In The Family
Chapter 10
Your Prison Is Walking
By APs
Beta read by gothic-pixel
Disclaimer: I don't own it…
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Waiting… They'd gotten word to sit pretty until the Preventers could make the scene and take the situation in hand. Sally went to retrieve Fahima's shuttle with Wufei. Little Quatrine was sitting with Vasska and watching the game the Maquanacs had organized. Quatre and Relena were plotting in a corner. Heero caught Duo's eye from clear across the room, turned, and paced into Relena's personal shuttle. The summons was about as subtle as a brick to the head, but Duo found himself following his feet toward the shuttle without complaint. This had been hanging over his head for so long that the actual doing didn't seem so bad. He wasn't ready, per say, but he was more than fed up with the waiting.
He found the other man in the cockpit, triple checking prelaunch procedures. Duo poised himself in the doorway, noncommittal, "So…"
"I'm glad you came back," Heero kept working, kept his voice neutral.
"Hadn't planned to," Duo admitted.
Heero flinched, missing a step in the routine he was using for cover, "Still."
He hadn't expected this indirectness. It wasn't like Heero. It wasn't like the Heero he'd known, he amended quickly. Duo nodded, "Can't say I see why."
The bodyguard gave up the work, settling back into the pilot's chair, eyes forward, "Remember the Mariemaia incident?"
"Of course," Duo grunted, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms.
"Returning had not been my plan before it."
Duo blinked at the man's back. They'd seen Heero only once during that year for a similar incident and he'd silently sent them Zero, but it hadn't occurred to anyone that he may have had plans that didn't include them. Duo had spent the year getting his proverbial shit together. Had taken it for granted the others had, too. The idea that any of their 'shit' had not included staying in touch had utterly escaped him. "Why not?"
"Alone was better than unwanted," Heero stated flatly.
Duo searched the floor, giving his jaw a scratch, "Stupid, 'Ro."
Heero's reflection in the forward screen smirked, "Yeah. Figured that out when you forced me to be your best man."
"Only way to be sure you'd stay," Duo shrugged. The desperate struggle and imminent death had spurred Duo to cling to the life he'd scraped together. Hilde had been furious when he'd proposed over an open channel. She thought he'd been trying to dodge a shotgun, wasn't prepared for how genuinely ecstatic he'd been to find out she was pregnant. He and Quatre had lost no time shanghaiing their fellow ex-pilots into the wedding party. Howard had given away the bride and the others had been billed as brothers of the groom. It had been at the reception when confronted about it that Duo had expressed his wish for them to be part of his children's lives. Godparents. Family.
Their reflections locked eyes. They were thinking the same thing. It came down to one question. If Heero had loved Duo, even if he'd been confused, why hadn't he taken Alex? Heero had been Duo's closest friend. Heero was Alex's Godfather. Before he answered, the man closed his eyes like he was stepping in front of a firing squad, "I had no right."
And Duo understood what this was. It was surrender. Heero had cornered himself, left everything in Duo's hands. He knew coming head on would only make things worse, warrant an attack, so Heero gave up, made sure the only place to stab him was in the back. It was an immense show of trust, the likes of which Duo had never seen. A touch awkwardly excessive, like a puppy overcompensating for paws it hasn't grown into yet, but not unappreciated. Duo narrowed sharp eyes and repeated himself, "Stupid, 'Ro."
Heero turned in the pilot's chair, casting carefully blank eyes back. He stood, stalking to the door with silent footfalls and unreadable eyes. With an hesitant, almost shy, boldness, he trapped the other man, leaning close enough to feel the warmth radiating from pale skin. Lips parted, breathe mingling in the space between as hands ghosted over bare skin, raising gooseflesh from the electricity of near contact.
Where flesh never met, eyes never parted. The masks slipped silently away and neither could hide from the other anymore. They shared a raw moment of guilt and pain and fear and loneliness and anger. They compared martyr complexes and survivor's guilt. Neither could ask for forgiveness, neither felt they deserved it. Duo had to choke out a laugh. Heero grinned through a blush. Friends, that's all they came down to.
"So," Duo started again, "Trowa?"
Heero blushed several shades darker, "We're… good for each other. He understands."
"How's that working for you?" Duo's brows rose, suggestive.
"Quietly," Heero frowned. Duo blinked, then laughed so hard he almost thought he'd drawn his last breath. Heero was worried, "We've been keeping it secret for years."
Years. Duo's smile waned, suddenly out of place and unnecessary, "Secret, of course. Come on, let's get back."
Heero nodded through poorly hid confusion. Duo threw an arm around his shoulders and, despite a lack of chatter, found it comfortably familiar. They ran into Trowa as soon as they left the shuttle, as though he had been waiting. Couldn't prove it, but that's what it seemed like. Duo became suddenly very aware of his breach of personal space and removed his arm, his lips burning with the unrealized kiss. Heero gave him a look, but Duo was occupied with Trowa whose cool emerald eyes were on him.
The tall man had been listening to his daughter, "…figured then that I could just keep on with you an Aunt Cathy, until the boys were ready, so I could take some repair classes." She stopped, following the shift in her father's attention. Though the girl had a distinctly paternal leaning in appearance, Duo couldn't deny Hilde in the small, knowing smile she managed for him. It was a tiny, fond thing that made Duo's heart wrench and soar at the same time. She already had two dads, what was one more. Then, she shrugged at the three of them and left them to it.
Duo had never been particularly close to Trowa. Actually, between his undercover work and amnesia, Duo had never really gotten a handle on the person behind the mask. Add to that the fact that Trowa wasn't this guy's name and his destroying Deathscythe and it was simple to see why he'd kept some distance between them. The others all trusted the guy implicitly, so Duo had never hesitated to put his life in his hands and he'd never been let down. Being caught hanging on the guy's boyfriend, his lover, whose heart Duo had broken at one point, however, was a horse of a completely freaking different spectrum altogether.
Duo stood his ground, ready for a fight, as Trowa watched him, steady and unreadable as ever. Trowa took in his hair, malnourished limbs, defensive posture, every scar and wrinkle. When he did move, it was slow and deliberate; the way you'd approach a dangerous animal, all respect and implacable calm. He draped the smaller man in his arms, cradling, but not trapping, never possessive. His rich voice was clear and strong, without a trace of either rebuke or pity. He simply said, "Thank you."
Duo stared straight ahead, wide eyed and blinking. Out of all the others, Trowa got it. The sacrifices, the pain and hardships, the good and evil, he accepted them as gifts or necessity and was grateful for what was left of him, asking nothing more. Trowa was simply, and without reservation, there for him, his brother. Duo had to chuckle through the stinging of his eyes as he conceded this one to Heero, the man really did understand.
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Une disembarked on the moon with all the humor of a wet cat and the force of a storm front, distant thunder and all. She was flanked by agents, crisp and shiny, and met on the deck by Sally and Wufei, haggard and blood spattered. Mariemaia was third in line, resigned to waiting for her turn to be acknowledged. To everyone's surprise, Une passed the agents with the briefest of cursory glances and stood in front of the redhead, appraising her narrowly.
"You appear to be in one piece," the Director noted, her brow smoothing ever so slightly.
Mariemaia gaped at the woman before one of her father's smiles graced her with its roguish warmth, "You shouldn't worry so much, Lady."
A small, warning smirk touched the Director's lips, but she spoke to the fresh troops behind her, "Secure the prisoners and play nice."
The field agents saluted with poorly disguised amusement. The government had never actually recognized the Maquanac Corps as the autonomous power it was, but Preventers technically didn't exist either, so they kept things cordial when they met, or didn't meet depending on your clearance level. Mythological desert warriors and fictitious government agencies had blurry jurisdictions, at best.
With her rookies preoccupied, the Director looked expectantly to her veterans. Wufei and Sally always met her gaze easily, a trait she was learning to value more every year. Her eyes slipped to linger on the blood, "Show me to him."
Sally nodded and they moved out in more of a nebulous cluster than rank and file. The brief Sally had microburst to the Director had been concise, but complete, making questions unnecessary. Their movement didn't go unnoticed, though. The Winners with Rashid in tow, the other three pilots, and the Foreign Minister were closing in on the little knot as they reached their target. Une stepped up to the wounded man, with the small girl beside him, and regarded him coolly.
"Hello, Miss Une," little Quatrine welcomed demurely.
Une nodded to her, "Hello, Miss Winner. Hello, Vasska."
"I'd like to say it's good to see you, Representative Une," the prone man managed, gurgling, "No, it's Director Une now, right. Hard to keep track, really."
"You know this man?" Quatre's question had the trappings of a threat without being aggressive. There were few people the head of a covert organization would allow to make threats and live. It just so happened that most of them were in this particular hangar at the moment and they knew it.
"Nicholai Vasska was my primary pilot and bodyguard for the colonial tour I took under OZ's banner. A true believer in protective unification," Une was watching the man's labored breathing, "He was instrumental in my return to Earth." Every adult knew what Une meant, had been there when she'd been proclaimed dead and smuggled back to terra firma by a few loyal men when Barge had foundered.
Vasska barked a wet laugh, "And I returned to a murdered family, dead for months. Asshole father and brother… pregnant wife, and son," he turned his head to smile sadly at Quatrine, "Damir was two, would have been twenty this year."
Fahima knelt at the man's side, clutching her daughter to her chest and taking hold of his hand. Looks were being shuffled around, but nothing was being confirmed or denied. It could have been any of several missions, completely plausible.
Une nodded, "Sally, move Mr. Vasska into our medical bay."
Fahima shot a dangerous glance the director's way, "If I may, we owe this man a sizable debt, Miss Une. I can't allow you to take him should you intend harm."
The Director carefully assessed her position. Both Rashid and Quatre had the stubborn look of well reasoned decisiveness backing their stances and the other pilots would always back up one of their own over her. She smiled, "Mrs. Winner, I assure you my debt to this man is not small by any means. I plan to keep an eye on him. I could use a good pilot."
Vasska was trying to comprehend through a haze of drugs and pain, "I… Don't do me any favors. My argument will at least be heard at my trial."
There were quite a few smirks and several laughs with a couple derisive snorts thrown in for flavor. Duo managed to keep his bitterness out of his voice, "There's not going to be any trial."
"What?" Vasska was looking around now, despite hands trying to hold him still.
"Zero-Two is right," Une explained, "We can't allow this to leak to the public. Zero-Four closed the hotel for 'renovations' and it will reopen on time, in better condition. Your men will be either charged with previous crimes, or set free accordingly."
The Director attached an interesting amount of meaning to simple codenames, forcing Vasska to spin his wheels a little harder. The noble really looked at Duo for the first time and his eyes bolted open. Things started to fall in neat little lines. Preventer Zero-Five, Winner's competence, and the Foreign Minister's school friend bodyguard. Even Trowa, not a terribly uncommon name, was too coincidental when added to all the facts. He stared in cold horror at the men, so young, but undeniably dangerous. Une eyed Vasska to make sure he understood the true nature of his blunder. He did.
"I'll go with the Director," Vasska yielded, extracting his hand from that of Mrs. Winner stiffly. "I only regret that this should all have been for nothing."
"Not quite," Relena finally spoke up. "You made your point rather deftly. We're working on something that should address the issue, once and for all." They figured a general amnesty was in order and if they got Senator Sylvia Noventa to introduce it, there was no chance of it failing. Calls had already been made. Scowling, Duo slipped from the group.
"We also discussed declassifying the OZ reports on the Gundam pilots," Quatre floated into the open waters.
Sally caught the drift, "Written with codenames."
The OZ files had enough information to satisfy many with the added twist of disclosing the youth of the pilots and many of the injuries they had suffered during various missions. OZ had fallen into disorder before anything substantial had become known of the pilots. An anonymous confession with a built in sympathy factor. Quatre nodded, "With permission, of course."
"Of course," Une consented, rolling a hand to show they'd work out the details later. The Director raised her eyebrows, "Is there anything else?"
"Yes, actually," Relena smiled, "Once you've seen to your new pilot, would you consider joining us for a birthday party, Lady?"
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Duo sat curled in the pilot's seat of Wufei's small craft, brooding as he tapped out a staccato rhythm on the controls with the little jammer he had pocketed. The cockpit was dark, a small vector chart casting only an eerie luminosity that couldn't quite be called a glow.
"Going somewhere?" Wufei's voice nearly propelled him from the chair and onto the ceiling.
Duo growled to hide his surprise, "Maybe."
Wufei sat peaceably in the copilot's chair, "Where are we headed?"
"We aren't headed anywhere," Duo corrected.
Wufei snorted, "You don't really suppose I'm just going to allow you to abscond with the shuttle that currently contains the lion's share of my worldly possessions, do you."
"Wha- I- Fuck, Wufei, I'm sorry," Duo stumbled, hanging his head.
Gritting his teeth, Duo foisted himself from the seat and went to leave, but Wufei caught his wrist, "Where do you want to go?"
"I don't know. Away…" His voice was gruff, but he didn't look back or pull his arm free.
"Simple enough," Wufei assented and started prepping for departure.
Duo turned on him, suspicion oozing, "What the hell are you doing?"
"There has never been a way to keep you where you did not wish to stay," Wufei pointed out, "It is for the moon to sway the tide, not still the Earth."
"Ha ha, asshole. Une ordered you to baby sit me?"
"No, your children did." There wasn't even an iota of mirth to be found in Wufei's manner, no matter how hard Duo looked. "And the others."
Duo coiled, disgust overcoming the other emotions boiling his brain, "I'm not threatening anything. I don't need a Preventers collar."
"I extended my vacation to a sabbatical, so it has nothing to do with Preventers." Wufei sighed, standing to be on even ground with the other man, "It was my idea. They were afraid you'd disappear again, so I offered to help."
"Help? Help!" Duo tore his wrist from Wufei's grip with his wild gesturing, "What exactly did you plan to help me with? I leave and everything's fine. I come back and everything goes to pot. What part of that needs help?"
Wufei weathered the man's anger like so much wind, "It wasn't that bad."
"Bullshit!"
Onyx fire flared in Wufei's eyes and though he didn't raise his voice, his words fell like ten ton bricks, "Shut up and listen, Maxwell. What happened was the sum of our actions, all of us. Taking this burden from us is neither right, nor just. If we allowed you to leave, not only would it weaken and pain us, but the shame of loosing you twice would be insufferable. After everything, do you really believe I could let you vanish alone?"
Brought up short, Duo found himself pushing back lamely out of habit, "Watch it, Chang. I still owe you two good slugs."
"One."
Duo started to spit a particularly scathing insult, but faltered, "What?"
"You only owe me one blow," Wufei explained calmly.
The American raised an eyebrow, "I definitely remember two distinct occasions."
"You deliberately provoked me the first time," Wufei reasoned, raising a finger, "Thus, it doesn't count."
Duo blinked at him, then laughed harshly, "Trust you to make a distinction."
A small smirk softened Wufei's severe features, but he said nothing. His inky hair was loose, falling over bare bronze shoulders since he'd discarded the Preventer's jacket. Duo watched the man watch him as he moved to lean against the pilot's chair, just barely closer, but still making no promises.
"Why you?"
"Why not me?" Wufei flared with indignation and… apprehension?
"Well," Duo scratched at his scruff, "You're pretty damn sure I'm an idiot."
Wufei snorted, "We're all idiots. I just acknowledge it."
An edgy grin sliced across Duo's face, "Hell, Wufei. So, what, we just take off?"
"Une gifted me the ship for as long as I want it," Wufei smirked, placing a fond hand on the consol. "We can go where you please. See your children whenever you'd like. Take things at your pace."
"And you're just here to serve," Duo snapped in crisp sarcasm. His eyes shifted back to that piercing suspicion as he crowded the shorter man, "What do you want?"
Wufei growled in frustration, standing firm, "For you to calm down, find some peace. You deserve it. Maybe find a path."
"I had all that," the bitterness in Duo's voice was sludgy, clogging. "What the hell do you expect a broken man to do exactly?"
"Work for Preventers," Wufei expounded, knowing full well what the hell to expect of broken men. "We could partner."
"What about Sally?" Duo shot back, resting a hand to either side of Wufei's slim torso on the controls so they were exactly eyelevel, and still Wufei didn't move.
"She understands." The unconvinced glare Duo leveled at him spurred Wufei further, "She understands that I'm a married man."
Duo quirked an eyebrow, "Till death do you part, Wufei."
Something went cold and still in the other man. Wufei dropped his gaze for the first time. It left Duo feeling like he'd spent his one punch. When Wufei spoke, it was softly, eyes closed, "And I am not dead, yet."
"Wufei…" Duo looked at the man, really looked at him. Proud features humbled with near exhaustion; bronze skin a mess of sweat, blood, and grit; and his bottomless eyes filled with patient optimism and respect despite the gaping wounds in his soul. Duo saw. And suddenly the nearness burned. Where there had been snarls and insults only soft lips and mingled breath remained. His lips tingled with a kiss unfinished, a kiss he hadn't realized he wanted until someone had withheld it. Duo saw and wanted and froze.
Wufei blinked, tilted his chin, and shared the lightest ghost of a tender kiss. Duo trembled, leaned in, gave the spirit a body. He pulled back and his whole world was soft want in obsidian eyes. Voice a husky whisper, "What is this?"
"Whatever you need," Wufei's voice was black silk, dark and strong, but just so damn smooth.
Cold, raw fear tore Duo's insides. He didn't move, couldn't, "For how long?"
"As long as you need," Wufei breathed, running a skilled hand down Duo's jaw, but leaving the void between their bodies. Inviting, but patient.
Sharp blue eyes dulled, "Why?"
Wufei huffed, tangling his fingers in bleach burned hair and sealing their lips again. Direct, but tender with deep respect and even deeper need, lips explained what words would not. Parting, Wufei held on, resting their foreheads together until Duo opened his eyes.
"Idiot," Wufei smirked and it was impossible to know who exactly he meant.
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And freedom, oh freedom, well, that's just some people talking
Your prison is walking through this world all alone
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A/N – And there you have it! Sorry for the delay. An enormous thank you to everyone that's been reading and reviewing! I can only hope this was as interesting to read as it was to write. Reviews and thoughts on this overall would be lovely and appreciated.
P.S. – There is a sequel, of sorts, in the works for this. However, I want to get a couple other stories up before coming back this way. Keep an eye out for Kith And Kin.