Empathy

Chapter Six

Civilized Company

The chestnut haired man was beaming brightly as he slipped through the empty corridors of the mansion. He'd managed to wrangle free of his last meeting- or rather, the government of L2 had postponed the meeting.... again. And pushing his little shuttle as fast as she'd go... which was pretty fast thanks to his own little... tweaks.... he was here much earlier than planned.

He'd passed by the practice room and the bedrooms, but found no sight of either one of the people he was looking for. That left only the garden. It was her favorite place on the Winner estates.

He made his way down the familiar hallways, through doors that he'd gone through countless times before. In pursuit of his daughter, he chuckled at the sound of bright laughter and giggling coming from out the open French doors ahead of him.

He walked out of the house into the garden, and paused... dumbstruck for a moment.

Duo Maxwell, very rarely speechless, could only blink on the scene before him; it was very, very far from the image he'd expected. His blond 'brother' was nowhere in sight... but his daughter was. Trinity was there in her jeans and a pink sweater giggling maddly, and was that... Heero Yuy?... tossing her up in the air?

"Um... have I missed something here?" He questioned.

"Daddy!"

Her eyes fell on her father and she simply glowed with happiness. She squirmed until Heero put her down, where she promptly ran into her father's waiting arms. One day, he expected she'd be able to tell where he was before he was this close; but she was young yet so he still got to surprise her like this... sometimes, at least.

"Missed you, darlin'," he said into her hair.

"Missed you, too, Daddy," she said. "This is Mister Heero. He's Uncle Quatre's friend! I *like* him," she stated as if that was the highest compliment ever. And considering her background... maybe it was.

Duo looked over her head at his former partner as he settled his daughter on his hip with practice and ease. Cold Prussian blue eyes met his steadily, but there was a small trace of... something... there that hadn't been there years ago. That same something he saw right after Trinity entranced someone new. So her charm worked even on stoic perfect soldiers, eh?

"Heero," Duo nodded, still a little wary. He'd seen this guy set his own leg before... and here the man was tossing his daughter into the air. Parental fear was enough to temper the tentative friendship he'd once shared with the man.

"Maxwell. It's been awhile."

Well, Duo guessed it was too much to ask for Heero to suddenly be nice.

"It has," he agreed. "Last I heard, you were on Earth, engaged to Relentless."

"Her name is Relena," he corrected, but with no trace of love for that girl in his voice. "And I have not nor will I ever be engaged to her. You were misinformed."

Duo laughed. "Yeah. Well then, I guess all those tabloids and newspapers were misinformed, as well, huh?"

"Daddy, don't be mean," the girl admonished, placing a hand on his cheek so that he looked at her and nothing else. She spoke slowly, almost as if talking to a child. "Mister Heero's very nice. And from what I've heard, I don't think I like this Miss Relena lady."

Duo laughed again. "Don't worry, darlin'. Mister Heero know's I'm just joking. I've been teasing him about *Miss* Relena for years now."

She nodded, as this answer satisfied her somewhat. It was tough work for a little girl to make sure her daddy stayed civilized. But if Mister Heero already knew how her daddy acted... well then, that was okay.

"Miss Maxwell, Mr. Yuy..." The servant that steped out of the house looked at the two, then at Duo. "Lunch is served in the garden today. Mister Winner requests that you join him. Should I inform him of your presence, Mister Maxwell?"

Trinity and Duo nodded first, used to this after years of staying at the mansion. Duo added a 'please do' to his nod. Heero just nodded weakly after the fact. It did no good to argue.

"So what brings you out out from under your rock?" Duo asked, nimbly dodging the soft smack Trinity aimed at his head for his lack of tact.

Heero shrugged. "Une forced me to take paid leave. Vacation."

"Aha. So you automatically searched for Quatre?"

"In a manner of speaking. I had nothing to do, and I wanted to see space again. I had an invitation to the Gala. I came." He shrugged again.

Duo sighed. A few more words than usual, but not many. But what could Duo expect? The man was partners with Chang Wufei- the cruelest man on Earth... or in the colonies, for that matter. Duo had once considered him a friend... maybe the best friend he had besides Hilde and Quatre. But apparently Wufei hadn't felt the same way.

His eyes unconsciously narrowed and he frowned at the thought, his arm unknowingly tightening just a bit around his daughter... the daughter Wufei had thought he would kill. He rarely thought about it... but the scar lingered and was still painful.

Trinity placed her hand back on his cheek, and Heero's keen eyes noticed the scene playing out. Hadn't she said something about Duo being lost? Was this what she meant? That far-off, pained look in his eyes?

Did he have that look in his eyes as well?

"Breathe," the girl ordered softly. Out of habit, Duo obeyed the small voice. He blinked... and the look was gone, pushed back, covered and hidden. He smiled at the girl, who just frowned at him.

"What was wrong, Daddy?" Trinity questioned.

"Just thinking, babe. Hey, 'Ro? What's that anal-retentive partner of yours up to?"

Heero blinked, a bit confused. "Belle Rivers is still on active duty. Last she reported, she was in Buenos Aries."

Duo chuckled. "The other one. Y'know? 'This is INJUSTICE!'" he mocked the tone, and Heero saw the scorn and contempt behind those violet eyes, the pain quickly covered by that jester's mask.

Had Duo and Wufei had an argument sometime? The last time Heero'd checked, they were still friends. But that was several years ago. Hn. Maybe he would find time to ask Quatre; he didn't think asking Duo would be very.... tactful.

Heero frowned. "Chang is fine, I assume. It has been a while since I last checked in with him. The majority of my missions have me either alone, or paired with Belle Rivers."

"Ah." Duo said, and Heero couldn't read the emotions flickering behind indigo eyes.

Trinity tapped Duo's shoulder.

"Daddy, I think we should wash up before lunch." She sniffed at his neck, then wrinkled her nose. "You stink. Didn't you shower before you got on Cherish?"

Duo chuckled. "No, mother hen. I didn't have time. My meeting with Counselor Ramos was cancelled... after I'd already made it to the Council's HQ. I went straight to the port, so that I could surprise you, dear."

She smiled sweetly. "I'm glad you did," she said, hugging him. "Can we go wash now? Oh, And do you want to join us tonight? Mister Heero's going to show me pressure points."

Duo blinked, then grinned wickedly and looked up at Heero. The former Wing pilot shifted uncomfortably under the gaze. He had the feeling Duo knew *exactly* what had happened the night before.

"Don't ask," Heero ordered, adding a death glare to go along with it.

Duo just laughed.

TBC............

~*~*~*~

AN: (1) Acorna's Quest is by Anne McCaffery, and is far from being a classic along the lines of P&P or Moby Dick. I have inserted it here, because I think it is an amazing series and may one day be considered a classic. Tricksters is the double edition featuring Trickster's Choice and Trickster's Queen- both by Tamora Pierce. Hitchhiker is of course by Douglas Addams. (LOL, I can just imagine the pilots having a laugh over that book!)