Warnings: mild violence, mention of fictitious death, mention of prostitution & drugs, coarse language, M/M lime/lemon, and general adult situations.
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is a product of Sunrise & Bandai Entertainment, I do not claim ownership to these characters, only to my own words.
A/N: For those of you who are excited to see Zechs make an appearance, I'm right there with you! And also, I will apologize in advance for his- characterization. I promise you there is a method to my madness and though this is a short introduction to his role, he will be joining us more in the future. So stay tuned! Also, be forewarned of some nsfw goodness towards the end here. And finally, I love your feedback and reviews and favs and even if you're just quietly reading along I love you too! Enjoy.
Chapter 10: Haptic
Heero wanted nothing more than to snap the wrist attached like a vice around his bicep. He wanted to march into the club and drag Duo out by his braid and lock him in his apartment or send him away with Hilde for the rest of his life because then at least he might be safe from whatever self-imposed-death-wish-obsession he'd had going on since the war. He also wanted to walk up to one Zechs Merquise and give him a fist to the gut that had been long since warranted within their sorted relationship.
He did none of that.
Instead he turned towards Wufei, flexing but not pulling away and bit down. "What, are we just supposed to sit here and let him go through with it?"
The 'it' in question didn't need much more explanation. Heero watched as the man beside him contemplated the question and the very real eventualities that went along with it. But in light of his friend's rampant glare, Wufei took another path.
"Let him make contact." He spoke slow and deliberate into his earpiece, both of their eyes drifting to the monitors to wait out Trowa's response.
The order apparently hadn't been needed as the tall frame of Merquise sauntered up to the bar-top, taking the stool neighboring Trowa, as if all along that had been his mission. After a tense second they watched their comrade's hand find its way unassumingly to his earpiece, catching it on in order to relay whatever conversation was going to take place while also disabling any possible way for Wufei or Heero to speak with the man. Possibly problematic, but clearly Trowa took it as a necessary evil. It would seem his curiosity had been piqued just as much as theirs had been.
"Where is he?" were the first words out of Merquise's mouth, even as he waved off the attentive bartender, turning his body to invade Trowa's own space in a near threatening manner.
The slim man observed his potential opponent through shrouding bangs, not a single emotion on his face, his muscle's movements smooth and casual. "To whom are you referring?" he asked, voice sounding utterly dead and uncaring.
The blasé attitude might've proved to irritate someone with quite a bit less stamina, but Merquise simply met his monotone with a soft simper of his lips. "The companion you entered with, of course."
"You must be confused," Trowa countered with a light quirk of his brow. "He is not my companion. Otherwise it would be me he was busy fucking in the back rooms."
The crudity of his words made Heero's insides convulse sharply, but Wufei's harsh gaze served to calm him, if only taking the edge off enough to understand the tactic Trowa was employing at the moment.
It seemed as though the words had also reaped something within Merquise himself, the man grimacing for a second before managing to compose his features. "I see. Then, may I ask, who is he busy fucking?"
"I don't see how that's any of your business, Zechs," Trowa replied evenly.
The man barely held back an audible growl. "I think it is very much my business. He is here on Earth traipsing about with Relena's fiancé-"
"Ex-fiancé. If I am correct in remembering that the Vice Foreign Minister broke off that engagement weeks ago." Trowa's eyes were narrowed, intense, even through the unfocussed monitors.
Heero felt something surge through his veins; anger he thought at first, but then quickly found it to be a more chilling feeling- guilt. He turned to watch Wufei's eyes, glued to the monitors as if he'd not expected such a pointed response from their companion. But there, in the dark depths of his gaze, was a faint light of appreciation. However, this also brought about another question entirely: why on Earth had Zechs Merquise come looking for Duo?
It seemed that the thought would have to wait as a scuffling sound of metal on metal alerted both their eyes up and across the street to find a skeleton of a body clambering down the side of a chain-link fence separating the club's back alleyway from the rest of the street. Heero knew who it was immediately, the braid not leaving much up to the imagination, but what startled him the most was how utterly unrecognizable Duo seemed in every other aspect as he bolted across the street, narrowly missing a cab as it laid on the horn.
On the screen they watched as the club's patrons became momentarily distracted by the blaring screech of the car, the distraction affording Trowa a second to fumble a finger to his earpiece. Wufei was at the ready, speaking tersely. "Get the hell out," he ordered, unsure of the exact reasoning for their apparent panic, but not leaving anything up to chance.
Duo was just getting to the car then, wrenching open the back door, lungs sounding pained with how quickly they were intaking the air around him. His eyes were smudged gray, lips swollen, bangs tousled, clothing slightly askew. He was covered in blood.
"Duo!" Heero was practically leaping into the backseat, eyes raking over the other man's body in search of a wound that would have produced such a glistening, scarlet mess.
"Not mine," Duo panted out, pushing against Heero's shoulders to lodge him back into his seat. He licked at his lips, something off about the twitchy action. "Where's Tro?"
Wufei's gaze drifted back to the monitors to find a disgruntled looking Zechs Merquise, but no green-eyed man reaming him with the driest of sarcasm. Instead another body was tumbling into the backseat opposite Duo. They stared for a moment at Trowa, who stared back entirely unquestioning, before Wufei gunned the vehicle forward, trying his damnedest not to make too much of a spectacle of their retreat than they already had.
They'd been driving for about ten minutes, taking an entirely out-of-the-way route back to Wufei's apartment, before Duo offered up some semblance of explanation for his harried and gruesome looking appearance.
"The smarmy asshole just got a bit too friendly, if you catch my drift," Duo offered, rubbing at his nose.
Wufei's eyes met his through the rearview, appraising his half-naked chest. "I can't imagine how you're at all surprised by that."
Heero chose a different tactic, turning to fix him with a glare straight from their days in the war. "And your solution was to stab him?"
Duo watched the other man's incredulity carefully before giving a sheepish shrug. Suddenly his weapon of choice was flipping between his fingertips, still marred with Kruse's blood, swishing in the air before him presumably in the same manner he'd used to slice the man he'd taken to the back rooms with him. "Can't help it if my fight or flight's a bit skewed, eh?"
Trowa was eyeing the knife with soft appreciation. "Dead?" he wondered.
"No." Duo's head shook. "Don't think so. Prolly just his pride maybe."
Wufei actually snorted at that, but Heero's teeth were grinding. "Did you at least succeed in your objective?"
He shrugged again, reaching into the pocket of his leathers to pull out a small white card and handed it forward. "He knew Emir- 'course who doesn't around here. That's all he had on his person 'sides identification. The number look familiar to you at all?"
Heero studied the small card, flipping it over to find a telephone number scrawled in blocky handwriting. He frowned. "It's a Sanc area code- I don't recognize it though."
"Eh, didn't suppose you would. Maybe we can call it, see who picks up?" Duo wondered, watching the other man through his thick lashes.
Looking back to him, Heero took in the dried blood marring his chest and clothing, his mussed hair and forced smirk. "Are you okay?" he asked, deep and calm and trying not to let on just how entirely nervous and paranoid he'd been a few moments before under Wufei's watchful eye.
"You know if I knew any better I'd say you look a little freaked, 'Ro."
Apparently his acting skills had somewhat diminished over the years- which couldn't have been by much considering the limitedness of his skills in the first place. Heero sighed and morphed his lips into a dark frown. "This case is a- mess." For lack of a better word. "I want some concrete answers."
"Wishful thinking," Duo threw back, eyes flicking between the two men in the front seats. "You pick that 'concrete' shit up from, 'Fei?"
That got the Chinese man's attention rather pointedly, his gaze smoldering the rearview. "Yuy's correct- it seems we are currently hanging by the skin of our teeth. I wouldn't be surprised if Une revokes your consultation rights tomorrow when we show up empty handed with nothing more than a useless telephone number and an attempted-murder weapon."
"Hey now! Self defense," Duo spat back, exaggerating the words to the point where they seemed entirely too many syllables. "And besides, who says I'm going in for some 'debriefing' tomorrow- this was nothin', this was just reconnaissance."
"I'm afraid we may have to tell him." The voice came from beside Duo, slick crawling from the shadows as Trowa's eyes found Heero's own in a locked and powerful gaze.
Heero nodded once, infinitesimal, while Duo's brows curved inwards and his braid flicked with the movement of his neck swiveling between them. "Tell me what?"
Opening his mouth, Heero was ready, but Trowa beat him to the punch. "Zechs Merquise is looking for you."
There was a pause, heavy and filled with only the sound of four consecutive sets of breathing and the cars humming engine as they drove on. Heero watched carefully the reaction the name had on Duo, taking in the subtlety of lashes dipping, lips twitching, fingers flinching. To anyone else the actions might have gone unnoticed, but they registered something within Heero, something he couldn't quite yet understand, but knew he'd felt sometime before.
And then the mask was back, Duo's smirk settling in thick. "Zechs? As in the man of a thousand names- Milliardo Peacecraft, Lightning Count, Agent Wind- that Zechs?"
"Agent Wind was a short lived identity," came the snorted response from up front.
Ignoring that, Heero just nodded once. It had obviously been a rhetorical question. "Do you have any idea why, Duo?"
"Why?" Duo's eyes glazed in genuine confusion for a few seconds. "Why Zechs Merquise might be askin' around for me? No, unless he's finally come 'round to the old Maxwell charms." The wink he added with that did nothing to settle Heero's already sour stomach.
"He mentioned something about your 'traipsing about with Relena's ex-fiance,'" Trowa supplied blandly.
Duo made a show of scratching at his chin in contemplation. "Hm. Dunno. Guess maybe he's just jealous."
They were pulling up to Wufei's building now as Heero rounded on the braided man with a look of utter incredulity. "Jealous?"
"Well, shit, I don't know!" Duo shot back, almost bizarrely flustered.
Wufei turned on the car and maneuvered in his seat to meet the other man's widened eyes. "It seems to me that perhaps the only party in this situation with room for an emotion such as jealousy would be Relena herself."
That managed to send a furious blush down both Heero and Duo's set jaws. But before any sort of retort could be made Trowa and Wufei were exiting the vehicle, effectively pausing the conversation and leaving the other two men to fluster under one another's scrutiny before the drying blood smattered against Duo's body once again came back into focus and they hurried, intensely silent, after their companions.
It hadn't taken much convincing on Duo's part to send both Trowa and Wufei off on an errand in search of required ibuprofen and late-night take-out, one of which was a very transparent stretch-of-the-truth that Heero let slide without comment.
It also- surprisingly enough- hadn't taken much convincing on Heero's part to let him inspect the wounds Duo had complained rather theatrically about aching. But it soon seemed he might regret that little triumph as now, suddenly, he was standing in Wufei's corner-study staring at an entirely stark and unapologetically naked Duo Maxwell.
He swallowed, keeping his eyes level with the forced smirk on the other man's lips. Blood still clung to his skin, though they'd managed to wipe away most of it, what was left only marring clothing that would likely be incinerated sometime before tomorrow. Otherwise the man was still uncannily the same as what he could glean from the memories that kept him up at night. Hardened muscle, thin yet powerful structure, some room for mistaking him as something other than the killer he used to be- probably still was; but that was his angle, wasn't it? Always unpredictable.
Heero swallowed once more. "What happened, Duo?"
There were bruises he could see, already coloring a faint shade of puce, lining his thin wrist and angular hipbone. Accompanying them were a few reddened marks of sharp nails running down his side- the puzzle of just how Duo had jumped from sexual being to impulsive assassin becoming much more clear now. But there was something oddly familiar about the marks as they began to twist an ugly, writhing feeling within Heero's gut. No, it didn't make any sense; how was it that he was the one feeling any form of guilt right now?
"I just- overreacted is all." That hadn't been what Heero was referring to and Duo knew it, giving him a sharp glance through tangled bangs. "Brought up a few too many bad memories, y'know?"
He might've known, really Heero wasn't so sure. But that body, those bruises- suddenly something was stirring within him and to his great distaste it wasn't exactly guilt anymore.
"Tell me," he requested, voice hoarser than he would've liked.
Duo moved, posture languid and utterly uncaring that he was entirely naked in front of his companion- who was, incidentally, entirely clothed and feeling somewhat stifled with each approaching step.
There was a hand against Heero's hip and one latched to his wrist, mimicking the bruises swelling against Duo's milky skin. He leaned in and Heero stiffened on reflex. "Why don't I show you?"
It wasn't the perverse words, not the underlying nonchalance, nor even the lips coming to press against his collar bone. In the end it was the way his skin began to tingle almost painfully with the touch- a haptic memory. The stimulus was there, in the form of Duo's tongue swirling beneath the shell of his ear, and the recollection of the acquired data was flooding back to Heero faster than he could move his arms to encase the new force rubbing against every possible plane of his body.
All sense of the here and now seemed to flood away as an ingrained memory of the past began to pulse repeatedly in the dark recesses of Heero's mind. He felt, for all intents and purposes, like he was fifteen again- an entirely dangerous time in his life without having been a hormonal teenage terrorist. But when Duo's sharp teeth found the sensitive string of taught muscles between his neck and shoulder it was- suddenly and resoundingly- all over.
Heero's hips shot forward on impulse, grinding into Duo's own and eliciting a vibrating moan from within the other man's throat, deep and warm against his skin. Lips found his, crushing at first before softening, a tongue playing against wet flesh and forcing his arousal to successfully come to fruition. It had been a long awaited and long overdue sensation, to have Duo Maxwell's mouth on his body for the sole purpose of powerful, struggling, glorious sex.
In his mind's eye, for a brief second, Heero watched himself with a wide gaze and utter incredulity. How had this escalated so quickly, without so much as a real and true provocation? Nothing more than a little implication and the fact that Duo's skin was rapidly turning shades of bloodied violet he hadn't seen since the war. But his body was moving faster than his thoughts could collect to warn him against the impending want. From seasoned practice he understood these kisses, their hurried frenzy, and yet still there was something entirely confusing about the whole thing- something not right.
Heero's breath sharpened as Duo dug needy fingers down his shoulder blades. Well if you can't beat 'em-
Muscles straining forward, Heero's body pushed, landing Duo's back against the flat's wall with a thud that inevitably left a few of Wufei's scattered scrolls and frames askew. No, they could not do this here, Heero's mind was bellowing from somewhere above him. He dutifully ignored it, accepting the idea with the smallest of graces- they wouldn't use the bed. No, that would be quite an imprudent invasion to say the least.
Duo was breathing heavy against his neck, hands pulling at his shirt with rapid impatience towards the fabric still daring to cover the man before him. Heero allowed the garment to be pulled from his body with virile ease, pushing their bare skin together again with crushing force. His lips nipped at Duo's before trailing down that lean chest to suck at the taught skin over his sternum, fingers dancing over hardened nipples before latching onto the dips of the man's sharp hipbones. He knew this body well- so well that he could hit all the right spots on the first try.
"Heero-" Duo's voice ripped from his lungs, a gasp of concern that went almost unnoticed by the man now kneeling before him. He looked up through dark bangs, but the eyes he met were lust hazed, hiding most of the shock of their current situation behind that indigo glaze.
His tongue flicked over the bruise on Duo's hip, the skin warm and tasting of salt. The man above him gave a soft whimper, but the fingers threading in Heero's hair, tugging with the slightest bit of urgency, overrode any of his unease that this was not what Duo wanted- what they both wanted- in this moment.
The etherial version of Duo he'd witnessed earlier in that club invaded his mind, causing Heero's hardness to twitch involuntarily against his suddenly confining slacks as he laved at the tender abrasion once more before trailing feather kisses down a quivering thigh and back up to the aching erection that had not exactly gone unnoticed during their scene thus far.
The rational crevice of his brain thought for a moment of the repercussions they might face if their other two companions arrived back earlier than expected, but as he brought lips to encompass the cock before him, earning an appreciative gasp from overhead, Heero banished the thought to focus entirely on the pleasure of the present moment.
This was, far and wide, not a new experience for him, but it had been a few years- to say the least. Still the sounds of encouragement echoing above him as he allowed his voice to reverberate at the back of his throat, taking what he wanted with little hesitation- it was almost as if this had been their normal, always.
Heero's tongue curled against the underside of Duo's shaft, a shiver moving rapidly through the thighs that were clasped near painfully under superhuman fingers. Duo thrust forward, but Heero held him back, held him just at the brink, eyes gliding to see the visual confirmation of the edge he was forcefully providing. It was a powerful feeling, one he'd not realized he'd missed so much.
With a wet pop he released, Heero's soft breath warm against the now glistening hardness. He almost smiled, once, before Duo's hands were grasping first at the wall behind him almost lost, and then towards Heero demanding his attention a little helplessly.
The idea occurred to him that perhaps this activity did not bode a nice and happy ending- in fact, they probably shouldn't be doing any of the things that were transpiring and were about to transpire, the images only causing his cock to twitch rather pointedly. But the little monster hiding in the recesses of his mind, that uncaring and foolish emotion he tried so hard to contain- lust- was currently biting against any of the logical cells left in his body. And Heero, despite the warning voices of what strangely enough sounded like some very familiar comrades, ignored it all and pulled his body upwards to slam Duo's back to the wall again earning him a hazy glare of approval.
The long, silken braid somehow found its way into his fingers, Duo's own mouth fitted against his, curving hesitantly as if enjoying a private joke. After a few seconds, and a playful swipe of a curious tongue, the smirk deepened and traveled against the edge of his jaw.
"Is this perverse?" The tongue trailed down Heero's chest then, teasing along with those words. "Inappropriate?" The wetness twirled across his sternum, nicking a nipple. "Presumptuous?" Duo laid butterfly kisses, one after another, ghosting down his side until-
When lips came to rest against a patch of thin, white scar tissue Heero's body drew backwards, flinching in near agony. His eyes flashed open. He'd never felt that sort of pain before. Not since- not since the initial injury itself.
The monster screaming at his body to continue onwards was momentarily restrained by the burn of a memory long since passed, but seemingly not quite forgotten. Heero stared at a half crouching Duo through dark bangs, assessing the man clinically. There did not appear to be any initial danger, at least not on the surface. But as his vision dug deeper, as if to peer straight through the man, he nearly caught a glimpse of the being beneath. Duo at first looked confused, near hurt by the sudden change in emotion, but that smile never left his lips, only grew into something scarily recognizable- Shinigami.
And then, just as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone again. There was the prickly urge to shutter within Heero's muscles, but he held himself back, breathing once.
Duo was inherently dangerous. That much was entirely clear to all. Perhaps, despite everything, that was why Heero couldn't stop himself from drawing closer with every breath.
In a swift and practiced move he'd manage to regain control of the situation again. Heero's body came forward, fingers going to Duo's arm and hip, spinning him without hesitation towards the wall. Hands came out to catch against the stark, white plaster as Duo's body was suddenly put off balance as a strong forearm pushed against the underside of his thigh, lifting and surging forwards, bringing the slighter man nearly to the tips of his toes.
Pinned as he was, off-kilter, hands grasping for purchase, head turned rather harshly, left leg straining to keep balance, Duo could do little to bring about memories purposefully abandoned. Heero felt the pain beneath his ribcage subside and his resolve began anew. He was in control- and based on the shuddering gasp of a whine coming from the man he was holding- he was playing this in just the correct manner.
Duo shifted slightly, pushing his ass backwards right into the straining pants Heero was busy unbuttoning with his one available hand. "Leathers," he spat out, shortly. "Right pocket."
It was enough of an order for Heero, who let his own garments fall to the floor as he leaned to reach for the bloodied leather pants hanging sadly over Wufei's desk chair. Indeed he found exactly what he'd been thinking of seconds before Duo had said a word. Of course, the carrying of these particular items might have alerted him in any other circumstance, but seeing as how Duo had posed as some type of 'companion' not more than an hour beforehand, this was all beginning to seem oddly appropriate.
Fighting past the nagging shock of the moment still resting somewhere behind Heero's tensed shoulders, he went about the work of carefully and methodically running teasing fingers over hardened muscle, tracing the lower edges of that startling tattoo, down towards a sensitive crevice until finally dipping to find the ring he'd not felt beneath his touch in far too long.
There was a spasm or two, the angle just slightly less than awkward for Duo as he relaxed forward, allowing the wall to take the brunt of his weight as the first digit, knuckle deep, made it's way in, slicked and cool to his heated, sensitive skin.
After that neither man spoke more than to affirm and rasp out ragged praises under sultry breath. This was natural, not a timid first time, not an angry, adrenaline fueled fuck, not making love. Not anything other than what it was. Just natural.
Once muscles had been prepared and a condom rolled on with ease, the sense of where they were, in time and space and body, was wiped away. Heero thrust upwards, still holding Duo's precarious position, palm flattened against the wall matching his partner's own. Certainly he was still under control, but neither were so ignorant to believe that Duo couldn't turn those circumstances around, with little effort, if he'd truly wanted to. But he didn't.
It was an intense heat, tightness, something overwhelming and welcomed that Heero had almost forgotten to be the one true act that could actually wrack his focus. At the thought his body twitched, but he held back the impulse to stop, to clear his mind back to the organized, logical steel case that it was- if for only this moment in time. This was real, this was important. Duo growled deep and low in his throat; Heero had stopped moving, holding the other man against the wall without mercy.
After another fifty-four seconds- Heero had begun to keep time in his mind on instinct- Duo managed to strike a balance, bringing about a free hand to wrap his own straining hardness, left aching from the earlier ministrations.
It did not last much longer than that- though the unspoken words had been undoubtably that it wouldn't. It had been years- at least for Heero- and he knew quite readily just the right angle and pressure to find that peak in a partner he'd once known almost better than himself.
For a brief few strokes his scar brushed against the damp skin of Duo's back, flashing a white light of something Heero could not comprehend before his eyelids, and then it was over. Shudders tore through his tendons, his legs weakening at the knees, his lungs burning. For an insurmountable second he was thrown head first back into the war, but as his eyes flew open to stare at the blood-flecked braid caught between their still connected bodies now he knew immediately the true act he'd just committed.
And Heero realized helplessly, as the other man's head turned to nuzzle lips against his quivering jaw, that he'd just fallen backwards into something he'd never thought he'd be a party to again. And the only person there to catch him now was Duo.