, hon," Sally sighed again, "I haven't the slightest idea what that stubborn man of mine is up to. All I know is that he was sure Duo was making a huge mistake... pardon me, Zechs, but we'd both feared that until Duo set me straight. Apparently, though, his words didn't have any effect on Wufei. Damn."
"All right, Sally," Zechs murmured, his head spinning. Duo, captured by Wufei! "Where might they have gone? Obviously Wufei hasn't brought Duo back to where you're staying on this colony. Sally... Wufei wouldn't *hurt* Duo, would he?"
They heard a strong exhale. "Oh, God, you really do love him... that's great, but, ah... oh, Zechs, I just don't know. Wufei is... moody. I'm afraid he could do something irrational, although I hope he wouldn't harm Duo... I can't imagine..."
The uncertainty in the woman's voice alarmed Zechs deeply. But before he could say another word, Heero spoke up abruptly, fearing Zechs would say something he'd regret. "Sally, this is Heero. Trowa and I are here with Zechs now. We're with the Justice Department... and we're going to find both Duo and Wufei. Let us take care of this. Just stay by the phone in case Wufei calls."
"Oh, Heero... thank you," Sally replied, sniffling a little. "Wufei gets these crazy ideas in his head, you know... Zechs, I'm so sorry..."
"It's not your fault," Zechs said automatically. He felt something within him shut down, unable to deal with the possibilities this danger presented. He couldn't believe... he wouldn't think... it wasn't possible...
"What about the wedding?" Sally asked, alarmed.
"There will be no wedding," Zechs intoned, turning away from his friends.
Heero and Trowa looked at one another. [Oh, shit,] each thought. "Trowa, get Zechs to Peacegarden for the wedding," Heero said suddenly. "I'll find Duo and bring him for the wedding. I promise." The wedding was in less than two hours.
Zechs shrugged, defeated. [What if Wufei really wants Duo for himself? What if Duo has been in contact with him and they planned this? What if Wufei is going to kill Duo to get revenge on me for the past?] All sorts of dire scenarios presented themselves in his mind as months of careful therapy started to unravel a bit. Then a hand was shaking his arm hard.
"Zechs, get a grip! You've got to get ready," Trowa snapped at him, waving at his lover who was heading out the door. He gave Zechs a little push toward the bedroom. "Sally, call us if you here from them." He gave her the number at the Peacegarden orphanage.
"Will do. I hope... good-bye," she answered, brokenly, then hung up.
Trowa steered Zechs into the bedroom so he could change clothes.
The shuttle landed at the C-125 spaceport. A hastily rented car then sped to the Peacegarden Orphanage. Once there, Duo verily grabbed Wufei by the wrist, hauling him into the front entrance where hung a portrait of the orphanage's founder. "There, you moron! Believe me now? Good, now let's get the fuck out of here..."
"Not so fast," Wufei snapped, dragging Duo back when he would have bolted back out the door. But his eyes were fixed on the portrait.
Duo pulled his arm away, then folded his arms over his chest, glaring at the Chinese man. "Well??"
The man in the portrait was, of course, Milliardo Peacecraft. The simple caption on a little bronze plate beneath the painting said "Papa Peace". "What's this?" Wufei asked in a low voice.
"It's what the kids call him. Papa Peace," Duo retorted. Then he grabbed Wufei by the wrist again, pulling him further inside the building. "C'mon, got something else to show you."
He stopped in the open-air courtyard, full of flowers and trees, the air perfumed and fresh. A dozen kids were working in the garden, trimming and digging weeds, enjoying the sunshine. "Papa Duo!" one of them exclaimed and then eleven of them dashed over to swarm over the man with the braid.
Wufei, his eyes wide, stepped out of the way hastily.
A twelfth child, a boy around the age of ten, watched from the perimeter. "Hey, Judo!" Duo called to the little Heero-twin once he peeled most of the kids off him. "Got someone I want ya to meet!"
Judo sidled over after the other children happily dashed back to their work of caring for the garden. "Who's this?" he asked Duo, looking warily at the Chinese man. His voice was eerily like Heero Yuy's as well, unnaturally deep for his age.
"An old friend of sorts," Duo replied, though he cast a look of consternation at Wufei. "Knows Heero and Trowa, too."
"And Papa Peace?" Judo asked, raising his chin in challenge.
"Nah, he doesn't know him, more's the pity," Duo retorted, taking the boy's hand in his. "Hey, thought they'd be bringing you to the wedding, little soldier."
Wufei watched them, stunned. [The boy... looks like Heero! And all these children... they know and love Duo! Is this all really what Zechs has done since the war? Built this lovely place?] He made himself listen to the conversation.
Judo glanced at Wufei, then, still unsmiling, looked back at Duo. "Heero and Trowa are under twenty-one, so they can't get approval to take me off-colony," the boy said matter-of-factly. "What are you doing here? I thought you and Papa Peace were getting married today!" The boy's tone was sharp and accusing.
"Heh, we are, we are, Judo, just as soon as my friend here takes care of the transportation there," Duo replied, then bent down to give the stiff little boy a hug, which was gravely accepted. "I'll save you a piece of cake," he promised.
"Thanks," Judo replied, then let him go, stepping back. "I've got to get back to work," he explained, indicating the garden. He looked at Wufei, who got chills up his spine, remembering that look all too well. "He's going to be late. You'd better call Mr. Peacecraft and then get going."
Wufei swallowed carefully. "Yes," he replied noncommittally.
Outside the orphanage, Wufei fended off Duo's rage. "Okay, yes, yes, I believe you!" he exclaimed. "We're going!" But he shook his head, still very confused.
Heero checked in with his lover over the radio. "Another shuttle is just coming in now," he reported from his stakeout at the spaceport. "How is he?"
Trowa glanced over at Zechs, who, though immaculately dressed in formal Sank Kingdom garb, was a nervous wreck and not very responsive, in fact, getting worse by the moment. The wedding should have started a half-hour before. Trowa had already talked to the worried guests, somehow managing to calm a hysterical Relena, although Quatre had had to take a hand in that as well. Everyone was staying put, waiting.
"Not good. I don't know, Heero, if they aren't on this shuttle, I think we'll have to call it off. Zechs has gone inside himself. He won't talk to me or Relena anymore. I hate to think what he's imagining is going on; hell, I don't want to think about it myself."
"They'll be here," Heero insisted. "I know Duo. He'll get reason into Wufei somehow."
"He's your brother," Trowa agreed, sighing. "Talk to you in a bit."
Putting away the radio, Trowa went to sit down beside Zechs again. "Hey, Zechs, Heero says another shuttle is coming in. He really believes they'll be on this one..."
Zechs only moved his head slightly in negation. His emotions had shut down, mainly to prevent the old, nasty voices from starting up again. He felt nothing... was numb inside and out. His angel had gone and he was alone again. Nothing else mattered.
Relena, who had been sitting quietly snuffling in a corner, could not bear the sight any longer. She slipped onto the bench on the other side of her brother - they were waiting in Zechs's large office, the bench having been pulled in from the hallway. "Milliardo," she murmured, slipping her hand into his, her other hand going to his hair, "please trust in Heero. I know he'll bring Duo back to you. I just know it." She petted his hair a little more, still sniffing. "Oh, Brother, please forgive me for ever doubting you. I see all too well how deeply you love that boy. And I'm very glad you're marrying him. You'll be so happy, you'll see!"
But Trowa was shaking his head at her. Zechs was barely listening.
TBC