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: I won't bother with saying much other than Season's Greetings friends! I promise you it is not my intention to villainize anyone in this chapter, but that's all the explanation I'll give! Your comments and love would make a wonderful gift for me, as always!
Chapter 11: You Didn't Know I Planned It Out
He'd never felt an illness like this before in his entire existence.
The shower was running behind him, filling the small bathroom up with renewed steam and causing the perspiration congregating upon his brow to increase exponentially. Heero was certain he could still smell that coppery waft of a stranger's blood as the remnants left behind from Duo's previous rinse swirled down the drain in terrifyingly indifferent innocence.
How was it that this of all things was going to be the end of him?
During the war he'd slapped bones back into place without so much as a mild wince and now here he sat, eyes reddened and throat raw, the residual waves of pleasure his body was being forced to ride out still lingering in his groin's subconscious.
What a horrible mistake he'd made. What an awful decision. What a glorious pitfall. Because it had been glorious, in the moment, but now as he dealt with these unfamiliar repercussions he wasn't so sure he could go on from here. There was a window near the cordoned off 'bedroom' of Wufei's compact studio; if he were lucky he'd find a viable fire-escape there. If he weren't so lucky he could probably jump out and survive just as well- they were only on the third floor after all.
A soft knock on the door interrupted his spiraling thoughts. In a haze, Heero stood, thrusting hands towards the shower's spray to swipe at his face and neck. A minute later he'd exited the small washroom, clothed and putting on the appearance of utter composure- or at least his own brand of what he thought composure should look like.
However, he was not met with Duo's face- smiling, scowling, or otherwise- but instead with the surprisingly neutral expression of Quatre Winner.
"Heero, you look-" Quatre's mouth seemed to stop working mid-sentence, his lower lip quavering almost infinitesimally. He swallowed once and then tried again, his vision drifting over the dampened hair hanging against Heero's skin and then back to his eyes in one fluid motion. "Are you alright?"
"Fine," he answered, probably rather more curt than he should have. Quatre was just being empathetic after all, but even after all these years that was still not something Heero had grown accustomed to yet.
Immediately Quatre shook his head as if trying to backpedal the concern and brush it off. Heero almost felt bad about the whole thing until the lilting sound of Duo's voice made it's way down the narrow hall and the entirety of his current problem was brought back abruptly, slicing at him like a cauterizing blade.
Quatre followed him, somewhat at a loss, back into the studio's main living space, carefully eyeing the braided man now perched at Wufei's desk before allowing his focus to adjust back on Heero- who in turn was watching the entire splay of emotions on Quatre's face play out in near technicolor. This was odd, but not unheard of, and Heero could practically feel the oncoming onslaught of questions and the infamous lecture he was sure to face in a matter of seconds. Damn empath.
But before Quatre could drag him into the corner for a scolding or some sort of calming verbiage, a voice- far from Duo's, but not so far from familiar- came through the crackling speakers of the desktop communicator their companion was apparently borrowing, activation codes probably hacked in seconds- which would be to Wufei's great displeasure, of course.
"Maxwell- it's late, can't this wait till morning?" Walter Lannon spoke with a thick tongue, large hands swiping at slivered eyes. Evidently he'd just been rudely awakened.
Duo spoke almost hushed, though he was quite aware of Heero and Quatre's presence looming behind him. "Walt, you alone? I've gotta a bit of a situation, but it's gotta stay on the D.L., if you know what I mean."
Heero nearly choked on the words as they flew out of his mouth. "Duo- what are you-"
But a surprisingly strong set of fingers lacing against his bicep and pulling him towards the flat's patio door cut him off mid chastisement. Quatre was grumbling something unintelligible under his breath, waving off a curious looking Duo as he tried his best to drag Heero out onto the small deck, forcing a border of thick, glass privacy between the two soon-to-be conversations.
"Winner-" Heero was turning on the blond man with a well fueled glare of annoyance, but amazingly enough Quatre beat him to the punch.
"I know for a fact that I do not understand everything that is going on here- and no, I won't be asking- but from what Trowa and Wufei have informed me, you and Duo are both in deeper than you should be on a case that shouldn't be handled by anyone other than Une herself."
Heero's tongue felt heavy in his mouth. "Une?"
"Death threats, Heero?" Quatre spat at him as if that was somehow an appropriate answer. "Have you really lost it?"
"Duo-"
"Duo's roped you into a case that he forced jurisdiction on because he happened to be connected to some of the victims. You don't find any of this a little too odd? Someone's targeting him, and now that someone is just as likely to start targeting you as well."
Taking a deep swallow of nothing, Heero stared at the shorter man with a stare of utter blankness. Of course Duo was being targeted; hadn't he yelled at the man about that particular issue already? But it had certainly gotten him nowhere good. With rough fingers he found himself pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I don't understand why he came to me," he explained under his breath. "Why he quit Preventers and moved to earth. It's not logical."
There came a soft snort of amusement. "Since when is anything that Duo does classified as 'logical?'"
Heero looked up to be met with a somewhat softer version of his friend, more familiar and less harsh. Quatre smiled at him. "You really don't get it still? Even now that you are no longer...engaged."
There was a pause wherein Heero realized he was supposed to have some moment of clarity. Suffice it to say that it didn't happen. Instead he frowned. "I don't see how that has anything to do with Duo. Relena ended our engagement purely based on emotional turmoil that I caused her while focussing my time too intensely within the Preventer organization."
That entirely scientific sounding explanation managed to snap Quatre's mouth shut for a few brief seconds. Heero watched his brows furrow slowly over glowing eyes- eyes that left little up to the imagination as far as sentiment went. "Heero, I hate to break it to you, but that's not the reason Relena broke it off," Quatre said, lips curling downwards. "And I think you know it too."
Heero felt an immense wave of ice turn his skin to gooseflesh. He stumbled entirely awkwardly for the appropriate words only to come up shorthanded. "What?"
"Duo." Quatre said it so matter-of-fact that for a moment Heero assumed that that was going to be all the explanation he was granted. His insides were starting to freeze over now and it had absolutely nothing to do with the cool mid-morning air surrounding them on the small patio.
In a fit of intense thought Quatre's brows furrowed and he cleared his throat, his gaze looking a bit unfocused. "He's- he's got this hold over you- always has and it seems to me he always will."
"Hold?" Heero repeated. "I don't understand."
Oh, but he did- he did understand. His lips were suddenly warmed by the memory of flesh on his own, pushing forward, devouring.
He remembered Duo's words. You really think all I ever wanted from you was- was- He could feel the weight of another man's breath against the angle of his neck. I don't understand- Of course you don't. You never have, have you?
But he did, he did understand. But how could this be- all this time- why hadn't Duo ever told him before? And now- he was acting rather more like it was a game- how far can I push Heero Yuy until he breaks down for an all encompassing, rough, quick, fuck? Dammit, apparently it didn't take much.
Heero's mind flicked black, then white, then an unusual shade of gray. "Why did you owe him?"
The look on Quatre's face was almost laughable. Heero wasn't sure if he was surprised by the question itself or the abruptness of the asking. "Owe who?"
A tongue flicked out to cold-chapped lips. "Duo. What could he possibly have done for you since the war?"
He'd never been met with this particular expression on Quatre Winner's face before- what was it that people said, 'the cat who ate the canary?' Heero decided quickly that perhaps he did not actually desire the answer to his left-field question, but it was abundantly clear that now it was much too late for taking things back.
For his part, Quatre managed to hold Heero's gaze with a levelness to be expected from the strategic businessman, though the quiver at the back of his throat and the way his eyes grew timid in the dim lighting of their surroundings proved to betray his truest emotions.
"I'm the one who asked him to leave."
It took a moment for Heero to hear what had just been confessed to him, like their connection was fuzzy and delayed, like they were not speaking face to face with Duo no more than three feet from them through semi-soundproof glass, like they were colonies away and Heero couldn't reach out and grab ahold of Quatre's petite and slender throat.
"Leave." The word was entirely foreign against his tongue. He had no idea how to proceed. He was at a loss- he thought for certain that he must be misunderstanding the other man's statement. He must be confused, as was common- he oftentimes allowed things to be mistranslated through his filter, or lack-thereof- surely this was one of those instances.
Quatre looked entirely guilty, but that couldn't be right, could it? The blond cleared his throat, any resolve he'd put up moments before quickly wearing against Heero's sharp and, most likely, imposingly quizzical stare. "I realize now that I was immensely wrong in that, but at the time- with Relena- with the infancy of the Earth Sphere-" He watched the other man's adam's apple bob oddly with a dry, unnecessary swallow. "-it was the right decision for the time in which it was made."
Heero's frown was beginning to grow uncomfortably deep. "Duo- left because you asked him to," he stated obtusely. "He left Earth- moved back to L2- because you told him to."
It was probably true that Heero was not exactly handling the conversation like a normal human being might. It was also probably true that he was beginning to make Quatre Winner squirm a bit. The other man was staring at him in utter uncertainty, like Heero might just spontaneously combust right then and there on Wufei's veranda.
The guilt in Quatre's voice had not faded, only amplified due to the non-questions being thrown back to him. "Heero- it was for the best-" his eyes were practically shining through the shadows. "-the best for both of you. Whatever it was that you had during the war- well, it was quite-" he swallowed unnecessarily again. "-it was toxic."
The tables had turned abruptly between them. It seemed at first the interrogation had been meant for Heero, but now it was Quatre doing what appeared like some sort of groveling form of reasoning with a man not fully comprehending any of it. Odd, in that Heero wasn't trying to be confrontational here, but the defensive stance the blond was slowly adopting was beginning to prove otherwise.
"Why did you come here?" Heero hadn't thought to ask such an appropriate question until just now, somewhere between contemplating about how to approach Duo about this new intel and leaving them both behind in search of a strong drink of choice.
Quatre, for what it was worth, did not seem as surprised as he aught to have been at the sudden change of topic. "I employ some of the best attorneys in the Sphere- if it comes down to that."
Heero had the sudden urge to roll his eyes. "You trekked all the way here at three in the morning to hand out some business cards?" He did roll his eyes then and felt the utter sensation of warmth at the way he was channelling a familiar form of sarcasm that had been following him at his heels lately.
At the rare humor Quatre seemed at first startled, then he said with a frown, "If you think this is because I owe him, it's not. Get your head on straight Yuy, I didn't just come here for Duo- I came here for you."
Spit-fire, there it was, something that Heero vaguely recalled from the war and even some pointedly worded editorials on one L4 Representative Winner. "I don't see how my interactions with a fellow pilot is any of your concern- or Chang and Barton's either."
Quatre's gaze had darkened considerably. Those editorials had been overly gracious it seemed. "I don't understand you- why are you letting him cloud your judgement?" he spat out, as if finally at the end of his rope. "Have you seriously forgotten about that night-"
There came a not so polite knocking at the the sliding glass door beside them, drawing their attention sharply to an opaque version of Trowa staring at them with a seemingly knowing look. He gestured them inside then, turning away as silently as he'd shown up.
The door stuck a bit when Heero wrenched it open. Duo was there, leaning against the back of the desk chair with a blank expression on his face, eyes turning towards the sound, but not quite meeting Heero's own.
Could it be, that he had heard their conversation? Or perhaps just a portion of it- though Heero wasn't sure which would be preferable. Context was definitely required for some of the things thrown about on that balcony.
If he had listened in, Duo did not betray in any other way than slight avoidance. Instead he turned his vision towards a plastic bag thrust towards him from a frowning Wufei. It had just now occurred to Heero that the braided man was only wearing his bloodied leather pants and nothing else.
"Clean up and then we'll discuss the possible scenarios of this case," he all but commanded. Instead of a wise retort, Duo simply snatched the proffered clean clothes and shuffled towards the washroom.
Heero's eyes vaguely followed him and then found themselves staring a whole in the wall they'd fucked against not more than a half-hour previous.
Wufei was there to break his sudden transfixion. "Preventer has not been called to that club, nor have the local authorities."
It took Heero a moment to process that, but before he could speak Quatre was already chomping at the bit. "Which means that whatever is happening at that club is a much larger transgression than to worry on attempted murder."
Wufei was already turning towards the kitchen, thumb and forefinger pinching at the bridge of his nose, Quatre hot on his heels spouting off more obvious truths.
Heero caught Trowa at the elbow before he could join the other men. "I don't think calling in Quatre was necessary," he hissed through clenched teeth.
"No?" Trowa turned towards him with a look of intense apathy. "And what do you propose? You've already got Preventer's arm twisted in this, how is a government official any more problematic for you?" The dryness in his words cut through Heero with ease. "And it wasn't my idea, it was Wufei's."
The muscles in his arm ceased working for the moment it took for Trowa to pull away and head towards the small kitchen. It was not so much the truth in his words, or the correction to his assumption, but the way in which Heero suddenly felt helpless- falling aimlessly into a pit dug specifically for him by one Shinigami.
Maybe he should have heeded some of their previous warnings.
It happened then, Duo was suddenly at his side like a shadow, tugging him from his desired destination and into the unlit hallway. "I think I might know why Zechs is looking for me."
Heero stared at him sharply, resisting the urge to viciously pin him to the wall. "Why?"
For once Duo looked entirely serious, if not a little paler than usual. "He thinks that I entirely fucked up his little sister's life because I'm- in love with you."