Rival Serenade
Written by:
Ashley Da SPED
Illustrations by:
Kelly Da SPED
where?
*collective sigh*
what?
Thanks for all the ideas Pyro!
Beware: YAOI ahead.
Trunks/Duo Pairing
Disclaimer: I
don't own anything affiliated with Dragonball
or Gundam Wing. Or Caboodle. I don't own that either.
Dedicated to Tamen Da SPED
Happy Valentines Day!
"Alright Maxwell, you're up." Wufei said, pushing him through the large revolving doors and into the Capsule Corporation complex.
"No, Wu-man! I don't want to go in there!" Duo shouted as he grabbed hold of Wufei's shirt, dragging him alongside.
"Maxwell..." Wufei growled in annoyance.
"Why do I have to be the secretary? Quatre is so much better than me at typing and notation and-" Wufei had thus managed to pry Duo's hands off of his shirt and escape the building. Duo continued to whine. "speech-giving, and-" He looked around, not sensing his comrade anywhere. "Wu-man?" *Great* he thought. *Just great. I'm all alone in the building, I have no idea what I'm doing... I'm in a dress for God's sake...*
~*~Flashback~*~
"A meeting of the inner-circle will now commence," Dr. J's voice broke into their conversations. He looked around the table, to find that all of his men were here.
On his right side was Heero Yuy. A genius with computers and 'Head of Engineering'. He could turn a useless piece of metal into an important part of an intricate design. He didn't do much of the social work. That was left to Duo Maxwell. He could talk anyone into anything. He was 'Head of Advertising and Marketing'. Along with Duo, Quatre Winner did a lot with people. His company had been bought out by the Mobile Wings early on. He worked as 'Chair of the Customer Service Department'. Trowa Barton was his constant companion. He took care of most of Quatre's paper-work while he dealt with the people and took the title of 'Co-chair'. On the furthest end was Wufei Chang. He was the 'Head Tester of Major Products', making sure that "no weak products would be sold.
On his right was not one of his assistants, but an affiliate of the company. Relena Peacecraft. Her company, Sanq, found all the supplies the Mobile Wings needed to create their products. Somehow, miraculously, she had flared the emotions of Heero Yuy and they were to be wed in March.
Dr. J picked up a piece of paper and read through the list once before beginning to speak. "The first order of business is the Capsule Corporation. They have stolen our business for the last time. I need someone stealth enough to sneak in, get into their inner sanctum and relay information to us about what they're doing."
Quate looked a bit startled. "You mean you want us to spy on them?"
Dr. J sighed at Quatre's naivety. "In lemans terms, yes."
"So, who will be the one to sneak in?" Heero asked in his usual monotonous tone.
"I felt I needed to ask you about this. I don't think that Quatre would be able to do it, and Heero is too busy planning for his wedding," Relena blushed at the comment, "So it is down to you three." he said, motioning to Duo, Wufei and Trowa.
"I nominate Maxwell." Wufei started. Trowa nodded and Duo shrugged.
"Sure. I'll go. I have nothing better to do.... but there will be something there for me when I return with the information, right?"
"Yes. I will double your salary and then give you one-thousand dollar bonuses for each piece of dirt you can dig up." Duo smirked as Dr. J handed him his itinerary. He skimmed down until he hit the last paragraph. His eyes widened in surprise.
"I am NOT wearing a dress!"
~*~End Flashback~*~
Relena had graciously let Duo borrow a dark blue dress that came down to right below his knees. It showed off his curves... or all the curves you could get from an overstuffed bra. She had also volunteered to do hair and makeup, which Duo had politely declined.
~*~Flashback~*~
"You can't do this to me! I will not wear that makeup!"
"Quit being a baby Maxwell!"
"Shuddup Wu-man! You don't have Relena experimenting on you with her screwed up-" Duo's ranting ceased momentarily as Relena "accidentally" hit him in a somewhat sensitive area.
"Oops." She said nonchalantly before continuing.
~*~End Flashback~*~
"I can't believe I'm doing this..." he muttered as he approached the front desk. He raised his voice into his best impression of Relena. "Yes, hello. My name is Duo-ette Maxwell. I'm here for an interview." The secretary looked at her computer screen. Sure enough, there was Duette Maxwell, scheduled in for a 3:30 interview.
"Fifth floor, room number 523." She said, smiling.
"Thank you." he said before entering the elevator and removing his shoes. *Damn. How can Relena walk in these things... in fact... how can ANY woman walk in these?*
As the bell rang for the second floor, a young man with long, purple hair stepped on. He seemed to do a double-take when he saw Duo. *Wow. What a knockout. All the people in this company are grumpy old women* He turned to her and stuck his hand out, jolting Duo out of his thoughts.
"Hello, my name is Trunks." Duo gladly took his hand. Leaning against the back of the elevator, he slid his shoes back on.
"Hi, I'm Duo-ette." *I REALLY have to learn that name better*
"You must be new around here. I haven't seen you before." *Yeah, I would have remembered that*
"Yeah, actually, I'm here for an interview with Mrs. Breifs." *And then you know, I'm going home and becoming a GUY again*
"Oh. Why don't I escort you there? I'm heading that way, too." *She probably doesn't know who I am*
"That would be nice." Duo said, faking a smile. *Sure this guy is cute but I don't need anybody messing up this interview. I NEED to get into this company.* Just then his thoughts caught up to him. *Cute?* He looked over "Trunks" once more, noting all the well-chiseled features. Yes, he had known for a while that he was not only interested in girls. At one point he thought he had even loved Heero... but that all changed when Relena came into the picture. She could make him smile, make him laugh... make him happy. Things that he couldn't. Tears formed at the corners of his eyes.
Trunks stole a glance at "Duette". She had a nice body, a pretty face with not too much makeup on... and she looked ready to cry. "Are you alright?"
Duo looked up to see Trunks looking at him worriedly. He quickly wiped away the offending tears and smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine. So, where are we going?"
"The room is actually just around the corner."
"Great." *I really need to sit down*
Trunks led "Duette" into a room with two large doors, both with large silvery B's carved into them. Inside was a HUGE room. Twice the size of Mr. J's office. He watched as, who he thought was, Bulma Breifs talk though her headset. Trunks put his finger to his lips as to say 'this-is-not-a-good-time-to-interrupt-her'. He pulled a chair out in front of the table Mrs. Breifs was working on for Duette to sit at. He took the chair to her immediate right and waited for the woman to finish her talking.
Duo studied her. She didn't look old.. in fact she looked rather young for being forty-eight. Her blue hair cascaded over a shoulder. She smiled into the phone, said a quick goodbye, and flipped the switch on the table. Sighing, she smiled even wider at the lavender-haired youth. "Trunks!" She got up and ran around the table, enveloping him in a hug.
"I love you, too mom," he said when she let go of him. *MOM?! I've been talking to her son?! How could I have missed it! Quatre quizzed me on this all last night!*
"So, what brings you here?" She asked him, honestly knowing the answer.
"Oh, yeah. This is Duette Maxwell. She's your next applicant for the secretarial job."
"So, how did she do?" Bulma asked him, laughter evident in her eyes. At this point, Duo was completely confused. How did he do? How did he do what? Then it hit him. The interview was the elevator ride. *Please say I did well. Please say I did well.* he willed Trunks to say.
"She did great. In fact, if she would, I would like her to start right now." Duo smiled as wide as he could and jumped forward, hugging Trunks.
"I'd love to start right now!" Trunks blushed and gave her directions to his office where she would be working. When the door closed behind him, Mrs. Breifs seemed to come alive.
"She seems like a nice girl Trunks... but tell me... are you in it for performance... or looks?" Her son had a knack for picking out the dumb-blondes. He smiled at her.
"Probably a little of both."
Duette wandered through the halls, trying to find the elevator they had come up in. He walked by a room where two guys were sitting in chairs, eating different foods and commenting on them.
"So, Treize.." a voice came through a loudspeaker in the room. "What do you think of the sushi?"
"Treize", a man with light brown hair gulped down a bite and smiled up to them. "It's good!" He replied before sticking another helping into his mouth.
"And yours Zechs?" The speaker boomed.
"It's okay." A man with silvery hair said before taking another small bite off of the plate in front of him.
"Goku?" echoed through the room. A well-muscled guy with wild black hair swallowed the last part of the food on the plate. "I'm still hungry!"
Duo felt a hand on his shoulder. His instincts kicked in, and he turned and threw a punch at the person behind him, not knowing that the person he was about to knock the air out of was Trunks.
His hand was caught in mid-swing and he was pulled into Trunk's embrace; his back against Trunks' well-muscled stomach. "Chill Duette, it's only me." As Trunks let go of him, Duo stepped out and immediately felt the loss of warmth. *I may just like to get back into those arms.. No. Stop those thoughts RIGHT THERE* He didn't exactly know that Trunks' thoughts were running along the same subject.
"Sorry... I.. uh..." he stumbled for words. "used to live in a bad part of town... some of my friends there taught me how to defend myself..." *Hey, at least it's not a total lie. I did grow up in a bad part of town....*
"I see." They stepped into the elevator and hit the down button. The number four flashed as they went down a level, and Trunks put a hand behind his head. "Hey Duette?"
"Yeah?" He asked, turning to look at Trunks.
"We're having a banquet tomorrow night. Would you like to be my date? I can show you around and everything.."
*He's making my job easy* "I'd love to,"
"Great." The elevator made a ping noise as they hit the third floor and made their way in a comfortable silence into the office. Trunks helped Duette get seated and everything together and then retreated to his office. When Duo could safely say that no one was around, he used his mini-cell phone to call Wufei, who was supposed to be waiting for his call.
Sure enough, after the first ring, Wufei picked up. "All is well Maxwell?"
"Yeah Wu-man everything is going great. There's so much I have to tell-" There was a clicking noise as Wufei hung up the phone. "Wu-man?" He sighed and got to work, typing up a few reports. Before he knew it, Trunks was congratulating him on making his way through the first day of work and saying that he would escort him to his car.
They made their way down to the front doors, where Duo saw Wufei waiting out front. *He can't see me with Wufei! Wufei is well known for being in Mobile Wing!* He immediately swung Trunks around and gave him a full-fledged kiss on the lips. Trunks tensed for a moment before giving in and responding. Seconds later, Duo pulled away and smiled. "See ya tomorrow!" He ran towards the car and hopped in before the near-comatose Trunks could recover.
"What was that all about Maxwell?"
"Nothin' Wu-man," he said in a voice that let you see right through him. He was living a dream.
"I'm guessing you don't mind this role anymore," Wufei said smirking. Duo just smiled.
They pulled in to the apartment complex behind the company. The "Inner Circle" had always stayed at that complex... for as long as Mr. J could remember at least.... Wufei veered off at the first hallway, whereas Duo continued down to the third where his room was located.
He pulled his keys out of his purse and pulled off his shoes. As soon as the door opened, the shoes went flying through the air. There was a crash, but his feet hurt too much to check and see what it was. *Prolly just the shoes* He made his way into the "living room" and sat down on the couch, settling in for a little TV, at least until he saw the blinking light on his answering machine. He reached his arm out towards the small machine. To no avail, it was too far away and he had to get up.
He pressed the button. "YOU HAVE-" he turned the volume down before it could blare out anything else. "2 new messages." He sighed. Two. That was all. Then he could sit down. *Note to self: Wear flats tomorrow*
"Duo. It's Mr. J. I don't care what time it is, call me. I want to know what happened." the sound of a slamming telephone came though loud and clear. He anxiously awaited the next message, not wanting to test his boss.
"Duette, it's me... Trunks. I just wanted to tell you since tomorrow is your first banquet, you may want to dress up. Talk to you tomorrow." Click. He smiled dreamily. Trunks.
The phone rang. Once, twice, three times, he reached his hand forward, but stopped about a centimeter away from the phone. *Oh.. let the answering machine get it..* and he did.. until.. "DUO! I know you're there!" Duo jumped forward and grabbed the phone.
"Hi Mr. J."
"How was your day?"
"Fine thanks, how was-"
"How did it go?"
"Ohhhhh! I'm going to a banquet tomorrow with the president's son."
"You work fast. I'll have your salary doubled tomorrow. Get me some dirt."
"Kay boss." There was a click noise and Duo went to sit back down on the couch and watch the evening news.
Duo grumbled.. there was a loud knocking on the door. He sleepily pulled himself out of bed to get up and open the door, only to see Relena holding a long, white dress and a caboodle of makeup. She was smiling. That was never a good sign. She pushed past him and started setting up her studio on his kitchen table.
"Relena... it's only," he looked at his watch. "Seven o'clock.... SEVEN O'CLOCK?!" He ran over and sat down in the chair. Relena started immediately with the hair and makeup, doing what she called her best job ever. At 7:30, Duo was slipping on the dress and the sandals. After complaining for almost 10 minutes, she had finally given in and gotten him some gold-colored flip-flops. Duo even put on his own lip gloss.... and with the use of a few napkins.. and some makeup remover, he looked like the Duette of yesterday.
"Damn him. Making me wait outside for almost a half hour. Moron...." Wufei had started up the car and was ready to drive away when Duo ran out the door.
"Noooo! Wu-man! Wait!" He stopped the car and waited while Duo jumped in and pointed at the street in the most dramatic way he could. "Away!" Wufei sighed. It would be a long day.
"Hello Hilde," he greeted the secretary at the front desk in a sing-song voice.
"Hey Duette. I'll see you tonight."
"Yup! See ya then!" Duette jumped in the elevator and took it up to the floor where he had spent most of his day. He quickly walked in and sat down, picking up a report and beginning to type.
"I have to go to a meeting today. I'll be back to get you before the banquet." Duo smiled.
The beginning of the day went by incredibly slow for Duo. It seemed every time he looked at his watch, the day had gotten longer. *I hate clocks* He continued to type into the computer, watching desperately for the time when Trunks would be back to pick him up and they would go... *and be happy!* his mind finished cheerfully. *Okay... so maybe I can wait for a little while longer...* The rest went a lot faster. Before he knew it, Trunks had taken his hand and led him down to the ballroom where it would all be held.
As they walked into the spacious room, they found it decorated in various shades of pink, red, and white. Tiny hearts were sprinkled across the floor and the tables were covered in silk table-cloths. On the ceiling, the chandelier's bulbs had been changed to red and bright white lights. As he looked past the decorators, he saw a balcony through glass doors. The sun was just starting to set. Trunks saw him taking in the beauty of the sunset and guided him out the door.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" he asked, leaning slightly over the railing.
"Not as beautiful as you..." *Corny... but it sounds good coming from him*
Duo smiled at him, taking in his appearance. He hadn't had time before... with being whisked out of the office in a silver... Trunks smiled. *Did it just get brighter out here?*... make that gold chariot. His soft lavender hair was brought out by a spotless white suit. As Duo finished his... inspection... He found that a string quartet had started playing a serenade... or a minuet.. he wasn't sure. *Quatre would sure be having a time here*
"May I request malady's presence in a dance?" Trunks asked, mimicking people from the olden days.... maybe unintentionally. Duo didn't know.. Duo didn't care. He took Trunk's hand and they danced, ignoring the people when they began to arrive. The balcony was small, but they made use of all the room, doing spins, turns, and everything in between. *I'm forgetting about the mission again. I need to find some dirt or something.... hmmm....*
"So, Trunks... tell me about your family." He immediately felt Trunks tense. *Oooh. We're getting somewhere.*
"Well, you've met my mother..... My father... isn't around much....."
"Who's your father?" Trunks took a deep breath and moved his mouth closer to Duo's ear so only he could hear.
"Vegeta-" Duo pulled back in surprise.
"You mean.. as in.."
"Yeah.. He wasn't always that bad. At one time we were a family. Him, my mother, me, and my sister."
"Your sister?"
"Yeah. Bra Breifs? Actress? Ring a bell?" Duo shrugged. He never had been one for movies... ten to one this Bra chick played in *gasp* chick flicks. Maybe Relena had heard of her. "What about your family?" *Maybe it wasn't such a good idea bringing up families*
"They're.. not around anymore..."
"Oh... How about this. My family is your family." He grinned. Duo attempted a smile. It was a little bitter, but better than any others he had managed on this subject. *It's getting harder and harder to turn this stuff in on him...* They pulled apart when the speaker system squeaked and Bulma made her way up to the stage... finding that most of the invitees were already there.
"It's time for the first dance of the night!" Bulma turned to the quartet and they immediately began playing a song. It had a soft melody that seemed to drift through the entire room.
"Puccini always had a knack for making great songs..." Duo looked at him. After spending so much time with Quatre, he knew a lot of the classical music around.
"You know Puccini?"
"Yeah. My mother loves his music. We hear it all the time. Especially the stuff from La Boheme." They danced silently for a while until Trunks decided to gather up his courage and ask what he had been waiting for. "Duette... would you... uh... maybe... liketogooutsometimeousidethecompany?"
"Come again?" Duo asked. Trunks sighed. She was not making this easy on him.
"Would you like to go out sometime outside the company?" Duo smiled.
"That would be great." Trunks was about ready to start doing back flips... but quickly decided against it.
Duo walked into the apartment building. He had more fun at this company in two days than he did with the Mobile Wings in all the years he had been there. *Then leave* Duo looked up startled. His first instincts had never been wrong before... but how could he quit the Mobile Wings? Mr. J would have a contract on his head before he knew what to do. *Just tell Trunks* His hand seemed to function on it's own.
"Hello?"
"Mrs. Breifs? Can you put me through to Trunks?"
"Sure hon. Just a sec." He could hear her yelling through the phone and a click as Trunks picked up.
"Yeah?"
"It's Duette." The next thing he said sounded perkier in a way.
"Hey. What's up?"
"Umm..." he stumbled for words, "do you think you could meet me at the park near the Madison bridge?"
"It's kinda late..."
"Please? I really need to talk to you... in private." Trunks complied and mere seconds later, Duo was waiting at the water's end, devoid of Duette costume. Trunks entered the park quietly and snuck up behind an unsuspecting Duo.
"So, what did you need to talk to me about?" Duo jumped and almost turned around... that would have blown his cover too early.
"Trunks... I need to tell you something, but promise you'll listen to everything I have to say before you run away."
"What do you mean before I run away?"
"Promise me?"
"I promise. Now what was it?" Duo turned around and let his voice slide back down to normal.
"This." Trunks jumped back a few feet.
"You're a.... but.... Duette.... how...."
"and my name's not Duette. It's Duo. Duo Maxwell. I work for the Mobile Wings... or I did. I'm resigning tomorrow." Trunks decided it was about time for him to jump out of his stupor and get a little angry...
"Is that all this was?"
"What?" That's the last thing he was expecting to hear. You're just a lowly spy? Yes, that he expected. You're going to turn everything into your boss now, right? Yes, he was expecting that too, but 'Is that all this was' was not something he was ready for. "No, Trunks. I like you. I really do."
"But... you're a guy!" Trunks's voice sounded aggravated and Duo didn't blame him one bit. Trunks shook his head. "Stabbed in the back...." he said shaking his head. He turned and started to walk off.
"Wait!"
"Just leave me alone. And don't bother coming back to work. Your job will be in tomorrow's paper." Trunks's figure ducked behind a tree and Duo did the only logical thing. He cried. He cried for the first time since his family was killed in a drive-by shooting. His mother, his father, his little sister... all gone. It hurt almost as bad.
Several minutes later when he gathered enough courage to make his way back to the house, the first thing he did was call up Mr. J and resign. He made sure to get enough rest to get his things moved out in the morning.
Trunks slammed the door to his room. He turned off all the lights and lay down on his bed, determined to ignore the pain in his heart.
~*~*~So what happened to the two?~*~Would you really like to know?~*~Comes later... as in WAY later...~*~*~
"Oooh!" Duo said, looking at the shiny diamond ring. Trunks had promised him something to show off to Relena and Heero. "It's so... sparkly!"
Wufei sighed. "Maxwell, don't sit down anytime soon. You may smash what's left of your brain."
Duo looked away from the ring and blinked several times. "I think I'm blind*
*Collective sweatdrop*
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
This is what happens when Flossie Da SPED gets inI'd like comments and constructive criticism.. even though flames will be used to make disgruntled-looking smores. ;) Want one?