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"Dead Heart's Regret"Written By: The Plotting Housewife Disclaimer: Gundam Wing belongs to Bandai, Sotsu
and associated Parties. This work is written for pleasure not profit. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: Major Character Death, Vampires, Blood,
slight descriptions of gore, Angst, Drama, Revenge, Violence, Death,
Snippet Saturday, brief mentions of sex Pairings: Chang Wufei/Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton/Quatre
Raberba Winner Summary: Wufei struggles to adapt to his new life
and the decisions he and his creator made that irrevocably changed
everything. " Dead Heart's Request" There had never been a time, in Wufei’s recollection, when his senses were ever keener than they were now. And for someone with an abnormally high sense of smell and hearing, better than perfect vision, that was saying something. Those things were par for the course, a requirement for piloting a Gundam and up until now, he’d taken them somewhat for granted. It wasn’t the loss of such things, ironically enough, that made him appreciate his unique former abilities. It was the enhancement of those abilities. He mourned his special gifts, though they were unusual among humans, they were still very human. This? What he was now? Was not. He saw with the sharpness of an owl, even in the dark of night. He scented like a bloodhound, the kind that had been carefully bred through the centuries to hone and perfect their olfaction. He heard with the clarity of a bat. Where they could pick up the vibrations of tiny insects, he could pick up the ba-dum ba-dum of heartbeats that were entire city blocks away. He wiped blood from his chin and stared down into the slack, pale face of his latest victim and wondered who this person had been before he’d brutally taken them from the world. His gaze landed on the mouth-sized hole in the deceased man’s neck, knowing the wound was necessary for his own survival, but feeling no less an abomination for causing it. This man was someone’s son, someone’s brother, perhaps someone’s husband and father. Walking through downtown Tokyo, presumably after a long and gruelling work week and was likely looking forward to the weekend. Maybe he was heading home to be with his family, or to a bar, or restaurant to meet with friends. Unsuspecting of the predator that had stalked him for several blocks, waiting for the opportunity to strike. The scuff of boots over the gravel of the rooftop behind him alerted him to the approach of his partner, his creator more accurately. The added sound of a lifeless body being dragged along the loose pebbles made him shiver and he wondered if he’d ever fully acclimate into his new life. Even after a year, it still gave him the heebie jeebies. “Fei? You alright, man?” Duo asked, stopping a few feet away. A gust of wind blew Wufei’s hair away from his face and he glanced up from his victim, looking out over the bustling city of Tokyo, their current temporary home. He took in the bright, twinkling lights, the flow of traffic, and the occasional blare of sirens and horns, so clear and resonant, it almost hurt to experience it. Beneath all that, subtle, but still loud enough for his superhuman ears, millions of thumping hearts, pumping delectably warm, life-giving blood through the veins of their prey. It was the sweetest music he’d ever heard and that was always what disturbed him the most. A day hadn’t gone by where he didn’t grieve the life he’d had, the human he was before. There was a sigh behind him, a little exasperated, but also wrought with something he sensed as empathy. “You can’t keep blaming yourself, man.” Wufei scowled and dropped the remains of his supper onto the edge of the rooftop with a sickening, meaty thud. “I don’t. I blame you.” Actually, that was half true. He did blame Duo, but he also blamed himself. “Look, Fei, I said I was sorry, okay?” “Sorry doesn’t turn back the clock.” “I know. But it’s not like you didn’t ask me for it.” Wufei glared at the man…vampire…over his shoulder. “I asked you to fuck me, not bite me,” he snapped. Duo shrugged and waved the hand that wasn’t clutching the lapels of his dead victim. “Eh, it’s all the same to us.” “Would have been nice if you’d clarified that before we went any further,” he grumbled. “Fei, I’ve been a vampire since I was seven. How the hell would I know?” Wufei turned around and sat down on the ledge, studiously ignoring the dead man’s eyes staring accusatorily up at him. “How did it happen?” Duo dropped his own prey onto the ground and picked flaked blood from his fingers. “You know that plague that hit L2 when I was a kid?” He waited for Wufei’s nod and then continued. “That was it. Solo didn’t survive the transition. I did.” “What caused the plague?” “Dunno,” Duo shrugged, seemingly almost sulking. “There were rumors that it was a government experiment. Rumors that it was some virus. It was never confirmed.” “I see.” He picked up a random stone and turned it over between his fingers, staring at his elongated nails. No matter how many times he tried to cut them down, they just grew right back. He’d long since given up trying to tame them. Another sigh, this time sounding more irritated than the last. “Look, man. I didn’t mean to bite you. It was the heat of the moment and I was so horny. I didn’t realize what I was doing until it was too late. Arousal increases the thirst and your blood smelled so sweet and - I’m really sorry. If I could take it back, I would.” “I’m sorry, too. But I can’t take anything back anymore than you can. I can’t bring Quatre back.” And there it was. The root of his shame and self-hatred. After turning, he refused to feed, much preferring to starve himself than to kill another human being. He’d done enough of that during the war. Unfortunately, that decision was a price too steep to pay and one Quatre did pay with his life. The thirst had gotten so bad and Wufei was out of his mind with it. Quatre had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time and when Wufei caught whiff of the scent of his sweet blood, the vitality of his beating heart and the life that resided within him, he was powerless to resist. He wasn’t even aware of what he’d done until after the worst had already happened and he was holding the blond’s lifeless body in his arms. It never even occurred to him that he could turn him and by the time Duo reminded him of that option, Quatre’s body had long since gone cold. The feeding had brought him back to cognition and awareness and he realized he’d done something that could never be undone. Something that wound up destroying them all. Facing Trowa was the worst of it and when the man tried to kill him, Wufei fled. Trowa’s human strength was no match for his and instead of taking Trowa’s life as well, he opted to disappear. It was the coward’s way out, but it was what it was. He’d made his choices and now he was reaping what he sowed. Duo’s voice was soft with sorrow and sympathy, a gentle admonishment. “I told you, Fei. I told you not to resist the thirst. Nothing good ever comes from it.” He nodded and tossed the pebble, resigned to a meaningless life of brutality and shame. “I know. I thought I was strong enough.” “No one has ever been strong enough. At least not that I know of.” “I wanted Barton to finish me off. I wanted him to kill me, but when push came to shove…I - I couldn’t do it.” “Our survival instincts are no less than that of a human’s, Fei. Don’t be too hard on yourself.” He stood up and turned towards his victim’s body, grabbing the dead man by the front of his shirt and lifting him up. “Do you think Barton will catch up to us?” Duo hesitated for a moment and Wufei got the sense he didn’t want to answer that, but then he said, “I don’t know. Maybe. He’s been turned.” “Yeah. Sought out another just like us and asked to be turned so that he could seek vengeance for what I did to Quatre.” “There will be a battle if he does find us.” “And whose side will you take?” Wufei asked, turning an inquisitive glance on his partner. Duo didn’t respond, instead dragging his victim to the edge of the rooftop. He held the body up and then dropped it, both of them silently watching it fall the thirty eight stories to the pavement below. Duo ignored the inevitable screams of the passers by and gave Wufei a solemn look. “Get rid of that and let’s go. Sunrise is less than an hour away and we’ll wind up crispier than the Colonel’s fried chicken.” He winked, suddenly back to his old self. “Unless you plan on sticking around and robbing Trowa of the satisfaction of killing you himself, I suggest we head back to the safehouse.” Wufei shook his head and tossed his victim’s body off the edge of the roof. He turned back to Duo and raised a brow. “What happens if he does kill me? Would that hurt you in anyway?” Duo’s eyes were wide with surprise. “Of course. I would mourn you.” “For how long?” “Dunno. But I’d eventually get over it. Such is life,” Duo said with an unbothered shrug, his voice strangely detached. He stepped away and then launched into a sprint, running across the expanse of the rooftop, too fast for the human eye, and leaped across the twenty meter space onto the next building’s roof. Wufei lingered where he was for a moment, wondering if Duo’s blasè attitude over the death of his creation was just his personality, or if his inability to care too much was merely the desensitized result of a well-seasoned vampire. Or maybe, it was because he hated Wufei as well for Quatre’s death. Not that it mattered. Wufei would do what he had to to survive and if he met his demise at Barton’s hand, then as far as he was concerned, justice would be served.
End.
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