It was Duo's biceps, running with sweat, and flexing with muscle, as he pulled their supply boxes under the camo netting, that almost gave Heero away. He couldn't help staring when the man was wearing a military issue shirt that had been cut down until it was barely a rag covering his torso. Dog tags clattered and glittered in the sun in the cut down v of the neckline and a cross tangled with those, gold on silver, as Duo bent and straightened to the difficult task. Camo cargo pants hugged a rounded ass and strong legs in black army boots. Dark, military issue, sunglasses hid violet eyes, but gave Duo's features a handsome,competent, and in command appearance. Still, it was his arms and rounded shoulders, out of everything else, that made Heero pause and forget to help when Duo wanted to shift a particularly heavy box.
Duo straightened, hands on hips, his long braid snaking around him, as he gave Heero a critical glare. "Fall asleep on your feet, Yuy?"
Heero shook his head, frowning in return, and bent to the task, completing it himself.
Duo shook his head with a grin and checked his watch. "Good time," he commented and then strode off into the jungle on another task.
And so it went. Every time that they were paired together, Duo kept his mind firmly on business and Heero couldn't help flailing and coming out looking the worst. Duo was distracting. Duo made Heero think of things, that he felt embarrassed to admit even to himself. Those arms made him do more than stare, they made him want, made him imagine Duo using that strength of his for more than moving boxes.
As Heero set the locater on top of the boxes, to alert Preventer agents where they were positioned on the island, he had to recall earlier, fumbling attempts to explore his feelings with other men. He was quiet, dedicated to his work, and intensely focused. He knew how to order a troop of agents into a dangerous action, could teach a class of green recruits with ease, and hold his own when it came to coordinating with other fellow agents. When it came to interacting socially, though, and saying things that didn't include, 'Hand me more ammo.', 'Position zebra alpha charlie.', and 'move out in ten minutes.', nothing would come to him. He was known for being standoffish, arrogant, even elitist, because no one could imagine that Heero Yuy, war hero and ex Gundam pilot was shy. Initiating advances was almost painful to him, and few had tried their own advances. Coming up against Heero's wall of silence, and his inability to reach out, had sent them quickly on their way.
There was also Heero's fear of criticism. In a line of work that seemed to attract men with heavy amounts of testosterone, who were prone to adrenalin rushes and a great deal of macho attitude, it wasn't advisable to show a weakness for wanting other men to dominate him, to take the lead and ... Heero again felt an uncomfortable reaction to the thought of Duo grabbing him with those broad hands of his, pulling him close, and....
"Water isn't too far and it looks clear," Duo said from behind Heero.
Heero stumbled in surprise as he turned, looking like a fool again. Duo gave him a puzzled smile, violet eyes peering over his sunglasses at Heero. He was only a few inches taller than Heero, but his shoulders were wider and he seemed to make himself even large by virtue of his outgoing personality.
Leaning into Heero's personal space and looking him over, Duo said worriedly, "Maybe you should take a rest? Or, maybe, you should undo a few shirt buttons, Yuy? Aren't you roasting in those starched Preventer greens? It's not as if Une's going to show up and order a review of the troops."
Wearing cargo shorts and a uniform shirt, Heero didn't consider himself overdressed. He thought that he should make some sort of comment about Duo's lack of dress, but nothing came to mind. He ended up giving a small shrug, as if he were annoyed, and turning away. He heard Duo sigh and his mind painted in the cause, Duo's annoyance in being forced to endure someone like him.
"I'll set up the remote sensors in quadrant A," Duo told him. "You take B." He hefted a bag onto one shoulder full of equipment. "That should eat up the rest of the day." He checked his watch. "Be back on the beach at sixteen hundred."
Heero nodded and set his watch before he grabbed his own bag of sensors.
"See you at dinner, honey!" Duo chuckled as he waved a hand and strode off.
Heero felt a blush. He watched Duo's back until the man was swallowed up by the jungle.
As if he had a chance with the man anyway, Heero thought in disgust as he walked through the jungle to his assigned quadrant. Duo wasn't shy about confronting people with his interest. Since he had never voiced any for Heero, Heero had to assume that there wasn't any. Failing that, Heero was determined that Duo at least have confidence and respect in his abilities as an agent. Heero refused to lose that respect by letting hormones cloud his thinking.
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Asking two former Gundam pilots to make a training course, on a deserted island, for hapless Preventer special ops trainees, meant that those recruits were the top of the line. Heero doubted that Une would order in anyone less. Not if she wanted to avoid picking up what was left of those trainees afterward. There would still be some injuries, in all likely hood, but Heero couldn't feel sympathy for the trainees. You either made the grade or you washed out, he thought. In a real life situation, they would be dead, not just suffering from injuries.
The set up would take a week. Accomplished by grids, Heero's first grid had been grueling. After he was finished, he was glad to leave the hot jungle for the beach, and feel the sea breeze on his overheated, bug bitten skin. Duo's suggestion, to get rid of some of his clothing, was suddenly a very good one. Heero stripped off his shirt and let the breeze cool the salty sweat on his skin.
Duo was suddenly passing him by, startling Heero. He turned to walk backwards towards the water, cocky grin on his face. "I've been waiting for this swim all fucking day long!" Duo exclaimed. His eyes traveled over Heero's torso, a quick appraisal, probably in approval for Heero's taking his advice. He put on a wider grin and then turned back around, stripping off clothing on his way to the water. Heero was given a view of Duo's strong back and tight ass, as he chucked his pants, boots, and socks on the beach, and then watched that long braid swing like a whip as Duo took a running jump and dived into a wave.
Heero let out a shuddering breath, hands clenched. Duo looking over his body had felt hotter than the sun, to Heero. He had felt that gaze traveling over every pore and resting longest on his brown nipples. They had hardened almost instantly and Heero was left wondering, in acute embarrassment, if Duo had noticed. It made him snatch up a tank top from his duffle and pull it on. Sitting a wooden crate, arms crossed over his chest tightly, Heero doubted that he would come out of the mission with any of Duo's respect for him intact.
When Duo finally left the water, Heero had himself purposefully engrossed in setting up triggers on the next days deployment of traps. Spread at his feet on a tarp, it was easy to keep his eyes down, as Duo walked about the camp naked, dripping salt water everywhere and waiting to dry before pulling on fresh clothes. Out of the corner of his eyes, Heero caught tantalizing flashes of lean legs, sodden braid swinging, and other things whenever Duo crouched to look at something. When he finally pulled on a pair of brown shorts, that was nothing more than thin cloth covered in loops, ties, and pockets for equipment, Heero mentally groaned.
"You're not going to swim?" Duo asked as he sat across from Heero, on another crate, and began helping him with the traps. His dog tags clattered together as he bent and straightened, competent hands making short work of each trap.
"No," Heero replied.
"You're going to stink, if you don't," Duo pointed out. "We'll be in close quarters. If you're afraid of sharks, or whatever, there's a bucket and some rags you can use. There's that fresh water pond that I told you about, but don't go getting into it. We might have to rely on it for drinking water and I'd rather not drink water our asses have been washing in."
"Sharks feed close to sunset," Heero felt the need to point out defensively.
"This place is hotter than the Devil's armpit," Duo countered. "It was worth it, chancing making myself shark bait, to cool off."
Duo finished with his share of the traps and stood up. He stretched sore muscles, making his shorts ride low enough for Heero to see a line of hair as brown as the hair on his head, peeking just above the waistband.
Heero picked up the remaining traps and dumped them into his lap to hide his 'problem'. He pretended that he wanted them finished quickly and that he needed to concentrate on that task.
Duo finished his stretching and stood quietly for a moment. Turning on a bare heel, as if suddenly making a decision, he began dragging their tent from a cargo box. It popped up easily into two very large rooms and a screen in 'porch'. Securing it against the weather with anchors and snap together 'walls' to beef up the sides, it was made to withstand tough conditions.
When Heero had himself under control again, and his traps finished, he set up the cooking area and attached lights to some of the palm trees.
"Home away from home," Duo chuckled as he sifted through their food supplies. "I don't think that dried eggs and vacuum sealed meat product were ever on the menu at my apartment, though."
"We might be able to forage," Heero offered. "I saw signs of wildlife."
Duo gave him a skeptical look. "I've tried fried iguana, buddy. I'll stick with the meat product."
"Not iguana, chickens," Heero explained."I think someone must have lived here at one time."
"Chickens?" Duo raised eyebrows and looked intrigued by the thought, though he said, "This place was gone over, pretty thoroughly. Chickens weren't on the list of wildlife."
"The survey was done over a year ago," Heero pointed out.
Duo looked disgusted."Gotta love our lazy ass Preventer recon unit." His eyes scanned the darkening jungle. "There might be more than chickens on this island. We'd better set up perimeter alarms. Dinner can wait."
Duo strapped on his gun, a back holster that let his snub nosed weapon rest on his tailbone. The combination of casual and deadly was as erotic to Heero as seeing Duo naked.
Heero turned away quickly and put on his own gun, one that strapped to his waist, but allowed him to pull his tank top over it. They had both learned that showing weapons led to misunderstandings and unintentional fire fights. It was best, if there was some unknown person on the island, to pretend that they were harmless.
A hand twitched down Heero's tank top in the back. Heero felt warm fingers under the material, giving his skin the barest caress, before they were gone again. "Showing back there," Duo commented matter of factly, as he moved past Heero to dig out perimeter alarms, and a flashlight, from their supplies. He tossed another flashlight, and more alarms to Heero. Heero fumbled the flashlight and let it fall to the sand as he managed to grab the alarms.
Duo snorted and joked, "Are you sure you were a pilot, Yuy?"
Heero was too confused to glare.
Duo was moving off into the jungle before Heero could formulate a reply. "I'll be back at 1700, if the bloodsucking bugs don't drink me dry, that is."
Heero checked his watch and said, "Roger." and then felt stupid for saying it. The man always managed to make him revert to the war. Roger, Mark, Check, seemed to be the bulk of his conversational skills when Duo had him so off balance.
Heero had plenty of time to beat himself up over it, as he set the alarms. He determined, as he reached camp once more, full of dirt, bug bites, and skin caked in sweat and salt, that he would not allow Duo to rattle him again. Once and for all, he told himself, he had to come to terms with the fact that Duo was never going to show an interest in him. He needed to shut off any misplaced desire and treat Duo properly, He was a fellow agent, not interesting accept where his abilities helped the mission.
As 1700 hours came and went on Heero's watch, though, he couldn't help the surge of concern for Duo, a concern that was far and beyond what an agent would feel for a fellow agent.
Heero pulled out his cell and called Duo. When he didn't receive a reply, his concern began to turn into panic. He checked his gun, snagged a set of infrared goggles from their equipment, and went cautiously in the direction Duo had gone earlier.
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Duo was wringing out his hair, crouched at the shore of a small pond of fresh water. His light was set up next to him along with his clothes. His gun was up and pointed at Heero, without even turning around first, an an instant after Heero identified him.
"Yuy," Heero said quickly as he took off his infra red goggles to show his face.
Duo chuckled as he put his gun down and began wringing out his hair again. "You're good. I didn't hear a thing, right up until you started breathing heavy. Are you out of shape?"
Watching Duo's back muscles flex, and his haunches bunch and release, as he moved hands and arms to get the water out of his hair, Heero found it hard to reply with the proper temper, "You're late."
Duo reached for his watch on his pile of clothing and pressed the button to make it glow. He grunted. "Sorry. I couldn't pass up a bath. Want to join me?" He tossed the watch back into his clothes and stood up, letting his wet hair swing behind him. He turned at last and faced Heero, a wide smile on his lips. "It feels great to get the sweat and salt off." He glanced down at his half erection and laughed, "Maybe too much." He gave it a rueful tug before tossing an empty canteen at Heero and a small bottle of antiseptic soap.
Heero fumbled them both and Duo laughed at him as Heero bent to pick them up.
"Keep yourself and the soap out of the water," Duo warned more seriously.
Heero lowered his eyes, glad that his hot blush wasn't entirely visible in the lamplight. If he bathed, he was going to reveal his own problem. Duo paced as he considered what to do, probably waiting to dry before he put on his clothes. Heero heard him swat a bug and curse.
"You didn't answer your cell," Heero tried again, wanting temper to assist him in keeping his body under control.
Duo's voice came from behind him. "Damn thing fell in the sand. It must have messed it up." A pause and then, "Well? You really do need a bath. I'll take watch if you're nervous about unfriendlies?"
"I..." Heero searched for a good reason to pass on the bath. "I don't really think... "
With a clatter of dog tags and cross, Duo suddenly wrapped strong arms around Heero from behind and put his chin on Heero's shoulder. His body pressed against, Heero's. "You know, you should just give it up. I'm tired of doing the mating dance."
"What?" Heero pulled away and turned. It made his body ache, pulling away from an embrace that he had been longing for. Commanding, possessive, full of strength, it had been everything that Heero had been needing.
Duo snorted, hands on hips. "Don't be stupid. I've done everything but put my dink in your hand, Yuy!"
"I... I didn't..." Heero couldn't bring anything coherent out of his confusion. Duo was saying that he had been wanting Heero too? Heero was finding the words impossible to believe.
Duo sighed in exasperation as he closed the space between them. In the glow of the lamplight, he seemed very intense. "Look, yes or no, okay? I've been careful because I don't exactly want to get punched by a man who can bend steel, but all the signs are there. You're hot for me. I'm not wrong about that."
Heero wanted to consider that they were on a mission and that there were possible enemies in the jungle. He wanted to push back, understand what was going on, and put his feelings in order. Those things were impossible when Duo was standing there, wet hair loose, interest plain to see, and eyes demanding an answer from him.
"I'm going back to camp," Heero said, as if someone else were speaking, someone panicked. He pushed into the jungle, leaving Duo behind.
"Heero!" Duo called after him and Heero had a mental picture of Duo trying frantically to get into his clothing and follow him.
As Heero burst onto the beach, a cool breeze ruffling his hair, he came face to face with a roiling mass of black clouds, highlighted by a low moon, rushing to overtake a clear night sky.
"Shit!" Heero exclaimed.
"Shit!"Duo echoed as he came hopping out of the jungle, still trying to do his pants with one boot dangling from his hand. "So much for fucking Preventer weather reports. Get as much of the gear as we can fit into the shelter and tie down the rest."
"The shelter might not hold," Heero began, seeing the tide coming up steadily higher than they had ever anticipated.
"Of course not!" Duo growled as he grabbed up gear. "We're leaving this crap and going inland. There's volcanic caves near the fresh water pool. They're high enough to keep us dry... I hope. If not, you'd better be good at climbing coconut trees."
_____________________________________
"Hold still," Duo growled as he bandaged Heero's hand.
Duo's sure fingers on his skin was making Heero self conscious and confused. The mad dash to the caves, dragging what gear they could carry, had made him careless. He had slashed his palm on sharp volcanic rock as they had struggled to the highest cave over a bramble of thorny cactus and through tenacious jungle growth. Duo had washed out the wound at once, not even pausing to stow their gear properly, muttering about 'idiots', and 'infections'.
The storm hit as Duo finished taping. They both blinked at the sudden rush of darkness and the stiff wind and rain lashing into the cave opening. Instinct was telling them both that it wasn't an ordinary storm.
Heero pulled away from Duo to set up lights. He heard the clatter of Duo's dog tags and cross as he moved to sort out their gear a safer distance from the cave mouth. When that was completed, Duo checked his cell phone.
"Nothing," Duo announced irritably and jammed it back into his pocket.
Heero didn't state the obvious, that Preventers couldn't have helped them anyway. They were on their own.
"If someone is on this island," Heero pointed out. "They may be seeking shelter in these caves as well."
"So, we should check for rats?" Duo wondered. He picked up a light and walked down into their cave. When he came back, he was frowning as he put the light back into place. "This cave branches several times back there. One of us should stand watch, at all times, just in case." But then he shrugged and added, "but the odds are pretty big against there actually being someone up here with us so, I say, screw that."
"I don't think ignoring danger-" Heero began but Duo cut him off.
"Preventers went over the entire island, they looked for logs of cargo drops, communication uplinks, even human poop... nothing. Maybe they missed a few chickens..." Duo paused and thought about that..."Okay, that really doesn't look good, but those caves probably go straight down to a dormant volcano. Noise travels easy. I could hear you fart from seven yards. Nobody is sneaking up on us." He glared at Heero "I know that look," he said angrily. "You are such an anal ass, Yuy. You really want us to stand guard?"
"Yes," Heero replied simply.
Duo threw up his hands in exasperation. "You're taking midnight watch, then."
"Accepted," Heero conceded.
Duo pulled on a shirt, a Preventer long sleeve that was wrinkled and tight in the shoulders. It took Heero a moment to realize that it was one of his and that Duo was in his bag.
"Damned wind is cold," Duo complained.
Duo only buttoned the shirt halfway as he sat on his own duffel and rested his chin in one hand.
Heero settled gingerly on a rock that wasn't too rough and stared out at the storm, wondering just how bad it was going to get.
"Sorry," Duo said suddenly.
"Sorry?" Heero echoed.
"For... you know... trying something with you," Duo clarified. "I was out of line. I won't try it again, so... Don't worry about it, okay?"
"Why now?" Heero wanted to know.
Duo sat up and shrugged. "Tropical island, just us two, easy mission, sand and surf... I never had a chance this good before. I really thought... well, I guess you can ogle the goods without wanting to get into the pants."
Heero blushed and wasn't sure how to reply to that.
Duo sighed, "I should have known that I didn't stand a chance. I'm not refined like Relena, Zechs, or even Quatre, and I've seen how much you like them. I say what I mean. I act on what I feel. People call that crude."
"Not... crude," Heero corrected impulsively. "Honest."
Duo smiled at him. "Honest. Thanks, for that. Honest or crude, though, I guess I'm not what you're looking for."
Heero hated his own silence, but it was impossible to say anything, to tell Duo that he was wrong about that as well. He didn't know whether it was his shy nature, his caution about all things, or simply a reluctance to fail, to find out that they really weren't meant to be together. Heero could imagine disaster too keenly.
Part of a palm tree slammed into the opening of the cave, showering them with fronds and water. They both scrambled back, staring wide eyed.
"Further back," Duo suggested. "A lot further."
Heero nodded and began moving their gear deeper into the cave system.
_______________________________________________________
Heero should have been sleeping, but the storm, and his own thoughts prevented him. Instead, he watched Duo pace their confined space like a leashed tiger. The man kept stopping and staring towards the mouth of the cave, concern plain on his face. A creature of open air and wild places, Heero thought, and felt amusement at the notion while an undercurrent of desire called him a fool for not taking what had been offered. He wanted that wild creature, that man of beauty, muscle, and competence to overwhelm him, to sweep away all his doubts, and take command, so that he wouldn't have to wrestle with his insecurities. Duo had promised not to do that, though, had promised not to pursue him when Heero had, to all appearances, rejected his advances.
I'm a liar, Heero thought, as if he could make Duo read his mind. I can't make the first move. I'm too much of a coward. What would he think, anyway, Heero wondered bitterly, when he discovered how much Heero wanted that strength of his? A man didn't show his belly to anyone in submission. A man didn't want another man to... to treat him like a woman? Heero discarded that thought as as unworthy as the rest of it. Not as a woman, he thought, but submissive and needing... Duo's control? Heero didn't think that was it completely. He wasn't into S&M. There wasn't any desire in him for that level of Duo's control. It was more indefinable, elusive, a yearning for that very masculine part of Duo that was an ache of need so painful, that Heero wondered how Duo couldn't feel it emanating from him. But... he had, hadn't he? He had said as much. He had felt Heero wanting him.
Not the time or place, Heero's soldier side warned him. They might be in danger, even in their cave. There could be unfriendlies on the island.
Duo's dog tags clattered together as he bent to rummage through their things. He pulled out a ration bar, sat on a rock, and proceeded to open and eat it.
"Why the metal dog tags?" Heero suddenly asked. Preventers didn't require such an old style. "Why make so much noise?"
"They don't when I don't want them to," Duo answered, but he seemed annoyed by Heero still being awake. He kept the ration bar in his mouth and gave the tags a quick twist, one handed, that put the tags, and the cross, into a knot of the chain. He shook them. They didn't rattle. "As to why I have them at all... “Cry 'Havoc!' and let loose the dogs of war”... That's what Dr. G said to me right before I stole my Gundam and went to Earth. It's always stuck with me .A dog needs tags." He laughed, but it had a ghost of bitterness. "I always thought of myself as a wild dog, actually. I never did well on a leash."
Heero had always been on a tight leash and he had liked it that way.
Duo made a show of being nonchalant as he stood up and made his way to where Heero had his bed. He sat down next to Heero and used a pack as a back rest. He said, after taking another bite of his bar, chewing thoughtfully, and swallowing, "I don't think it's the storm keeping you awake, Heero. Want to share?"
Heero replied defensively,"and have tea?"
Duo laughed. "You just don't open up at all, do you, buddy? You're like one of those beach clams. Always have been. I keep trying, though, because, like them, I think you're probably good to eat."
Heero felt a hot blush of consternation.
Duo laughed harder, but then he sobered after a few moments, and said more seriously, "You've said that you're off the menu, though, right? That's too bad, Yuy, because, I'd have you every night, if you'd let me."
His eyes were on Heero's, not flinching, not being at all evasive in how he felt. It was sex, definitely, but now he had put something else on the table along with it. His crude way of saying it, though, didn't help Heero to be confident enough to give him a reply.
Duo leaned in, searching Heero's face. "Something is going on with you. I can feel it. It's like you're trying to break out of prison, or something, and you want my help, only you won't say so. You gotta say something, Heero. I'm not going to take, okay? I don't do that shit. You gotta give."
The storm filled the silence between them. Say something! Heero begged himself inwardly. His lips parted, though he wasn't sure what he was going to say. Take me? Use me? Show me your strength? None of those things described what he wanted or how he felt. It was all going to go very wrong, Heero knew, if Duo didn't understand what Heero wanted from him.
Something moved on one of the rocks above them. Both men had their guns out and aimed instantly. A chicken eyed them fearfully and then clucked.
"Shit!" Duo breathed in relief. "Fucking bird!"
Heero was up on his feet, though, gun still aimed towards the back of the cave. "Odds of a chicken getting up here to escape a storm?"
Duo was up, as well, as he replied, "Okay, pretty much zero."
Heero quickly began putting their supplies in order, his gun still out and his full attention on the cave. Duo began helping him. He said, "Say, 'I told you so', already and get it over with."
Heero shook his head, not in the mood for banter.
"I almost had you, didn't I?" Duo grumbled as they picked up a light and moved into the cave cautiously. "I mean, you were seconds from telling me to jump you, weren't you?"
Maybe he had been, Heero thought, but he covered his turmoil with a glare. Now was definitely not the time. As he moved on ahead, he heard Duo mutter, "Fucking bird."
TBC