Disclaimer: I don't own them, but I can have fun with them if I want to!
Warnings: Guys having sex with guys. Heero angst. Wuffie nose bleeds. Duo craziness. Violence. Sappiness. Language. Happily ever afters.
"It's a present," Duo said gruffly as he tossed a plain, brown box into Heero's hands and turned to pick through his tool chest.
Heero held the box gingerly, staring at the pilot's back. His slim lover was nervous and embarrassed, that was clear, but the reason for it put Heero's senses on edge. "Have I angered you in some way?"
Duo looked over his shoulder, three foot braid swinging and pixie face surprised as he grinned. "Not lately. It's not a live bomb, Heero! Just open it."
"You don't give presents," Heero persisted suspiciously.
"And you give too many," Duo retorted. "It's not really that kind of present anyway. It's a tool I want you to use while I'm on my mission."
"Tool?" That interested Heero. He loved tools of any kind. They made him more efficient.
"The way to a man's heart...," Duo sighed as Heero began opening the package.
Heero pulled out a hand sized ball. He froze, staring in shock at the metallic gleam and the blinking lights. "A motion detonator," he whispered.
Duo turned back around and approached Heero. "Yeah," he replied matter-of-factly and took it from Heero. "Like I said, it isn't a 'live' bomb. It doesn't have a charge, but," he tapped it and it sprang open like a flower, "it still reacts like it does."
Duo reset the bomb and it folded into a neat ball once more. "I don't understand," Heero said at last. "What use would I have for a motion detonator without a charge?"
"Take it," Duo told him and held it out on the palm of his hand. Heero reached out and took hold of the bomb. It sprang open immediately again and he was left holding the spread, metallic flower of death. "It's very sensitive," Duo explained. "So am I. While I'm gone, I want you to practice with that until you can touch it, stroke it, kiss it even, without making it detonate. It can't get bruised or frightened. It can't try and kill you when you accidentally get too rough," Duo added with a pointed look at Heero's bandaged leg.
Heero put the detonator back into the box and held it against him. In the shadow of Deathscythe, he cautiously leaned towards Duo and kissed his lips. Duo accepted the kiss, smiled, and moved closer. Heero didn't try and hold Duo or make any other move. He let Duo slide arms around his hard, lean body, and it was Duo who made the kiss something more than a simple kiss, teasing Heero's lips open so that he could make love to the pilot of Wing with his tongue.
"Enough!" Wu Fei snarled as he passed them by on his way to a truck full of supplies. "We are behind schedule!"
Heero broke the kiss and took a step back, suddenly the soldier again. "He's right. We've already said our goodbyes."
Duo smirked. "Yeah, all night. I'll have to sleep on the way to our safe house."
Heero smiled. It was small, but intense, his blue eyes boring into Duo's, saying everything he couldn't say out loud. Duo grinned in return.
"Piece of cake, Heero," Duo said reassuringly. "There and back in a few days. Nothing to worry about."
"No, nothing to worry about," Heero agreed and stepped back another step. He gripped the box tighter and heard the detonator spring open. "I'll have this mastered by the time you return."
"I'm counting on it," Duo replied and then he was walking away after Wu Fei, braid swinging jauntily behind him.
"Bring him back in one piece, Wu Fei," Heero growled under his breath, "or I will kill you!"
Wu Fei glanced briefly at his partner as he threaded the truck down the narrow, rutted road that went up the mountainside. After fighting for fifteen minutes over whether the radio should be off or on, Wu Fei had solved the problem by simply jerking it out until the wires snapped. Tossing it onto the seat between them, he had said simply, threateningly, "Not another word or movement out of you, Maxwell, or that will be you!"
Duo had blinked and grinned wide, as if Wu Fei had cracked a particularly good joke, and then he had curled up, neat as a cat, and gone to sleep.
How does he do that? Wu Fei thought. The seats were narrow and uncomfortable. Tucked into a ball along the door, Duo was breathing heavily, heart shaped face relaxed, and braid clutched in one hand like a security blanket. He looked as happy as if he were warm in bed at... Wu Fei frowned... well, not home. None of them had a real home.
Snow was beginning to fall, contrary to all weather reports, and that didn't bode well for their mission. Jinxed already, Wu Fei thought superstitiously. He had never been on a mission with Duo before. The others had told horror stories of his undisciplined, mad behavior, and he had avoided it at all costs. Unfortunately, with Heero Yuy wounded, there hadn't been time to argue or train someone else. Duo knew the system that had to be hacked, knew the bombs that had to be placed, and knew the layout of the base. None of the others qualified. It didn't seem possible to Wu Fei that so much knowledge and ability could reside in the bundle of energy that was Duo Maxwell.
Pulling up to the cabin, Wu Fei was glad that it was in one piece and not too old. It was tucked tight up against the side of a mountain and evergreen trees blocked it from any casual view. The last two miles had been without a road. The truck had ground through mud and snow, heavy metal grille pushing over even small trees without slowing due to its reinforced frame and special tires. The snow would cover their tracks nicely, but that was its only saving grace. It was now falling very hard and the sky was darkening with a promise of more.
"Wake up, idiot!" Wu Fei snarled as he shoved at Duo, his temper rising with the level of the snowfall. "Help me unload the truck!"
Duo started and Wu Fei was surprised when the boy became instantly awake. He narrowed eyes at Wu Fei, tense, appraising, tightening in every muscle as if prepared to spring. Wu Fei sat very still, still irritable, but suddenly understanding why Duo Maxwell could be attracted to Heero Yuy. They both had hair triggers and the same flat, cold, stare that let a man know he was about to become a victim if he wasn't very careful. Wu Fei was a careful man, not because he was afraid of Duo or thought that the boy's abilities outmatched his own, but because avoiding needless bloodshed was only wise.
"Well?" Wu Fei prompted at last.
Duo blinked and then grinned, the stare disappearing so quickly that Wu Fei began to doubt that he had seen it at all. Duo stretched and looked about them at the snow. "Uhm, that's not good, Wuffie."
"Shut-up, idiot, and don't call me Wuffie! It is an insult to my family!"
"Yeah, sure thing," Duo replied, still grinning, and opened the truck door. He recoiled and shivered violently, his small, thin frame defenseless against the biting wind, even in a heavy coat. "Crap! What is it? A hundred below zero, or something? We can't do anything in this mess!"
"We can't scrub the mission," Wu Fei grumbled. "It's too important. We have to blow the factory before they ship those mobile suits. That's a week from now. Ample time to wait out the storm. I criticized Yuy for being overcautious in the time table, but now I see the wisdom of it."
"Yeah, that's Heero!" Duo grinned as he huddled into his coat. "Mister anal retentive always gets it right!"
"You are full of insults today," Wu Fei snarled back. "Do not insult men when you have failed to prove yourself superior to them!"
Duo looked over his shoulder at Wu Fei with raised eyebrows. "Meaning Heero and YOU? You're so funny, Wuffie! I'm glad I'm finally going to be working a mission with you."
"I am not glad!" Wu Fei retorted. "Now... if you are done chattering, help me unload the supplies."
Heero slowly reached out to the ball laying in the center of Duo's bed. It was nestled on top of a set of black clothes, Duo's clothes, a faint smell of the pilot of Deathscythe still lingering. Kneeling by the bed, half leaning over the side, Heero imagined the sensitive, creamy skin of his lover instead of the hard, metallic surface his fingers were inching towards. This wasn't a detonator, this was Duo Maxwell smiling gently at him, expecting gentleness from the pilot of Wing.
Heero's fingers touched. Callouses scraped. Fingers closed...too hard. The detonator popped open into its deadly flower shape, springs clicking ominously as it tried unsuccessfully to explode.
"Kuso!" Heero swore and sat back on his heels glumly. He looked at his large hands and then balled them into fists. They could do so much, those talented hands, so why did such a simple exercise defeat them?
Defeat. Heero didn't like that word. Hated it. He refused to accept it. He snatched up the detonator, closed it, and placed it back on top of Duo's clothes before it could reset itself. When Heero heard the reset click, he took a steadying breath, flexed his fingers, and reached out again....
Duo was struggling, Wu Fei could see it. Stupid boy! Weak like an onna, he thought, but it was something that Duo hadn't uttered a complaint yet, even though his lips were turning blue and he was visibly shaking. He lifted heavy bundles and staggered inside of the cabin with them, one of his legs giving him trouble and his breath sounding unusually harsh. He kept grinning. That unnerved Wu Fei. What did the pilot find so amusing about freezing in the snow?
Duo was muttering to himself. Wu Fei pricked up his ears as he passed him with his load of bundles. "Hot chocolate," Duo was saying. "Hot bath. Hot cinnamon tea. Hot coffee with hot cream. Hot pancakes with hot syrup by a hot, hot fire." He was rasping the words between tortured pants for air. Why? Why struggle to say foolish things like that when he could barely breathe?
"Two more. I'll get them," Wu Fei said briskly. "Get inside and start unpacking."
Duo didn't argue. He limped inside, braid a wet tail behind him. That made Wu Fei swear under his breath. Stupid hair! Of course the braid had dropped in the snow every time the boy had bent to get a bundle that Wu Fei had dropped from the truck bed. Of course it was now soaking wet and chilling the already freezing Duo.
Wu Fei staggered under the last two bundles and hurried into the house. He found Duo huddled by the fireplace, pathetically trying to make hands work in order to light the kindling under the logs. Dropping his bundles and kicking closed the door, Wu Fei shouldered Duo aside and did the job himself quickly and efficiently.
"Thanks, Man!" Duo chattered and held his hands close to the blazing logs. His body instinctively tried to get close to the fire as well... too close. Wu Fei snagged an arm around Duo's narrow waist and pulled the pilot back. He released him just as quickly and stood up before Duo could react.
"Get your wet clothes off and wrap in blankets," Wu Fei ordered. "Get that stupid hair dried out before you become ill and compromise the mission."
There was only one large room to the cabin, a shower stall without a door, and a narrow door that probably led to an outhouse. Running water was had from a pump at a sink in the makeshift 'kitchen' and the shower had a boiler cistern. They would have hot water at least and a small room that would be easy to heat with the fireplace, but many creature comforts were clearly lacking. Furniture consisted of a card table with three chairs, a hard, wooden couch by the fire, and two cots that looked business like enough that Wu Fei rightly suspected Heero had put them there when he had checked out the safe house on his reconnaissance mission. He had probably piled up the wood as well and made certain the cistern was full of water. It was frozen water now but, once Wu Fei lit up the burner, they would have drinking water as well as bath water.
Duo was peeling off his jacket, gloves, socks, and boots. He was moving slowly, almost reluctantly. Wu Fei kept his back to him, to give him privacy, and began unpacking. When he found the blankets, he turned, without thinking, to hold a few out to Duo. He paused, with the blankets hovering between them, as he saw Duo standing naked in front of the fire and squeezing out his unbound hair.
Wu Fei had seen Duo naked on several occasions, but only briefly and during strenuous situations. He hadn't, in any of those occasions, had the time to really 'look' at the pilot of Deathscythe. Wu Fei was shocked. He had always thought of Duo as a soft onna, and the others, always strangely concerned for the well-being of the pilot, had bolstered that opinion. What Wu Fei saw now sharply contradicted that opinion.
Duo felt the cold so severely because the boy was as thin as a rail. His body was small and lithe; tight knit muscle under creamy, pale skin. The number of scars, and the variety of them, on that thin body astounded Wu Fei as well. Some of them were long and jagged, as if something had ripped through skin violently. Some of them on Duo's back looked suspiciously like whip marks. Still, Duo's body was beautiful. With his pixieish features, and wild, disordered bangs, he looked feral, cat like, and perfect as a sculpture done in alabaster.
"Where do you put it?" Wu Fei wondered out loud.
Duo actually flinched and his hand raised to where he had a knife, in a well worn sheath, tied to his lower arm. Again, Wu Fei saw the dangerous warning glint in Duo's amethyst eyes, but he was smiling in a manic fashion as well. "I think you should rephrase your question." He snatched a blanket from Wu Fei and wrapped it around himself. He backed up to the fire, but didn't turn to its warmth. He kept all of his attention on Wu Fei.
"Food, I meant," Wu Fei clarified with a grunt of annoyance as he went back to unpacking.
"You eat constantly, but you are so thin."
"What's it to you unless you're a boy fucker?"
Wu Fei whirled back around, face livid, but then registered the question in Duo's voice. He and Heero were bedding each other. Maybe Duo was worried that he, Wu Fei, would try to do the same.
"I have no such interest in men or boys," Wu Fei replied steadily. "If you say such a thing to me again, I will defend my honor by spilling your blood."
Duo blinked and his grin became more genuine. He visibly relaxed. "Didn't think you did, Wu Fei, but guys are guys, ya know?"
"No, I don't know," Wu Fei growled and turned back to the packs.
"Good." Duo said it low, as if he were speaking to himself, but Wu Fei heard it any way.
"Must you do that at the breakfast table?" Trowa grumbled into his coffee cup. He was wearing a white tank top and a pair of black sweat pants, hunched in his chair with both hands wrapped around his steaming mug. He glared at Heero from under his sleep mussed bang, green eyes bloodshot.
Quatre nudged his lover with his toe under the table and shook his head imperceptibly when Trowa looked at him. Trowa sighed and sank lower into his chair.
"Do you think Wu Fei's taking care of Duo like we asked him to do, Heero?" Quatre wondered. He was wearing white pajamas, his toast, milk, and cereal breakfast in sharp contrast to Heero's grain, nutri bar and tea and Trowa's black coffee.
Heero glared from under his tangle of dark hair, blue eyes narrow and twitching with sleeplessness. He had the detonator sitting on the table and he had tried, unsuccessfully, for the twelfth time that morning to touch it without setting it off.
"I gave Wu Fei detailed instructions-" Heero began
"And mine?" Quatre wondered sharply.
"Hai," Heero replied. "He will follow them."
Trowa was skeptical. He made a face. Quatre saw it.
"What's wrong, Trowa?" Quatre wondered. "Do you think Wu Fei will ignore our instructions?"
"Yes," Trowa answered shortly.
Heero touched the detonator and it sprang open yet again. He sat back in his chair and sipped at his tea. "If he ignores them, he's a dead man."
"You'll kill him?" Quatre squeaked with round, blue eyes.
"No," Heero replied, "Duo will."
"Not a bad place and Heero really went all out packing for us. Good thing he's ready for all contingencies because...," Duo said as he peered out of a frosted window, "it looks like the snow is getting very deep. We may be stuck here for a while."
Duo was dressed again in fresh, black clothes, but still huddled in his blanket. As he turned from the window, Wu Fei saw that he was still shivering. It didn't seem cold to Wu Fei at all, in fact, it was getting stuffy in the small space. He watched Duo drag his cot to the opposite side of the room from Wu Fei's. When he saw Wu Fei watching, he grinned and winked.
"I snore," Duo explained.
Wu Fei felt uncomfortable and insulted. He poured water into a percolator and began to boil water for tea.
"So, who should cook?" Duo wondered as he returned to the fire and sat down.
"Can you cook?" Wu Fei asked with an arched, black eyebrow.
Duo grinned wider and shrugged. "Growing up, I ate mostly cold meals out of garbage cans... no, wait, they were kind of hot. L2 didn't have good environmental controls. It was ALWAYS hot there. I watched some kids make fried rat once, but I don't think Heero packed any."
"Meaning that you can't cook?" Wu Fei finally interrupted.
"Yeah, meaning I can't cook." Duo looked like a mischievous five year old, curled up on the hearth in his blanket.
"Yuy usually cooks for you then, when you're on missions together?" Wu Fei turned to the stove and began looking over their food supplies. Dried packages of noodles, rice, beans, freeze dried vegetables, powdered broth, and instant coffee and tea packs were predominant. A little oil, he thought, and a hot frying pan might do wonders for that unpalatable combination.
"Not much chance for cooking," Duo replied around a yawn. "He keeps a tight timetable for himself. The few times we had to hole up until the Oz heat died down, he made me eat caked, nutri rations and protein drinks." Duo shuddered.
Wu Fei looked down at the rations he had in his hands. "I hate to inform you, Maxwell, but-"
"Heero packed rations instead of real food again?" Duo groaned. "Damn it! Good thing I always come prepared." Duo shoved two large packs with his foot. "Real food, Wuffie."
Wu Fei put down the rations and went to the packs. Opening them up, he found himself smiling. Duo chuckled. "Hershey bars, popcorn, hot chocolate, hamburger, cheese, fried chicken, sausage, eggs, bacon, sugar cereal, donuts... What DIDN'T you bring, Maxwell?! You packed enough for weeks, not days."
"Hey, you've seen me eat!" Duo laughed outright now. "Now don't tell me you don't appreciate this Wu-man! I've seen you sneak some of my cereal and I know someone's been eating my Hershey bars!"
Wu Fei scowled and turned red. "If you are accusing me of being a thief-"
"No, I wouldn't do that, Wuffie. I'm the thief." Wuffie looked up startled at Duo's words, but Duo was yawning again. "I gotta sleep some more, Wuffie. Heero was needy last night and I had to fck hs lightss ot," Duo slurred as he curled up in his blanket and promptly fell asleep before the fire.
Wu Fei turned even more red and wiped at his nose as he dragged the packs towards the stove. He rejected the mental image of Duo on top of Heero, fucking his lights out. He just couldn't imagine, didn't WANT to imagine, Heero Yuy being a submissive partner to this delicate, onna, thief, glutton, chatter-box, bundle of raw energy that was Duo Maxwell. It didn't seem right. Their personalities were completely opposed to that arrangement... so, Wu Fei couldn't help wondering, why did they do it that way?
Duo began to snore. It wasn't loud. It was as delicate as he was, soft, whistling, almost a faint gurgle as if his lungs weren't working properly. Remembering that the boy had contracted pneumonia not too many months before, Wu Fei began to understand. His limp, his thin body, his many scars; Duo Maxwell wasn't a healthy boy. Heero's and Quatre's concern for him began to make more sense to Wu Fei.
Wu Fei took up a pack, sat down at the card table with it on top, and began to go through it. Heero had packed this one special and had impressed upon Wu Fei that Duo wasn't to know what was in it.
Two letters. Wu Fei squinted and read them in the dim light of a battery lantern.
The first one was from Heero.
Mission requirements concerning Duo Maxwell if prolonged contact is required;
1) Never stare or show any unusual interest. Such notice and or interest triggers symptoms of acute paranoia and violence. If such interest and or notice are inadvertently displayed, utmost caution is to be exercised regarding Duo Maxwell.
2) Regarding nightmares. Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to awaken Duo Maxwell from any nightmare. Attempted violence will be the immediate result.
3) Due to sexual abuse as a child, sexual references, jokes, and casual touching or unexpected close contact are to be completely avoided.
4) If symptoms of paranoia or attempted violence occur, use anti-depressant tranquilizers in bottle provided. Dissolve pills in food or drink in amounts specified on bottle label. Do not allow Duo Maxwell to know about pills. Paranoia will increase.
Duo, according to Heero's letter, was borderline insane. Wu Fei scowled. He had already known that, but he hadn't realized that there was a dark, violent side to the boy's personality. In a Gundam, he was deadly, but that was necessity, battle, not the direct result of mental instability.
The second letter was from Quatre.
How to care for Duo if you are forced to remain at the safe house for an extended time:
1) Please be certain not to allow him as much food as he wants. He will eat until he vomits.
2) Please be certain that he eats and drinks nutritionally correct foods. He often pretends to eat, when, in fact, he doesn't and will fill up on junk food to satisfy his hunger instead.
3) Enclosed is his medicine for depression and several inhalers in case of an emergency. Due to his past bout with pneumonia he is sometimes prone to have spells where he is unable to breathe.
4) Please be patient with him, Wu Fei, and treat him with kindness.
Wu Fei took out two bottles of pills. He narrowed his eyes at the labels. His eyes went from the letters to the pills and then he growled angrily and stood up. Taking the letters to the fireplace, he leaned over the sleeping Duo to throw them into the flames. He watched them burn in satisfaction and then he took the pills to the outhouse. After tossing both bottles down the hole, he brushed his hands together briskly and returned to his seat at the card table. Crossing his arms over his chest, he glared at Duo. Heero and Quatre had insulted him and Duo in those letters. They were both warriors. They didn't need pills and instructions between them. Instead, Wu Fei decided, they were going to have an understanding. He waited patiently for the pilot of Deathscythe to wake up.
"If you haven't done it by now..." Trowa said irritably.
"I will not fail," Heero snarled.
"I think Trowa's right, Heero," Quatre said and then, before Heero could round on him angrily, "but I think I know why you're failing."
They were watching television, Trowa and Quatre on the couch and Heero stretched out on his stomach at their feet. The detonator lay before him, balanced on a small couch cushion. After the twentieth failed attempt, the two boys on the couch had reached the limit of their patience.
Heero sat up gracefully, muscles rippling under his tank top and big, steel-toed boots tucked underneath him as if he were ready to attack someone or something. He eyed Quatre intensely under his wild hair. "Explain."
"I don't think that you can feel your fingers, Heero," Quatre said. "I can't think of any other explanation as to why you can't do something so simple."
Trowa nodded thoughtfully. "You may be right. Heero, give me your hand." Trowa held out a long fingered hand towards Heero. Heero reluctantly put his into it. Trowa examined his hand closely. "Hmmm."
"What is it?" Quatre asked anxiously, inching close to see for himself.
"Thick callouses on his fingertips. Still..." Trowa took his fingernail and pressed into the tip of Heero's index finger. "Feel that?" Heero shook his head no, eyebrows raised curiously. "This?" Trowa moved his fingernail to the back of Heero's hand and pressed in.
Again Heero shook his head no. Trowa tested Heero's palm.
"I feel that, but not well," Heero admitted and then pulled back his hand with a defeated frown.
"Nerve damage is often a by product of numerous bone breaks," Trowa told him sympathetically.
"Duo was right," Heero said darkly. "He must have known. He told me I couldn't learn this."
Heero picked up the detonator, fisted it angrily, and then threw it hard against a wall. It thumped into the plaster and left a hole. The two other boys stared after it nervously and then looked back at Heero, who was standing now and staring hard at nothing. "I'm going to lose Duo. He needs me to be gentle. If I can't..."
"There is a way," Quatre spoke up daringly. Heero glared at him, not wanting a false hope. "You just have to do it differently."
"Show me!" Heero demanded.
"Duo! This is madness!" Wu Fei backed away from Duo who was holding his gun in both, shaking hands, eyes all pupil as he advanced on the Chinese boy.
"You put your stinking hands on me!" Duo shrieked. "Not again! Not EVER again! I'll kill you first!"
Duo wasn't seeing him, Wu Fei realized. Duo was back in some ugly memory triggered when Wu Fei had grabbed Duo hard to show him his strength and to impress on the boy that he wouldn't stand for any... well, any of this sort of behavior! He had been telling Duo that he didn't have any sexual attraction to him, didn't want him in any way, and would prefer that he shut up and leave him completely alone for the duration of their confinement in the safe house. Unfortunately, Duo had been just waking up. His groggy mind, as he had hung in Wu Fei's strong grip, had only registered one word. 'Sex'. If Wu Fei had ever doubted Duo's skill at hand to hand combat, he didn't now. Despite his delicate body and his slighter stature, he had disarmed Wu Fei and put him on the defensive in a matter of seconds.
Wu Fei flipped out his cell phone, changed it to a secure signal, and dialed the others as he decided on one course of action, immobility. He froze, taking a steadying, deep breath, and simply ceased to be a threat. Duo stopped advancing, confused, hovering somewhere between dream and reality.
"Hello?" Quatre knew better than to divulge his name when he answered the phone. He waited quietly until Wu Fei replied.
"Quatre. It's Wu Fei!" Wu Fei was relieved. If anyone could get Duo to calm down is was the blonde Arabian. "Duo's upset. Please... calm him down!"
An anxious catch of breath on the other end of the line and then Quatre said, sounding angrier than Wu Fei had ever heard him before, "You didn't follow our instructions, did you?"
"Calm him down, Quatre!" Wu Fei begged and then held the phone towards Duo. "Duo. Quatre wants to speak with you."
Duo was even more confused. His hand on the gun was white, trembling just perceptibly. His eyes stared at the phone. A small voice, Quatre speaking as loud as he could to be heard, said, "Duo! It's Quatre! Take the phone! I need to talk with you, please!"
Duo took the phone slowly, stared at it, and then glared at Wu Fei warningly as he brought it up to his ear.
"Duo!" Quatre said in a hectoring, affectionate matter. "Stop playing jokes on poor Wu Fei and tell me how things are going? Are you keeping warm? Did Wu Fei cook you something? If he didn't, I swear I'll give that man a piece of my mind when he comes back. Can I talk to you about Trowa? He's been such a sour puss lately and I need some advice. Do you mind listening to me for a little bit and then telling me what you think?"
Duo blinked, coming fully awake. He took a deep breath, went to scratch his nose, and then saw the gun in his hand. He frowned at it and then looked past it at Wu Fei. When he saw the pale, anxious Chinese boy, Duo started. He lowered the gun and put on the safety. He stepped forward to hand it to Wu Fei and then he sat in a chair at the card table with the phone still at his ear. He gave the pilot of Nataku an angry glare.
"I don't know what you did, Wu Fei," Duo said, "but now you know not to do it again." He turned his attention back to the phone and then, as if nothing had happened, began chatting animatedly with Quatre, his trade mark smile covering his pixyish face.
The boy was insane! Wu Fei didn't holster the gun. He thought, with regret, of the pills he had thrown into the outhouse and then went to stare at the still heavily falling snow. Trapped. For how many days? Wu Fei looked back at the laughing, smiling Duo. His life was in danger from that boy, Wu Fei thought, and it was his own fault. A good warrior followed orders and his pride had made him think that he knew better. Wu Fei wondered if he was going to pay for his foolishness with his life.
"Thanks Wuffie, this looks great!" Duo sat at the card table and dug into a plate of fried noodles, beef broth, and sausage.
Wu Fei didn't correct the dishonorable corruption of his name. They had been trapped in the cabin for a day and half and he had tried very hard to do something he had never done with Maxwell before, be pleasant to him. Strangely enough, he wasn't finding it very hard at all.
"Mfph! Good!" Duo said appreciatively around a mouthful of hot noodles. They hung out of his mouth as he gingerly slurped them in. Wu Fei stared and then remembered not to. He found himself smiling though, as he kept his eyes on his own plate.
Don't be silent, he reminded himself. He had noticed very quickly that silence to Duo meant that he, Wu Fei, must be planning something unpleasant. It pricked the boy's paranoia. "Thank you, Maxwell. My skills in the kitchen are humble, but that recipe is simple."
"Who taught you to cook?" Duo asked, after swallowing. His feet didn't touch the floor. He was swinging them under his chair, eyes bright, braid tossed over one shoulder and almost sitting in his noodles. He looked funny, engaging, very young, and not the least bit dangerous.
"I observed my mother cooking often," Wu Fei admitted. "When I left home, I was forced to fall back on my observations and fix my own meals."
"Ah," Duo took another mouthful, slurped the noodles in appreciatively and smacked his lips. "Must have been nice, having a mom and all."
"You were an orphan," Wu Fei remembered. "A thief, you said."
Duo grinned wider, as if it didn't hurt, but Wu Fei saw the shadows in his amethyst eyes as he said, "Yeah, I had some tough breaks.... prostitution, theft-"
Wu Fei stiffened. "You were a prostitute?"
Duo shrugged. "I did it to survive... at first, but I became real popular and they forced me to do it, so don't go talking about honor and all that, 'K?" His voice was sharp and beginning to be dangerous.
Wu Fei couldn't help his curiosity, despite his danger. "How old were you?"
"Six."
Wu Fei went white with shock. "Six? How could anyone-"
"They could and they did," Duo's hand went to the knife strapped to his arm. He never took it off. "Stop talking about it, 'K?"
Wu Fei replied softly, trying to diffuse the situation, "Sorry."
Duo slowly smiled and his hand dropped. "Heero doesn't apologize often. I've NEVER heard you apologize, Wu Fei."
Wu Fei made a small bow, a bending at the waist, full of respect. "It wasn't my place to ask about your past."
There was a small silence and then Duo said, sounding relaxed now, "S'okay, Wu Fei. It's strange, ya know, that we don't know much about each other."
"Yes."
Duo began eating, becoming the laughing boy again, the jester that Wu Fei now knew was just a mask, a personality he slipped over his scars like a fancy suit. He talked about... nothing, chattering about his Gundam, about the weather, about the noodles. Wu Fei replied and tried to keep up his end of the conversation.
One plate, two plates... Wu Fei came to himself suddenly as he ended a conversation about shampoo, to notice that he had hardly finished his food and that Duo had eaten all the rest. Quatre had warned against....
Duo went green suddenly. "I'm going to be sick!" He raced through the door of the outhouse and the sounds of him being tremendously sick floated back to Wu Fei. Wu Fei looked blackly at the empty bowl of noodles. All gone to waste! Idiot! He said to himself. He didn't know when they would be able to get out of the cabin and here he was ignoring instructions again and letting Duo waste their food. When Duo came back, he couldn't help saying, "What did you do when you were an orphan and threw up what little food you had?"
Without missing a beat, as he sat down in front of the fire, Duo replied stonily, "I ate it again."
Wu Fei was almost sick then, too. He clamped his jaw on it. "Sorry," he said again.
"That's twice," Duo replied, sounding weak as he stretched out on the hearth and pulled a blanket over himself. "Maybe I should be recording them. Nobody is going to believe me."
"When you feel like eating, I'll make you something else," Wu Fei said.
"Thanks, Wu-man," Duo paused and then said gruffly. "Don't tell Heero I did that, 'K?"
"Why not?"
"I don't want him to think I can't control myself. It's important to me, Wu Fei."
"I understand," and Wu Fei did, imaging the critical Heero and how hard it must be to keep that perfect soldier's respect.
"I-I wish I COULD control myself," Duo said suddenly.
"Do you?" Wu Fei licked nervous lips, not sure how his words would be received. "I could teach you some techniques that would allow that, Maxwell."
Duo rolled and sat up. He stared at Wu Fei hopefully. "Like what?"
"Meditation. Relaxing techniques that will calm you when you are upset..." Wu Fei didn't want to tell Duo that it was his fear that was causing his violent reactions. That would have been too insulting when he wanted the pilot's trust.
"Let my stomach calm down first," Duo replied, "then I'll give it a try."
Covered from head to toe in clothing, goggles protecting his eyes, Heero Yuy shoveled out the last bit of snow from the cabin door. Panting, sweat running down his body, he forced open the door and stumbled inside.
Duo and Wu Fei, seated by the fireplace in lotus positions, looked up without surprise.
"See," Duo said with a smirk. "I told you it was Heero. I knew he would come after me and not let a little thing like a stabbed leg stop him."
Heero tossed aside his shovel with a clatter and pulled the door shut with a bang. The warmth of the cabin hurt his frozen skin as he began pulling off all of his snow gear and letting them drop at his feet. His eyes were glaring under his unruly hair as he yanked off his goggles.
"Duo," he growled simply.
"Heero," Duo responded and stood up. He stretched, lithe as a cat, and then bounded over to his lover, grinning hugely. He stopped just short of touching.
Heero pulled off one glove as he stared deeply into Duo's amethyst eyes. With infinite care, he slowly brought his hand towards Duo's cheek. When only a breath of air stood between his fingertips and Duo's skin, he paused for permission.
"Yes," Duo whispered.
Heero took a deep breath and then looked at his fingers. He watched them intently as he brought those fingertips to Duo's skin. Gently, he cupped that cheek and caressed it. Duo closed his eyes, sighing. "Ninmu Kanryou," Heero said in satisfaction. "Mission accomplished."
"How?"
"I can't feel my fingers," Heero explained huskily, as he continued to watch his own fingers and lightly touch Duo's face, his lips especially, that soft bud that kissed those fingertips back. "Trowa diagnosed it. It was Quatre who suggested that I should use my eyes to calculate when your skin begins to compress with the pressure of my touch and to determine when that compression causes pain. He allowed me to practice on him." Duo opened his eyes in concern, but Heero added, "His bruises will heal. They are all superficial."
Heero's eyes slid past Duo to where Wu Fei was just now getting to his feet.
Duo was anxious, not knowing what Heero was thinking. He had burst in on them seated together on the floor. "He was teaching me to meditate," Duo explained quickly. "He's been just great, cooking, putting up with me... Not as great as being with you, of course, but-"
"Arigato, Wu Fei," Heero said, cutting Duo off, "but... get out. Stay in the truck until I tell you otherwise."
Wu Fei looked from Heero to Duo, not certain what was in the pilot's head. Duo smiled at him, not always a good indication of his mood and said, "Go on, Wu Fei. Turn up the heat, listen to a few tunes. It's all right."
"This is not furthering the mission," Wu Fei decided to argue.
Heero glared. "The mission parameters have changed. I will brief you on the changes."
Wu Fei growled a choice swear word under his breath and stalked out into the snow and cold. The snowfall had stopped. The sun was shining. Still, the snow Heero had displaced to reach them was awe inspiring. Wu Fei walked through the manmade tunnel, the snow almost shoulder deep in places, and found the truck. Climbing inside, he shivered as he cranked up the engine and flipped on the heat. He scowled at the closed cabin door and felt... disappointment?
Wu Fei tried to analyze that feeling. It made him uncomfortable. For a little while, as Duo had meditated and his face had relaxed, Wu Fei had just stared at the pilot of Deathscythe, marveling at his beauty, marveling at the spirit that had overcome such a terrible childhood, such a terrible youth. The disappointment Wu Fei felt was easily understandable. Having discovered a bit of gold where he had only thought to find lead, Wu Fei was finding it hard to turn Duo over to the imagined iron hard hands and iron hard mind of Heero Yuy.
Duo sighed, "You should have been nicer. He's not such a bad guy."
"If you don't find me acceptable any longer-"
Duo laughed and took hold of Heero's shirt with both hands. He gave Heero a shake. "Stop that! Wu-Man doesn't have any interest in me. He doesn't like guys, in case you haven't noticed. I, on the other hand, do, so... it's been too long, Heero."
Heero stood quietly and nodded. He waited for Duo to make the first move, just as he always did, keeping his body still. Duo smiled and looked into his eyes. "You touched me and it didn't hurt," Duo said. "I trust you to touch me again."
Duo's thin body was shivering from the cold. Heero said, "Let me make you warm." and he led Duo over to the fireplace. Sinking down deliberately onto his knees where Duo and Wu Fei had been sitting, Heero slowly opened Duo's pants. While Duo was still standing, he nuzzled the braided boy inside of his zipper, tongue darting out and wrapping around the head of the swelling erection he found there.
Duo tangled his hands into Heero's hair and held on, face contorted in pleasure, soft mews coming from deep inside of him.
Heero, watching his fingers carefully, began lightly touching Duo's belly, running up under his shirt to smooth over his soft skin. His tongue kept up its torment, darting into the hole of Duo's cock and swirling and lapping up the precum that oozed from it.
Duo shivered now, but not from the cold.
Heero pulled Duo's pants down to his knees. They were in a military situation, there wouldn't be any getting undressed or prolonged sex. This was the calm before the storm, a few precious minutes outside of mission timetables. It was hard for the perfect soldier to remember that, though, when Duo's cock sprang free and bobbed enticingly before his face. It made Heero's gut clench and his own cock harden like a rock. When he swallowed Duo's cock whole and began a rough, sucking rhythm of up and down movements, Duo's taste, his manly scent, and his precum set off every hormone inside of Heero. He 'wanted'. He 'needed'. Heero could barely control himself.
Duo was having a similar problem. He suddenly pushed Heero off of him, but it wasn't because of fear. "Let's get in bed."
"Not enough time," Heero panted as he licked his lips, looking up at Duo with desperation. He stood up. Duo plucked at his pants, pushed them down so that Heero's cock was out and standing at aching attention. Then, Duo paused, uncertain, trying to resolve their dilemma quickly and in such a way where he didn't feel threatened. He grinned suddenly.
"Against the wall, fly boy!"
Duo turned Heero to the wall. Heero planted his hands on it and braced himself, looking over his shoulder as Duo, still grinning, took hold of his cock and placed it against Heero's entrance. It was wet with saliva and precum, but Heero knew it might still hurt. He gritted his teeth as Duo leaned against his bent back, wrapped arms around his torso, and then suddenly shoved his cock in with several, short, sharp, hard thrusts. Heero grunted at each one, but he was used to being uke. He lifted his hips, made the angle easier for Duo's cock, and then shoved back to get him past the ring of muscles. That stung more than the rest but, after that, the pain was replaced by a feeling of being filled, scratched, massaged, and warmed in a very sensitive place.
"Do it," Heero urged, when Duo paused to let him get used to the invasion. "Hard. Fast. You want gentleness.... I like it rough."
Duo's laugh tickled his back, "I know it, love. I know. So different. How can we be in love?"
"We are in love. It doesn't need an explanation," Heero replied adamantly. "Do it, Little Baka. Show me how much you love me."
Duo laughed again, "I'll do that later. Right now, I just want to fuck you!"
And Duo did, hard, fast, pelvis slapping into Heero's ass so hard he made Heero rock forward into the wall. Heero groaned, loving the thrusting cock deep inside of him, loving Duo's arms around him, and especially loving when Duo took a firm hold on his erection and began jerking him off in time to his thrusts.
"Love you!" Duo breathed and kissed the back of Heero's bowed neck as he groaned and came deep inside of Heero. His hot cum hit Heero's prostate and Heero came in response, gouting thick cum into Duo's hand as he cried out and leaned against the wall as if he would faint.
Heero turned and Duo came out of him. They were both dripping with fluids, breathing hard, and smiling at each other sensually.
"That was... raunchy," Duo breathed. "Sorry to do you like a bitch in heat, Heero, but it didn't seem like we had time for the face to face, slow approach. I felt safe with you in that position."
Heero's eyes glittered, "I enjoyed it." He reached out with infinite care and caressed Duo's cheek. Duo leaned into it, murmuring appreciatively.
"You don't know how good that feels, Heero, how much I longed for you to touch me like that," Duo sighed happily. "Maybe, if you touch me like that enough, and I practice some of Wu Fei's meditation, I'll learn not to be afraid any more."
"Wu Fei," Heero growled and lowered his hand, jealous again.
Duo looked into his eyes and smiled. "You're the other half of my soul, Heero. I'm never going to leave you, especially not for Wu Fei. Trust that."
Heero nodded, once, his blue eyes drowning in Duo's amethyst eyes.
"Again, Baby," Duo begged. "Come on. Touch me tender and then we'll go blow up some Oz ass."
***Owari***