Warning: graphic content, entirely consensual, borderline sappy and cliché at times. Read at your own risk.

Chapter Nine: The End is Near

Duo was sitting on the couch, finishing up a final chapter in a textbook when Heero emerged out of his study. Duo blinked when he felt Heero's lips press gently into his hair but decided it was best to keep quiet as Heero nuzzled his lover's head for a moment before simply resting his cheek there.

"I love you," he said in a low voice. "Hungry?"

"In a way," Duo breathed, setting his textbook down. He turned around to face Heero. "Baby, it's been a few weeks…"

Heero straightened up entirely and his eyes sought to settle on anything else in the room other than the beautiful man before him. "I wasn't keeping track."

"I want you," Duo said with no ado, his eyes boring straight into Heero.

"Duo…" Heero said on an exhale. "I—I don't know…"

Duo climbed over the couch, not even bothering to go around. "I do," he countered, reaching out to pull Heero in close to him. "Please."

"I don't think I can…" Heero replied, genuine fear in his voice as his lover pulled him towards the bedroom.

"Then just let me," Duo argued. He closed the bedroom door and pushed Heero hard enough to cause the man to fall back on the bed. Lifting his shirt and crawling into Heero's lap in one swift motion, Duo was quick to press slow, open mouthed kisses against the tendon lining Heero's neck. "God, Heero, seriously, I'm in my mid-twenties, you're fucking hot, you're mine…if you don't have sex with me I'm going to have to get a human right's lawyer." All of this was said in a low moan, Duo's hips already rocking in a gentle motion against Heero's.

"Duo, I just want to make sure you're emotionally ready for this."

In response, Duo shoved Heero onto his back. Slowly he began to undo his braid and Heero heard a gasp escape his own throat as the locks came undone. Duo looked…like a god.

"No one's ever seen my face when my hair has been down," Duo whispered as he leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on Heero's lips, his hair creating a curtain that shut the entire world out. "Does that turn you on knowing that you're the only one that's seen me this way?"

All Heero could really comprehend was how much Duo's voice was turning him on. Pitched low, sing-song, husky…God, it took him flying back to the first night in the club all those months ago. Though instead of having to watch from a distance all he had to do was reach up a few inches to feel exposed skin. Just like when they were dancing.

"Wait," Heero moaned, moving Duo off of him for a second. "I have an idea. Wait right there."

Duo tried hard to hold back the irritation beating at him. What was Heero trying to use as a diversion now? Before Heero returned though the sound of music, Korn, turned on. When Heero walked back in he was shirtless, too.

"It is a sin to look as good as you do for your age and the pathetic amount of exercise you get."

"You give me plenty," Heero said with a slow smile. He held his hand out as Shoots and Ladders began to play, the sound of bagpipes drifting into the room. Duo reached out and took Heero's hand; a matching smirk on his face. This was new for Heero…

Heero tugged Duo into his arms, pressing Duo's back hard against his chest as his hands went to Duo's hips to guide him in a leisurely grind just as the beat kicked in, hard and slow.

"Ah, you remember," Duo sighed as their bodies moved just the way they did the first night at the club. So maybe this wasn't so new after all…

Heero bit down slowly at the crux of Duo's neck and jaw before making small bites all the way down to the base of his neck where his collarbone dipped in. Somehow, this way, it was easier for Heero to let go. Times had been safer when they had danced this way.

It took immense control for Duo to just let Heero have his way. He could feel his eyes rolling into the back of his head as Heero's hands ran down his abs and over the flare of his hips before dipping into the waist of his sweatpants. Duo growled, turning in Heero's arms. His eyes glinted something dangerous. "You're going to have to man up and let go of the whole Treize thing because you're going to give it to me harder. You're going to make me scream and you're not done until I do…" he purred, leading Heero back to the bed by forcing him to retreat with each step he took forward. "You're stronger than you look. I've seen it. Don't deny it—you've always held back a little, just to keep that control."

Doubt flickered briefly in Heero's eyes and Duo growled, pushing Heero back so hard that he actually grunted from the air that was pushed out of his lungs. "I will never forget what happened. That's not what I'm trying to do. Damn it, Heero. I am sick with the idea that the last thing in my body was him! I want you! I want everything you can give me. More than you've ever given me."

I am sick with the idea that the last thing in my body was him…

Heero hadn't thought about it that way. Everything went extremely still, his heart even stopped beating for a moment before this roar started from his toes and tore through his body like a tidal wave. He felt hot and cold all at once. In the space of a second, he pulled Duo to the bed, forcing the younger man to straddle him as they tore desperately to get their clothes off; the statement ringing loudly in both of their ears.

Duo cried out and then hissed as Heero pushed a lubed finger into his entrance. A few thrusts and then a second finger joined.

"Touch yourself. I know you want to," Heero growled as he put a third finger in. Duo's body jerked violently as he found his lover's sweet spot.

"H-Heero…" Duo gasped.

"We're just starting, lover," Heero assured in a dark voice. He spent a few more minutes stretching Duo and toying with his prostate before positioning his own member at the entrance and pulling Duo down slowly, centimeter by centimeter. "Don't. Rush. Me," he bit out when Duo tried to speed things along. Duo whimpered loudly at the sound of the command. At last, after what felt like the proverbial eternity, he was seated to the hilt and Heero allowed himself the pleasure of just feeling. He loosened his grip on Duo's hips and then whispered. "Go for it, love."

Duo moaned aloud as he lifted himself and then subsequently dropped himself back down onto Heero's length. "Oh…God…" he managed as he began to ride faster, harder. He felt the pressure of Heero's hands come back onto his hips as Heero began to help him pick up speed. The angle provided by sitting atop his lover allowed him to feel the trust all the way up to his stomach. One of Heero's hands came to Duo's leaking member and he began to stroke in time with the thrusts.

"Harder," Duo begged.

Heero stopped, withdrew, threw Duo down onto the bed and entered again in one swift thrust, bringing their mouths together in a heart-stopping kiss. Their tongues fused just as their bodies did and Duo felt like he could have passed out from the sheer joy of feeling Heero roll his hips deliciously in and out of his body. It was erotic, even for Duo's standards of the idea.

"Where did you learn that?"

"I'm an author. Half of my responsibility in such a career is to stay up-to-date on the latest literature. They just don't specify which genres."

Duo let out a husky laugh that swung into a cry as Heero braced a hand on either side of his head and then thrust hard. Duo's legs were wrapped tight around Heero's waist as the older man showed him just how much strength he possessed. Each thrust hit his prostate and Duo felt like he was going insane. He was losing his mind. His body hurt it was so tense and all he wanted was to come. His hand reached blindly down to his member and with only two pulls he felt the largest rush he'd ever experienced wash over him. He could vaguely hear his own voice scream out Heero's name before everything went white in front of him and he heard Heero groan into his ear as he collapsed. For what seemed like hours they stayed where they were, Heero only moving off to one side so Duo could catch his breath better.

"We talk too much during sex," Duo breathed heavily.

"I can't believe you're complaining," Heero breathed back.

Duo burst out laughing. "Oh God, the age difference is really showing right now."

"Ugh…" Heero rolled off the bed and made his way slowly to the bathroom, hands interlinked behind his head to help him get air into his lungs better. When he came back out with a warm rag, he was feeling paternal. He helped Duo clean off and tucked him under the covers as he made another trip back to the bathroom to put the washcloth in the dirty clothes and fill up a glass of water for them to put by the bedside. Sometimes, he suspected Duo took advantage of Heero being older to play up the advantages of being the younger one. "Tell me you finished your homework," he groused. "Because if having sex with a near-thirty-year-old causes you to do poorly in school I think I'm going to get struck down by smite-driven lightning bolts."

"You know, I don't think I told Quatre how old you are…huh…" Duo mumbled into the pillow.

"How much does it really matter that I'm going to be thirty next week?"

"Next Week?!?" Duo shot up, eyes wide. "I'm going to have sex with a thirty-year old next week. Oh…God…yes!" he cried dramatically, throwing himself into Heero's arms and collapsing in a sea of sheets and comforter. "I'm stoked."

"Thirty is not that old."

"No, you're right…but it's old enough to put a chip on your shoulder that you're sharing a bed with a twenty-five year old college rocker. Eh?"

"I took you out in public once and remember how that went?" Heero sighed, referring to the party for his movie announcement and Relena's first interaction with Duo. Searching Duo's eyes for comprehension Heero shook his head when all he found was Duo getting excited.

"Oh…baby…let's go out for your birthday. Please?"

"You're sick, remember?"

"I'll look near death. Promise!"

"Do you always get this hyper after sex?"

"Do you always get this tired?" Duo practically giggled.

"Oh for Christ's sake!" Heero spat as he threw the comforter over his head and buried into a pillow. "I'm going to sleep."

"Oh, come on! Let's do something. Let's play a game."

"A game?"

"Yeah."

"What kind of game?"

"Truth or dare."

"Yeah," Heero scoffed. "I have a Ph.D. you know, I'm not stupid."

"I pick truth. Ask me a question."

"Hm…will you go to sleep?"

"Heero!" Duo sighed as he pulled the covers off of Heero. He laughed when his lover groaned and put the pillow over his head. "Dare then."

"I dare you to go to sleep."

"Ugh, you're no fun."

"That's right. I'm old and I'm no fun. Now leave me in peace while I grapple with the thought that I just made love to an adolescent boy."

Duo fell back onto the bed and snuggled around the strewn blankets. "I'll tell you a truth. I was raised in a Catholic orphanage and I knew I was gay at the age of fifteen. Father Maxwell thought I was rebelling when I stopped coming to confessional and mass but I knew if he ever found out the truth he wouldn't love me in the same way anymore. He was that kind of guy. Not that I'm saying Catholics are, or anything. He was. That was probably the hardest thing to live with. I could handle not being adopted next to that."

"I was engaged once. Arranged marriage. Told her parents I was gay and the beginning of the end was set into motion," Heero said in a sleepy voice.

"Heero…did you ever wish you weren't?"

"No, I just accepted it. Up until you, I was good at practicing acceptance."

"Until me?"

"I never really cared what happened to me. Some way or another I'd get through it. Rich or poor. Healthy or sick. But, obviously, I care about what happens to you and how you come out on the other side. I can't just accept things the way they are anymore."

"Is that why you're writing that book?"

"Yes. With your permission."

"Do you think it's really going to solve this situation?"

"A young man from a poor and sad beginning rises up through honest work to emerge as one of the nicest, most genuine, and not to mention most attractive icons of the year, if not the decade, with a quiet, brooding, and mysterious veteran on the scene choosing to stay in the background and watch his lover rise. The sharks, sensing fresh blood, descend and the poor young man is attacked and is carried off by his lover, out of public eye, and kept in a den while the older man seethes with the need to avenge his fallen lover. Knowing the ropes of the business, he seeks to use them to tie his enemy's noose and emerges with his only true weapon, a book, to right all wrongs…" Heero chuckled. "Audiences love nothing more than a real-life fairytale. Well, nothing more than despising a real-life villain."

"Our lives are not that dramatic."

"If I wrote simply: Duo was raped. Heero got pissed. Heero wrote a book explaining everything that happened. The media would spin it into something like I just said a second ago."

"You're ruthless sometimes."

"I know. Not one of my more redeeming qualities."

Duo didn't like the intonation of Heero's voice when he said that. He sounded defeated, ashamed. Worthless.

"I want you to publish that book. I want the world to know what Treize and Relena are. I want to be free of my contract, to sing what I want to sing, to go where I want to go and not be afraid. I appreciate that you're doing this for us."

"For you," Heero murmured. "Had you never returned to me I would still have done this."

"Sometimes you talk like you're just a phase in my life."

Heero rolled over and looked deep into Duo's eyes. "When all is said and done then you can decide if you really want to stay with me."

"Trust me, Heero, like I trust you. I know what I'm saying."

Heero smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. "I'll believe anything you ever tell me." Heero was quiet for a long moment. "This will all be over soon."

(O)(O)(O)

Heero doubted he had ever seen so many cameras in his entire life. The flashes were so frequent that there seemed to be a strobe light effect taking place. He just sat there, dressed impeccably, his face neutral, waiting for the fuss to die down. Shouts and near-screamed questions filled the room to the point of pandemonium. Millardo and Wufei sat next to him, just as stoic and composed. When it became clear that civility would have to kick in the lull died down and hands shot up. A man in an entirely black suit began to point.

"Heero, is it true that all the events in the book happened in real life?"

Heero nodded. "Yes. Of course, I had to pull myself back to write them in a way that did not sound sensationalized. It has been a very traumatic and angering experience for me and I wished only to convey the facts as coolly as possible."

"How is Duo doing?"

Heero's smile crept up just a bit. "Well, considering. School is demanding most of his time."

"Does Duo stand behind this?"

"He will testify that every word is true, if that is what you mean. And he does stand behind the idea as well. He wants to be free. I am trying my hardest to give him that."

"The man you refer to can only be equated back to Treize Kushranada in real life. Do you plan to press charges?"

"If that is what it takes to be free of him, then yes. It is up to him really if we get to that point. Him and Relena Peacecraft that is. Perhaps her father even if that's how deep it runs."

"You mention frequently in your book feeling somewhat responsible for what happened to Duo though it seems apparent there was not much you could do."

Heero had to fight back his predatory grin. The bait was being taken too beautifully. He leaned in towards the microphone ever-so-slightly. "I have been in this industry for a long time now. I fought my way up and I've seen the corruption, the deceit, and the damage it can do. For men like me, it's all part of a day's work. But for men like Duo…" Heero died off. "Duo has a talent. An amazing talent and it only made sense he'd get picked up someday. But his talent should have never condemned him to the pits of hell as it did. He is the nicest, most genuine, most gracious person I've ever had the honor of meeting. He came from nothing and deserved everything and just look what happened. I cannot help but feel I should have somehow been able to deter or stop what transpired. He deserves to be happy."

"What are your plans for the near future in resolving this matter?"

"I personally am ready for, and expecting, full retaliation from the guilty parties. However, if they choose the graceful way out then Duo and I plan to move out of the country and publish and record from a private location. We'll be in and out of the media depending on how lucky we remain and that should be that."

"What is the graceful way out?"

Heero looked dead into one of the TV cameras. "A full confession, a formal apology and a restraining order on my terms."

"Are you concerned for your safety?"

Heero did smile then. "No. I am not concerned for my safety. I am, however, extremely concerned for Duo's. I am taking every precaution to keep him safe and well."

"This situation has painted a very different picture of you, Mr. Yuy. We all thought you to be this quiet, brooding, withdrawn almost character-figure in the media who worked off of the cynicism and irony of mankind…"

"Well, that was quiet a description but yes, I did once own up to such an appearance. The truth would be that I wrote that way because I felt that way—I saw life that way. The first time I met Duo, he approached me to ask if I was doing okay in a coffee shop since I looked so putout. Yet, that was probably the last day I ever felt like that either. I owe him everything."

"Not once in your book did you ever come out and say you loved Duo. We can all assume you do but I'd like a direct quote."

"It is only important to me that he knows that but lest any of you believe I had any other motive than my love for him, I'll say it now: Duo, I know you're watching this with millions of other people, and I'm sure you're going to fall off the couch laughing in three seconds, so put your popcorn down…" Heero paused and then chuckled to himself, as though he couldn't believe what he was about to do. "Duo, I love you. You know that and I know that."

The reporters all broke out in an approving din of laughter and applause as the room began to strobe once again, trying to catch the first ever incident of Heero Yuy blushing.

(O)(O)(O)

Duo, I know you're watching this with millions of other people, and I'm sure you're going to fall off the couch laughing in three seconds, so put your popcorn down…

Duo's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped open. With shaky hands he put the popcorn down on the coffee table. There was NO WAY Heero would ever make a proclamation of love on national television.

Duo…

Oh, God, he was even using the voice. Duo leaned forward, intent that there would be a catch in about one second.

I love you. You know that and I know that.

A small laugh burst, tore—ripped—from Duo's throat followed by a deeper chuckle and then full-blown hysterics. He laughed so hard his eyes welled up and eventually, yes, he did fall off the couch. Self-fulfilling prophecy be damned. He pulled out his phone was he was still laughing and speed-dialed Heero. He watched as Heero picked up on the phone through the TV.

"Thanks for warning me about the popcorn."

"My pleasure."

Duo hung up and laughed some more. Wow. That was the power he had over Heero Yuy. He'd never felt so god-like in his life.

(O)(O)(O)

AN: Alright, just one more chapter left to go!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who have reviewed and commented through this process. It inspired me to write the two song fics I have and continues to lend me the bravery to publish what I write (yes, paint me a coward). Oh, and P.S., read carefully in the next chapter because only subtly do I mention Une's participation in the Peacecraft demise…which, is entirely on purpose so I thought I'd give a heads up so no confusion ensued during the conclusion!