Title: Welcome Home
Author: May Chang
Warnings: shounen-ai, gen, POV
Pairings: 02+05
Disclaimers: "Gundam Wing" is the property of Sunrise Studio.
Author's Note: I suppose you could put this as the sequel to "A Question About Love", but it could also be considered as a stand-alone.
Welcome Home
There had been an argument that morning as Wufei and Duo were getting ready. What it was about exactly was something unknown; Wufei still had no idea what it was they had argued about except that now he was mad at Duo and vice versa, and neither were willing to apologize to the other.
In Wufei's instance, he refused to apologize for something he had no idea what he was suppose to be wrong about.
Usually he was right anyway.
They didn't talk to each other for the rest of the day. Wufei worked overtime, coming home at two in the morning to a darkened apartment, the dishes still soaking in the sink. He didn't even bother to go into the bedroom, setting up the spare futon in the living room and with a glance at the bedroom, went to sleep. The next morning, Wufei found Duo gone, the only evidence that he had been here the lone coffee cup in the sink, the dishes from last night cleaned and put in the dishwasher to dry.
The silence continued on for the next couple of days. On the fourth day of their silent war, Wufei received a mission. It was a one-man mission and it required Wufei's particular set of skills. A small group had threatened to blow up a shopping center if their demands were not met.
How such morons lived through puberty was beyond Wufei. Their demands weren't even rational; really who would want a super-computer in the middle of nowhere? He'd been in the middle of nowhere and the reception there, phone-wise and online-wise, was abysmal at best.
It was another long night for Wufei, going over the information he was provided, where they were thought to be located, how much resistance he may expect. He suddenly found himself missing Duo's voice as he read through one of the pages. He missed Duo's bright "Mornin' Wufei!" and husky "God, I love you so much." In particular he missed Duo's "Welcome home" on nights he came home late at night, voice thick with sleep and a drowsy smile on his lips.
He suddenly realized that it was going to be the first time that Wufei would be leaving on a mission with Duo still mad at him, and he still had no idea what about.
Of course pride kept from his asking.
Coming home to the darkened apartment once again, Wufei began to pack, moving through the bedroom silently. He found himself pausing in the middle of holding onto four shirts, staring at Duo's sleeping form, curled under the covers with half of his head sticking out. Wufei shook his head and finished packing, leaving the bedroom quietly.
He put a sticky note on the coffee-maker before he left, hoping Duo would read the note before going through his usual morning routine of making coffee. He took a taxi to the airport, boarding the six AM flight and quickly fell asleep the minute he sat down.
The first few days were rough on Wufei, and he couldn't help but wonder how Duo was, if he was eating alright – he had the tendency to binge on Hawaiian pizza and strawberry-banana milkshakes when he didn't feel like cooking, which was usually most days – and if he was sleeping okay – Duo had insomnia when he was stressed. At nights, Wufei would stare at the ceiling, missing Duo's warm body by his side.
On the fifth day, Wufei and the local law enforcement had laid out the plans. Wufei would go in first to get rid of the bombs, and the police would come in to help put down the group. Satisfied with that plan, Wufei found himself in the forest that night, crouched behind a tree with a pair of binoculars in hand. Using the shadows, he was able to get inside the building and quickly take down some of the guards, hiding their unconscious bodies in the broom closet.
It was getting kind of crowded in there by the time Wufei finally found the room with the bombs. The bombs were one of the easier makes and Wufei had them all disarmed in a few minutes before he called in the back-up. The police easily put down the rest of the group and Wufei gave all the terrorists his trademark "You're all idiots" look as he stepped out of the building, telling the officers to get the rest of the people in the broom closet. He went back to the department for a quick debriefing then went to this hotel room to pack for home. He hoped that Duo had forgiven him for whatever they were arguing about.
He came home at three in the morning, tired as all hell, trudging up to the door of his apartment. He stepped in, dropping his pack by the door as he closed the door and stumbled into the living room. Duo was there, sitting on laid-out futon with the TV on, an open box of Hawaiian pizza and a huge empty cup with something pink leaking from the side. Wufei watched as Duo's face lit up with a grin and he couldn't help but smile back.
"Welcome home, Wufei."