The wake-up call Duo was promised started in the shower and digressed to the unmade bed. Zechs still had his softening cock in his mouth when a horrible noise had his phone going off, like an alarm more than a phone call. He nuzzled into Duo's groin, running his cheek against his thigh and groaned. Dazed and delirious, Duo sat up with his legs still hanging off the edge of the bed. The space between his thighs now vacated where he expected Zechs to be.

"I'm sorry, I'm on call." Answering the phone quickly, it looked like he wasn't even having a conversation, he just nodded. "I'll be there in twenty minutes." Hanging up, he'd already moved on from the worshipping he'd been immersed in only moments ago. He was hopping into shoes when he noticed the hurt expression he'd left Duo with on the bed. "I'm so sorry. I have an emergency. The surgeon on rotation is in the middle of a procedure and they have a little girl with a shattered femur from a car accident." It was the conversation Zechs didn't want to have. Dating him was impossible. If anything he should have been trying to impress Duo, to keep him from running screaming when he spaced out leaving him in post-orgasmic bliss alone in the unmade bed.

"It's okay. I understand. I'll get dressed and get out of your hair." Tucking the disaster, that he was sure his hair was in, Duo tucked it back into a messy bun and started the search for his clothes.

"Please stay. I'll leave you my spare key on the kitchen counter. I promised you breakfast in bed, the least I can do is let you enjoy a bath and raid my fridge." He gave Duo a tender kiss on his soft lips. They were tempting enough to want to throw him back in bed and forget about responsibility, but he pulled away before he could rationalize it in his mind. "Make yourself at home. I'll call you...how about I text you when I get home. It'll probably be obscenely late or early however you want to look at it." He was all nerves now. Flustered and Duo's disappointment was so evident that it was hard to stop. One more kiss and then he had to leave. There was no time to mull over the longing expression his lover was giving him, and the shitty feeling he had for leaving him.

xxx

It took Zechs four hours to repair the patient, Melody's, broken femur. It was far more complicated of a surgery than the scans could have anticipated, but she would be fine. Her mother, however, had died in the OR. This was one of those double-edged outcomes. He was so happy when he'd closed, because she would have minimal recovery and wouldn't suffer any long-term damage. She'd be able to start physical therapy and forget that there were pins in her leg and put the accident behind her. Kids were amazingly resilient, that fact never ceased to amaze him. When he was scrubbing out, Sally told him the mother didn't make it. She had a brain bleed on the table that surgeons couldn't repair.

There was time in between his scheduled shift and the on-call emergency, so he sat in Melody's room watching her sleep. It wasn't his job. A nurse could sit in with her, but it made him feel better that if she woke up she wouldn't be as scared. The only consolation he could offer her was all of the hardware he'd had to place was internal and she'd just been set-up with an immobilizer rather than having to use traction. It was Lucy's squeeze to his shoulder that had him focusing back to reality.

"How are you holding up?"

"Okay. I just -I just didn't want her to be alone. Even if she won't wake-up for a while." He swallowed back a deep sadness that he had no place to feel for her. It wasn't like his life had changed, he had no right to steal her pain or the sympathy she deserved.

"You're a good man." She smiled sympathetically at him, but there was a hint of smugness there. "Duo's here. He brought you lunch. He called to see if you were out of surgery."

It was another situation he wasn't sure made him feel better or worse. He was in a shit mood. The last thing he wanted to do was bring Duo down, but he also didn't want to have to fake happiness. He wasn't sure he had the energy to be pleasant, but he owed it to the man he'd abandoned in bed this morning.

There was hesitation in Duo's eyes when they made eye contact across the courtyard. He had coffee in one hand and a plastic sandwich bag in the other. He held them both up almost as an offering. As if he needed an excuse to want to see him.

"I wasn't sure what kind of mood you'd be in, but I thought I'd drop this off for you." Shyly, Duo thrusted the cup into his hand and he had to chuckle. He had been worried about his cantankerous mood affecting Duo, but he couldn't help the smile creeping up on him. "Shouldn't you take that off." He pointed towards the scrub cap he was still sporting, he had to reach up and touch it to remember that he was even wearing it.

"It's a disaster under here. Especially since my hair was wet when I put it on." Taking a sip, the coffee was pleasantly, just below scalding with just a tad bit of cream. "I hope you had a chance to relax this morning." He slid in onto the bench next to him and wrapped an arm around him. Duo didn't want to admit it, but he was still a little icy about being left behind, but he was beginning to warm up. "Stay and eat with me if you can."

"I guess I can." Bumping Zechs with his hip he leaned into the touch, unwrapping one of the sandwiches.

"Hey Zechs, can I get your opinion on something?"

Just like that the bubble Zechs was falling into popped.

"Yeah, is it an emergency or can I finish my lunch?" Raising an eyebrow at Treize, he kept his hand around Duo's shoulder. The last thing he wanted to do was look guilty by shying away from the touch. He had no reason to.

"No, no finish your lunch. Come find me in a few." That smug bastard smirked and walked away watching the two of them over his shoulder.

"He looks like a piece of work." Casually Duo mentioned tracing his fingertips along the top of Zechs' thigh.

"Not quite as much as you. I guess I have a type."

"You're lucky I like you."

With a chuckle, Zechs squeezed him in closer, even as Duo struggled against him. "I so am." When Duo finally went limp in his arm he pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

There was no rush going to find Treize, he was the last thing on his list. The more he avoided him the more he started to internalize the guilt that he was making a patient suffer because he didn't want to deal with his own emotional baggage.

"Hey, what do you want me to look at?" Treize was exactly where he'd assumed he would be, chatting up some nurse hovering over the nurse's station.

"Oh Zechs, I have a patient that has several improperly healed fractures and breaks in her arms and I wanted you to take a look and see what we can do for her." He was so cavalier about the facts. Zechs had to swallow. Domestic abuse. That's where those kinds of injuries typically came from. "She came in with suspected arrhythmia, but she was complaining about pain in her left arm. The intern that checked her over was worried that she was having a heart attack." Treize gestured for him to follow behind him.

"Depending on how bad the damage is, we'll probably have to re-break her arm. I don't see us fixing anything without going in surgically." It was more thinking aloud than actually waiting for Treize's opinion.

"That's why I called an orthopedic surgeon." That smug smirk returned as he looked over his shoulder. It warranted an eye roll, but Zechs resisted the urge and just nodded along as they moved down the hall.

It was a relief that he just brought him into a room to look at the x-rays. He wasn't sure if he could say what he really needed to say in front of her.

"These minor ones here are probably fine, but this malunion fracture in the ulna is going to need to be fixed surgically. That's probably what's causing her pain since it's so close to the wrist." Treize was still just looking at him as he pointed his pen towards the problem spot. "What?"

"You really are amazing, you know that right?" That look. The softness in his eyes and the open smile just beaming at him. It was the look he'd longed for but never seemed to get anymore. He was old news after all. Passed the prime and youth to be of any use or interest to his past lover. For a moment he let his stomach flutter with the recognition.

"Yes I do." He flicked the light off and crossed his arms as he moved to walk out before the fellow doctor squeezed his arm.

"Come on Zechs. What are you doing? He's beneath you. Look at you, you're sporting a hickey on the back of your neck like a girl after prom night. It's demeaning." The longing look morphed as quickly as it had come on. Now, he was looking down at him trying to find ways to make him feel ashamed. His fingers touched the nape of his neck, knowing exactly where that little love bite had ended up and how it got there. The initial reaction of embarrassment was fleeting because he didn't care what Treize thought or what anyone else thought for that matter.

"Well technically, I was beneath him last night, but I mean that's technicalities." Zechs shrugged as Treize was stunned by his response. He had fallen back into a routine that was easy for him. He found someone he could admire and attempt and fail to impress in an infinite cycle. "Don't you remember what that's like? I'm sure he just couldn't resist." With that, he had the last word and he ambled away actually feeling like a sex god.

xxx

Halfway through rehearsal Duo was working with Dorothy through a duet they'd gotten timed nearly perfectly. It was David coming into his line of vision that brought his focus away from his partner.

"Oh don't stop I'll wait."

They had already stopped, so there wasn't too much point in continuing.

"We're good, what can we do for you David." Duo wiped his face on the hem of his tank top. "Actually Duo, I wanted to talk to you about taking over on the duet I was writing for Trowa and Martha." David was in his late forties, but he could still dance and he'd taken over mentoring Duo almost immediately when Dorothy brought him into the studio.

"What's up with Trowa, did he hurt himself?" The only response, which Duo thought was a little callous, was a sideways smirk as he propped his hands on his hips.

"No, no. He's still going to be doing the duet. I'm actually moving Martha into another duet with Dorothy. I want you to dance with Trowa. I want you to dance Martha's part." Biting the offending bottom lip before moving onto the top one, Duo mulled over the opportunity. "I want to showcase love in all of its forms in honor of the pride parade going on next weekend." There was a proud smile on David's face. He and his partner had been one of the first couples to get married in New York, and they never missed the pride parade every year.

"Sure, I'll dance with Trowa. Just let me know when you're ready to go over the steps with me." Professional as he was, Trowa was not.

"I don't want to have to lift your fat ass." Not only did he shout it, but he shouted it across the studio at him from an adjacent room.

"Too bad Barton. You know you've been dying to get a chance to touch this fat ass." He rolled his eyes and smirked at David, who tried not to laugh. "See ya Dorothy. Good luck with Martha." She should just count her stars that she hadn't been paired with handsy and molesty Trowa.

It wasn't like he'd never danced with a man before, but it was a little awkward dancing so intimately with Trowa. Pretending like he was in love with him, was a little uncomfortable but he could fake it. Especially, when he knew he wasn't this close in proximity to Martha and only doing it to annoy him.

"Trowa, can you support his neck as he goes into that backbend. I want it to look like you're barely holding him like he's floating." Duo wasn't thrilled about the position, but Trowa's hands were strong even if they were sweaty. "Duo let your arms hang your arms like you actually trust him. It should be about strength." The last thing Duo wanted to let Trowa do was support him like a rag doll as Trowa's shoulders were beneath his back and he walked his legs over the arch, into a standing split. "Perfect." David came to maneuver Duo's elevated leg to hook over Trowa's shoulder. "Now pull him up. Duo let your back arch and your hands and arms just hang. Really exaggerate the arch in your back." When he rolled himself up he had one leg over Trowa's shoulder and the other his waist and they were face to face before Trowa tucked his head under his chin. It was rather intimate, but he was sure Trowa would ruin it at any minute.

"I guess your ass is fat in a good way." It was a whisper in his ear but he squeezed him hard enough to deliver a decent blow with his thighs around his rib cage, as he tried to lower himself.

"I hate you. Put me down you pig." They laughed and it was easy. When he promptly landed on the soles of his feet he swatted Trowa in the stomach with the back of his hand. "What do you think David? You think it will work?" He wiped the sweat away from his brow again with the collar of his shirt, searching David for praise or critique.

"I love it. It will definitely work. You both have a good connection and are comfortable with each other. I'll be excited to see it on stage next week." With strong hands, David clapped them both on the back before moving his attention elsewhere. "Clean up the transitions and keep Trowa on track Duo."

"Like I need a babysitter." Trowa scoffed stretching his hands behind his back in an exaggerated shoulder stretch. "Just gotta stretch his out after bearing all that weight."

"You're incorrigible. I'll give you something to stretch about." Duo all but tackled him like a rogue spider monkey. "You should be honored to lift THE Duo Maxwell."

"Okay, okay. Uncle. I am a mere peon in your presence princess."

It was in between lifts and mirror image footwork that Trowa finally asked him the burning question he'd been avoiding answering.

"So, the doctor. You seem oddly limber for someone that supposedly spent all day in bed."

The crimson blush that was spreading across his face was an obvious dead give away. Trowa was an open book when it came to his relationship with Quat, Duo was much more reserved. At first, he'd blamed it on the fact that Heero didn't want him discussing the inner personal details of their torrid affair.

"It's going...well."

Trowa gestured with his hands for him to elaborate, as they both panted and Duo moved to rewind the track.

"I had fun. It's all new and different. I haven't figured out how to be really comfortable with him yet." Tucking a stray strand of hair behind his ear, he played the track and counted them off. He was grateful that they didn't need to face one another. They were facing the audience, which to them was a wall of mirrors.

"You're not comfortable around anyone. The only reason you're comfortable with me is because I force you to."

"That's not true!" He landed harder than he intended into his front quad and winced."Okay, maybe it's a little true." Duo rubbed at his thigh as Trowa wiped sweat from his brow and paused the track.

"That's why you keep going back to Heero. He's easy, but he's never going to give you anything more than a quick shag and maybe a 'thank you', but only if he grunts it as he's getting off of you."

"You're disgusting." Duo scoffed, feigning offense trying to hide his sincere ache at the words. Mostly, because he knew it was true and he hated himself for being okay with it for too long.

"Come on. Come back here." Trowa grabbed his waist as he moved to pout ceremoniously with his back towards him. Clearly, Trowa had crossed the line. He was always balancing with Duo. He hardly ever disclosed how sensitive he could be, and it was obvious that Trowa's teasing had gotten to him. "I'm going to admit this, but I don't want it to go to your head." Duo leaned his head back on Trowa's shoulder as a reluctant truce. "You're amazing. You're talented, driven, sweet, hot and funny. A real total package. You can't tell Quat this, but I would totally adopt you as our third. Let somebody who deserves it actually get to see you for once. Stop acting like it's a chore to be with you."

Duo sighed and crossed his arms leaning forward. "I would never be your third. Quat scares me a little. I've seen the hellish scratches down your back." There was a sly smile crawling over Duo's full lips.

"That's what you took away from that? Jesus Duo." Nudging Duo forward Trowa counterbalanced by stepping back, so Duo had to struggle to rebalance himself.

"Don't get all soft on me, it's disturbing. Let's get back to you calling me a 'fat ass' and work on this routine." Duo shrugged deflecting and moving away to back the track that had long run past the section they had been running through.