Disclaimer: Yadda, Yadda, Yadda... I wish I could sell this, but I don't own it, so I can't. Don't sue me you big meanies!
Warning: Yaoi, male with male sex. Hugging and cuddling of males with males. Males having a good time and hanging out with other males. Hmm, dark clouds of angst and violence. The usual.
No, you don't have to read the others to know what's going on. It's just love, ya know?
Kracken: Hey! Review me! I wanna know what you think!
Duo: You just want them to stroke your ego, you pervert!
Kracken: *Grins* well, that too. It's the only payment I get!
"You want to what, Heero?" Quatre paused with a frying pan in one hand and a spatula in the other. The blonde Arabian was making breakfast, looking tired and impatient with the pilot of Wing.
"Take breakfast up to Duo," Heero replied uncomfortably. He was dressed in a loose t-shirt and a pair of drawstring shorts, feet bare on the cold hardwood floors. His dark, unruly hair was a wild tangle over his intense eyes.
"All right," Quatre muttered. "Duo likes extra butter on his griddle cakes. Don't give him too much syrup, the boy is hyper enough without all that sugar. Take him orange juice and make him drink it. Milk too, every drop. Tell him that I noticed that he ate a whole bag of potato chips and two candy bars last night instead of his vegetables at dinner. He has to make up for that today. Also...," Quatre paused for emphasis as he carefully finished. "Don't take too much up to him. When he likes something, like griddle cakes, he'll eat them until he vomits. It's a quirk from when he was on the streets of L2 and was used to starving. He's never overcome the fear that he might not have any food tomorrow, so he stuffs his face while he has the food in front of him."
Heero absorbed the information as if he were preparing for a mission, nodding solemnly at each set of directions. His reply, when Quatre had stopped talking, was, "He's thin. He needs to eat more."
"More of what's good for him and not all at once," Quatre retorted. "Dr. G gave me a list of his dietary requirements, tailored to his particular metabolism." Quatre looked disapproving. "The man knows Duo has a penchant for not taking care of himself and he wanted to make certain the pilot of his Gundam remains in ‘working order at optimum capacity', his words, not mine."
Heero nodded. "I was taught my bodily requirements when I first began training. It is logical to keep the body at the highest level of efficiency to complete missions successfully."
"Do you talk to Duo that way, too?"
That question caught Heero off guard. Quatre's blue eyes were sad, sympathetic. "It's okay to want to take breakfast up to him just to be nice, Heero, not only because of some mission requirement."
Heero went grim, not wanting Quatre to know that he had hit a very sore spot inside of him. "Duo understands," was all he could find to say, yet it said everything. The others always saw the fun loving, irreverent baka, Duo. They didn't know that, under that, he was just as devoted to the missions as Heero himself.
"I'm glad," Quatre said as he turned back to the stove with pan and spatula. "I'll make Duo a tray and you can take it up, all right?"
"Acceptable." Heero replied and sat at the kitchen table to wait.
"Ummy! Ummy!" Duo mumbled around a griddle cake. "Qtre's t bst!"
"Hn?"
Duo swallowed and smiled. "I said, Quatre's the best! You'd think with all those servants he wouldn't even know what a kitchen looked like but he takes to it like a little housewife. It's so funny that he can blow Oz ass straight to Hell and then complain about laundry left on the floor and wrinkles in the sheets!" Duo paused thoughtfully, a forkful of pancake poised on the way to his mouth. "I never had that before, even in the orphanage. Someone taking care of me, I mean; seeing I eat, keeping my clothes clean, and worrying about..."
"What?" Heero was perched on the edge of the bed. He didn't sit cross legged or in any relaxed position. He was ramrod straight, feet planted on the floor as if in preparation to spring and do something, or someone, some damage. He even slept that way sometimes, the ever vigilant soldier.
"Oh... just me," Duo finished lamely and began eating again.
Heero wanted to say, 'Let me take care of you,' but he couldn't. It sounded too weak, too needy, and too insulting to Duo. Instead, he said gruffly, "We're men. We can take care of ourselves. Quatre should be preparing for missions, not keeping house."
"We're men," Duo corrected and looked sad, "because we never had a chance to be boys. I know I can take care of myself but it's just...nice, ya know, having someone else do it. Besides, Quatre loves it. It gives him a chance to relieve some pressure from his Space Heart. It makes him feel our troubles all the time, he told me. Taking care of us makes us happy and lets him rest."
"I was ordered to make certain that you drank the juice and the milk," Heero said, noticing that Duo was avoiding both.
"Quatre's orders?" Duo grinned. "You both know I drink coffee in the morning."
"Coffee doesn't have any nutritional value whatsoever," Heero argued.
"Great, isn't it?" Duo chuckled and then became more serious as he sipped at his juice. "Did Quatre ask why you were bringing me breakfast?"
"No." Heero reached out and gently touched the large bruise along Duo's cheek. Duo shivered, but held still under those rough fingers, fingers that could bend steel. Heero said thoughtfully. "I think Quatre thought that I was trying to be... romantic."
"Really?" Duo snickered. "He doesn't know you as well as he thinks."
"Is that what couples do, bring each other food to their bed?" Heero wondered.
"Ah, yeah, sometimes."
"Strange."
"Yeah, isn't it?"
Heero lowered his hand and stood up. "Your muscles need to stretch, Duo. Lying in bed won't make them stop hurting."
Duo scowled. "You could have taken it easy on me!" he accused. "I am just learning!"
"I did take it easy on you," Heero replied. "Next time, follow my directions and you won't get hurt so badly."
"Yeah, I'll remember that next time I have you on top with me kissing the floor!" Duo finished his juice with a gulp and then mopped up the last of the syrup with the last bit of griddle cake. He ate it appreciatively and then licked his fingers. Heero watched Duo's tongue intently. Duo noticed and smirked at him. "I'm not up for that, Baby, so don't get hot in the pants, 'K?"
Heero shrugged irritably. "If you are done eating, we have a full schedule of maintenance and repairs to get through today. Moving about will make your body heal more quickly. Please, get up and get dressed."
"Please?" Duo blinked and smiled. "You MUST love me to say something like that."
Heero gave Duo an intense look. "I do."
"Milk," Quatre said as he balanced on Deathscythe and leaned into the cockpit with a small, chilled, thermal cup. "I noticed that you had a full cup on the breakfast tray when I went to get it from your room. I thought I could trust Heero..."
"Aww!" Duo scowled. "I'm not three, Quatre! I need coffee!"
Quatre stared. "What happened to your face?"
Duo touched the livid bruise self consciously. "I didn't do what I was told to do."
"What's that mean?"
Duo shrugged and looked uncomfortable as he took the thermos and uncapped the top. "Hey, don't worry about it, 'K? I can take it."
Quatre was confused and worried. His heart told him that Duo wasn't upset, just embarrassed. That didn't make any sense to the pilot of Sandrock. If Heero was harming the braided boy...
Duo finished the milk and handed the thermos back to Quatre. He wiped off his milk mustache and grinned. "Thanks, Mom, I feel so much better!"
Quatre scowled, but his beautiful, baby face made the expression look like a debutante pout. "You need to eat more," he replied defensively. "I don't want you to collapse in Deathscythe when I need you to cover me in battle."
"All right, Q- man!" Duo laughed. "Don't get your knickers in a snit! I didn't mean anything by it. You are a man's man... Trowa's man, right?" Duo laughed louder at Quatre's deep blush.
"It isn't a joke that you need to take better care of yourself, Duo," Quatre replied seriously. "You can't live on candy bars and soda pop and push yourself day and night the way you do. You're the only pilot that can't ..."
"Can't what? Pretend that I'm not a boy who should be still in school and having his mom and dad take care of him?" Duo's expression was pinched. "I find it very hard to do that sometimes, Quatre, especially when I see other people my age who do have that. I grew up with nothing and nobody. I went from that to piloting a Gundam in a damn war! Sometimes...I just wanna be a kid, a normal kid. Guess that's why I do the things I do; read manga, drink soda, and sing to pop songs on the radio." He paused as he handed back the thermos, avoiding looking at Quatre's sympathetic expression as the blonde Arabian clutched the thermos against his heart. "Thanks, Quatre, for looking out for me."
"It's okay," Quatre said in a small voice and then added, "You aren't the only one who feels that way, Duo. The others just hide it better."
"I know," Duo replied and then grinned maniacally again, shoving down his emotions deep inside himself until he felt comfortable again. "At least I get a bad assed toy out of the deal, right?" He caressed the controls of Deathscythe lovingly.
"Yes," Quatre smiled back gently, thinking of his beloved Sandrock. His eyes lit on Duo's bruise again. The braided boy was prickly about the subject. If he didn't want to talk about it, there was nothing Quatre could do. He tried to say something neutral, picking his words carefully. "Duo.... if you need to talk, you can come to me, all right? Sometimes, things don't go the way we thought they would..."
"Hm?" Duo blinked and then shrugged, not understanding, but still grateful, "Uh, sure Q-man, thanks."
Quatre began climbing down Deathscythe and Duo grimaced. "Now I have milk taste in my mouth!" He bent to rummage around in a compartment.
"What did Quatre want?"
Duo jerked a hand automatically towards his hidden knife, just before his mind registered Heero's voice. He huffed as he went back to his search. "Make noise or something, Baby! I almost gutted you!"
"No danger of that," Heero replied as he sat edgewise on the cockpit door. "I'm always prepared."
"Huh? Yeah, I guess you are."
Duo found his prize and grinned as he pulled a small, white bag out of the compartment. He dug something out of it and then handed it to Heero. Heero took it gingerly, squished it between his fingers, and scowled as it sprang back to form. "A new type of sealant?" he wondered skeptically.
"Naw! Gummy bears! Ya eat 'em, Baby!" Duo popped one into his mouth and moaned appreciatively. "Sweet and chewy, my favorite combination."
Heero didn't eat his, but continued to squish it between thumb and finger. "What did Quatre want?" Heero asked again.
Duo eyed him. "Did you climb all the way up here to ask me that?"
Heero scowled impatiently and handed Duo a readout. "Your computer diagnostic of Deathscythe. Good, but not good enough."
Duo became as serious as Heero in an instant, but he continued to chew on gummi bears as he poured over the readings. "That gyro...I took a good hit there last time. I may have to pull an all-nighter to get it ready before the mission."
"May?" Heero growled.
"All right! WILL have to. My life depends on this Gundam working perfectly, Heero," Duo assured the intense boy, "I'm not about to skimp on the repairs before a fight."
"Good. Now, what did Quatre want?"
"That's three times you've refused to drop the subject, Hee-man," Duo said pointedly. "Are you jealous?"
"I'm in need of information and you are not supplying it."
"Jealous," Duo affirmed with a smirk.
Heero glared.
"All right," Duo sighed as he chewed another gummi bear. "He came to make me drink my milk. Pretty embarrassing, huh? That guy doesn't know when just helping out ends and freakish obsessiveness starts, ya know?"
"Hn."
"And that means...?"
"I won't shoot him...yet," Heero grunted and began climbing down Deathscythe again.
"I think he was joking," Duo said to a gummi bear, "but, with Heero, it's hard to tell." He popped the bear into his mouth and began humming a pop tune as he started adjustments on the controls.
"Damn! Crap! Mother puss bucket!"
"......." Trowa hummed and gave Duo an unreadable look as he gently pressed into Duo's ribs with his slender fingers.
"Owwww! What are you, secretly working for Oz?" Duo demanded with a red face as he panted through the pain "If it's information you want-"
"Not broken," Trowa announced curtly. "Two deep bruises. Pee blood or feel fluid in your lungs, inform me."
"You're as much fun as Heero," Duo growled. "You two should get together and try and form a whole sentence some time."
Duo left Trowa's room as the man ignored him and began cleaning up his medical supplies. Duo came face to face with Heero waiting in the hallway. Duo flushed and looked down at his toes.
"What was his diagnosis?" Heero wanted to know.
"S'okay," Duo replied and then managed a weak chuckle. "He probably thinks I did it during the mission yesterday. Funny that I didn't get a scratch in that fire fight, but then I..." Duo shook his head and grimaced. "So stupid."
"Do as I say, Little Baka," Heero told him, "and you'll get hurt less."
"Less?" Duo echoed sharply.
"You know you can't match my strength," Heero replied seriously as he took Duo by the elbow and started back to their room. "You've won a few times by being unpredictable, but you can only do so much before I overcome you. You have to accept that."
"Shinigami doesn't accept anything, Baby!" Duo retorted. "I'll surprise you one day. I'll kick your ass instead of you kicking mine!"
Trowa was a shadow just inside the doorway, listening to the pair until they had gone out of hearing range. His usually impassive face darkened unpleasantly.
Heero closed his laptop and stood, stretching like a lithe panther.
"My hair is tangled in the back and my ribs are still sore," Duo complained. He was dressed in a pair of pajama bottoms without a top, his milky, white torso gleaming in the yellow light of the night lamp. His hair was a spray of chestnut all around him, a part of it caught up in the hairbrush Duo was manfully trying to drag through it.
Heero didn't reply. Duo looked over at him and saw that the Perfect Soldier hadn't understood his predicament.
"I, uh, come on, man!" Duo pleaded. "My arm won't raise enough to use the brush! Do it for me, 'k?"
"No." Heero came to the bed and stood silently while Duo glared.
"No," Duo echoed. "Why not? Ah! Wait a minute!" Duo narrowed his eyes at Heero. "You're giving me that 'look', aren't you? It's hard to tell your 'I want to kill you' look from your 'I want sex' look, but I think-"
"Duo... shut up."
Duo grinned as he pulled his brush from his hair. "Now, if I did that I couldn't tell you yes or no, now could I?"
"You're purposefully attempting to excite me, Little Baka," Heero observed as he motioned to Duo's half clothed body. "Why would you say no?"
"I can tease, can't I? I like getting you all excited." Duo touched his darkly bruised torso. "Maybe I just want to punish you some for this. Look, a nice outline of your boot right here and here. You could have killed me."
"I've been trained to kill, not wound," Heero replied quietly. He reached out a tentative hand. When Duo didn't object, he touched the bruises gently, as gently as he could, which wasn't very. Duo winced. "I didn't want to hurt you. You forced me to do it."
"Forced you?" Duo scowled and turned away as he handed Heero the brush. "For that you will brush my hair and, no, I'm not making love to you. Shinigami doesn't curl into a ball and say 'Uncle' to anybody, in bed or out of it!"
Heero shrugged. He didn't beg. He didn't cajole. He simply switched mental gears and shut off, expertly, the part of him that 'wanted' Duo. He was used to it, had been trained to do it all of his life. Duo, skittish and contrary about sex at the best of times, had refined that skill. Sex would come, eventually, if Heero was patient, he knew, so he set about the task of working the tangles out of Duo's hair with the efficiency of a soldier.
"Ow! Crap! Heero!" Duo complained as Heero pulled the brush through the knots. "Not like that! Stop it! OWWWW! Are you purposefully trying to rip my scalp out along with my hair? Go easy! No, Stop! I'm in enough pain already!"
Wu Fei, walking by their room, paused with a frown at Duo's cries. On the one hand, he felt his need for revenge on the practical joker, Duo, being satisfied, on the other hand, he felt a sense of injustice. Yuy was strong, abnormally strong. It wasn't honorable for him to be hurting the stupid, braided, boy. Wu Fei decided to interrupt, though he didn't relish going against the cold, violent Heero Yuy.
Wu Fei knocked on the door, but he didn't expect a response, so he opened it and walked in, alert for danger. He stopped when he saw the frozen tableau before him. Heero had hold of a large portion of Duo's freed, chestnut hair. It was an amazing, rippling, waterfall about them both. They were both standing, Duo's eyes wide with pain, naked to the waist, and hands raised to defend himself or his hair. Wu Fei wasn't certain which. Heero had a hair brush clenched in one hand as if he intended to beat Duo with it. His face was set grimly, eyes intense under his unruly dark hair. In one, smooth motion, he leveled a gun barrel at Wu Fei.
Wu Fei kept perfectly still and didn't say anything, knowing a twitch might activate Heero's trigger finger. It was Duo who moved first, lowering his hands to pull up his slipping pajama bottoms. He was red with embarrassment.
"Uh, Wuffie, you could knock." Duo said angrily. "We are a couple, ya know."
Wu Fei frowned darkly. "I refuse to acknowledge your 'relationship' as anything other than that of honorable friends. You will respect that choice." He paused and waited for Heero to judge him a non threat. It didn't come quickly, but when it did, Wu Fei couldn't help betraying himself with a release of breath and tension from his body.
Heero holstered his gun and let go of Duo's hair. He flipped the hairbrush onto the bed and it bounced slightly as he turned to give Wu Fei his complete attention. "What is it that you want, Wu Fei?"
"Justice," Wu Fei replied, lifting his chin arrogantly. "I heard Duo cry out. It was my duty to intervene."
Duo blinked, stupefied. "Ah, that was sure nice of you Wu Fei, but nothing's wrong."
Wu Fei noticed the black bruises on Duo's torso and face. Several were obviously boot marks. He could just discern the tread marks of a steel toed work boot. Heero wore that kind of boot. "You were defending yourself like a woman!" Wu Fei growled disapprovingly. "I know that you were trained in hand to hand combat as intensely as the rest of us. I fail to see why you were allowing Yuy-"
"He bends steel bars with his bare hands!" Duo chuckled. "I have respect for my own skin." He gave Wu Fei a curious look. "Besides, I don't think hair pulling rises to the level of an honest to goodness fight, do you? Or maybe you do. You get mad over the dumbest things, Wu Fei."
Wu Fei growled and turned back for the door. "Onna! You don't deserve justice!"
"What did he call me, Heero?" Duo wondered with a chuckle.
"Not important," Heero replied, but he had an angry edge to his voice that warned Wu Fei that he had better watch his back.
"Damn Duo anyway!" Wu Fei swore as he went towards his own room. He had always known that the braided boy was insane and this only proved it. Not only was Duo engaging in perversion, something that Wu Fei could overlook due to their constant isolation from women, but the idiot had managed to choose as his stress relief a man Wu Fei considered a ticking time bomb.
Duo needed help before something more permanent happened besides some ugly bruises. When Wu Fei thought of those ugly marks on that creamy, toned flesh... He wiped at his nose and said a prayer to Nataku. He would have to tell the others, especially Quatre. The Blonde Arabian was Duo's best friend. If anyone could get the weak, idiot boy to see sense it would be Quatre and his Space Heart.
"Quatre?"
Quatre was sitting outside on the porch on a wicker couch, tea steaming on a low wicker table and some soft music playing on a small radio beside him. It was hot, but there was a small breeze. The night stars were very clear and bright and Quatre was watching them with quiet joy.
"Duo? Couldn't sleep either?"
Duo, wearing both top and bottom to his pajamas now, slowly lowered himself onto the couch beside Quatre. He stared very hard at the darkness, face pinched. "Ribs hurt, I guess."
"What happened?" Quatre couldn't help but be blunt, hoping to surprise Duo into answering.
Duo stretched and put his hands behind his head as he shrugged. "Ducked when I should have dodged, that's all," which wasn't any answer.
Quatre looked sideways at Duo, his blue eyes serious. "Heero has a good heart, Duo, but-"
"But," Duo chuckled. "That's a big but, Quatre." Duo sighed and closed his amethyst eyes. His smile was brittle. "I love him, ya know? I respect him, too. I want him to feel both of those things for me. I guess...I guess I try too hard, do things I know I can't do with him. I don't know what Dr. J did to him, or at least not most of it, but he's not a normal fifteen year old boy, Quatre. He's...he's very strong and very...emotional, but not in a good way. He gets emotional about duty, fighting, missions, and just being a good soldier. He wants me to be the same way. I try, really I do. Other things, things that are important to me...I just can't make him see the point. So, I work with him on the Gundams, I train with him, and I go on missions. I do all of that so that he keeps, ya know, wanting me around. Otherwise, our relationship is pretty much a wash. I still have trouble...uh, crap, Quatre, It's hard to talk about stuff like this. Men aren't supposed to."
Quatre had been silent while Duo rambled, making mental notes, trying to make a picture that he could understand. He opened his Space Heart and let it tell him what to do with the braided pilot beside him. Very slowly, so as not to startle skittish Duo, he slipped an arm around the pilot's shoulders. Duo looked at Quatre questioningly, but he didn't resist as Quatre slowly pulled Duo against him. With light fingers, Quatre caressed the side of Duo's face.
Duo sighed and involuntarily leaned into the caress as if Quatre were offering him a slice of Heaven. It made Quatre's Space Heart ache. How could he not have known just how needy his friend was?
Duo murmured, sounding a little embarrassed. "Feels good, Quatre."
Quatre held Duo, smoothed his hair, rubbed his earlobe, massaged a shoulder, and slipped a hand under the shirt of Duo's pajamas to rub his shaking back. Ribs to count, Quatre thought disapprovingly, and two raised areas where the bruises were.
"It's all right," Quatre soothed, "I can feel your pain. You've gone too long without a gentle touch, a mother's love, or a father's kindness. You thought Heero would give you those things, but then you found out that he couldn't, am I right? He's rough, a soldier. He can love. He loves you, Duo, but his hands kill and there's nothing of gentleness in them."
"So stupid!" Duo sniffled, hiding his face against Quatre's shoulder. "I know he loves me. I know he wants to treat me right, but it just goes wrong every time he tries! Earlier, I just-just wanted him to brush my hair! How could 'Perfect Soldier' mess that up, huh? But he did. He went at it like he was running a rake through weeds! He knew he was hurting me, but...he didn't know what to do about it. He-He just kept trying to finish, to complete his mission of brushing my hair. You know, sometimes he takes a bit of my hair and just touches it like it's the most fascinating thing on earth. That's the gentlest thing he can do with me. The rest is calloused hands, vise fingers, hard as a rock muscles, and a face that looks the same whether-whether he's getting some or he's kicking Oz butt!"
"But you love him," Quatre replied. It wasn't a question. His heart knew the truth.
"Yeah, of course!" Duo said with another sniffle. "None of that stuff I just mentioned makes me hate him or anything. I knew what he was when...well, when I fell for him. That's okay. It's just that....sometimes...I just want so badly to be a kid and to have someone treat me like one; to do what you're doing right now. Once in awhile, Sister Helen used to touch me, hold me, that kind of stuff, but, aside from curling up in a pile with the other flea bitten orphans, I was always on my own. You probably think I'm weird now, right, going to pieces on you and all? I guess I've been under too much stress. Makes me stupid."
"I won't tell anyone," Quatre promised, knowing Duo was about to ask that.
Duo sniffed yet again. "Thanks. Heero... well, ya have to understand. We both had a rough life. He just can't handle emotions too well. That's why he sticks them in categories and draws out mission statements to figure out how to express them. Don't go around thinking he's cold to me or anything. He's the best, really."
Quatre's hand touched the bruises. Duo winced. "What about these? Did he express himself by hurting you?"
Duo sat up abruptly, startled, and then angry at himself. "Those were my fault, not Heero's! I didn't follow his directions! He told me what to do and I was a stupid baka and thought I knew better. Quatre, you have to believe that Heero would never intentionally do something to hurt me. He just doesn't know how to pull his kicks and punches."
"That isn't the way love is supposed to be," Quatre said emphatically. "You know that, Duo."
Duo managed a lopsided grin. "We're special cases, Quatre. YOU know that. We can't even begin to hope for all the normal things other people take for granted." He grew serious suddenly. "Don't say anything to Heero, 'K? More than love, or anything else, I want Heero's respect. I know I can't be his equal physically, but I can show him that I'm tough and that he can count on me on a mission. It just wouldn't look good if he knew I'd come crying to you like some little girl, ya know?"
"I know," Quatre sighed. He tried to caress Duo again, but Duo backed away, grinning once more.
"That's enough," Duo assured him. "I think I've got the wimpies under control again. Duo Maxwell is back to pretending he's a man again."
As Duo stood and stretched, Quatre tried one more time, "We respect you, Duo. We won't think you're a...a wimp if you need our help."
Duo looked down at the blonde Arabian and flushed. "I don't know how you could help me with this. It's kind of my own cross to bear."
"We're your friends. We'll find a way to help you."
Duo frowned and shrugged. "Okay, Quatre. Thanks. That means a lot. You guys are the only family I have. If I can't count on you, then I'm really messed up, I guess."
Quatre watched Duo walk back into the safe house, one arm wrapped about his sore torso. The boy wasn't going to do anything to remedy the situation between himself and Heero, Quatre realized. If he wouldn't, then it was up to him and the others to make certain that Heero Yuy didn't hurt Duo again.
"Heero! Lighten up, man! Your fingers are cutting off my circulation! No, don't do that, that hurts! Just...Just stay where you are! I'll do all the work, 'K? Now, don't get frustrated!"
Duo was speaking loudly. It carried into the hallway and caught Wu Fei's ear as he was passing by with Trowa. The Chinese boy nodded to Trowa and Trowa nodded back as he raced down the stairs with an acrobat's grace to fetch Quatre. It didn't take him long to come racing back up the stairs with the blonde Arabian in tow, blue eyes anxious.
"You told us to report to you if we heard sounds of abuse again," Wu Fei explained grimly. "Time for some Justice for Heero Yuy."
"Yes, I think you're right," Quatre said angrily. "We can't let this go on any longer!"
"Heero!" Duo's voice exclaimed, startling them all. "That hurts! Get off! I said, get off!"
Wu Fei was the first through the door. The others were close on his heels, all of them ready for a fight, but also afraid, to a man, of what Heero might do to defend himself. They were expecting an abused Duo, maybe huddled at a violent, angry Heero's feet. They weren't prepared to see two naked figures on the bed and two sets of eyes looking at them in complete shock.
"What-" Heero was on the bottom, legs thrown up around Duo's waist. Duo was between Heero's legs, his cock buried up to the hilt inside of him, hands on either side of Heero's head, and face bent close. Heero reached for a gun he didn't have, realized who had burst in on them, and then began to curse at the other pilots. "Kisama! Get out before-"
But it was already too late. Duo was naked and surrounded by males. Even Heero, beneath him, was suddenly a threat as Duo reverted back to the abused child he had been and began to scream. He yanked himself out of Heero and tried to shove himself off of the man. His hair, the subject of the earlier argument, was still pinned beneath Heero's shoulder. Trapped, Duo went berserk. He reached under the pillow and pulled out his knife. At that moment, Heero wasn't the man he loved and trusted, he was a 'customer' setting him up for a gang bang.
Heero dodged, just, and the tip of the knife slashed the pillow, before he was using his strength to yank Duo's hair free and shove the pilot of Deathscythe off of him. He rolled as Duo went sprawling on the floor and then came up on his feet, ready to defend himself.
Duo was facing the others now, still naked and knife held out defensively. His wild, amethyst eyes didn't see the room around him or register the fact that he knew their faces. They were the 'johns' from his childhood and he was going to kill them all before they could put their filthy hands on him again.
Heero, inhumanly silent, managed to come up behind Duo. Eyes intense and angry at the fiasco, his hands grabbed Duo as fast as a striking snake, intending to pull the boy back against his chest and immobilize him.
As soon as Duo felt Heero's fingers touch him he whirled, body spinning, foot coming around to land solidly in the side of Heero's head. Taken completely by surprise, Heero Yuy dropped to the floor unconscious. Duo changed his grip on the knife so that he could stab downwards and he began to bend.
"No, don't!" Quatre exclaimed as Wu Fei and Trowa began to spring forward to intervene. He held them back with his hands and they looked at him as if he, Quatre, had lost his mind along with Duo. "Let me handle this. I know what to do!" Quatre told them quickly.
"Just, step back. Give Duo some room."
Duo had paused at Quatre's shout. He crouched, half bent over and face white and twitching, as he watched Wu Fei and Trowa deliberately step back to the doorway. When only Quatre remained, Duo fixed his gaze on the pilot of Sandrock, a mad, warning glint in his eyes.
Quatre forced himself to relax, as if everything were fine and Duo wasn't threatening him with a razor sharp knife. "Hey, Duo? It's nearly noon time. I was just wondering what you wanted for lunch. Sorry to barge in without knocking." Duo narrowed his eyes, but he didn't comprehend yet. "I noticed that you skipped your juice this morning. You'll have to make up for that. I won't let you get away with eating only chocolate sugar busters with sugar on top! The sheets need changing too, especially after your," Quatre blushed. "Well, your afternoon get together with Heero. Now, why don't you go put on some clothes and come downstairs and help me out in the kitchen. It is your turn to do the dishes this week and you've been shirking it. That means extra work for me and I don't appreciate it, you lazy boy."
Duo blinked, suddenly looking contrite. Comprehension flooded his face. "Sorry, Q-man! Didn't mean to make you get dish pan hands or anything!" He stopped, blinked again, and then looked down at the knife in his hand. He shivered. "What am I doing?" It was then that he saw Heero stretched out at his feet. "Baby!" Duo shrieked and fell to his knees, knife clattering away from him as he grabbed Heero up against his chest. "Tell me I didn't stab you this time, Baby!"
"This time?" Wu Fei growled, disgusted by the whole episode.
"You kicked him," Trowa explained quietly. "Concussion is likely."
"Kicked him?" Duo's eyes went wide as Heero began to wake up.
"Hn," Heero grumbled as he sat up on his own and rubbed his head. "You simply followed your training. I told you that it would become reflexive after enough practice bouts."
"Guess I just didn't believe that a little old kick was going to stop Heero Yuy," Duo admitted, but his awe at his accomplishment was quickly replaced by worry. "I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?"
"No. You will need more training sessions before you are proficient enough to do me any permanent damage."
Wu Fei glared at Trowa and Quatre. "Training sessions?" He glared at Duo and Heero. "You've been training in hand to hand combat together? Is that where you received all your bruises, Maxwell?"
"Yeah," Duo said slowly, recalling his nakedness again and beginning to cringe. Heero was quicker this time. He snagged a robe, from a tangle of their clothes on the floor, and forced it around Duo's thin body. Duo sank into it gratefully and huddled against Heero as he complained in a small voice, "Do you guys mind? I mean, why are you in here? I think, I remember, me and Heero, we were..."
"We thought Heero was abusing you," Quatre explained. "The bruises...the shouting..."
"Duo likes to shout," Heero explained as he slowly climbed to his feet and went to pull on his clothes without even the smallest hint of self consciousness. "He thinks he needs to fill the silence when I refuse to." He frowned. "I would never harm Duo unless it was called for."
"Called for?" Wu Fei echoed.
"Missions sometimes require sacrifice," Heero explained. "Duo understands that."
Duo was coming back fully to himself, the back and forth banter reassuring his hair trigger mind that he was with his friends and not back on the streets of L2. He looked at Quatre, understanding now. "You thought Heero was hurting me?"
"Yes," Quatre replied sheepishly. "You were so upset..."
"Were you?" Heero asked, suddenly alert. "Why were you upset, Duo?"
Duo stammered and then glared at Quatre. "Thanks a lot, man!" Quatre was instantly contrite.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Duo! I've betrayed your confidence in me!"
"Quatre, you should respect me," Duo said with pain lacing his voice. "I'm not dumb enough to let anyone hurt me."
"Leave," Heero ordered abruptly. Everyone blinked at him. "Leave!" he repeated in a dangerous tone.
They filed out slowly. Quatre looked back at Duo sadly. "Sorry," he said softly and closed the door behind the retreating pilots.
Heero stood staring down at Duo and then he kneeled and faced the pilot of Deathscythe.
"Tell me. Now."
Duo swallowed. He hugged his robe around himself. "I guess I flipped out there, Heero. Sorry about that. Kind of embarrassing, really. I could have hurt you bad with my knife...." Duo paused when Heero very carefully put a finger to his lips.
"Forgiven. Now, tell me."
Duo sighed. "I want you to respect me."
"I do."
Duo was amazed. "You do? You aren't just saying that?"
"You know I don't say what I don't mean."
"Yeah, I guess I do know that," Duo sighed and then he said quickly, before he lost his nerve, "You're just really hard and rough, Heero. Sometimes, I want some..," Duo's face twisted in self loathing. "God! You're going to think I'm a prissy girl!"
Heero gave Duo his most intense gaze as he gripped Duo's chin and kept the boy from turning away from him. "Tell me."
Duo closed his eyes, not wanting to see Heero's face as he replied. "I just want some gentleness, a soft touch and all."
Heero lowered his hand, realizing that his grip was hard and bruising. "Show me, Duo. Show me how."
Duo shook his head sharply. "I don't think you can learn this, Heero."
Heero scowled. "You're the one not respecting me now."
"Sorry," Duo looked away nervously. "I can't right now, I had that scare and all, but later, after everyone has gone to sleep and you've fixed the lock on the door, I'll show you, 'K?"
"Yes," Heero agreed and nodded, very serious.
Duo managed a shaky grin. "I hope you're ready for this. I'm going to be as tough on you as you are on me when we train. There's no room for slackers, Heero Yuy."
"Respect my abilities," Heero retorted, offended.
"Respect mine in return," Duo replied. "And we'll be a match made in heaven."
*** Owari***