Disclaimer:Don't own them, don't make any money off of this.
Warnings: Male/Male sex, graphic, language, violence, attempted NCS
Soldier Boys
Sequel to feelings
Excursions
Duo smiled at Heero's confusion. "I know what you're thinking."
Heero raised an eyebrow. They had purchased the items on Heero's list and then, after putting them into the car, had walked a long way until they had entered a more upscale part of town. Heero was already getting nervous. The streets were crowded, full of outdoor cafes and shops and the hustle of a nearby business district.
"Trust me," Duo said as he led the way into the throng and smiled as Heero reached out and took a hold of his jacket to keep from getting separated. They passed by several tables, people eating and deep in conversations, and then they were sitting on the rim of a potted tree, an oasis that forced the crowd to divide and leave that area relatively clear.
Duo broke a piece of bread in half and a small, round pie that was full of vegetables and a white meat. He handed Heero his share and Heero stared at it in amazement. He hadn't seen Duo take the food from the unsuspecting diners.
Duo winked. "People here don't expect anything to happen to them. They think being rich equals being safe; being far from the section of town where the 'low life's' live. I learned early on not to snitch from my own neighborhood. They were real wary there, used to having bad things happen to them, and, besides, they saw me all the time on the streets so they knew my face. There's a real crude term for it. " Duo paused and then lowered his eyes as he said, 'Don't shit where you live.' It's crude, but true." He waved a hand at the crowd. "These guys burn money. They don't care if they lose some food or a few credits. They aren't bad off enough to try and get them back. Sure, they get mad, but, calling the cops, or risking their necks going after me, is just too much trouble when they're concentrating on closing million dollar deals or trying to figure out when they should make their next hair appointment."
Heero ate his meal thoughtfully, eyes never ceasing to look around them. Finally, as he finished eating and wiped his hands on his pants, he asked, "This is how you relax?"
Duo gave him a look. "I'm not THAT boring!" He stood up, tossing the rest of his meal into a nearby, ornate garbage can. "Come on."
"Wu Fei will be waiting for us," Heero reminded him.
"I left a note," Duo told him cheerfully and dived into the crowd again, heading further up the street. Once again, Heero took hold of his coat and that pressure made Duo feel a happy thrill. Heero was trusting him, maybe, liking his company, a stronger maybe, and willing to come out of his rigid, soldier shell, a damned good possibility.
When Duo approached the large doors of an equally large shopping complex, Heero balked. Duo looked back at him and said in encouragement as he opened a door, "I guarantee that you are about to have some fun, Heero Yuy, so get your ass in gear and come on!"
Even though many things had become automated and delivered at the push of a button, the urge to congregate in a sparkling, enclosed world of mostly unattainable products, to eat greasy food in food courts, and to hang out in glitzy electronic game rooms had not been stamped out entirely.
"Sometimes," Duo said as he wove in and out of the crowds, "I scored some pocket credit. Not enough to get anything to eat, but enough to play a game." He chuckled. "I was pretty damned good at them. I could milk the same game all afternoon sometimes."
"I don't understand," Heero said and Duo paused and looked back at him.
"You don't, do you?" Duo said and felt a pang of sympathy. "You've never gone into a place like this?"
"Yes," Heero replied and then looked shadowed. "I- It wasn't for amusements though."
"Oh," Duo tried to imagine what else Heero could have gone for and came up with several ugly scenarios. He said without preamble, "Your life sucked big time, Heero-buddy."
Heero's face went pinched, but he didn't react except to nod once and say, "It was necessary."
Duo had a lot to say about that, but he kept it to himself. Starting any arguments, he felt, wouldn't get him anywhere. He could see Heero's dedication to the cause oozing from every pore. "Okay, well, time to give you a dose of childhood, Heero. I think you need it bad."
Duo led the way to one of the indoor fountains. Positioning Heero in front of him, he sat down on the rim. Looking nonchalant, Duo stretched and leaned back on his hands. Almost languidly, he trailed one hand in the water.
"Damn! My fricken' ring just fell off!" Duo exclaimed suddenly and began a frantic search under the water of the fountain. "Give me a hand, man!" He begged Heero.
Heero turned and raised eyebrows curiously as he leaned over the edge and looked for Duo's ring. Duo pointed under the surface at piles of change scattered over the cement bottom. "I think it's right there," Duo said as his own hand scooped up the larger coins.
Heero gave their surroundings a quick glance and flushed. "Yes, there," he said flatly and scooped up his own handful. Straightening, he found Duo standing close and shielding them from people passing by as he leaned in to 'look at his ring' in Heero's hand.
"That's it!" Duo crowed in excitement. "Thanks, man! Let me dry it off."
Duo produced a dirty white rag from a pocket and wrapped Heero's change in it while deftly adding his own. Wrapping the cloth in a knot, he tucked it all back into his pocket. "I'll keep it in here. I didn't realize the things was so loose. I don't want to drop it again."
Heero nodded as if agreeing and then they were moving again and Duo was grinning.
"See, this way we don't have to use a credit card and take the chance that someone might figure out it isn't kosher," Duo explained. "Can you believe that people are stupid enough to throw money into those things? " He shook his head, perplexed.
Heero gave him a look. "They were donations to a charity for the poor," he replied. "There was a sign."
Duo rolled eyes at him. "Well, I'm poor, so you can look at it as me seeing that the money went to the right person," he snickered back as he led the way into the gaming arcade.
It was obvious that Heero wasn't comfortable even though the arcade wasn't very busy and the noise was at a minimum. Duo watched him out of the corners of his eyes as he moved among the games and decided that the young man would have probably been uncomfortable in any situation where he was in public without a good, mission oriented, reason to be there. Duo had the feeling that Heero was marking exits, sizing up the small staff, and deciding whether the risks were at acceptable levels.
"Try this one, Heero," Duo said quickly to distract him. "It's a shoot 'em up game. Gotta love them!"
Heero eyed the game and then suddenly seemed appreciative. Spaceships, laser cannons, and an enemy that needed to be blasted to smithereens appealed to most people, let alone Gundam pilots. Duo popped in the money and then stepped aside to let Heero in to operate the controls.
"I'm getting us something to drink," Duo told him. "I'll keep watching your back, don't worry. The drink machine is about six paces to your right."
Heero nodded, engrossed in the game. Duo grinned at Heero's unconscious trust.
Duo bought two sodas, balanced them on the machine, and then leaned against the side, knowing that Heero wouldn't lose the game any time soon. He watched the room over Heero's shoulder, glancing at the well known game only when Heero had bouts of fighting intensity.
"Isn't it nice to blow up people who aren't really going to die?" Duo said after awhile. Heero grunted agreement. "It's relaxing," Duo continued. "I know that sounds weird, but I can get all of my bad emotions, all of my frustrations, out in a game like this." He glanced at the employees lounging in a corner and talking. "It's a good place for not getting bothered too. They don't care what your story is as long as you have something to feed the machine with. Hell, probably half their business is kids skipping out of classes and street people that don't have any where else to go. For a couple of coins, you get to be in a nice, warm place, have some fun, and not have to worry about what's out there ready to jump you on the street."
Heero glanced briefly at Duo and then asked, eyes back on the game. "You lived on the street before becoming a pilot? How long... why?"
Duo sighed and then leaned his head back to rest against the thrumming machine as he stared at the moldy ceiling. He replied in a tight voice, "Things happen, ya know? Parents go away, get killed, can't cope.... Suddenly, you're a kid wandering around alone on a slum street and nobody in sight who cares. I... I didn't even see her go... don't remember her name, my name, anything. Maybe it's shock or maybe I just don't want to know, but... my life seemed to start right then and there, like the street coughed me up, birthed me, Duo, the street kid. If Solo and his gang hadn't taken me in, my life probably would have ended right then and there too." Duo scowled and wiped at his eyes. "How long? Don't really know that either. Seemed like forever I was running with that gang and then, the plague came and wiped out most of us, Solo included. Those that made it... I took care of them, saw they had things to eat, but it was hard, too hard. We were on the edge of not living. I-I decided to hit an Oz supply depot. "Duo grinned mirthlessly. "Me and a couple of kids. Not too smart, right? We got caught, of course, and then they decided we were rats and our holes had to be torn down. They shipped us off to an orphanage and I stayed there a couple of years."
Duo watched Heero play, saw something sparking in the young man's dark blue eyes. Sympathy? It was nice to think so, Duo thought. "What about you?" Duo asked. "Do I get your sob story?"
Heero grunted, "You haven't finished yours."
Duo shrugged. "Yeah, well, we're here for fun. The rest is pretty depressing, even more than the beginning. Let's just say it all went to hell and I ended up trying to sneak off that stinking L2 space station on a sweeper ship. I got caught and the rest is what it is..."
Heero frowned and then he said, "My story isn't so interesting. I don't know where I was born, who my parents were, or why I didn't have them. I was taken in by a man and trained in his line of work. After a job went bad, I found myself alone. A very interesting man found me and took me in after that, training me and enhancing my physical development to enter into his line of work."
Duo turned and blinked at Heero. "Short and not really teaming with actual facts. Don't try and sell it as a bestseller, Heero-buddy."
"It's not something that I want everyone hearing," Heero replied, meaning the employees in the arcade.
Duo smiled. "Okay, later then. When we are in a more private place, you can fill in your story with an actual story."
Heero smirked. Duo laughed to see it.
They played there for awhile, only making brief comments, and then Duo stretched, yawned, and called it a day. "Better get back to the car and Wu Fei, before he decides we're M.I.A. and takes off," he said.
Heero checked his watch with a start. "I didn't realize that we were here that long." He seemed bothered by that, as if some internal timing mechanism had failed him.
"Time flies when you're having fun," Duo quipped as he lead the way out of the arcade. When Heero began to walk quickly, Duo held him back with a hand on his arm. "Don't walk like a damned soldier," Duo hissed without dropping his pleasant smile. "We're kids who decided to skip school and hang out at the mall. We are not in any hurry."
Heero's jaw tightened, a clear sign of his impatience, but he followed Duo's direction, slowing his steps and keeping to Duo's pace.
"Don't glare," Duo told him in a pleasant tone, "Look bored
with it all."
Heero looked aside at Duo and saw Duo slumping as he walked and eying the store
fronts and people passing by as if he were about to fall asleep from boredom.
"We've spent too long here," Heero grumbled. "If a mission came in while we were gone-"
"Oz isn't going anywhere, Heero," Duo replied as they exited the mall and started walking back towards the car. "A few hours won't make any difference." He gave Heero a nudge in the ribs. "Come on, Heero! Don't start feeling guilty that you had some fun!" He eyed the street and then tensed unhappily. "Besides," he continued, "Sometimes just wandering around presents opportunities when you least expect them."
Heero followed his line of sight and grunted in surprise. There were several military transports and troops blocking an intersection. Citizens were turning and quickly exiting the area and cars were being diverted while a larger transport, covered in a tarp, was being maneuvered down the street going north.
Duo eyed Heero and his grin was hard edged, his eyes the eyes of a soldier now, and not a young man finding innocent fun in a mall. "You or me?"
Heero considered the situation and then replied firmly, "You. I'll do a visual."
Duo leaned in close to Heero, draping an arm over his shoulders and giving him a hard, half hug. Releasing him just as quickly, he laughed, "I won't let you down. I'm Mr. Invisible, you'll see."
Heero seemed flustered for a split second and then he was clamping down on whatever reaction he was having and walking away without a word. Duo stared after him, not sure what to think, wondering if that had been a rejection of sorts. He made an exasperated sound, knowing that he couldn't take the time to figure it out, and began walking nonchalantly up the street towards the transport. He hoped that he could formulate an intelligent plan before he reached the troops guarding it.
There was a slight breeze. Duo had an idea. Reaching into his pocket, he took out the rag, shaking out the last of the coins from it as he pulled it from his pocket. He made a show of wiping his nose and then, as he reached the transport, he let go of it and watched it flutter underneath the vehicle.
"Rats!" Duo exclaimed and dashed after it without seeming concern for the guns that spun to follow him and take aim. "My mother is going to be pissed if I loose that!"
"Hey, you!" A soldier barked. "Get away from there!"
Duo made a snatch for the blowing rag, just avoiding the grabbing hand of a man close by, and made a show of scrambling on hands and knees under the transport and grabbing his rag. He crouched for a moment and looked around, as if suddenly confused as to where he was.
A gun leveled at his head and an angry soldier ordered, "Get out, now!"
Duo widened his eyes as if he were frozen with fear. "D-Don't hurt me, mister!" he quavered. "I-I didn't mean nothing'! I'm s-sorry!"
"Hey! Don't start crying, you little idiot! Just get out of there before you get hurt!" The man said more sympathetically. "You should know better than to mess around a place like this. Why the hell aren't you in school anyway?"
Duo replied, shaking convincingly and clutching his rag to his chest. "Don't tell, okay? My mom, she'd be real mad! I'll go back... I was... you know... just having some fun."
Another soldier snickered. "Let him go, Daniels, before he pees his pants."
The transport was still slowly rolling and one of the large tires was approaching Duo where he crouched. The soldier hadn't noticed yet. "Look, kid, just get out of there, okay?"
Another soldier came striding up, the bars on his sleeves marking him for their commanding officer. The soldiers came to attention smartly as he barked, "What the hell is going on back here?"
"Kid was chasing something that blew under the transport, sir," a soldier explained. "He's too afraid to come out."
A new, hard face bent and peered at Duo. That face noted the approaching tire that was almost on top of Duo. "Get the hell out!' the man snarled, grabbed Duo by the collar, and jerked him out from under the transport. Duo made sure to tangle with the man so that they both went down in a heap on the hard surface of the road.
"You little shit!" the man raged as he untangled himself and stood up, looking as if he were in pain.
Duo held out some papers, trembling and speaking in a very timid, frightened voice. "You-you dropped these, mister."
The man snatched them back, looked at them briefly as if he were horrified that he had almost lost them, and then stuffed them back into his pocket as he gestured at his men. "You and you, get HIM out of here."
"Detention?" One of the soldiers asked.
"Hell, no, we don't have time for that!" The commander retorted. "Just get him off the damned street!"
A man took Duo's arm and he was escorted to the sidewalk. Duo made noises as if he were trying to not cry. One of the men actually patted him on a shoulder and murmured a reassurance before they left him.
Duo hurried away from the scene, with the haste of a frightened child, and then slowed and carefully backtracked until he found Heero. The young man looked upset. They both made their way downtown and didn't speak until the soldiers were far behind them.
"How was that being 'invisible'," Heero asked at last and his voice sounded as upset as he looked. "What did you hope to gain?"
Duo scowled at him. "I got the I.D. number off the transport, smelled suit fuel, and managed to lift the transport papers off the commanding officer, read them, and give them back to him without him being the wiser. They are transporting a new suit, a prototype, to a manufacturing facility."
Heero blinked at him and then he said stonily, "You have very unorthodox methods."
Duo looked at him keenly and then grinned, "Aw, Heero! You were worried about me, weren't you?" It was a guess, just a joke to get a rise out of the man who had misjudged him, but Duo was shocked at how Heero reacted. The man turned red and then looked away as if scrambling to find a way to deny it. "Jeez!" Duo said quietly. "You WERE worried about me, weren't you, man? It's okay, Heero. You gotta know, that I went through some pretty intense training. I know what I'm doing."
"I saw that today," Heero managed and then wouldn't say anything more, but Duo didn't mind that. He needed the time to think, time to try and figure out what this new revelation meant.