Chapter One
Trowa could feel Quatre's naked torso shift within his arms, waking him from his sleep. "What is it Quatre?" he asked in a groggy, tired voice.
"The phone," said Quatre, "the phone's ringing."
Trowa could now hear the faint buzzing in the other room. He turned to face the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was four o'clock in the morning! Who would be calling them then? He thought about it for a moment and then realized he knew the answer…
"It's probably Duo," Quatre said.
"Yeah," Trowa said, "he'll be fine. Let's go back to sleep." With that he twisted his arms around his lover and closed his eyes.
"But what if it's an emergency?" Quatre chirped in a nervous voice. "We better pick it up!"
Trowa knew that he was right, he got up out of bed and slipped into his robe before walking to the kitchen to answer the phone. "Hello?" he answered.
"Trowa?" a familiar voice asked.
"Duo? Do you know what time it is?"
"I don't know, six or seven?"
"It's four a.m."
"Oh…" Duo said sheepishly. "Is that a problem?"
"Only if you like to sleep," Trowa told him. Trowa wondered if Duo had left his penthouse suite at all in the last few months since Heero Yuy, his one-time lover had up and disappeared without so much as a courteous note saying where he went. He felt bad for Duo, and so did Quatre, so they invited him to stay at Raberba-Winner apartments with them. "When was the last time you saw daylight, Maxwell?" he asked.
"Well, that's why I'm calling," he said, "I wanted to know if you and Quatre wanted to go out for a walk or play a game of tennis or something…"
"Duo, I think Quatre and I would like to sleep right now, we'll stop by in the morning."
"What about going bowling? I have an extra pair of balls!" Duo offered.
"That's okay, Duo…you can keep your balls to yourself," he said. "Right now, we're going to sleep. Call us in the morning," with that he lay the phone down on the hook and proceeded back to their bedroom.
"Is Duo okay?" Quatre asked him, concerned.
"He's fine," Trowa said hopping into bed, "nothing a little social activity couldn't fix. He just needs to get out more and get over Heero Yuy."
Quatre nodded. "I worry about him, Trowa. He never sleeps and his apartment smells funny. We've got to do something about it."
Trowa wrapped his body around Quatre's. "Close your eyes, cherub. Let's go to sleep, we'll worry about Duo in the morning."
"Do you think he'll be okay?" Quatre worried.
Trowa sighed, he could tell that Quatre wasn't going to get back to sleep. But Quatre's concern for others was one of things he loved so much about him. "Everything will be fine," Trowa said.
"I don't think I'll be able to sleep now," Quatre said.
"I don't think that will be a problem," Trowa told him, slipping his arms around Quatre before giving him a deep long kiss.
Quatre smiled, pulling the sheets over their heads.
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Duo Maxwell dropped the phone and sighed. They must have thought he was pathetic, calling in the middle of the night, looking for attention like an annoying little brother. Trowa and Quatre had been so good to him since Heero left; they even gave him his own penthouse courtesy of Quatre's Winner family fortune.
But as nice as they were to spend time with him, Duo couldn't stand feeling like a charity case. He was a talented, capable pilot. He kicked serious ass in the wars and the last thing he needed from anybody was pity. At least that's what he told himself, but when it came time to put that talent and capability to use he found that he would rather order another pizza and watch some television.
Heero Yuy, that bastard jerk had really done a number on him. He just left one day, without saying anything. After months of great sex…gone, with no explanation. Duo had no clue what to say to that, he thought that Heero loved him, even if that sexy little psychopath had never actually uttered the words.
Duo decided to turn off the television and get ready for the day ahead of him. He stepped into the bathroom and began to brush his teeth. As he looked in the mirror he realized that he hadn't combed his long brown hair in weeks, and now it stared back at him like a tangled scary mess. How had he let it go this far? When did he start letting himself go and why didn't Quatre and Trowa tell him how pathetic his life had become? Duo tried to put the questions out of his mind to concentrate on cleaning himself up, getting out of the bathrobe and slippers that had been his uniform for the past few months and actually starting to live again.
He used to be a swinger, after all. There was a time, although it was hardly evident now, when he was never alone between missions, there was always somebody who wanted a little piece of Duo's sweet ass. That made him smile, but in truth, none of them ever compared to Heero. Heero was a challenge. Duo liked challenges, whether it was a dangerous mission or just trying to connect with a very dangerous man.
Maybe that was his problem, the wars were over. The Earth Sphere Alliance and the Colonies both gave up their weapons and the Gundams: Wing Zero, Heavyarms, Sandrock, and his own Deathscythe had all been confiscated and destroyed after the Peace Talks. There was no adventure in his life anymore. He had retired to a simple, domestic life and he had no one to share it with.
Duo walked to his bedroom to find a pair of clean clothes. Instead, he found a little pair of black lycra shorts at the bottom of his closet. Heero must have left them there, he never could figure out how he fit into those little shorts. He picked them up and smelled them. He always loved the way Heero smelled.
Then it hit him…he was sitting in his bathrobe smelling Heero Yuy's underwear! "I really need to go out and get laid," he told himself.
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Wufei Chang stood silently in the hallway outside of Senator Treize Kushrenada's apartment. He could understand that Earth Alliance Security wanted armed bodyguards at the Senator's side but he couldn't understand why it was necessary for him to guard Kushrenada's apartment while the Senator was out for the night at a party.
There were times Wufei considered just leaving his job as a bodyguard. There was much less honor in being the servant for some stuffed shirt politician than there was in being a Gundam pilot. But the Gundams were gone now, and as much as he resisted the Alliance's efforts to destroy his Gundam, he gave up his mobile suit on his own volition. Now, life was about waiting for the next war to erupt, and Wufei knew that eventually it would.
Until that time, he had taken a job with Earth Alliance Security. It wasn't what he hoped to be doing with his time but it kept him busy and every so often he saw some action in the line of duty. But he found himself dodging advances from the ever-horny Senator Kushrenada more than he found himself dodging assassins' bullets.
It made Wufei sick the way Kushrenada was always coming home with men who were much to young for him, and by no means as mature. It was just that kind of behavior that made him flee his fellow Gundam pilots. He couldn't understand why the Senator would act that way for he was completely respectable in every other aspect. He was an excellent speaker, leader and politician as well as a deft swordsman. Wufei admired that but he could not understand why he insisted on dragging his honor through the mud with such unacceptable behavior.
Now, Wufei watched as Kushrenada returned from the party with a giggling, blonde man hanging on his arm.
"Hello, Wufei," Treize greeted him. "This is Xem, he'll be spending the night with me," he said introducing Wufei to the shirtless young man in the tight leather pants.
"Hey," the boy giggled at him.
Wufei looked him over and said nothing.
Treize just patted Wufei on the back and entered his apartment with his companion. Wufei followed behind them, still remaining silent and feeling sick to his stomach.
Treize turned to look at him. "Aren't you going to keep post outside?" he asked.
"No. I have orders to watch you under any condition. Your privacy is of no concern to me, Senator. I have seen the horrors of battle, whatever it is you do with that little boy slut of yours if cannot possibly scar me."
Treize smiled. "Okay. I just feel bad, enjoying myself while you're on duty. You can join us if you want. Three is always more fun than two," he said.
"I have no desire to join you Senator," he said.
"It was just a joke, of course," Treize laughed.
Wufei didn't smile.
"You're a barrel of laughs Chang," he said.
He turned his back to his stoic, young bodyguard to face his companion. Treize took the young man into his embrace and kissed him while unbuckling his pants, before letting them drop to the ground. His companion began to unbutton the senator's shirt. Before the last button, he stopped. "What's wrong?" Treize asked him.
"Is he going to watch us?" the blonde asked, giving Wufei a critical look.
"He likes to watch," Treize said, jokingly.
Wufei could feel his temperature rising. Something inside him desperately wanted to kill the Senator. He wasn't sure why the nymphomaniac's little comments enraged him so much. It was bad enough he had to watch him make love, but his advances just added insult to injury.
Treize kissed his new lover. "Just ignore him," he said. "Let's go take a bath. Chang can wait outside."
"Okay," his lover conceded.
They went into the bathroom and shut the door behind them.
A trickle of blood spilled from Wufei's nose as they did. His nose always bled in these situations; it was most embarrassing. Something told him that he would need lots of tissues while working for the good Senator Kushrenada.
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Treize leaned back in the extra-large whirlpool and let all his thoughts of Wufei Chang wash away. He looked across the tub to see his new companion, Xem, was enjoying himself too. Treize reached out with his legs to rub the young man's thighs with his feet. He loved a little playful foreplay before really getting at. Xem just smiled.
"So, Xem," he said, "what did you think of my bodyguard?"
"I think he's bit of a spaz," Xem said. "Is he a friend of yours?"
"No. Not yet anyway," Treize told him, "I'm sorry if he made you feel uncomfortable."
"Not at all," Xem told him, "but let's not talk about him."
"What do you want to talk about?" Treize asked.
"I'd rather we quit with all the talking, Senator. If you don't have any objections with that?" Xem offered.
"I have absolutely no problem with that," Treize said. "I'm all for putting our mouths to better use than talking." Treize sat up to lean over Xem. He pulled the young man into his embrace as they kissed and fell back into the soapy water.
Xem began to stroke Treize's chest as he kissed his stomach. His head moving slowly down to Treize's crotch as his hands moved upward, massaging his jaw and neck.
Treize smiled as the man caressed his belly button with his lips. "That's very nice Xem, but let's not beat around the bush. Let's just get to it, alright?"
Xem did not respond. He only looked up at Treize as the hands that once massaged his neck slowly began to constrict. Treize could feel his throat closing, his skin bruising under Xem's touch. "Dammit! Xem…I'm really not into that kinky stuff…loosen up will you…" he pleaded while choking for air.
Xem said nothing. His sexy blue eyes were now cold and scary as they peered up at Treize. That's when Treize realized that this man was trying to kill him. He was strangling him! What the hell was going on?
Treize knew he had to do something. Suddenly, he moved his knee upward under Xem's thighs, kicking him hard in the genitals. Xem's eyes winced in pain but he did not scream or loosen his grip. Treize realized he was a professional, an assassin.
Everything went black. The next thing he heard was a gunshot. The first thing he thought was that he was dead, but air came filtering through his nose and into his lungs, and in the few tense seconds that he could hear the ringing echo of the gun, his vision returned to him. He blinked and realized that Xem was missing half his face and blood was splattered across the marble furnishing of his bathroom.
He crawled out of the tub, shaken and afraid, to see Wufei standing there in the doorway holding a smoking black gun. Treize stared at his savior, thinking for a moment that he would cry but he turned and sucked it all up, drying the blood and water from his body with a towel.
"Wufei..." he said, "my hero."
Wufei looked at him. "Shut up," he told him.
"How'd you know he was attacking me?" Treize asked.
"I know how to do my job," Wufei explained.
"I think you were just jealous," Treize teased. He tried to laugh, figuring that making a joke would help hide the fact that he was shaken, scared and embarrassingly grateful to his stoic little bodyguard.
Wufei didn't laugh though. He just handed Treize a towel to cover himself in. "No one wants to see you naked, old man."