By: Spooks
~ ~ ~ ~
Wufei knocked on the doorframe of the rec room, his gaze catching Trowa’s. He cleared his throat. “Quatre, Trowa?” The two men were alone in the room.
“Yes?” Quatre asked, turning his head in Wufei’s direction. Trowa stood, snagging the blond’s elbow and pulling him up as well.
Wufei just jerked his head in an impatient gesture. “Just come on.”
Exchanging concerned glances, the couple started towards the door immediately. “What is it?” Trowa asked tensely.
Looking around quickly, Wufei kept his voice down as they started down the hallway. “There was a flower outside Heero and Duo’s bedroom door. A red carnation, to be exact, the same flower as the one in the picture of the tombstone. Someone in the household must have left it for them.”
Quatre’s steps faltered. “As in one of the staff, or as in one of us?”
“I don’t know,” Wufei replied. “I don’t even know if this is just someone’s idea of a sick joke...or...”
“Or someone was paid to leave it? Or perhaps the stalker got into the house?” Trowa suggested. His and Quatre’s hands linked.
“Again, I don’t know. I hope it’s just a sick joke,” Wufei shook his head. “They were still in bed when I knocked on their door, so I don’t think that they had been outside the room all morning. Therefore anyone could have left it out there, at any time.”
Quatre furrowed his brow. “I can’t imagine any of the guests doing such a thing, even though I don’t know a few of them very well. I know that none of the Manguanacs would do it. So that leaves the staff.”
“No one could have gotten in?” Wufei asked, glancing over his shoulder.
“Not this far into the actual residence wings, no,” Quatre replied, his voice carefully low. “At least I sincerely doubt it. The regular staff has probably been back here performing their normal duties, so I’ll ask them later if they saw anything. The temps are pretty much under the supervision of the regular staff and never on their own,” He paused. “...It’s possible that someone could have managed to sneak down into this wing if they were disguised as a staff member, though.”
“It couldn’t have actually been someone from the staff?” Wufei pressed.
“I don’t think so,” Quatre frowned. “Although I guess I can’t rule it out completely. Mrs. Jessam handpicked everyone on the normal staff, and I’ve known her for years and trust her judgment. But the temps...I just don’t know about them. We can check the surveillance equipment to see if anyone unusual has entered the grounds, at least.”
“When we say someone on the staff, do we mean someone who was bribed to do this?” Trowa asked carefully. “Or do we mean the actual stalker?”
Wufei and Quatre both stopped walking and turned to face Trowa. The three stared at each other for a long, wordless moment, then started moving again. Their friends’ bedroom was right around the corner.
Quatre knocked politely on the closed door, his gaze drawn downwards to where the carnation had apparently been placed.
“Yeah, hold on a second!” Came Duo’s voice from inside the room. The door opened a crack, then completely after Duo had seen who was there. “Oh good. Come in, guys.”
As they filed into the room, Heero tucked his shirt in. Apparently the couple had been getting dressed, because Duo was already fully clothed.
“You guys picked the worst day to sleep in, didn’t you?” Wufei commented dryly.
“Hm?” Heero’s eyebrows shot up. He took a few steps backwards and glanced at the clock by the bedside. The others couldn’t see its face from their angle. “What time is it?”
Wufei checked his watch. “Almost eleven.”
“Eleven?” Heero echoed. He paused and rubbed his forehead. “Damn headache.”
“You have one too?” Duo asked, his eyebrows shooting up.
“Wait...Why is it that you seem surprised by the time, Heero?” Quatre broke in.
“Because when I woke up this morning and glanced at the clock, it was only 8:00. I decided to stay in bed a short while longer, but I had only closed my eyes when Wufei knocked on the door,” Heero replied. “And now the clock is apparently stopped at 8:17.”
“Are you sure?” Duo asked as he picked up the small alarm clock. He checked it over. “The little slide-bar has been moved to ‘set time.’ That’s why it’s stopped.”
"Could one of you have bumped it in your sleep?” Wufei asked.
“I guess...but still, it’s weird,” Duo replied. He shrugged and set the clock back down. “We’ll reset it later. So, what do you guys think about this damn flower?”
“Obviously someone left it specifically for you two. The key now is finding out who that was,” Quatre supplied. “I can get a motion sensitive camera set up in the hallway so we could monitor to see if this happens again.”
“That would be good,” Heero replied, sitting down on the floor. The others joined him, forming a loose circle.
“We can also look over this morning’s surveillance footage from the perimeter cameras, just to see if anyone unusual entered the premises,” Quatre continued. “I’ll also be asking the staff a few things, especially the temps.”
“Great. That’s just what we need to think about,” Duo sighed. “Not that you’re worrying us, Quatre, I didn’t mean to make it sound like that.”
“That’s fine,” the blond shook his head. “I’m surprised you don’t already have a list of suspects.”
"We do,” Heero replied. “Well, not actually a list...”
"But we’ve gone over those people we know might have something against one or both of us,” Duo shrugged. “Paranoia makes you do that kind of thing. Hell, we even went over everybody we’re close to, just because this stalker seems to know us so well.”
“Even us?” Trowa asked.
Duo and Heero exchanged a long look before Duo bit his lip and cleared his throat. “Not really, because by that time we knew that the DNA on the blood came from a girl. We did consider who might be using a woman to do their dirty work...but that just didn’t seem to fit the stalker’s profile so we didn’t go over that line of reasoning for too long.”
Wufei’s lips quirked up in a sardonic little smile. “That’s fine, you don’t really have to justify your thoughts to us. If it was me in your place...well, I’m not sure what I’d do.”
Quatre and Trowa looked at each other, then back at Heero and Duo. “The same pretty much goes for us,” Quatre said. “So you’ve gone down a list a people you know, now you don’t want to think about it being a random psychopath with a twisted obsession. Am I right?”
“That pretty much sums it up,” Duo shrugged, his shoulders moving stiffly.
“Utterly cheerful,” Wufei snorted.
“Utterly,” Heero nodded. “Duo, where did you put those pain pills? I don’t want to rely on drugs to get rid of something like a headache, but I feel dizzy, too.”
“You do? So do I,” Duo crawled across the floor and rooted through a small bag, pulling out a bottle of painkillers. “We’re psychically connected, love. We’re sharing headaches and dizzy spells.”
Heero caught the bottle of pills that Duo tossed to him, thumbing the cap open and shaking a few into the palm of his hand. He swallowed a couple dry, grimacing, then handed two to Duo as the American scuttled back over to the group and settled back in place. Duo took the painkillers dry as well, but it didn’t appear to bother him.
“That’s kind of strange,” Quatre commented. “You’re both dizzy and have headaches, and Heero’s missing a chunk of time...Bizarre.”
“Could it be stress?” Trowa offered.
Duo shrugged, rolling the small container between his hands. The pills rolled against the insides of the plastic bottle, rattling loudly. “Probably.”
“Anyway, how are you going to go about interroga--questioning the staff?” Heero asked.
“First I think we should review the outside surveillance tapes,” Quatre replied. “Then I’ll ask Mrs. Jessam who among the staff were assigned to the bedroom areas this morning. I’ll either let her handle some subtle questioning of those people, or I’ll go directly to those staff member whom I trust and speak with them directly. At the very least, we can narrow down suspects that way or place the time the carnation was dropped.”
“That sounds good,” Heero nodded thoughtfully.
“Hey, not to sound annoyingly persistent or anything, but has Rashid gone to the florist yet this morning?” Duo asked, stretching his legs out in front of him.
“Well, since you two so helpfully forgot the box with the arrangement in our bedroom last night, yeah, he has,” Quatre said, rolling his eyes. He slipped a finger underneath the back of his collar and absently adjusted the gold chain circling his neck.
“Great...hey...” Duo narrowed his eyes. “Since when do you wear necklaces?”
Quatre froze. “Um.”
Trowa chuckled quietly.
“You two have been acting strange and giving each other these secretive looks...” Duo said quietly. “Now...Quatre’s wearing a necklace.”
He turned his gaze at Trowa and peered at the man’s neck. “Ha! You have one too!”
Trowa nodded, leaned over and pulled the necklace out from under Quatre’s shirt, revealing the gold ring hanging on the chain.
Quatre covered his eyes for a second and then laughed quietly, he reached over and returned Trowa’s gesture, pulling the matching gold ring out from under the other man’s shirt.
“Hey, Heero, Wufei, what do you guys think?” Duo asked, nudging Heero with his elbow and raising an eyebrow at Wufei.
Wufei looked back and forth between Quatre and Trowa, then laughed quietly. “I think that there is probably some significance when a couple--who has been almost living together for years--suddenly begin to wear matching gold bands around their necks,” he shrugged casually.
Heero snorted, the corners of his lips turning up slightly. He looked at Duo. “I’d have to agree with Wufei.”
Trowa sighed and stared at the ceiling while Quatre rolled his eyes again. They both looked as though they were fighting the urge to break into laughter.
“Fine, as long as I’m not hallucinating,” Duo shrugged. He grinned and leaned forward. “So when’s the date? And who’s going to wear the fluffy white dress?”
Quatre did laugh at this. “There will be no dress wearing.”
“I hoped not,” Duo’s grin grew even wider. “Congrats, by the way. It’s about frickin’ time.”
“What a lovely sentiment,” Trowa deadpanned.
“Did this happen the other day?” Heero asked.
“Yeah...” Quatre trailed off, then cleared his throat. “We were going to tell you guys, but were kind of going to wait to the right time...sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” Wufei said, waving his hand. “It’s understandable that you’d want to keep something like that private for a while.”
“Yeah, I mean, damn, it’s perfectly normal to keep relationship stuff under wraps for a while,” Duo nodded. “Wufei here would know about that. Wouldn’t you, Wufei? I mean, your thing isn’t quite the same as their thing, but it’s kind of related. Isn’t that right, Mr. He-Who-Loathes-the-Press.”
“Don’t change the subject!” Wufei protested, holding one hand up, palm outward.
“Why not?” Quatre asked. “Haven’t gotten around to speaking with Relena about not hiding your relationship from the media anymore?”
Wufei closed his eyes briefly. “No.”
“You’re nervous,” Heero observed.
Wufei’s lips formed a tight line. “Look at what’s happened the past couple of days. Other people have arrived, things of importance have occurred, and time’s just passed without an appropriate chance to discuss it yet.”
“Yeah, but you might have to make time,” Duo said. He chuckled suddenly. “After all, Relena’s mooning over that baby. Her maternal instincts might start kicking in. And you know what that could mean...”
“No, I don’t. And I staunchly refuse to consider the implications of your statement,” Wufei shook his head firmly and crossed his arms over his chest.
Heero snickered.
“So, to be a totally nice guy and change the subject back,” Duo wriggled his eyebrows, “Are we supposed to keep quiet about this whole engagement thing, or what?”
“You realize, that by pointing out that you’re being nice, you’re technically not,” Quatre commented. He and Trowa exchanged a look before the blond continued. “And yes, just wait and keep your mouths shut for now, please. We’re going to wait for a good time to announce it to everyone else.”
“Can do,” Duo grinned.
“What has everyone else been doing this morning?” Heero asked suddenly, his brow furrowing even as his voice remained casual.
Duo immediately lost his smile and moved fractionally closer to Heero. “That’s a good question. For several reasons.”
Quatre sighed. “I don’t have tracking devices on everyone, but as far as I know, Zechs, Noin, and the baby are all still in their room. I suppose they still have jet lag. A lot of people are out at the pool area, I’m not sure exactly who, though. Nothing is really planned for today except dinner, after all. I was expecting most of the guests to come on time, not early, and therefore wanted to allow enough downtime so everyone could get over changing time zones,” he paused. “Not that I mind people showing up early. I certainly don’t want to imply that,” he smiled slightly. “As for the teenagers, May and Hakim tagged along with Rashid into town.
“That’s right, they did,” Wufei remarked, frowning. “Relena’s probably still out there at the pool. She and Dorothy are trying to get some sun, evidently. I know that Hilde was out there, because she was doing laps.”
“But she’s pregnant,” Duo said, looking mildly shocked.
Trowa cleared his throat lightly. “All the more reason she needs exercise. Swimming is an excellent activity for pregnant women; it’s low impact and takes the strain off of their changing bodies.”
Duo considered. “Okay...How the hell do you know something like that?”
Trowa shrugged.
“When do you supposed Rashid will get back?” Heero asked, his face still tense.
“Probably within the next hour, maybe a little longer depending. They’ll be back before lunch, that’s for sure,” Quatre replied. He frowned. “I think now would be a good time to go speak with the staff. The sooner the better, after all.”
Heero’s shoulders drooped a little as he relaxed fractionally. “Thanks.”
Duo nodded, his concerned gaze fixed on Heero’s profile. “Yeah, thanks. Maybe we’ll go wandering around and seeing where everyone is right now. Not that we suspect anyone or anything,” he said quickly, “But someone could have seen something.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” Wufei commented, standing up. “I hate to go out by that pool, but I suppose I should.”
“Why don’t you want to go out there?” Quatre asked.
“Because I dislike the chemicals in the water. They make my eyes sting,” Wufei replied, shrugging. “I suppose that I’ll see you all at lunch.”
“Have fun looking at your girlfriend in a bikini, Wufei!” Duo replied cheerfully.
Wufei paused at the doorway, frowned, sniffed, and narrowed his eyes. He stuck out his tongue.
Quatre laughed. Trowa cleared his throat and chuckled. Heero just rolled his eyes and waited for Duo’s retort.
“Don’t stick it out unless you’re going to use it,” Duo winked. Heero hit him lightly on the arm.
“I intend to,” Wufei replied seriously, then left the room.
Total silence.
“Holy shit. He one-upped me,” Duo whispered.
“Not surprising,” Quatre commented, smirking. He and Trowa stood up. “We’ll go check out that surveillance equipment now. Then I’ll go talk to the staff.”
Duo scoffed. “Not surprising?”
“That sounds fine,” Heero replied to the rest of Quatre’s words. He rubbed his forehead. “I’m not sure what we’ll be doing. I don’t feel like subtly interrogating anyone right now.”
“Wait for your headaches to go away,” Trowa suggested as the couple turned towards the door.
“There’s an idea,” Duo muttered. He cleared his throat. “We’ll just wait around for Rashid to come back, how’s that? We can find out where everyone was later.”
“Fine, fine,” Quatre replied, waving his hand distractedly as he and Trowa walked out the bedroom door. “If you need us, come find us.”
“All right,” Duo nodded, watching the pair disappear into the hallway. He turned to Heero. “Want to wait in here or go out into another room?”
Heero shrugged, getting to his feet and offering Duo a hand up. “Another room. Then, if other guests are wandering around, we can find out where they were this morning. Two objectives possibly accomplished with one scenario.”
Duo took the offered hand and allowed Heero to pull him to his feet as well. Their fingers stayed clasped together. “Paranoid much?”
“Someone might have seen something, that’s all,” Heero frowned, glaring at the red flower he had placed on their dresser. “Do you suspect someone we know left the carnation?”
“Not really,” Duo squeezed Heero’s hand lightly. “I’ll bet someone was bribed.”
“That’s probably it,” Heero agreed. He opened his mouth as if to say something else, but closed it again quickly. After another moment he squeezed Duo’s hand back. “A bribe.”
Duo attempted a smile. “Yeah, probably.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Rashid opened the door to the florist shop with a sigh. He ignored the announcing tinkle of a bell attached to the door’s handle. Behind him, Hakim and Mariemeia chattered to each other, oblivious to everything but each other. Since he had allowed Hakim to drive, Rashid had taken the front passenger seat to instruct the young man on his maneuvering of the car. Therefore the couple been separated by the great distance of three feet for the duration of their drive to town.
Oh, the trials of being a teenager. Rashid rolled his eyes and made his way to the front counter. He carefully set down the white box that held the offending floral arrangement.
Within a few seconds a young man with dark brown hair hurried over to the counter. He hastily wiped his hands on his pale blue apron and grinned up at Rashid. “Yes, sir? May I help you?”
“I’m not sure,” Rashid replied. He tapped the box in front of him. “Can you tell me if this box came from your flower shop?”
“Um,” the florist leaned forward and examined the box. He nodded. “Yeah, it looks like one of ours. Mind if I ask why you want to know?”
Another employee, a man in a light green apron with blood red hair, joined them at the counter. He just stood there and observed the conversation with a sour look on his face.
“Well, a friend of mine received this, and to be perfectly honest, it was sent in such a way that it may have been intended as a threat. It was sent anonymously. To be blunt, we want to see if the sender can be traced,” Rashid said. He opened the box and slid it across the counter to them. “Also, it would be helpful if you could tell us what kind of flowers these are and if any of them have a special meaning.”
“Oh, yeah!” Blue Apron exclaimed. He poked the flowers with his index finger. “I actually did this one. Weird arrangement.”
The other florist, who Rashid decided to think of as ‘Green Apron,’ raised an eyebrow. “Odd combination, yes.”
“Okay,” Blue Apron said. He pointed at different parts of the arrangement as he described them. “I guess you figured that these white ones were holly flowers. This next layer, the purple ones are Monkshood. The yellow ones are a type of Coltsfoot. And yeah, that’s a dried rose.”
“I was told that the rose, since it is white and dried, meant a loss of innocence. Is that correct?” Rashid asked, pulling out a folded piece of paper and a pen. He had listed all the things he needed to find out and fully intended to take notes on what information the florists could offer.
Green Apron nodded. He glared at the arrangement.
Rashid made a small checkmark on his list. “And the holly flowers mean a question. ‘Am I forgotten?’”
“Are you forgotten...?” Blue Apron blinked, running a hand through his dark hair. He rolled his eyes. “Oh, yeah. Stupid me. Yeah, I think that’s right.”
The other florist nodded again.
Rashid made another check mark. “The others were Coltsfoot and Monkshood?”
“Right. Monkshood means danger. Coltsfoot means a phrase: ‘Justice shall be done to you,’” Green Apron said succinctly.
“Damn, I can’t believe I didn’t notice this when I arranged it,” the other florist’s eyebrows drew together as he frowned. “Of course I noticed how odd the combination of flowers was, but I didn’t think about it as anything but weird. This is one hell of a message. You said someone received this anonymously?”
“In the mail, actually.”
“Well, someone must have had to sign for them when they were delivered, because we don’t send things through the mail like that,” Blue Apron replied. “We can’t trace who ordered it originally, because it came off the computer. See, we get orders from one of those all purpose international flower hotline things that direct a customer’s order to their local participating florist for them, so we don’t actually receive them directly.”
“All right,” Rashid frowned. “Is it possible to find out who signed for it, or at least where it was delivered?”
“That’s a breach of customer confidentiality,” Green Apron stated.
“A word, please?” Blue Apron hissed at his co-worker, grabbing the other man’s elbow and pulling him a few feet away.
Rashid rocked back and forth on his heels while the two florists held a whispered conversation. He looked over his shoulder and spotted Hakim watching Mariemeia smell a rose. The boy looked enthralled.
The abrupt clearing of a throat prompted Rashid to turn his attention back to the two florists. Green Apron frowned. “This is not our usual policy,” he said before turning to a small computer beside the cash register.
“Normally we don’t go handing out information like this, but considering the extenuating circumstances we’re making an exception,” Blue Apron said. “Just don’t tell too many people, okay?”
“I’ll try to keep a lid on it,” Rashid replied dryly.
Green Apron cleared his throat and turned away from the computer monitor. “I made that delivery yesterday morning. It was to a phone booth.”
“A phone booth?” Blue Apron exclaimed, his jaw dropping.
“Yes. A woman in a gray suit signed for it. As you can see from the signature, the name is unreadable,” the other florist gestured to the computer screen.
“You have her signature on file?” Rashid asked.
“Yes. We have customers sign with an electronic pen for that very purpose,” Green Apron replied.
“Do you remember anything about the woman?” Blue Apron asked, his hand coming up to latch onto the other man’s wrist.
“She was remarkably nondescript and wearing what, in retrospect, could have been designed for the express purpose of masking her most distinguishing features,” the other florist frowned, closing his eyes briefly. “After signing the electronic pad, she grabbed the box and walked away, turning the nearest street corner. I didn’t look to see where she went after that.”
Rashid noticed that Green Apron still hadn’t shook off his co-worker’s hand. “Thank you for giving us this information, it’s greatly appreciated,” Rashid said, adding to his notes. “Could you perhaps tell me where this phone booth is located?”
Blue Apron leaned over to look at the monitor. “The corner of Magnolia and Crescent. But I doubt that matters since it’s probably a randomly picked location. I doubt that if this lady was trying to threaten this friend of yours that she’d leave any clues.”
“You’re probably right, but it never hurts to have too much information,” Rashid replied.
“True,” Green Apron said.
“Hey, Uncle Rashid?” Hakim tapped the big man’s elbow. “Are we good to go yet?”
Beside the boy, Mariemeia stood closely. A large orchid was tucked behind her ear.
“I suppose,” Rashid nodded.
“Great! We need to pay for May’s flower, okay?” Hakim grinned.
When they left the shop, the bell on the door jingled loudly.
~ ~ ~ ~
Quatre found the head of the staff, Mrs. Jessam, supervising the kitchen crew like a captain at the helm of her ship. The stout woman stood with her hands on her hips as she stayed out of the way, but also managed to cast a shadow of authority over the workers before her as they prepared lunch.
“Pardon me, Mrs. Jessam, but could you spare a moment of your time?” Quatre asked politely.
“Of course,” the woman responded briskly, her gaze still scanning the kitchen. “You are the boss, after all, Mr. Winner.”
Quatre laughed nervously and nodded his head a few times. They left the kitchen and headed to a small office, a room that the blond hadn’t frequented much since his guests had arrived. He held the door open for the older woman and closed it behind her.
Mrs. Jessam raised one graying eyebrow and cleared her throat. “This appears to be somewhat serious, Mr. Winner.”
“Indeed, it really is serious,” Quatre nodded. The surveillance footage hadn’t revealed anything out of the ordinary, so relying on the staff as possible eyewitnesses apparently had become their last option in finding out who had left the carnation, or when it had been left.
Quatre leaned against the edge of his desk. “You know about the stalker problem two of our guests are having? About the packages and the threats and the like?”
“Word does travel, Mr. Winner. The household is a small community, after all. Perhaps I do not know the whole truth, but I’ve kept my ears open and know quite a lot.”
“Well, then I’ll get right to the point,” Quatre paused. He swallowed and pushed one hand through his bangs. “There was a token left outside Heero and Duo’s room this morning. A flower.”
“I had heard as much. You suspect that someone on my staff left it?” Mrs. Jessam folded her arms over her chest and sniffed angrily. “Who?”
“I don’t know who. That’s not all that I meant, either,” Quatre replied. “Yes, we do suspect that someone on the staff may have been bribed, or may even be affiliated with the stalker, but we also want to find out if someone who was in the guest wing may have seen someone or something unusual. Even if we can place what time the flower was left, we’d have a better chance of identifying who placed it there. And how could you have heard already?”
The woman nodded, her eyes sharp. “I told you, I keep my ears open, and the staff talks. Your reasoning makes sense. I will find out whom, specifically, in the permanent staff was in the guest wing, and then go to those that I feel are most trustworthy and ask them for primary details. Would that be a satisfactory start?”
“Yes, that would be great,” Quatre pushed away from the desk and brushed his hands on the front of his pants, scrubbing his palms. “Please try to be discreet, just in case the stalker finds out we’re making an investigation.”
“I imagine that this stalker would anticipate that, Mr. Winner. Perhaps have even planned for it,” Mrs. Jessam replied.
“I know, but I really don’t want to think about it,” he smiled ruefully and opened the office door.
Mrs. Jessam hesitated as she passed through the doorway. “Good luck, Mr. Winner.”
“Thanks. You too,” Quatre replied. He watched the woman walk down the hallway for a moment, then closed the office door behind him and went in the opposite direction, intent on finding Trowa.
~ ~ ~ ~
Trowa leaned against the corridor wall and crossed his arms. He was in the vicinity of the kitchens and staff area, waiting for Quatre to finish speaking with Mrs. Jessam. Now that the premises had been “invaded” by the stalker’s presence, he was seriously becoming concerned about everyone in the house.
Before that morning, the stalker had seemed to be at a distance. She had apparently known where Quatre lived, of course, which was worrying enough...but now she had managed to infiltrate his fiancé’s home. Not only was Quatre at risk, but so was everyone on the staff. Not to mention all the guests, his friends and acquaintances. When he really thought about it, the subtle gesture of the carnation had been one of the more threatening things that Heero and Duo had received.
A very smart, very disconcerting move indeed.
“Excuse me? Mr. Barton? May I help you at all?” A voice asked politely.
Trowa looked up and saw Jenny, the maid that had made friends with Mariemeia. Beside her stood Ophelia, Sylvia’s fiancé’s sister.
“No, thank you,” Trowa replied, pushing away from the wall without uncrossing his arms. “I’m waiting on Quatre. He’s speaking with the head of the staff.”
“Oh, okay,” the maid responded. She bit her lower lip. “Is someone getting fired or something?”
“No, I don’t think so,” he shifted his gaze from the maid to the other girl. Ophelia watched his lips intently, obviously reading them. She kept shifting her eyes from him to Jenny and back again, following the conversation.
“That’s a relief. I’m just slightly paranoid right now because I really really need to keep this job. It’s the best place I’ve ever worked,” Jenny bobbed her head and rubbed up and down her arms. Her smile was shaky. “Well, uh, I supposed I should stop pestering you, Mr. Barton.”
Trowa shrugged and watched the maid hurry down the hallway and disappear around a corner. Ophelia remained where she was. She ran a hand through her platinum hair and tugged at the ends lightly.
“Are you okay?” She asked, enunciating carefully.
“I suppose,” Trowa shrugged minutely again.
“Is it about that carnation in front of those other guys’ door?” Ophelia asked.
“Perhaps,” Trowa paused. “How did you know about that?”
“I passed by their room this morning. Jenny was making the rounds with linens for the guest rooms that didn’t have anyone in them,” Ophelia tugged on her hair again. “Was it the same carnation?”
“The same carnation as what?” Trowa resisted the urge to raise his eyebrows. He kept an impassive expression plastered on his face.
“I’m not sure. I just know that a couple of us...May, Hakim, Jenny, and I...were talking about those guys’ stalker and there was a carnation mentioned. On a tombstone or something?” The girl cocked her head to the side and watched for Trowa’s response.
“Something like that, yes,” Trowa admitted, choosing not to elaborate.
“That’s such a strange thing to put on a tombstone. It stuck out in my mind. Why a carnation?” Ophelia shrugged. “Oh well. I’m sorry to have bothered you and all. I guess I’ll go bug Jenny some more.”
“You do that,” Trowa watched her pass him and continue down the corridor, turning down the same hallway the maid had.
He counted off a few heartbeats and followed her. He wasn’t sure why, but he just had a feeling. He stopped at the turn where both Jenny and Ophelia had veered off. Sure enough, he could just make out the girls’ whispers. He wondered why Jenny would bother speaking out loud when Ophelia could only read her lips. Must be habit.
“...I told you so!” Ophelia’s careful voice toned. “That horrible stalker person really did get something in here.”
“It’s not that I didn’t think you were right, I just didn’t really want to believe it,” Jenny whispered back.
From the sound of their voices, they must be right around the corner. Trowa felt slightly guilty, but he also felt compelled to stay where he was.
“But that’s so weird, why a pretty red carnation?” Ophelia ventured. Trowa could picture the girl tugging on her long hair again.
“I don’t know. Maybe it means something? You know that box of flowers that they got yesterday?” The maid whispered.
No response. He supposed that Ophelia had nodded or gave some other wordless gesture of affirmation.
“Yeah, so you know that May and Hakim are in town right now with Mr. Kurama at a flower shop, trying to figure out if those flowers mean something special, right?” Jenny continued.
“Yeah, so?” Came the thick, whispered response.
“What if the carnation means something too? I can’t believe they haven’t thought about that yet.”
“Maybe they have and we just haven’t heard.”
“Maybe.”
Trowa heard quiet footsteps in the corridor behind him. He glanced over his shoulder; Quatre was coming down the hallway. The dark haired man walked silently away from his spot by the corner and met the blond halfway.
“What have you been doing?” Quatre asked. He poked Trowa’s chest with his fingers. “You look kind of...I’m not sure what the word would be. Furtive?”
“I’ll explain in a few minutes,” Trowa replied. They started together the way that Trowa had come, back towards the side corridor where Jenny and Ophelia had stopped. “What about you? Did your meeting go well?”
“As well as can be expected,” Quatre sighed. “I suddenly feel like we’ve been invaded, you know?”
Trowa nodded. He looked out the corner of his eye as they passed the side hallway. It was empty. He wondered if the two girls knew he had listened in, or if they just thought he had stayed where they left him. He didn’t really care either way.
He turned his attention back to Quatre. “I know. I don’t like it.”
“What were you looking for down that hallway?” Quatre asked, his voice hushed as he moved closer to Trowa, giving the appearance that they may be having an ‘intimate’ conversation. They had stopped walking.
“I’ll give you more details later, but it seems as though a lot of the staff members know all about what’s been going on. What if someone inside has been selling information?” Trowa whispered back, playing the scenario by cupping the side of Quatre’s face and leaning in close so that their breaths mingled.
“It’s possible. I don’t like to think about my home being infiltrated in such a way, but I suppose I must. After speaking with Mrs. Jessam, I came to a similar conclusion. She already knew about the carnation,” Quatre murmured.
“So did that maid, the one who Mariemeia’s made friends with,” Trowa replied. He felt one of Quatre’s hands settle on his waist, while the other came to rest on the side of his neck, toying with the gold necklace.
“Of course, that maid and Mrs. Jessam are both permanent staff, so their own little information networks are probably better than the temps,” Quatre bit his lip, his gaze downcast so that his eyelids covered most of his eyes.
“True,” Trowa moved in even closer. “The maid did say something interesting, though. I was listening to her speak with Ophelia. That’s what I was doing when you found me, actually.”
Quatre looked up. He grinned slightly. “So that’s why you had that secretive look on your face. So what’s this interesting thing?”
“Why a carnation? We’ve tried to figure out what the other flowers in the bouquet mean, but totally ignored the fact that the red carnation appeared first,” Trowa whispered. He caressed his thumb across Quatre’s cheekbone.
Quatre’s eyes widened. “Good idea. That shouldn’t been too hard to find out.”
“So let’s go and look it up.”
“Not so fast...We’ve stopped anyone from listening in on us by being so close, but I think we need to finish this little act,” Quatre’s lip turned up at the corners and formed a smug little grin.
“Think so?” Trowa smirked back.
“If we’re going to be devious, we should do it right...”
Their lips met in a long, deep kiss. They did their best to make a scene, all the way up to making a point of disappearing into a conveniently empty room.
Just to be sure, after all.
~ ~ ~ ~
Wufei emerged from his bedroom and closed the door easily behind him. He had decided to spend some time alone reading after leaving Heero and Duo’s room that morning. He really hadn’t been in a very social mood. Besides, even if he would have put up with the chlorine smell of the swimming pool, he didn’t want to interfere with Relena’s designated “girl time” with Dorothy.
So he had decided to pick up that novel he had been meaning to finish for weeks. Between Preventer business, Relena, and secondary stalker stress, he just hadn’t had any alone time.
“Hello, Wufei.”
Wufei turned to see Noin standing in the doorway of what he presumed to be her and Zechs’ room. Tredici, the baby, looked around with wide blue eyes from the comfort of her mother’s arms.
“Good afternoon, Noin,” Wufei said cautiously. He glanced around quickly, trying to see if Zechs was in the room past Noin.
“He’s out by the pool speaking with Relena,” Noin supplied, a stilted smile on her face. “I was actually worried when he went, because I figured that you’d be out there as well. What, with you and Relena together and all of that.”
“I wasn’t looking around for Zechs,” Wufei protested, refusing eye contact as he lied. He frowned. “Why would I?”
Noin raised her eyebrows and adjusted the baby in her arms. “I thought you two didn’t get along.”
Wufei considered for a moment. “That’s true.”
“Indeed,” Noin mused. She paused, grinning down at Tredici before looking up again. “You want to hold her?” She asked, nodding down at the baby.
Wufei took an involuntary step backwards. “Um, no thanks. I mean, I would, but...I wouldn’t want to hurt her accidentally.”
“As long as you don’t drop her, you’ll be fine. Don’t worry about Zechs coming back and seeing. She’s my baby, too, and I get a big say in who I trust with my child,” Noin lifted her chin and looked at Wufei.
“I’m not afraid of...dam--dang it,” Wufei amended his curse with a nervous glance at Tredici, who was now staring at him in fascination. “Do you have a point, Noin?”
“Am I supposed to?” She laughed. “Really, Wufei, one would think you were afraid of babies.”
“I am not afraid of babies.”
“You and Zechs don’t get along,” Noin stated thoughtfully. She adjusted Tredici again, holding the baby higher up on her chest. “Do you have any idea why that is?”
“Not really,” Wufei admitted. He glared at Noin. “Woman, you’re confusing. Pick a subject and stay on it. Why do you ask that, anyway?”
Noin laughed again. “You mean asking why my husband and my friend don’t get along?”
Wufei nodded.
“Well, because I don’t really know ‘the why’ behind your conflict either, but the whole thing annoys me,” Noin shrugged carefully. “I used to think it was residual hostility from the past, but I don’t think either of you are that petty. Am I wrong?”
“Not about me,” Wufei grumbled.
“What a compliment to Zechs,” Noin said dryly. “He’s not that petty either.”
“What an enlightening conversation.”
“Isn’t it?”
They laughed quietly.
Tredici squirmed, and Noin shifted the girl to cuddle against her front, the side of her small head resting against her mother’s chest.
“Don’t you know why, not at all? I mean, at least his side of it?” Wufei asked after a moment.
“I have an idea, but he hasn’t talked about it with me in specific terms. I haven’t asked because I thought it was just a mutual dislike. In other words, just one of those things. Of course, I hadn’t seen you two interact very often. But after yesterday’s forced non-conflict, I’m a bit concerned,” Noin said.
“Why?”
Noin hesitated, her expression darkening. “I just am.”
“That’s helpful,” Wufei remarked, rolling his eyes.
“What are you doing here?” An angry voice demanded. Zechs had turned the corner of the hallway and strode forward. He stood between Wufei and Noin, his shoulders squared and tense.
“I’m speaking with Noin,” Wufei said evenly, forcing eye contact.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Noin hissed, surreptitiously covering one of Tredici’s little ears. The other ear was still pressed to her chest.
“He was just being disrespectful to you,” Zechs said over his shoulder, refusing to put his back to Wufei.
“No, he wasn’t. We were having a conversation and he made a sarcastic comment. Sarcasm happens between friends,” She emphasized the last word.
Zechs frowned. He glanced back at Wufei. “Why are you still here?”
“I have a right to stand where I choose to. I don’t know what I did to you to make you seem to hate me so much, but it’s patently ridiculous to rush forward in an irrational bustle and shield a perfectly capable woman with your body. Did you think I was going to attack her? What kind of person do you think I am?” Wufei retorted, his face burning as his anger started to mount.
“I don’t think you really want to know the answer to that question,” Zechs replied, his voice deadly quiet. He took a step forward.
“Go ahead, tell me,” Wufei stepped forward as well, his hands curling into loose fists at his sides.
“STOP!” Noin moved to stand in between the two advancing men, her hand still covering Tredici’s ear. Her voice was sharp. “How dare you, either of you, even think about getting into a fight in front of my baby. Get a hold of yourselves.”
“We weren’t--" Zechs started.
“Well it sure looked like it. You and I are going to have a long talk about this,” Noin said, her eyes narrowing. She turned and fixed her gaze on Wufei. “As for you, I am still your friend and you are welcome to speak with me, but I will thank you not to get into an altercation with my husband in the presence of my child. Walk away if you must.”
Zechs glared at Wufei.
“Zechs,” Noin said, her voice a bit more calm. “Where is Relena?”
He shrugged, a harsh motion. “I believe she was going to change out of her swim suit.”
“Great. Wufei, will you please take Tredici to Relena. I’m sure the proud aunt won’t mind a little bit of babysitting duty,” Noin smiled almost maliciously as she disappeared into her and Zechs’ bedroom and returned with a carrier seat and a baby bag. She eased Tredici into the carrier. “Here you go.”
Wufei took the carrier’s handle and looked down at the baby. She yawned at him. “...Okay.”
“Thank you!” Noin said, her voice forcedly happy. She turned to Zechs, who was glaring even harder at Wufei. “Come on.”
“Be careful,” Zechs said icily.
Wufei nodded curtly and walked away. As soon as he rounded the corner of the corridor, he carefully set the carrier down and crouched to look at Tredici. The girl looked at him silently.
“I don’t think that your mother helped much, but she sure knows how to be diplomatic about throwing her weight around,” Wufei said quietly.
Tredici just gurgled.
~ ~ ~ ~
Elsewhere, preparations were being made.
The final stage was being set.
Everything was falling into place. The test had been flawless. As expected, of course.
Freedom. Soon.
No longer would the figure be held back by her idiocy. How dare she presume to think for herself and amend her task. Such a pathetic, artless, and useless little change it had been. She had learned nothing.
No matter. The change would be of no consequence, and the dark figure would soon be free. No longer would it be grieved by scars and limitations imposed.
It would be satisfying and beautiful. The completion.
A soul thrummed with anticipation.
~ ~ ~ ~