Second Hand
Summary: The Gundam pilots learn a valuable lesson about communication. Can they get their stories straight before people get hurt? 1xR, 2xOC, 3x4
A/N: Alright ladies and gentlefolk, we are back in business. I've gotten my other project done and out of the way, so now we can start up Second Hand again. Yaaaay! Enjoy.
Chapter seven: Down the drain
Wufei didn't know how they'd done it, but he and Hilde had rounded up the group – all except Relena, who insisted on getting them drinks – and they were once again sitting around the table in the back of the gym. He deserved some sort of medal once this night was over. That, or a really long vacation. Knowing he was unlikely to get either, though, he dutifully put his arm on the back of Sexta's chair, as he had a little over thirty minutes ago, ignoring the daggers Duo was unsubtly staring at him. Wufei sniffed. If he was truly that upset over it, he should do something about it.
Duo forced his eyes away from the territorial stance that was Wufei, and twirled a dessert fork between his fingers as he leaned heavily against the table, doing his best not to look as exasperated as he was. The music stopped, allowing for yet another round of applause before starting up again. Groaning, Duo sat back, stretching in his chair, continuing to twirl the fork behind his head. "Great, another slow dance," he grumbled. "Honestly, what's the point?"
Quatre squeezed Trowa's hand underneath the table. "Well, it's mostly an excuse to be close to someone you like," he offered to the rhetorical question before turning back to his date. "And those with a sense of rhythm can make that closeness into something beautiful."
Duo sat forward, pointing the fork in their general direction. "Hey, I got rhythm; I just don't like my dancing to be so structured."
Quatre didn't seem to have anything to say to that, especially since he was busy enough blushing at whatever Trowa was whispering in his ear. Sexta took in a deep breath; she felt happy for them, really, but it was hard watching it when she herself was all alone. Making a split second decision, she stood and held a hand out to the perfect soldier. "Okay Heero, time to show me what you got," she said in way of asking for a dance. Heero glanced in the direction Relena would be coming back from, but then shrugged and led her out to the dance floor, leaving everybody else extremely confused.
Duo's jaw had dropped to the floor as he watched his partner walk off with yet another dance partner. Did she have no concept whatsoever of what she was doing to him? He glanced at Wufei, who didn't seem the least perturbed that his date had run off with his partner, and then grabbed Hilde's hand and hauled her after them. He missed her rueful grin and the thumbs up she sent to Wufei.
The band was playing a waltz as Heero led her to the center of the dance floor, and they flawlessly fell in time with the three count beat. Sexta laughed as he spun and caught her again. "You're not half bad," she grinned at him.
The edges of Heero's lips twitched in an almost smile-like way. "Thank you," he said simply before falling silent again.
Sexta rolled her eyes openly at him. "Are you having a good time?" she pressed, not letting him get out of talking that easily.
"I suppose."
Well, two words were better than a grunt, she guessed. "I know Relena is," she went on.
Confusion flickered across his features. "What do you mean?" sexta was sarcastic often enough that in this instance he couldn't tell if she was being sincere or not. Was Relena miserable and he hadn't noticed. He quickly analyzed their interactions within the last hour, but didn't come up with any solid evidence either way. Relena was so polite, it was often difficult to pin her real emotions if she didn't want you to.
"Are you kidding me?" she asked, relieving his fears. "She's ecstatic to be here with you tonight. And as annoying as I find her, I think you are too. It might do you some good to show her you enjoy her company as well."
Heero wasn't sure where Sexta was getting her data from, but it didn't match up with any of his own. "I'm sure she's just here for appearance's sake," he said firmly. "I'm one of the few people she knows at this school."
Finally, Duo had been able to steer Hilde close enough to his partner that he could just barely hear their conversation over the music. His curiosity was killing him, but he did his best to remain anonymous in the crowd. "You are so dense," he heard her say as she rolled her eyes at Heero. "Remember that song you heard me listening to the other day?"
Heero thought for a moment, then recalled when he had snuck up to her room to tell her about a change in the mission she and Duo had been planning. He hadn't expected her music to be blasting and for her to be "rocking out" to it, as she'd later explained. "Yes," he said, not understanding where this was going.
Duo frowned to himself. Sexta only listened to music when she was alone. When had Heero been alone with her? And what song had she been listening to that he would be dense about? "I wanna have your babies," she said pointedly, looking Heero in the eye, daring him to misunderstand her. Duo's blood ran cold, and flight mode took over. He let go of Hilde, who he was barely paying attention to anyway, and bolted for the nearest exit.
Heero nodded to Sexta when he recognized the line from the song, but still didn't get the relevance. Sexta sighed heavily as he twisted her into the sweetheart position. "That's practically her theme song," she expounded when she figured he still wasn't getting it.
Heero blinked. "You mean…?" Heero trailed off, remembering the rest of the song was about wanting a permanent life with the man, but being afraid to say anything.
"Yeah, Relena wants you. Bad." Heero released her hand, spinning her again and bringing them back to the basic position. "And if you think you want her too, you might want to get the balls to make a move before she throws herself at you."
Heero shook his head. "I can't, we're in the middle of a war." Duty before desire, all the pilots knew that.
"Which is why you shouldn't hesitate a single second," she pressed. "You never know if you're going to have another one," she added, hating that she sounded like Duo.
Heero stared at her for a moment, wondering if he was really the dense one here. "If you really believe that, why are you still alone?"
Sexta couldn't ignore the pain that question had lanced through her. Why was she still alone? Pride? Fear? Who knew… "I have to go," she said, letting go of him. Tears were not something she wanted Heero to see from her. All of a sudden, the room was entirely too warm. She needed air.
Duo paced the side of the gym. It finally made sense. Sexta had wanted to go with Heero, but Relena beat her to it, so she asked Wufei instead, knowing that since he liked her – if his arm around her all night was any indication – he wouldn't refuse. Then the moment Relena is out of the picture, she pounces, completely ignoring Wufei's – not to mention his own – feelings for her. "Dammit…" he said, trying to calm himself down. He didn't know if he wanted to scream or strangle her at this point.
"Duo?" He whipped around wildly at the voice, almost unsurprised that it was Sexta herself that would find him out here. "What's wrong?" she asked, looking sincere. Was she really that blind about how he felt?
"Nothing, I'm fine," he ground out, turning away from her. Sexta buried the hurt she felt. Didn't he trust her at all? She was his partner, he should know by now that he didn't have to keep things from her.
"Don't hide from me," she said, putting a hand on his arm to stop him from walking away. Was it wrong that her touch, even through a glove and a jacket, was enough to light his blood on fire? "What is it?" she asked.
Yeah, like he'd be able to tell her he knew her dirty little secret, or that her feelings for Heero were slowly killing him. "I don't want to talk to you about it," he said instead. "You wouldn't understand anyway."
"I think I would," Sexta said quietly, hurt that he still wouldn't open up to her. Maybe…maybe she should follow her own advice. She may not get another chance after all. Clutching at his sleeve now, she ignored the heat on her face and avoided his eyes. "I really do care about you, you know." There, she said it. Now all she had to do was hold her breath and hope for the best.
Fury ripped through him. How could she say that after what she'd told Heero? What, had he rejected her, and now she was moving on to the next best thing? He pulled his arm free of her. "You are such a slut," he accused before her eyes whipped up to meet his.
She knew he could see her pain the moment her gaze locked with his, but she didn't care. She'd already laid her soul bare to him, what was one more second of truthfulness? She stepped away from him, averting her eyes again, nodding absently as her mind tried to wrap around his words and her heart tried to reject them.
He hadn't expected her reaction. Maybe a 'Darn, now I'll have to try someone else,' but not that hurt look of betrayal. "Wait – " he started to say, reaching for her, but she'd already turned and started running back towards the gym's main doors. Guilt flooded his veins as he hesitated, but then he was running after her, trying to think of something to say to take back those cruel words.
She wasn't in the actual dance; he'd circled it three times now without a single glimpse. Maybe she'd gone to the bathroom. He headed through the archway that led to the hallway outside the main floor, which in turn led to the other smaller training rooms, as well as the bathrooms. Before he got there, though, he heard someone talking, obviously upset, coming from one of the branching halls. As he got closer, making sure to keep to the shadows, he realized it was Sexta's voice. "So I don't think I can work with Duo again for a while. I need a new partner. Can I work with you for the time being?" Who was she talking to now?
"Have you spoken with Heero?" Wufei asked patiently, humoring her since he knew it had taken a lot of courage to tell him the whole story. His lecture could wait a moment, and she needed to know he was on her side before he started.
Duo's anger started to boil again. She really had moved on to the next one. It was clever of her, though, making it seem like Duo was the one at fault. Just because he was smart enough to see through her plans, didn't make him the bad guy.
Sexta sighed in relief. She was afraid Wufei was going to tell her she was stupid for confessing and that she had to deal with it on her own, instead of helping her run like this. "No. I'm not sure he'd understand. He's got enough to worry about," she said glumly, figuring he was off making his own confessions right about now. Asking to steal his partner for a while was the last conversation she needed to be having with him now.
Duo wanted to scream! Of course she had spoken with Heero, he'd heard the whole thing! Was Wufei really dumb enough to fall for this?
"You really should tell him how you feel, Sexta, and make him see that he should be with you," Wufei sagely suggested. Yes, he'd help her take a break from her problems, but she needed to see that they weren't going to go away just by switching partners. What he didn't understand, though, was Duo's reaction. Maybe he just needed a little more pushing as well. "You'll regret it if you don't," he added, putting his hand on her shoulder.
That was it, Duo couldn't stand seeing Wufei being suckered in by her tricks any longer. This whole dance idea was stupid to begin with, he told himself as he slipped back down the halls and out into the night.
Sexta shook her head slowly. She'd already tried telling him, and look what a disaster that had been. "No," she said, fighting back tears of hurt and confusion. "Duo won't listen to me now."
