Mage vs. Guard Sidefic 4
The two students in front of the Lady's desk shivered. Surely the room hadn't seemed cold when they walked in- but once the Lady had gestured at the seats in front of her, a cold wind seemed to seep down their spines.
"You asked to see us?" One of them ventured cautiously. The Lady frowned and the student looked away quickly. Behind her stood the Captain of her Guard- also frowning. On the other side- the student sucked in a breath when he saw who stood there. Beside him his partner in crime trembled, her face pale white.
They knew.
"I called you here to explain this." Relena put a small piece of paper and a pin down on the desk in front of her. "It is yours isn't it?"
"No-" Instant denial.
"Really?" Relena's voice dripped with ice. "Then you won't mind if I do a small incantation on it, will you? Just to tell us who created this little spell?"
The female student elbowed the male. "Better to admit it," she said with a sigh. She met Relena's eyes. "We made it, milady."
"And its purpose?" Relena asked.
"It's a reversal spell." The girl bit her lip. "Turns hate to love or love to hate. Mage Winner taught us how to make them two weeks ago."
"Yes, we've already talked with him." Relena lifted her eyebrow. "Now, tell me what you did with this one."
"We pinned it on Guard Maxwell's cape during weapons practice- it was on the fence..." The boy cast another quick glance at Guard Maxwell and cowered in his chair. "We didn't really mean..."
"Yes we did," the girl interrupted. "Mage Yuy gave us a pop quiz that day- and we both failed. We were... a little upset."
"So you'd thought you'd play a little joke on him?" Relena's tone was past icy now. "To get even with him?"
"Well- everyone knows-" The boy faltered, avoiding her gaze. "And we thought it would just... well, Mage Yuy is a great mage- he should've known-"
"Stop." The Guard Captain snapped. "So, you thought to give one of your teachers a lesson? Have you forgotten the oath you took when they accepted you here?"
"No-" the girl protested. "No, but it seemed like a little thing... We didn't mean..."
"You didn't think." Relena corrected her. "I know Mage Winner stressed to you that the strength of these charms depends on the feelings of the person. As you said- everyone knows about Mage Yuy and his guard. So what do you think happened when you pinned the charm to Guard Maxwell's cloak?"
The students were silent for a moment and then the boy turned ashen. He looked at Guard Maxwell in horror.
"You didn't kill him did you?"
"Luckily for you, no." Relena answered. "However considering what did happen, I think the two of you can consider yourself on probation. One more problem- of any size- and we will strip you of your powers and send you home. I'm being lenient because this is a first offense for both of you. If the two of you start using your brains, you might be good mages- but at this moment, I'm not holding my breath. Breathe wrong and you're gone." Her voice dropped and flashed out like a whiplash: "Do I make myself clear?"
As glass, the students thought, realizing how close they had come to expulsion- or worse.
"Report at once to Mage Cho. He will be overseeing your detention for the rest of this month. He's waiting for you in the stables."
Eyes widened, but again, both students didn't even consider protesting. They got up from their chairs and headed for the door. Once it closed, Relena turned to Duo.
"I didn't want to tell them exactly what happened. Better to let their imaginations fill in the blanks."
"Of course. I just hope you didn't lie to them." Duo replied softly.
Relena put a hand on his arm. "Don't- it's all right. You didn't physically hurt him-"
"No, but I said-" Duo stopped and shook his head. "I said some horrible things- you can't imagine- I knew just what to say to hurt him the most-"
"It wasn't you." Relena's hand tightened. "It was the spell- and Quatre caught on-"
"Not before Heero sealed himself in his rooms."
"Quatre's working on that too." Relena let go and nudged him. "Go help. Heero might be able to hear you through the wards."
Duo nodded and turned on his heel. Once the door closed behind him Relena turned and looked at Wufei. "Cho knows to make the detention bad, right?"
"As only he can do," Wufei nodded. "He said he wanted to make sure word got around."
"I could almost pity them," Relena said with a faint smile. "Almost..."
~*~
Quatre looked around at the sound of Duo's footsteps. "No good," he said shaking his head. "I tried nearly everything I know- but Heero knows how to guard against all the obvious- and I think our Lady would frown on me using any of the dark spells. Plus they tend to get messy."
"I'm sure," Duo replied absently, putting one hand on the door. "Can you tell if he's in there?"
"He didn't leave," Quatre assured him. "You have to be inside the wards for them to work- and if he died, they'd fade. So he's in there." He smiled a little at Duo's wide-eyed glance. "You thought of that too, hm?"
"I said it to him. I told him-" Duo covered his face with his hands. "I can't believe I did..."
"It was the spell." Quatre pointed out. "I yelled that at him through the door. Pointed out that you had to care a hell of lot for the spell to work like that. Practically a textbook example-"
"Did he hear you?"
Quatre shrugged. "It made me feel better. I think though that I'm going to go back to my workroom and try to get a message to him through the wards. Want to come with or stay here?"
"I'll stay here." Duo sat down and leaned against the door. "Maybe I'll do some yelling too."
"Good idea." Quatre vanished in a boom of displaced air and Duo sighed.
"Heero, I'm here," he said to the wood. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it. You know how I feel about you."
No answer.
Gods, it had taken him ages to get Heero to accept how Duo felt about him- and all in a single afternoon- all because of some stupid kids- it was gone. He banged his head against the door in frustration. He knew Heero. Spell or not, excuse or not, this whole episode would give him a reason to push Duo away again.
Duo didn't want to be pushed away. He'd wanted Heero the moment he laid eyes on the mage, pursued him relentlessly, done everything and anything he could think of to make Heero care for him too. He wanted to make Heero realize that Duo was the best person for him. He'd done it- but it had taken a lot of time. He'd do it over again, do anything to keep Heero- but this time it would hurt to be pushed away- this time he'd know exactly what he was missing...
He should've checked the cloak. He'd seen the students by the fence- he knew that the students sometimes liked to play jokes- it was one of the first things Chang had warned him about. But he'd been in too much of a hurry- had wanted to see Heero too badly... He hadn't realized anything was wrong until he'd seen Heero right outside their rooms- and then...
"Damn it," he said aloud and thumped his head again. "Heero- please let me in."
He hoped Heero could hear him. At the very least he hoped that even if Heero didn't hear him that he had just gone into his workroom like he sometimes did when he was upset- it soothed Heero to deal with his books and potions. Better that than something else...
Please not that. Anything but that. Duo pushed the thought away.
Heero would have to open the door sometime, right? He had classes to teach and Relena to fuss at and even if he didn't ever want to see his guard again- Duo closed his eyes- he had to at least come out to tell Relena to fire Duo? So he had to come out- and when he did, Duo would be waiting- and he'd apologize again- but what if...
The door behind him moved, and caught off guard, Duo fell backwards. He opened his eyes in surprise to find Heero looking down at him.
One look at his lover's face brought Duo to his feet- without thinking he threw his arms around Heero and held on tightly.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." The words came pouring out of him in a flood. "I didn't mean it. Any of it. It wasn't me. I'm sorry- I didn't know they'd done anything. I didn't check it. I should have. I can't believe I said those things- I'm so sorry! It wasn't..."
Much to his relief, Heero didn't shove him away. He pulled Duo inside and closed the door, returning the embrace just as tightly.
"Shh. It's not your fault."
"You know about the spell?" Duo asked, not letting go.
"Quatre just sent me a note." Heero drew in a shaky breath. "I should've realized- I knew he taught that spell to that group. I'm sorry- I know that wasn't you."
Duo felt himself relax for the first time since Quatre had pulled his cloak off of him and he'd realized what he'd done. Maybe he wasn't going to have to start over. Maybe he really had gotten through to Heero more than even he'd realized? His heart lightened and he wrapped himself even more tightly around his mage.
"I'm going to kill those two." Heero pulled back just enough to meet Duo's eyes. "Slowly."
"Relena assigned them detention with Cho."
"Oh, that's even better. I suppose he took them to the stables to start?"
"That's where they had to report."
"Good. Cleaning out the manticore's stall will make them wish they were dead." Heero brushed his fingers over Duo's cheek. "Are you okay?"
"That depends," Duo managed a hesitant smile. "Are you going to kick me out?"
"And go through all the trouble of a new guard?" Heero shook his head, smiling back, his fingers sliding caressingly through Duo's bangs. "Not likely. I've finally gotten used to you."
Duo's sigh of relief was audible as he put his head down on Heero's shoulder. "Oh good," was the only thing he could think of, still giddy with relief. "I was so worried."
Heero ran his hand down Duo's braid. "Me too," he said softly. "I thought for sure you'd finally realized-"
"No." Duo's head snapped up. "No. Never. I-" His response was lost under Heero's mouth.
"I know," Heero murmured against his lips. "I know."
Duo pulled his lover closer, trying wordlessly to show how happy that response made him. "Bed," he muttered a few minutes later.
"Work," Heero responded and Duo nearly laughed. Things were back to normal.
"What could be more fun than bed?" He asked, his mouth on Heero's jaw line.
"Making up a surprise test for tomorrow's class," Heero's fingers slid under Duo's tunic. "I think we need to revisit ethics."
"Assign an essay," Duo suggested, tugging Heero in the direction of the couch. It was closer than the bed, and nearly as comfortable. "A really long essay with lots of references."
"Evil. Devious." Heero followed Duo down onto the couch. "I like it."
"See? Good reason to keep me around," Duo pointed out as he wiggled out of his tunic. "I come up with evil plans when you need them."
Heero gave him a warm smile. "Oh, I keep you around for more than that."
OWARI
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