title: The Prince and The Assassin
fandom: Gundam Wing
genre: AU
parings: 1x2, hints of 3x4
rating: NC-17
warnings: slight angst, intrigue, graphic lemons, violence, major fluff
summary: A Prince trapped by obligation in a prison-like castle finds freedom in an Assassin, while the Assassin discovers life in who he thinks is a pauper.

notes: I first wrote this as a oneshot then later seperated it into chapters. Each chapter has a diffrent length from the others so some may be extremely long and some may be rather short. There are rather graphic lemons so they will be indicated at the begining of the chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 01: Humpty Dumpty


Duo giggled softly to himself as he dangled twenty feet in the air above the castle wall. Ooh! Wufei would kill him if he got caught. Not that his good friend and body guard could actually lay a hand on him, but he would suffer the wrath of the dreaded rant.

Slipping from one balcony to another the young crowned prince of Sanq crouched low as the crunch of the sentries' foot steps echoed from bellow. His dark colored clothes were a God send in his nightly adventures out of the castle walls. Quatre had long since given up trying to convince him to stay put in his royal bed chambers and had once again been whined and begged at till he gave up his working clothes to his friend. Duo reminded himself to give his squire a few days off this coming fortnight. Poor Quatre needed them.

Jumping from the last balcony above the wall, Duo landed with the grace of a cat and began to scurry silently along the wall with the quickness and mischief of a sewer rat. He had been sneaking out of the castle since he was old enough to realize that there was a whole other world outside of it.

His first time out he had gotten caught stealing an apple. Having never had to pay for anything in his castle home Duo didn't realize that in commoners' clothes no one would recognize him as the prince. His hands had almost been forfeit till a tall boy with shaggy blond hair had come to the rescue and snatched him up before the merchant could cut off his hands in punishment.

The blond street urchin had taken Duo in and kept him safe till morning when the little boy had made his way to the castle and back into his room safe and sound. Despite his disastrous first adventure Duo was instantly addicted to the rush and freedom offered to him by Solo and his gang.

Not wanting to endanger his new friends with his true identity he was given a gang name, Duo. To symbolize his royal beauty and his street rat's heart; Duo had to chuckle every time at the irony of the meaning behind his nickname. He learned many things from the gang of street kids. Amongst others, he learned the skills of stealing, stealth, blending in, and street fighting.

Though he would steal from the street vendors, Duo would always come back later during the royal visits into the town and make sizable donations to their businesses. It was on one of these visits that Solo had found out who their newest gang member really was when he tried to filch the prince's purse.

Solo had been furious with his friend for not telling the truth, but after a time could understand why his friend snuck out and ran with a bunch of street kids. The need for freedom called all humans; who was he to judge a fellow man for following that call? Needless to say, they kept Duo's identity from the rest of gang for their own safety.

Duo waited patiently for the castle guards' to fall into their regular patterns of gossiping and smoking before he noiselessly slipped over the wall and rushed off into the welcoming hustle and bustle of the town of Peacemillion. He couldn't wait to meet up with his gang.


Heero sat in the darkest corner of the inn's main room watching the room from behind his untouched mug of ale. He had a mission to complete and money to collect. The money in his pocket smelled of blood and greed, but he had grown used to it. After all, when you're an assassin for hire you are rarely paid in money that someone hadn't bled for.

His dark expression and cloud of foreboding kept the buxom waitresses from pawing at him and the drunken townsmen from gossiping with him. He could be obliging when he needed information, but tonight he was just there to fill his belly, quench his thirst, and wash off the dust of travel.

The man that had contacted him through the arduous channel set up to discourage those with weak constitutions and half hearted wrongs to avenge had indeed set an interesting proposition at his feet. He was to assassinate a member of the royal family, discreetly and quietly. Poison wasn't really his style, but he had been trained in all forms of death since he could wield a knife affectively.

So, poison the heir to the throne he would. The client, Heero knew not who he was, had a thirst for power and his breath stank of the most sickening greed. He had offered Heero the largest amount of money for a mission he had ever undertaken. It would be enough for him to retire on; enough for him to stop the petty and greedy assassinations. Not that he would. He hadn't decided whether he really wanted to stop and settle down or not.

He glared coldly at a waitress wondering too closely to his secluded table and lifted the mug to his lips. The ale was room temperature and bitter in his dry mouth, but soothing on his dry throat. His skin was itchy and the smell of mud, rain, and road clung to him like a loose strumpet. The bath he paid extra for would do him some good before he turned in. Tomorrow he would scope out the castle, look for weakness in its defenses and holes in its patrols.

He was just standing when the door to the dining hall cracked open emitting a boy, no man, with a long braid and creamy clean skin dressed in the dark clothes of a commoner. Heero stilled in his departure and sat to watch the movements of this creature so out of place. The rest of the drunkards and the whores in the room paid the boy no mind. Some of them nodding in greeting and some just slumped over in an ale induced haze.

It seemed like a normal and usual thing, but something about the man rang false to Heero. Something about him just didn't seem to fit the atmosphere. Something about him was off.

He walked with his head held high, his steps precise and measured. The long haired man had a deadly strength underneath his loose commoner's clothing, but Heero observed that they were off as well. They didn't fit quite right. Perhaps, just the slightest bit small. There were no smudges of dirt on his face, no stubble on his chin, no disarray to his hair like any other night crawler would have.

The man walked up to the bar and leaned over to speak to the barmaid, making her giggle and blush before she hurried off to the back to fill his request. He watched after her with a mischievous grin that seemed to suit his face tolerably well.

Heero watched as the maid came back with a small barrel of ale and set it on the table quickly scooping up the immaculately clean gold pieces the young man had laid on the bar in payment. That more than anything tipped Heero off. He blinked and just barely missed the braid trailing out of the door before it closed behind the mystery man.

Well, well; looks like we have an imposter. Heero grinned to himself. Perhaps a little diversion from his mission wouldn't hurt. He could do with a little entertainment and this noble imposter looked to be able to provide that in spades.

Standing up from his table, Heero laid his payment next to his mostly full mug then made his way up stairs and on to the baths. He would have plenty of time to investigate the mystery man tomorrow, but for right now all he wanted was a bath and the bed he paid for.


Duo stumbled through his bedroom window as the sky had begun to gray. His head was fuzzy with the ale he and his gang had consumed, his belly was full with bread and fruit, and his heart was filled with the lecherous and lewd songs sung in the streets with his friends. God, how he loved to sneak into town!

He snagged his foot on the window sill and stumbled the rest of the way into his room, colliding with his desk and landing rather ungracefully on the slate floor.

"Ow…"

"Good God! David James Maxwell! Are you drunk?!" Quatre, good sweet Quatre rushed from his perch in the prince's royal bed to assist his inebriated friend off of the floor. "Oh, god! Wufei is going to have my head for this."

"'S okay, Quat." Duo giggled as he leaned heavily on his smaller friend's shoulder. "I won't tell if you won't."

Rolling his eyes, Quatre dragged his friend toward the huge four poster bed across the room and deposited him on the downy mattress with an undignified grunt. "One of these days Duo, you are going to be the death of me."

Duo waved a hand negligently at him and fell backward to sprawl sporadically on his bed. "Pshhh! I'm just a little drunk." He held up his fingers to show just how little he was drunk and succeeded in proving Quatre's claims.

Sighing to him self, the blond squire bent over and began to undress his prince then pushed, tugged, and shoved Duo into a relatively comfortable position to sleep in before tucking him in and climbing in on the other side.

"I'm sorry, Quat." Duo's voice sounded the slightest bit more sober. It seemed his adrenalin high had worn off and the tiredness was catching up to him. "I know I worry you. It's just that… the castle is so…" Huffing in frustration, Duo growled and dug his fingers into his hair.

Pulling his friend's hands away from his beautiful hair, Quatre pulled him to his chest and cuddled him like a child. "I know Duo. Get some sleep and we can talk about it in the morning."

"It's already morning." Duo's voice was muffled from where his face was pressed into his childhood friend's shoulder. They had cuddled themselves together in the royal bed since they were children and neither was uncomfortable with their physical closeness. Of course there were rumors floating around the castle, but neither boy paid any mind to them.

Sighing, Quatre tugged gently on his friend's braid eliciting a grunt from his human body pillow. "I know. We'll talk about it when you wake up. Get some sleep or I will tell Wufei about this."

"Meany." But Duo was already falling asleep before anymore teasing could go between the two friends. He was more tired than he had thought. Sneaking out two or three times a week was putting strain on him in ways he didn't even realize.

Sighing contently, he dreamed of open sky, endless fields, and the freedom to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted.


TBC…