A/N: I'm back! Just returned from my summer job and I am so ready to update. I've got chapters of Entanglement and Pax Ultima about half way complete - and a chapter of Revenant (prequel to Umbra and Penumbra) almost complete as well. Look for all of those very soon!

Warnings: Angst, violence, language, sex (this are kind of…. you know, my standard warnings)

Debriefing

Trowa's silence was brutal, the faint scowl on his face fixed and his narrowed eyes fierce.

It was typical for him to be taciturn, especially during medical exams and mission debriefings - he was infamous for being the most uncommunicative agent during debriefings. Despite the fact that it frustrated the fuck out of everyone, Trowa usually only deigned to nod or answer in monosyllables during mission debriefings before then typing up exhaustive reports that usually took the analysts days to read over. It was funny, usually, but not today.

Today, as Duo sat beside Trowa in the debrief, he was hyper aware of the rage rolling off of Trowa in waves and it had the effect of making Duo far more cooperative than usual in the debrief - a fact that did not go unnoticed by Heero, sitting in on the debrief at the back of the room with his arms crossed and his brows drawn together in a scowl, but it did seem to go right past the notice of the analyst who had the unfortunate task of going through this debrief with two of the most surly agents on the Preventers roster.

It ended, finally, after what felt like days of pulling at the truth, at twisting it and trying to trick Duo, trying to pry into things that absolutely were not relevant to the mission. But it did end, and as soon as it did Duo jumped up from his chair, ready to flee, but Trowa's arm shot out as just as quickly, locking around his wrist in a vice like grip.

The analyst was too busy shuffling papers as he left to notice, not that Duo would have ever called out for help in any case. He had learned at a very young age that help never came.

Trowa and Heero glared at each other for a long moment, though it was clear Trowa wasn't angry at Heero - no, his anger was solely for Duo - and then Heero nodded.

"Come with us."

It wasn't a request, even though there was a note of hesitation in Heero's voice.

Trowa stood up and unceremoniously started to drag Duo from the room.

Duo fought then - he wasn't about to be paraded through the Preventers headquarters, even this late at night, as though he was some kind of captive, some kind of criminal.

"Let me go," he growled at Trowa.

"No," Trowa snapped. "You've proven you can't be trusted on your own."

Duo felt like the breath had been knocked out of him, but then, Trowa was right. He really couldn't be trusted.

He didn't bother to look at Heero, at his oldest living friend, at the man he would die for, at the man he had stolen from. He didn't need to look at him.

Heero had either gleaned enough details from what wasn't said during the debrief or he and Trowa had silently communicated enough, but somehow, Heero clearly knew.

Trowa hauled him down to the underground parking garage and unceremoniously shoved him into the backseat of Heero's car while he took the front passenger seat and Heero gracefully slid into the driver's seat.

Duo knew they would never let him drive, in these circumstances, but he wished it was at least Trowa behind the wheel - Heero drove like a madman, but without Duo's finesse - and by the time they arrived at the apartment that Heero and Trowa had shared for the last three years, Duo had his eyes closed and was clutching the seat beneath him.

Heero opened his door, stood to the side, and waited for Duo to climb out of the car.

He wondered if he could just run now - how far he would get - but Heero put a hand between Duo's shoulder blades and nudged him towards the apartment.

Not far then. Heero hadn't been awake for the last thirty two hours, and he was in excellent physical condition. No doubt he would catch up to Duo quickly, tackle him down to the pavement, and mete out whatever punishment he and Trowa felt appropriate in public.

Instead, Duo sighed and opted to go with them - he knew this wasn't going to be pleasant, knew he had ruined everything - but he also knew he deserved whatever he had coming to him.

"Sit," Trowa ordered as soon as they were inside.

Duo had only been over a handful of times. He always tried to dodge their invitations to come over, to relax after he and Trowa returned from long undercover assignments or he and Heero took a rotation training the new agents in hand to hand combat. Still, he had memorized the apartment his first time over, had taken in the sparse decorations, the wide, comfortable furniture that was Terran in construction and fashion, the bed - the king sized bed that was always made with military precision but nonetheless was easy enough for Duo to envision with tangled sheets and tangled limbs.

He sat on the leather armchair closest to the door, a choice that provoked a sneer from Trowa and a raised eyebrow from Heero.

"Well?" Heero finally said as he and Trowa sat on the leather couch across from Duo. "What happened?"

Too much, was Duo's first thought. Far too much.

Even what he had revealed during the debrief had been painful to share, what he hadn't said, he couldn't say.

After weeks undercover they finally had a solid lead to follow and found their targets - the two men responsible for reviving the gun trade in the L5 sector - during a cargo exchange near the space port. It had been the early hours of morning on the colony, when the light was lavender and eerie and the temp systems cycled between warm and cold, creating a low haze.

But they had been seen, and Duo had thrown himself in front of Trowa, thinking to at least save him, at least buy him some time, but Trowa had wrapped his hands around Duo, had pulled his face close and kissed him.

Their targets and the small retinue of bodyguards laughed and jeered and in the end they had had to put on quite a show - Trowa's hands down the back of Duo's pants clutching his ass and Duo's hands pinching Trowa's nipples while their tongues, lips and teeth danced together.

But in the end, as Duo started to reach for the fly of his pants, they had been shooed away - told to go find a room for fuck's sake, and they had turned around, Trowa armed with the pistol Duo holstered at the small of his back and Duo with the guns from Trowa's shoulder holsters and they had eliminated the targets, confiscated the cargo, and brought back a bodyguard from each man's retinue for interrogation.

But after dropping off the men and the cargo at the colony peaceforce to await recovery from the Preventers, they had gone back to their dive of a hotel, stripped out of their clothes to scrub away the blood and grime and sweat and Duo's veins had been buzzing with adrenaline, with the taste of Trowa and the feel of his hard cock and firm body and he had kissed him, had pushed him against the side of the shower and caressed him with hands and tongue and Trowa had returned the attention, had gasped when Duo bit down on his left nipple and then groaned when Duo licked his cock and had pleaded with him, had begged him - to stop, and it had taken Duo a few moments to realize, to hear No from Trowa's lips and he had pulled away instantly, his skin chilled and his arousal dead as Trowa said no again, said Heero's name - and Duo knew he had done something terrible, had crossed a line he had promised himself not to, a line he had toed for the last four years as he watched them, saw the way Heero and Trowa were together and tried to content himself with the knowledge that they had each other, the fact that Duo himself never lacked for company in his bed if he wanted it, but he hardly ever did, because the stream of trainees and agents who flirted with him, who wanted to be fucked by the infamous Duo Maxwell, were nothing, not compared to Trowa and Heero. Nothing, and that was all Duo had ever really had anyway.

"He put himself between me and a bullet," Trowa said, his voice still at that low, deadly growl.

Duo blinked.

"That's what you're so fucking pissed about?"

"No," Trowa assured him. "That's only the first thing I'm pissed about."

"Oh."

Heero was glaring at Duo now, his glare far more intimidating than Trowa's.

"Why?" Heero demanded.

Duo frowned.

"What do you mean why? He's my partner, I -"

"You would have died for me," Trowa interrupted and there was an emotion in his voice Duo couldn't figure out.

"Of course. You -" he caught himself, flicked his gaze towards Heero and then decided what the hell, he might as well, "you have Heero to come back to. I have to make sure you come back."

"Duo -" Heero started to say, but Trowa stopped him with a hand on his wrist.

"We went back to the hotel to clean up," Trowa said, his voice emotionless, "and we almost fucked in the shower. Duo had his mouth on my cock when I told him to stop. When - "

"I know. Heero. And -"

"But you didn't listen," Trowa snapped, his voice slightly raised and Duo had never seen or heard him this frustrated, this close to losing control of himself.

"I stopped!" Duo had to defend himself, knowing what he had done was indefensible.

"I told you to stop because Heero -"

"I know," Duo drew in a deep breath. "I know. And I can't undo it or -"

"Shut up," Trowa said, "and listen to me."

Duo drew in a deep breath and sat back.

"I told you to stop because Heero wasn't there and we promised we would be together the first time we invited you into our bed."

Duo felt like someone had turned off the oxygen. Time seemed to crash to a halt and his body stopped pumping blood.

"What?" He asked and it was Heero who answered.

"We had almost given up hope," he said. "We've been trying for years - but you always turn me down. You always turn him down. We - we want you with us Duo. We need you."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Duo demanded. None of this made any sense to him.

With an exasperated sound, Trowa lept up from the couch and crossed the room. He pulled Duo to his feet with enough force that Duo's body bumped against his and Trowa held him their, pressing his tall, lean body against Duo's and then he kissed him.

Without the mind numbing terror of someone pointing a gun at Trowa to distract him, Duo become overwhelmed by Trowa, the heat of his mouth, the wet caress of his tongue, the scent of anitbac cream and -

Heero came up behind Duo, wrapping his arms around his waist and easing him away from Trowa and turning him until their lips met, until the moment that Duo had dreamed about since he was fifteen - until his youthful, hormonal dream of kissing the Perfect Soldier and feeling his cock was finally realized.

They were undressing him, Trowa and Heero working together, their hands dancing over his flesh, tracing his scars, his tattoos, his ribs, his spine, his hips, his -

Trowa's mouth wrapped around his cock and Duo cried out into Heero's mouth.

"What do you want?" Heero asked, pulling away and teasing Duo's ear with his breath and his lips.

"I -" coherent thought was difficult, impossible once Heero wet one finger and traced the tight ring of muscle between Duo's cheeks, teasing at his entrance.

"We've waited a long time for this, Duo," Heero said and bit down on his earlobe.

"Me too," Duo gasped, admitting the truth.

"Every time we fought together for the trainees, all I could think about was your body. You're perfect, Duo -"

"No," Duo had to argue. "I'm not. I'm -" he knew what he was. He was thin, wiry, scarred and inked and the people who wanted to fuck him, who wanted the thrill of sleeping with a Gundam pilot, they didn't think he was pretty, they grimaced when they saw his body and they sighed in relief when he turned off the lights and pushed their face into the mattress or against the wall. "I'm not like you and Trowa."

Years of working together, years of exercise and showering together after had given Duo more than enough fodder for his fantasies, had demonstrated time and time again that Trowa and Heero were the most beautiful men he had ever seen, strong and golden and -

"You are," Heero interrupted Duo's thoughts. He traced his fingers down Duo's chest, ghosting over his flesh. "Absolutely perfect."

Trowa hummed in agreement, his hands tightening on Duo's hips as he sucked him deeper and harder.

"I - oh fuck I'm going to come," he tried to pull out but Trowa held him tightly and Heero kissed him again and in that moment of release Duo felt, for the first time in a very, very long time, no longer alone.

Trowa sat back on his heels and for the first time in two days he looked at Duo without anger, his rage burned away and his green eyes clear.

"We're partners," he reminded Duo. "You aren't allowed to die for me - you have to come home with me. With us."

-o-

The End.