Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Gundam Wing or its characters. Oh how I wish this weren't so.
Warnings: Yaoi, a little bit of subtle humour, potential lime-ish scene.
A/N: My very first fic. A little get-together story to start off my venture into fanfiction. More action to come in subsequent chapters.
The first part is an intro of sorts, and is written from an unconventional third person limited (from Heero's perspective). Future parts will be written in a more standard third person voice.
Paris in the Springtime
Prelude
The mind of Heero Yuy was an enigma to most. Those closest to him were able to read, to a certain degree, his subtle facial expressions, but no one ever really knew what he was thinking-unless he chose to express those thoughts out loud.
On this particular morning, Heero was at Preventers Headquarters, writing a lengthy report for his recently completed mission. He and his partner had spent months infiltrating an arms trafficking ring, and had finally amassed enough evidence to arrest all the key players within the criminal organization. After hundreds of hours of careful planning, all the important dealers had finally been lured into a single meeting together at a secluded building on L3. Unfortunately, the dealers had realized that something was wrong a little earlier than expected, which led to a number of unanticipated casualties. None of the Preventers agents had been seriously injured, of course, but Commander Une was less than pleased with the relatively low number of arrests that had actually been made.
Heero gave an internal sigh, his external appearance remaining perfectly unchanged. The agents that he and his partner had led were good, but they also were not former Gundam pilots. Heero was convinced that if he and his partner had gotten their wish and made the arrests on their own, without the help of any additional agents, the report would have been much shorter. It was hard justifying all the deaths when he knew they probably should have been preventable.
Thinking of his partner caused Heero to glance quickly at the time. It was now 8:37 AM. Although his partner was not one to arrive at work earlier than necessary, his partner also wasn't one to be late. True, they had only gotten back from L3 yesterday evening, but they had returned even later from missions before, and that had never stopped his partner from coming in to work on time. Now Heero frowned, his brows drawing together ever so slightly. It was unlike his partner not to send a message or call if he was running late, even for a few minutes: he knew and understood that Heero valued accountability in a partner.
Heero was on the verge of picking up his phone when his partner drifted into the room, crossing to his desk and slumping into his chair.
Thinking hard, Heero continued to type while his face remained impassive. It would be extremely uncharacteristic for him not to point out his partner's tardiness and expect an explanation. At the same time, Duo Maxwell never drifted, and he never slumped. His requisite, "Hey, Heero!" was also missing. Something was obviously wrong, but not to say anything would make Duo self-conscious of the fact that Heero realized that something was wrong. It was all very unnecessarily complicated.
Heero was not an inconsiderate person, at least not to his friends, and wanted to avoid distressing Duo any more than he already was. He decided to act as he normally would, and said, "You're late," but then quickly added, "Is everything all right?"
Normality with just a hint of concern seemed like the best way to handle the situation.
Duo swiveled around in his chair, a humorless grin on his face. "Yeah, Heero. Everything's fine. I'm sorry I was late."
Another frown appeared on Heero's face, this one deeper than the last. Duo never lied, but it was obvious that not everything was fine. And he had always provided a reason when he had been late in the past. There wasn't much that Heero could do, though, so he decided to do nothing. "Hn," he replied in acknowledgement, and they both turned back towards their desks.
The rest of the morning passed uneventfully as they continued to work on their reports, their only conversation revolving around their recent case.
"Hey Heero, it was Jordan who shot Remyk in the stomach, right? Self-defense?"
"Butler shot Remyk twice. Jordan got Veronus twice in the chest while covering Butler."
"Oh, right. Thanks."
Expecting a quip about how they had been forced to work with a bunch of amateurs, or some derisive comment about how they should be paid extra for all the babysitting that they had to do, Heero was met with silence instead. As noon rolled around, Heero was getting a little antsy. Contrary to popular belief, Duo was not loud-mouthed or crass, but he did enjoy talking to Heero while they worked. Duo had jokingly referred to it as "conversational reinforcement of their camaraderie" once before. The usual reminiscing when they wrote their reports was missing today, however, and their stunted verbal exchanges unnerved Heero a little.
He was debating whether to confront Duo about what was bothering him when Duo suddenly asked, "Hey Heero, do you want to grab lunch today?"
Heero raised an eyebrow. "We always have lunch together."
"I know," Duo replied quickly, "but I thought we could go out somewhere instead."
"Hn."
"Uh… That's a yes, right?"
"Yes." Anyone else would have rolled their eyes.
They went to a soup and sandwich place a couple of blocks away from Preventers HQ, the walk there tense and uncomfortable. Duo requested a booth near the back of the restaurant, away from the other customers, and gracefully slid into the far side of the table, shrugging off his Preventers jacket at the same time. Heero sat down across from him, his hands clasped and resting on the table, waiting expectantly for Duo to speak first. The braided young man seemed unsure of what to say, making a few occasional false starts and then falling silent again. It wasn't until after they had gotten their meals that Duo was finally ready to talk.
"I know I've been a bit out of it today," he started by way of apology.
"Yes you have," Heero replied bluntly. "Is something wrong?"
"Kind of. Maybe." Duo hesitated. "By the way, I appreciate you not giving me a hard time this morning."
"For being late? Or for not telling me why you were late?"
Duo gave a small smile. "Both."
Heero shrugged noncommittally, but Duo recognized the silence for what it was. Anyone else would have been met with disapproval and the famous Heero Yuy glare that morning; Duo had earned a level of respect and trust from the Japanese man that few people would ever experience.
The smile that Duo gave him was a genuine one now. "Thanks, buddy. I was worried that we'd end up getting into things at the office." His face then darkened and he began shuffling around the fries on his plate with his fork, grimacing at his food. When he spoke next, his voice was so low that Heero almost had to strain to hear him.
"Hilde's been seeing someone else," Duo said slowly. He looked up to see Heero's blue eyes gazing intently at him—which he took as a sign that his friend was paying attention—and continued to speak.
She had gotten tired of his extended absences during that last mission, but even worse for her was the realization that the lack of his presence barely impacted her life. For well over a year, they had been living under the same roof but leading two completely different lives. It wasn't until Duo was caught up in the arms trafficking case that Hilde truly understood how little their lives intersected, physically and also emotionally. She was essentially living a single life, but without the freedom to look for or pursue a real relationship. Her life revolved around her art, and it was something in which Duo didn't share. She wanted to share her life with someone who also shared her passions. It was becoming more and more obvious that Duo was not that person—but her agent was.
"And then she said that they've been dating for almost three months now," Duo finished.
The expression on Heero's face did not change, but he was thinking carefully. Hilde and Duo had been together since just after the Mariemaia incident, which was now over five years ago. They had dated, admittedly on-and-off but still exclusively, for more than four years before moving in together. In all the years that Heero had known Duo, his friend had not once shared any information about his relationship with Hilde, except when something was mentioned in passing. The specifics of Duo's relationship—how he and Hilde had gotten together, why they had broken up and gotten back together so many times, why they had finally decided to live together—had always been a mystery. Although his reticence was obvious, Duo had never offered a reason for it.
For the first time that day, Heero looked at his friend critically. Duo's clothes were a bit rumpled and the bags under his eyes a little more evident than usual. He had been playing with his food, but hadn't eaten much of it. Heero's eyes narrowed as he continued to study his friend. If Duo was truly upset about Hilde's infidelity, this conversation would not have taken place: Duo preferred to deal with his personal problems on his own, and was in many ways just as private a person as Heero. Yet something was obviously bothering him...
A flash of understanding crossed Heero's face as he tilted his head slightly to one side, a faint smile of amusement ghosting his lips.
"It doesn't bother you, what happened with Hilde." It was a statement, not a question.
Duo looked as if he was about to protest, but Heero interrupted him before he could say anything.
"You're bothered by everything else—breaking up, moving out, your life changing—but losing Hilde doesn't bother you."
Duo looked shocked for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "Damn your infallible logic, Heero! You just described my feelings better than I ever could. How'd you figure that out?"
Heero shrugged almost imperceptibly. "I know you. I don't know much about your relationship with Hilde, but I know you and I know that you'd hate dealing with the aftermath of the break-up on your own."
Some of the tension drained from Duo, his usual grin appearing on his face. It dawned on Heero that his friend looked odd without that smile.
"I'm so glad that you understand me so well, because I was hoping for a small favour."
Heero's left eyebrow twitched, but his expression was unreadable. "You can stay with me. I'll help you pack and move."
"See, this is why we're best friends. You're practically reading my mind!"
For his return to his usual effervescent self, Duo was rewarded with a small smile from Heero.
"When do you expect Hilde to be out?" Heero was never one to beat around the bush. There was a certain abrasive charm to his directness that Duo had long since become accustomed to.
"She said that she'd be gone for the next little while. She and Malcolm are doing some sort of artisan fair thing." Now that Duo had gotten the failure of his relationship of his chest, he dug into his food with gusto.
There were many questions that Heero wanted to ask, like why Duo wasn't more upset, or if he even tried to convince Hilde to give their relationship another chance. Asking for details about the situation was outside of his comfort zone, though.
"I'm free tonight," he said instead. He also knew that Duo would want to move out sooner rather than later. It was part of his friend's nature not to dwell on things, and staying in the apartment that he shared with Hilde would involve dwelling on both a literal and figurative level. "You can take the spare room at my place." With exaggerated gravity, he added, "You've practically taken it over, anyway." Heero added a hint of suffering to his voice, for good measure.
Duo stiffened. "Hey! You're the one who always invites me to crash there. And even then it's only when we're swamped with work or getting home really late from a mission. You know it's a bitch to go all the way from HQ to my—Hilde's—place..." Duo's voice trailed off as he noticed Heero's slight smirk, and he rolled his eyes. "Very funny, Yuy. You know, I almost miss the days when you had no sense of humour. What happened to that guy?"
"I spend too much time with you not to have a bad sense of humour," Heero deadpanned.
"And now I'm going to be your roommate, too. Are you sure you don't mind? It's not too late for you to change your mind," Duo joked.
It didn't really bother Heero to have his best friend move in with him. After all, they often shared a room while on Preventers missions, and had done so throughout the war, too. "You can stay with me as long as you need," he assured Duo.
Their conversation drifted away from Hilde, break-ups and relationships. During the rest of the afternoon, the long-established pattern of their friendship reasserted itself as things settled down into a familiar state of equilibrium.
Note: The rest of this fic is in the works and the next part should be up soon. More stuff will happen, I promise.
