Genre: AU, Romance
Pairings: 1x2, 3+4
Warnings: Serious fluff, sap, silliness, animals talking, adult situations, some language
Disclaimer: Forgot it in the first chapter, so here it is. Don't own nothin' but these words!
A/N: I know, I'm wandering away from the plot again, but I can't help it! My gremlins control me!
CHAPTER 12 / Legal Criminal Activity
By the time Heero pulled into the Bartons' driveway, he was completely calm again. Duo had not moved from his lap, not so much as raised his head. Turning the truck off he cupped Duo's muzzle in his hand and physically lifted his face to peer into his bright, dark eyes.
"Are you all right, love?" he asked softly.
Duo sat up, licking Heero's face. Reassured, Heero got out and reached in to lift the German Shepherd out as well. Before setting him on the ground he gave him a brief, tight squeeze. Duo grunted a little, then stretched once he was on his feet. Moments later Trowa came outside, two enormous dogs spilling out in front of him.
One was a mammoth Great Dane. Completely black, the thing probably stood as high as Heero's hip at its back. Or more. The other was not a dog Heero could name, and it was also a large thing. The two of them went haring off around the corner of the house. Trowa walked down the steps, smiling faintly.
"Glad you could make it," he said. "Those two are coming with us, I'm afraid. They're both Quatre's dogs." He reached down as if to pet Duo.
This time, Heero didn't let him. "Sorry," he said, grabbing the man's wrist and pushing it back. "He's had a somewhat . . . stressful morning."
To his credit, Trowa merely nodded, not looking picked on or put out. "I understand. Duo, I hope you can handle Quatre's dogs because they are pretty boisterous."
Duo just bumped his head against Heero's leg.
"Hello, hello!" Catherine said when they walked in. "I was hoping to see you before I blast off. How are you boys?"
There were three small dogs corralling around her feet as she slid into her jacket. Heero laid a hand on Duo's back. "We're fine, but we both need a little fun time, I think," he told her.
She smiled. "Everyone does. Work too hard and you'll overwhelm yourself, wear yourself out, and wonder what the hell you're doing all this work for."
Heero smiled faintly. Duo abruptly rose to his feet and did that adorable thing where he walked in a tight circle around Heero's legs, rubbing against him the whole way.
"Catherine," he asked, "do you know why he does that? It's cute, but it makes me curious."
Catherine smiled, grabbing her keys. "He's marking you," she explained. "Territorial dogs do that with their masters. Duo is letting other dogs know you belong to him."
Heero couldn't help it. He laughed warmly, kneeling to Duo's level and wrapping him in a tight hug. Duo nuzzled him affectionately. Catherine waved goodbye.
"You're welcome to leave your truck here," she said. "It's not in the way where you parked it. You boys have fun, and be safe!" She bustled out.
Quatre came trundling down the stairs with a suitcase. "Ah, Heero!" he exclaimed warmly, clapping his friend on the back. "Glad you're here. Now we can get going. Trowa, why don't you pull the boat out? Heero, would you mind terribly helping him hook it up? It's just safer if two people do it. Don't worry about the dogs, either. I'll round them up."
Heero didn't miss the slight glare Duo gave Quatre. It obviously said no one needed to round him up. Quatre didn't miss it either. He laughed.
"Not you, of course, Duo. You'll keep track of yourself, won't you?"
Duo followed Heero outside, keeping himself close but out of the way. In an orderly fashion they were soon on their way.
-
"Duo, this is Anubis," Quatre said, patting the enormous Great Dane on the head. "He is very friendly, and he will love you no matter what you do. So you'd best resign yourself now."
Duo, sitting on the boat deck between Heero's knees, gave the enormous dog a dubious look.
"This big fluffy guy is Rand. I call him Rand for short."
"And why on earth would you do that?" Heero muttered, stroking Duo's ears. "Is he always this weird in a social setting, Trowa?"
Trowa smiled faintly. "And weirder," he agreed. "This is Darkstorm, by the way. He's a Tibetan Mastiff."
And, Duo noted, just as fluffy as the Kuvasz. They were both significantly bigger than him.
"And this beastie," Quatre concluded, pointing to the shaggy black and white dog panting on the deck, "is Twister. He's a big pushover. Guys, this is Duo. You should all adopt him, okay?"
Above him, Heero made a rude sound. Duo panted laughter.
"How was your week?" Trowa asked, relaxing against the steering wheel. "When you came on board, I thought Duo looked a little tense. He still does, actually. Did something happen? I know you said he had a stressful morning."
"It was that damn woman," Heero said.
To Duo's surprise, his master started massaging his neck. It felt fantastic. His head drooped.
"The pink princess?" Quatre's voice said. "She saw Duo for the first time, I'm guessing?"
"You guessed right," Heero said, something dark entering his voice. "She shrieked like a damn banshee."
"This woman," Quatre said, probably explaining to Trowa, "is an absolute horror. She's Heero's boss's daughter. She seems to think she should be Heero's wife."
It was Trowa's turn to make a rude sound. "Sounds like a real charmer."
"I have an idea," Quatre said. "Why don't we go below and make some lunch for the dogs? That way they can get to know each other. And Duo can get used to being around other dogs."
"Sounds good," Heero said, rising.
Duo watched him, ears perking. Heero smiled a little, reaching down to stroke his face. Trowa killed the boat's motor, then the three humans went below. For a while the four dogs didn't move, each staring out over the water and panting a little. Even under the shade of the canopy it was a bit warm.
Eventually, however, the enormous black Great Dane, roughly the size of a small pony, rose to his feet and padded over to Duo's side. Duo tensed, backing up a little. Though dogs did not have any kind of verbal language, they communicated much of what needed to be said or seen through body language. Anubis's posture was telling Duo clearly he meant no harm.
Duo's clearly said stay away, but Anubis ignored him. He sniffed at Duo, his breath tickling Duo's ears. He knew Heero was trusting him to behave, so he couldn't really do anything about it. Anubis huffed softly and licked his face. Startled, Duo jerked back. Well, that was hardly a threatening action, but Duo still tensed. The huge dog completely ignored him and moved until he was standing over Duo. Then he simply laid down.
His weight easily bore Duo to the deck. For several long, fruitless moments the German Shepherd tried to wriggle free, but Anubis didn't budge an inch. After a bit he started licking Duo's face as if to calm him. Duo didn't feel like being drenched with saliva so he stilled. Anubis sighed and rested his head beside Duo's.
It was a long time before Duo's tense body relaxed. It was even longer before he realized the Great Dane's weight was actually comforting. In the same way that waking up half buried underneath Heero was comforting. It soothed his still-somewhat harried mind. The huge dog's heat seeped into him, turning his muscles into jelly. Closing his eyes, he buried his face under Anubis's neck. The moment he surrendered, he started dozing.
-
"Huh," Heero said, "you make the same crap for your dogs I do."
Quatre smiled winningly. "Funny how that works, isn't it? How do you suppose they're getting along up there?"
Heero shrugged. "I'm sure they're fine. You told me your dogs are very laid back and friendly, right?"
"Yup," Quatre said at once, nodding. "Especially Anubis. He loves everybody. Even slugs."
Heero raised an eyebrow. Chuckling, Quatre led the way back up to the deck. For a moment, Heero about panicked. He couldn't see Duo anywhere! Then, after a double-take, he saw his precious friend buried under Anubis's bulk. It looked like the Great Dane had just laid down on top of him.
Quatre burst out laughing. "See? What did I tell you?"
Both dogs stirred, raising their heads a little before lowering them down again. Heero smiled. It spoke volumes of Duo's stress-levels that he was too weary to chase the big dog away. Oh well, maybe it was a good thing.
Later, as the three men sat around talking, Trowa and Quatre holding hands, Trowa asked a question that brought him back to reality.
"You only work part-time, right, Heero?"
"Yes," Heero replied, sitting up a little from his slouch. "I took the job to keep myself from getting too bored. But now that I have Duo, I'm considering quitting."
Trowa rested his elbows on his knees. "Don't you need the income?"
"Not really," Heero said, shrugging. "I could tell you what I do for a living, but then I would have to kill you." His lips quirked in a grin.
Quatre, sitting on the deck with Rand's head in his lap, gave Trowa a covert look. "Heero does under-the-table work for the government," he said conspiratorially. "Things that they don't want people knowing about. Top-secret, you know."
Heero smirked. "I don't know how he found that out," he said, taking a sip of his cold drink, "but now I'm going to have to kill you both."
"Now I'm intrigued," Trowa said, leaning forward. "What is it you do?"
Leaning back, Heero absently pat Trowa's dog, Darkstorm, on the head when the big thing put his head on Heero's knee. "I've done work for just about every branch of the government," he said. "I guess I'm what you could call a legal illegal hacker. I've helped track down criminals, helped root out crime lords, found evidence to convict felons, and other things I can't tell you about. The government pays me for my services and my silence. I don't have a social security number, I don't exist on the grid." Heero grinned. "Very useful, let me tell you."
Trowa did a very good imitation of a dog by canting his head to the side. "Really. How did they find out about you?"
Now Heero's grin was self-satisfied. "I sent them a software program I'd created," he explained. "It's a firewall that can't be breached. Well, I can breach it, but no one else could."
"You sent it to them?" Trowa inquired. "What happened?"
"I only sent them a demo, of course," Heero replied. "I offered to sell it to them at premium price. They offered me quite a lot of money to buy the whole package. Rights and all. I did the smart thing and sold it to them."
"Quite a lot of money?" Quatre repeated. "How much is that?"
"Oh, enough that I could happily retire forever," Heero said, waving a negligent hand. "That money was not taxed. They set up an account for me overseas. Maybe the Cayman Islands or something. I'm pretty sure I even have an account with some bank in Switzerland. That way all the less-than-legal work I've done for them can go undetected. The payment I receive goes directly into those accounts."
Trowa raised an eyebrow. "Don't you know where all your accounts are?"
Heero realized Duo was watching him with an intensely curious look on his pretty face. His companion hadn't moved from beneath Anubis, and he wondered how the poor thing wasn't sweltering. He wasn't even panting. "Not off the top of my head," he admitted. "I only use one. The rest I get sent statements every year that I just burn."
"So you see, my friend," Quatre said with a dramatic sigh, "all the money is in criminal activity."
Heero chuckled.
-
Late that night when everyone was asleep, Duo lay curled up against Anubis's side. The big dog's presence had long stopped bothering him. Even though the bed they slept on was comfortable, Duo couldn't sleep. He wanted to be tucked against Heero's side. Lately the feel of Heero's smooth skin on his own was a feeling he didn't want to do without. Couldn't do without.
What's wrong with me? I feel so strange when I think about him, now. It's like . . . it's like . . . His ears drooped. Actually, he had no idea what it was like. He had nothing to compare it to.
It's like suddenly I just can't be away from him, he eventually decided. Before, when he went to work and stuff, I could handle the hours he was gone. Now if it's a few minutes I get agitated and anxious. But I'm agitated and anxious when he's close, too. My heart pounds. I want him to . . . kiss me again. For a long time. I don't understand what's happening to me, Heero . . .
He found himself wishing the weekend would just end so they could get home and talk. Only Heero could make him feel better. He just knew Heero would have all the answers he needed. Heero could make it all right again. Heero would reassure him, and hold him, and soothe him, and . . .
