Disclaimer: We don't own Gundam Wing. If we did, Cltc wouldn't have to work extra hours to afford gas money to visit Foxy.

We were so excited to see reviews come in so fast on this! Keep 'em coming. We'll do our best to reply to them as quickly as possible. Extra kudos to Angel's Smile for giving us the longest review either of us has ever seen. LOL All reviews fed some plot bunnies and we're doing our best to continue as fast as we can. "I'm givin' her all I got capt'n!" --- Quote, anybody?

Oh, and Foxy wants me to let ya'll know we've got some pics of us hanging out and goofing off to put up some time soon. We'll let ya'll know when and where to look when we do. For a teaser, check out our profiles, both individual and joint for some fun pics we took and edited. =)

He crossed the hotel room quietly, keeping his movements slow as he picked up his clothes. He'd learned over time that Wufei would continue to sleep as long as he didn't feel threatened. He slid on his leather pants, smirking at the memory of the Chinese pilot yanking them off and tossing them across the room, along with his comment about leather. He picked up the long sleeve thermal top next and pulled it on, glancing at Wufei to make sure he was still asleep. He slid his shoes on, then carefully grabbed his wallet and chain, proud that it didn't make the slightest sound.

Duo gave one last glance to Wufei and smiled at the sleeping form. He wasn't exactly happy about walking out on the other pilot, but he didn't want to stick around to see Wufei's reaction to what happened between them.

Briefly he wondered how the other pilots were in bed and toyed with the thought of trying for the last two, then pushed it aside. He'd have to give it thought later, his head was killing him from the coke running out of his system and he was coming down hard. He'd done enough to Wufei without having to expose him to his drug use as well. He gave a final sigh and made his way to the door without glancing back.

Done was done.

Wufei sat up at the sound of the door opening. For a moment in that fuzzy mental state after a waking, he forgot what had happened. So when he saw Duo standing in the door he had to justify why it was the braided pilot was in his room in the first place. "Duo?" Why was he trying to sneak out? He seemed frazzled over something. Wufei was fairly certain that it wasn't over their morning activities, but then he could be wrong about that. He clamped down on the guilt and ensuing train of thought from that memory. The Chinese pilot wasn't quite ready to handle that bout of conscience just yet.

Duo froze as he heard Wufei's voice and turned slowly, smiling at the Chinese pilot. "Hey."

"Where are you going?"

"I was just heading out to take care of a few things." He leaned against the doorframe. "Unless you had other ideas?"

He looked Duo over, noting how he shifted his demeanor at the question. "Perhaps we should talk for a bit."

"I was afraid you'd say that." Duo scratched the back of his head nervously. High he could do anything, but this was the first time he'd had to face any of them sober and it wasn't something he'd been looking forward to.

"And that's really why you tried to leave without waking me up." It was more a statement than a question. "We should still talk anyway."

Duo closed the door and made his way back to the bed. He sat on the edge and smirked. "Want to get dressed first or do you prefer to talk in the nude?"

Wufei blushed slightly and reached for his pants discarded on the floor next to him in their earlier haste. Pulling them on under the cover of the comforter, he gave the pilot a scowl then leaned against the headboard. "About this. And you." He searched for the right words to describe the thoughts blazing through his mind 90 miles per hour, but nothing he came up with had the right effect or same meaning. He fumbled for what to say next.

"Ah, yeah… that." Duo looked away again. "Right. Ok… so you want to know why. Among other things, right?" He traced a finger over the floral print of the comforter. Who picked hotel blankets anyway? They were always flowery and ugly. He hated them.

"That about sums it up." He paused to stare at the door, before turning his attention back on Duo. "It's been over a year. And you clearly are not the same Duo that left back then. I'm not sure if I should think this is something from the new Duo that's a one-time-only event, considering your attempt to sneak out. Or if I should think this is something else." The Chinese pilot thought back to before and just how he'd felt about the braided pilot then. He was more and more sure that the feelings weren't quite the same. But there was still some attraction of some sort there. "Why did you do it?" While he was sorting out his own thoughts on the matter, he figured it would be best to know Duo's.

"I was sneaking out to save you some trouble. As for the rest of it, that's personal. But get to the point, 'Fei. You're going to tell me it won't work, right? So let's just get down to it and skip all the dancing around, 'cause I got work to do."

He scowled and felt his anger start to rise, but clamped down on that. Quatre hadn't been the only one needing some time to heal. Duo had left for the same reason. Yelling at him now wasn't going to help matters at all. "That wasn't what I intended to say in so many words, but you're most likely right. We probably wouldn't work out. Not that today wasn't, well. Yes. However the case may be…" He lost his train of thought as he continued to search for the right words. Normally it wasn't so hard to establish just how he felt about certain matters. But in this case he found it was impossible to maintain coherent thoughts or valid arguments that he didn't believe the braided pilot would be able to turn around on him again.

Duo sighed and stood up. "Look, it's fine, alright? You're a preventer, you have morals and I'm just a junkie street rat… I've learned my lesson about getting attached to anyone, so don't worry about it." He started for the door again.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it. So don't try to turn it into that."

"What, into the truth?" Duo turned and smiled. "I don't lie Wufei. If it isn't that, look me in the eye and say that what I've become doesn't bother you. You liked the Duo from the past… and that's what I gave you."

Wufei stood and crossed the room to put a hand against the door, preventing Duo from simply walking out. "That may be so. I may have liked the Duo from the past. But events happened that changed that Duo into who you are now. I can't simply ignore that. I won't lie and say that I completely approve of the way you live your life now. However, it's not my place to approve or disapprove either way. All I can do is tell you what I think and have you take that as you will." He paused to consider his next words carefully. "I did like Duo from the past. But I can't justify alienating the Duo of now. You're still a friend and I can't simply discard that fact. So whether or not you like it, you're going to have to deal with it. If you want me to go and leave you alone, pretend nothing happened, I will. But you tell me to do that. Until then, I will still be the friend I've tried to be for you. Regardless of outside factors." There. Duo could take it or leave it as he so chose. But at least Wufei had finally found the words to express himself.

"Here I was trying to give you a perfectly good out and you go and fuck that up." He moved towards the Chinese pilot and leaned against him. "I don't want to forget that happened. Actually, I'd rather do it again, even if nothing came of it. But we don't always get what we want, do we?"

"No we don't. So why don't you tell me exactly what it is you want. Considering you were the one to make the first move, I only see it fair for you to clarify that. Then we move on from there." He ran his free hand through his hair, still loose to his shoulders. It was more distracting with Duo leaning against him like that, but at least he could use the pilot's own words against him to work things out one way or another.

Duo looked thoughtful, then ran a hand up Wufei's bare chest, lightly brushing with his fingertips. "You."

Taking hold of Duo's wrist he pulled the pilot's hands away from his chest. "That's not what I asked. Try again."

"You asked me what I want. You. There are lots of things I want." He looked at the floor. "Some of them you don't want to know."

"I won't be your next escape." He backed the braided pilot into the wall, released his wrists, then placed his own palms against the wall on either side of Duo's head. "So don't include me in the list of things you want like that. If you want me at all, then you deal with all of me. Remember when you joked about me being the dragon?" Wufei paused and waited for a sign of recognition before continuing. "You have to deal with all of me if you're going to deal with me at all. There's little enough honor in any of this situation at all. However, the bit that remains, I refuse to taint with becoming your next fix." He smirked. "Yes. Fix. I'm not unaware of what someone coming down from a high looks like, Duo. And I wasn't so blind with lust that I didn't notice the track marks on your arms."

"Naw, not a fix. Not addiction. You're good enough for it though." He smirked and bowed his head. "I said I want, if you were a fix I would need you. I want you, I want a lot of things."He let himself slide down the wall a little. "I need coke, I need heroin. And right now, I need it pretty badly."

Dark eyes watched the once proud pilot sink down a bit. "Want and need may be two different things. However, which is more important to you: your wants or your needs? That doesn't mean which is stronger. I asked which is more important."

"Wants."

"Are you sure?"

"My wants are more important. Unless you mean air and food, that's kind of important, too."

He narrowed his eyes, but couldn't suppress the small smirk. It was a hint of the old Duo. And that was more than he'd seen even when the pilot tried. "Then you don't need a fix. If you want me, then you don't need that."

"It's not like that." He turned his head to the side, studying the arm in front of him. "It's not that easy."

"Well, as you said, you can't always get what you want." Wufei took one hand from the wall and placed it against Duo's cheek. "Sometimes wants take sacrifice. You go to that party tonight. I won't stop that. You do whatever it was you planned on doing. Except, if you want me, then you don't take anything while you're there. If you want a fix, remember just what it is you really want. Understand?"

Duo's head snapped back hard enough to bounce of the wall. "I…" He swallowed hard and bit his lip. "Alcohol?"

"I'm not heartless." He smirked. "But that doesn't mean you can make it your replacement escape."

"Sounds pretty heartless to me." He lowered his head again. "You don't know what it's like."

"I'm a jealous man. I don't enjoy coming in second to substances of any sort."

Duo bit his lip again, dropping his eye sight to the floor. "I…"

"You….?" He raised an eyebrow and waited for Duo to continue.

"I've tried to quit before."

"And you can't try again? With help?"

"I'll try."

"Promise." The Chinese pilot knew he was playing dirty, but in this case it was the best way to get Duo to cooperate. He knew the braided pilot wasn't lying when he said he'd try, but he still wanted more than just that from him. If things were going to go anywhere between them, there were certain matters that had to be dealt with. This was one of them, and he planned on dealing with it then and there. "Promise you will try to avoid, refuse, deny and/or reject any substances at that party tonight. Alcohol is your one exclusion, within reason."

"I promise."

"Then you won't mind if go along with."

"No, but you may see some things you won't like. Drugs included."

Wufei stepped back and returned to sitting on the bed, leaving Duo free to move once more. "I believe we've already established that. I'll deal with things as I need, when I need. You should be concerned with keeping your promises, rather than with what I will encounter. Unless there's something more you'd like to share. Some clarification on just what it is I should expect to encounter at that party?"

Duo sat down on the bed next to him, bowing his head. "I, uh, have some 'exes,' fellowantigovernmentrebels, maybe an angry dealer or two, and lots of drugs."

"I believe there was something in there I didn't hear right. Fellow what?" He watched Duo's eyes staring at the floor. The braided pilot held himself the same way he did when he was proud of something. Not bowed over in shame. Just what did he say to elicit that sort of demeanor?

"Anti-government rebels." He turned to look Wufei in the eyes.

The Chinese pilot closed his eyes and took a breath. "That would be what you meant at the diner when you said no one agreed with the government. You include yourself in that?"

He grinned. "I lead that."

His eyes opened and he found himself a bit taken aback at the words coming from the pilot's mouth so proudly. "Come again?"

"Right now? You're a kinky bastard, 'Fei."

Wufei shot him a nasty look. "So is that where your loyalties lie then? Or do you have any of those left?" He bit his tongue the moment the words left his mouth.

"Nope, not really." He scratched the back of his head again. He dreaded Wufei finding out about the exes, no reason to fuel the flames though, so he pushed that thought aside. "I don't betray the preventers to them, so I'd like it if you didn't ask me about the rebels."

"Another thing I don't exactly approve of. However, there is a difference between supporting someone and betraying someone. As long as you avoid the latter." He looked away, filing that thought away to deal with at another time. "Is there anything else I won't like to see? Or have you covered it all?"

"I've told you everything." He laid back, running his shaking hands through his hair. "Distract me, please."

Wufei leaned over him with a smirk. "Does that count as a want or a need?"

"Yes."

This is getting fun, isn't it? Are you excited yet? If so, let us know.

Hm. That rhymed. I'm a poet and didn't know it. Ahahahahahahaa!

~Cltc *runs before Foxy can beat her again*