Thank You -- OR -- Duo Maxwell's Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day
A Gundam Wing Songfic
by:
Sailor Seraphim
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Author's Notes:
I do not own Shin Kidosenki Gundam Wing or andy of its related characters. If I did, the series would be chock-full of shounen ai goodness. I also do not own the song "Thank You." This song belongs to Dido. I do, however, own the situations which occur in this fic.
SPOILERS for Gundam Wing TV Series, Endless Waltz and Episode Zero.
TIMELINE is a few years after Endless Waltz. The G-Boyz all work for the Preventers in some capacity. They are roughly 19-20 years old.
WARNINGS for mild angst, a *tad* of OOC-ness, and *slight,* VERY VERY *SLIGHT,* bastardization of characters. It's not noticable... really. Blink and you'll miss it.
Enjoy!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Duo was having what could be called the most horrible day in his life. While it was not as bad as having Maxwell Church destroyed, or living through the L2 plague, or being beaten and interrogated by OZ soldiers who needed other methods of stress-relief, the day was bad in its own way.
The day had started bad from the beginning. The braided American had woken up late and with a slight hangover from the night before. Cursing, Duo had suffered through a cold shower, one mug of day-old tea for breakfast, and had nearly broken his neck falling down the stairs. When he reached his beloved car, hand-built from the best parts available, Duo thought that he had clear sailing. His car was fast, obscenely fast. Duo could get to the Preventer Headquarters in time and not be late.
That was the plan anyway, until Duo stuck his key in the ignition, heard a strange clicking noise and threw himself out of his car just in time to see his engine explode in billowing clouds of black smoke. Duo swore. He had forgotten that he had used his car in a chase to apprehend a truckload of dangerous drug smugglers. Duo had pushed his car into the redlines last week, and he had been so busy over the weekend organizing the evidence for the case that he had not been able to fix the car properly.
Duo's watch beeped and he saw that he had five minutes to get to work. Snarling, Duo walked to the bus stop, hoping he would be in time for the 9:15.
He just missed the bus.
Duo ran the ten miles to work.
When he finally reached Preventer HQ, out of breath, bedraggled, and his hair coming out of its neat braid, Lady Une had barked out his name in front of the whole office. He slunk as inconspicuously as possible into the Lady's office. Even with the door closed, the rest of the office could hear Une's outraged voice bitching Duo out over his tardiness, his improper attire, his general disregard for the authority of the Preventers. And even when he tried to explain about his car, the Lady would hear none of it. She tossed him out of her office and slammed the door.
Duo avoided eye contact with all those in the office, his face flushed with anger and shame. He sat at his desk and started to work. At least, he tried to.
"Your car blew up, Maxwell? That's lame, even for your standards."
Duo looked up from the large piles of paperwork on his desk at Chang Wufei leaning against the near wall. The Chinese man looked particularly smug for some reason and Duo realized just *why* he did not believe in God.
"It's the truth, 'Fei," he said tiredly, struggling with the elastic tie that held his braid together. It had gotten caught on the back of his chair, and now Duo could not move his head without pulling his hair. The tie snapped in half, stinging across Duo's fingers. Duo yelped and stuck his abused fingers in his mouth as his braid started to unravel in his left hand.
"Hn. Considering that you look like death warmed over, are you sure you weren't out late drinking?"
Duo frowned through the mass of chestnut strands that now lay tangled and messy across his shoulders. He fumbled through his desk drawer for a brush and an extra hair tie. "You think I'm lying?" he asked his friend.
Wufei shrugged. "I know how much you love your car. You wouldn't let it blow up."
"That's because--" Duo's hands worked at re-braiding his hair quickly, slipping because his fingers were sore.
Wufei cut in as if he did not hear Duo. "It's almost as bad as that excuse last week. What was it? Oh yeah, the 'dog ate the evidence.'"
"Those drug runners had a really vicious German Shepard!" Duo's voice raised in outrage.
"MAXWELL! GET BACK TO WORK!" Une's voice snapped out from her office.
Duo jumped and lost his hold on his braid, which unraveled again. Wufei chuckled and moved back to his desk. "Be careful, Maxwell... or else you might not last the day."
The American could not formulate a good comeback to save his life, so he just gave up and started to re-braid his hair again, scanning the first file on his desk. This day could not possibly get any worse, Duo thought to himself.
Duo was wrong.
After having to tie his braid with string because he could not find *one* hair tie in his desk, after slogging through file after file of cases and paperwork, lunchtime came. And Duo could not find his wallet. After thumping his head against the desk half a dozen times, which made the stacks of papers tremble and fall over, Duo satisfied his gnawing hunger with a not-so-old candy bar hidden in his desk and worked through the lunch hour. Because he was the only one in the office at the moment (Duo had made sure by looking around cautiously), he pulled out an old photograph which he kept buried in the back of his desk drawer.
Duo had taken the photo shortly after the war had ended. Setting it up carefully against a pile of papers, Duo laid his head down on his crossed arms and stared at the picture. In it Heero stood, throngs of happy people all around him. There was no expression on his face, as usual, but Duo had managed to capture the bright light in his eyes that shone with emotion through the cheap film. The braided young man had never told anyone about the love he held for his fellow pilot. It was too much of a risk, a risk Duo did not want to take. He had lost too many people he had loved to risk being left alone again. Friendship was enough for him. It had to be. Duo ran his fingers lightly down the photo's glossy surface and sighed.
With Heero's picture on his desk, Duo felt revived and attacked the piles of paperwork.
His happiness did not last long.
Once everyone had returned from their lunches, Duo was nowhere closer to finishing his work than he was before he had started. Most of it was the bureaucratic red tape that Duo hated with a passion. Also, Duo had spent most of his lunch hour staring at Heero's picture (once again tucked away in his drawer) and day-dreaming. After two hours of steady work, Duo had managed to complete the paperwork and was rapidly tapping away at his computer, working on a pet project of his. He was so absorbed that he did not notice Trowa come up to his desk until the quiet Preventer made an impatient sound.
Duo's eyes pulled off of the computer screen. "Yo, Tro!" he greeted with a good semblance of his normal cheer. Working on his project generally made Duo happier. "What's up?"
"I hope I'm not bothering you. You're working rather hard."
"Oh, no sweat! What's on your mind?"
"Duo, do you have the work for the case we were assigned two weeks ago? Noin needs it ASAP so she review it before her meeting with Lady Une."
Duo grinned. "Yeah, sure! It's right... it's right... it's... uh..." Duo scrambled through the manila files scattered on his desktop. "It's uh... dammit... I know I saw it..."
"Duo." Trowa's voice had a sort of edge to it, one that you did not normally detect unless you knew the green-eyed man very well. Duo considered Trowa one of his best friends and knew that Trowa was pissed. "You said you would have it done today."
"I do!" Duo exclaimed, hands frantically tearing through piles of paper. "It's here, I swear! I wouldn't lie, Trowa!"
Trowa gave a sharp "hn" and turned Duo's computer screen so he could see it. Duo scrabbled to hide the screen but was too late. He heard Trowa's indrawn breath.
"This is what you were working on so intently?" he asked, quiet tones managing to drip with anger. Trowa stabbed a finger towards the computer screen, where the web browser was set to an online toy store. "Do you know what the Lady will do when she doesn't have the report?"
"Trowa, this isn't what it looks like!" Duo said frantically, waving his hands back and forth. "Let me explain!"
But Trowa had already turned his back to Duo, stalking away quickly. The chestnut-haired man dropped his arms in defeat and slumped in his chair.
"MAXWELL!"
Duo found himself in Lady Une's office for the second time in one day, this time with Une *and* Noin. Returning to his desk after the bitching out, his violet eyes roamed across his desk and in disgust he pried the missing file out of the bottom of a pile. He tossed it to the middle of his desk with a curse.
He also realized that there was a *new* stack of paperwork on his desk.
He clenched his hand into a fist then completely gave up, snatching up a pen instead.
The only saving grace of the day was the phone call Duo received near the end of the day. His heart nearly skipped a beat as he heard Heero's flat voice tell him that he was returning from his mission this afternoon. Because of a mishap when they had first started sharing an apartment together -- one where Duo had nearly shot Heero because he did not expect the other man to be home and thought there was an intruder in the room -- they always informed each other of when they were coming back from long missions. Duo's heart continued to thump wildly even after the call had ended. Cursing himself for being the baka everyone insisted he was, Duo wearily continued his work. He and Heero were just friends after all. Roommates. Partners. It was stupid to think they would be anything more.
Because he had stayed late to finish his work, Duo could not bum a ride home and ended up walking for the second time that day.
And it started to rain.
Duo stared up at the mottled gray clouds that poured a constant stream down on him, cold rain soaking into his uniform and hair. He gave up on cursing his circumstances since it was not helping any. "You hate me, don't you?" he asked the stormy sky. Duo sighed, shoved his hands down into his pockets and continued to trudge back home.
Exhausted and shivering with cold, Duo wearily pushed open the door and stumbled into his apartment. Flicking on the lights he was met with stony Prussian blue eyes.
"Heero!" Duo yelped, clutching at his chest. "Jeezus! Don't do that to me! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"Hn," Heero muttered, raking his eyes down Duo's bedraggled form. The braided ex-terrorist jealously took in Heero's impeccable appearance, perfect even in a simple suit and tie. Duo squashed down all of his feelings of attraction quickly, but could not take his eyes off of Heero's lean form. "I called you earlier to tell you I'd be back."
Duo said nothing, ripping his eyes away from Heero leaning against the doorway, and worked on squeezing what seemed to be a gallon of water out of his hair and clothes and onto the floor. Heero watched Duo impassively then left the room abruptly. He returned a moment later and threw a towel to Duo. "Baka. You're making a mess and you're going to catch a cold."
"Didn't know you cared, Hee-chan," Duo said, his voice muffled under the thick towel. Duo thrilled just a *tiny* little bit as he realized that the blue terrycloth was one of Heero's towels. It even smelled like him.
"Hn. I don't. You're just a pain when you're sick."
Duo stuck his tongue out at Heero, covering the wince that came from Heero saying that he did not care. He rubbed the soft towel across his face instead, nuzzling it slightly. The dark-haired man glared at the childish antics then checked his watch. "It's 6:20 now. We were supposed to meet everyone at the bar at 6:30."
Duo groaned. Then he struggled to pull off his boots and upend them over the floor, water spilling everywhere. All he really wanted to do was have some warm food and then crawl into bed before the day could get any worse. However, Heero took the groan as normal-Duo-antics.
"It's Friday, Duo. We always meet up on Friday."
Duo said nothing as he stripped off his jacket and left it a sodden pile on the floor. Heero shrugged and grabbed his coat. "I'll tell everyone you'll be late."
"Yeah, whatever."
"Duo?"
"What?"
"What happened to your car?"
Duo's temper was rapidly reaching its breaking point. "What does it look like happened to my car?" he asked tersely, stripping off his tie and shirt and throwing them with the rest of his uniform.
"It looks like it blew up."
"And the Perfect Soldier gets another one right!" Duo snapped, fists on his hips and standing in only his pants. Then his face fell and he twisted the towel in his hands. "Look, Heero, I had a really bad day. In fact, I'm waiting to be struck by lightning or have the house fall down on me or something. Just go on ahead. I don't really care what you tell everyone else. I'll get to the bar when I get there." Duo fumbled and rubbed the towel across his damp cheek again. "Oh, and Heero? Thank you for the towel."
Heero was about to answer when Duo whirled around, brown braid whipping behind him. Duo stalked through the apartment and Heero could hear the bathroom door slam shut and the shower turn on. Heero wondered vaguely about why Duo was in such a bad mood, then shook his head.
He left the apartment.
-----------------------------------
The Prussian-eyed Preventer entered the bar and scanned the room quickly. Finding his targets, he crossed the room and Heero sat down at the table where Trowa, Quatre and Wufei were already seated. They greeted each other and Heero ordered his drink from the waitress. "Duo will be here later," he told the group of friends.
"Late again?" Trowa asked.
Heero's brow creased. "What do you mean?"
Wufei snorted and proceeded to tell Heero of all the trouble the American had managed to get himself into on this day. "He even had the gall to blame his lateness on his car blowing up!" Wufei ended with a flourish. There was scattered laughter from the assembled group.
Heero took a swallow of the drink that had been set before him. "He wasn't lying."
Everyone at the table, and even the surrounding ones, looked at Heero.
"You don't have to cover for your partner, Heero," Lady Une said.
"I'm not covering for him. Duo's car is totaled. He pushed it past its limits last week in that chase with the drug runners. I thought he had gotten it fixed, but he didn't have the time because he was trying to make the smugglers' dog throw up the contraband. Apparently when they were ditching the drugs they decided to make their German Shepard swallow bags of the stuff, so they could recover it later. Duo almost got his hand bitten off before he gave up and let the dog expel the drugs naturally."
Quatre choked on his drink and Trowa had to thump him on the back. Hilde muttered an "... eeewww..." before shoving the plate of appetizers away from her. Faces all around were either green from Heero's mechanical and factual retelling, or pale as they realized that they had unfairly judged Duo.
The Japanese Preventer did not seem to notice how uncomfortable everyone around him was. "Actually, I think he was going to ask Trowa to help him fix his car. Duo said something about understanding how much Trowa liked to tinker and fix things."
Trowa blinked and dropped his emerald eyes from Heero's steady Prussian gaze. He fiddled with his drink, stirring the straw to give his hands something to do. Quatre watched his boyfriend's actions carefully but didn't say anything. Heero shrugged and looked up to the bar door to see Relena, Zechs and Noin entering. The three immediately wrangled seats at a table nearby.
Wufei crossed his arms and refused to be moved by the explanations behind Duo's tardiness. "His car blowing up can't be the reason for all of his behavior. The idiot was behind the whole day and he didn't even give reasons. It's not like Duo to not have method behind his madness."
"Duo isn't exactly a Shakespearian character, Wufei," Quatre pointed out, trying to placate his friend.
"Of course he is. He's a Fool."
As he said that, there was a discordant TWANG from the front of the bar. All heads turned to the sound of the noise... and there stood Duo Maxwell.
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After a nice hot shower and some food, Duo had felt much better. Thankfully, his luck had turned and he had made it to the Mori Bar without any mishaps or having the sky fall down on him. He had entered unnoticed (of course, his specialty was stealth) and was searching through the crowd for where his friends were seated. Then, from his right, he clearly heard Wufei's voice say: "He even had the gall to blame his lateness on his car blowing up!" While that ordinarily would not have bothered him, the laughter he heard from the people he called his friends did.
"Shit," Duo muttered to himself as he pushed his way to the bar proper which was on the opposite side of the room as his friends. "And I thought my day was getting better! I should've known better!" Duo threw himself onto a stool and dropped his head onto the countertop with a thud.
"Maxwell-san?"
Duo lifted his violet eyes and they were met by worried ice blue ones. "Yeah?"
The young woman behind the bar leaned over, placing her hand on Duo's forehead. "Are you alright, Maxwell-san? You don't look very good."
"I'm not having a very good day."
The black-haired owner of the Mori nodded sagely as she passed Duo one of his usuals (a Cape Cod -- cranberry juice and vodka). "Ah, sou ka. That would make anyone look worse for wear. May I suggest something, Maxwell-san?"
Duo had downed half of his drink in one gulp and shrugged. "Sure. Just stop calling me 'Maxwell-san.' I'm not that old."
The woman smiled. "Of course, Duo-san. I was just going to suggest that you drown your sorrows in song, instead of vodka."
Duo stared at the woman as if she was crazy. "Sing?"
"Why not? It's not as if your day is going to get any worse. Besides, what's a night out without some kareoke? The Mori *does* have a band, you know. It would be great for business."
Duo weighed the options in his mind and downed the last of his drink. "Well, if my day is gonna go to Hell, it might as well go in flames. And I've got the perfect song. Thanks, Celeste... you're a lifesaver."
"That's what my husband says, too. Here's another for your bravery! On the house!" Celeste pushed another drink into his hand and Duo resolutely pushed his way to the front of the room.
Perhaps it was the two cocktails swimming in his stomach that had made Duo reckless. He had laid out the plans to the house band who were eager to comply and do something new. Then he heard Wufei calling him a fool and nearly lost his nerve. He had dropped the guitar in his hands, making a horrible noise, and all eyes in the bar were on him. The fact that he was standing in front of a microphone with a band warming up behind him made his plan all too clear.
"Just what we need," Wufei muttered not-so-quietly, "more of Duo's caterwauling."
Duo frowned but hid it as he tuned the guitar he had appropriated from the house band.
"Duo doesn't really sing that bad," Hilde piped up from her table. Duo could have kissed her at that moment for coming to his defense. He hopped up onto the tall stool with a microphone before it with renewed hope.
"We had to stay in safehouses with him," Wufei returned. "He sang in the shower. Badly. If this is more of the same, I'm going to need a stronger drink to get through tonight."
There was muffled laughter all around and Duo felt his cheeks grow hot. His day was bad enough, why subject himself to this? He could leave now and there would be no harm done. I may run and hide, but not tonight, Duo told himself. I'll show them just who sings badly!
Duo gave a sharp nod to the band and they started up with light percussion. He felt himself falling into the song, his world narrowing to the guitar in his hands, the stool he was sitting on, and the words he was going to sing. Duo strummed the guitar as the piano started.
My tea's gone cold, I'm wonderin' why
I got out of bed at all
The morning rain clouds up my window
And I can't see at all
And even if I could, it would all be grey
Put your picture on my wall
It reminds me that it's not so bad
It's not so bad
Duo could hear everyone quiet down as he sang and he spared a glance up to see Wufei shocked into silence. Duo's smooth tenor carried the melancholy song beautifully.
It was even better because Duo poured all of his pent-up emotion and pain into his words as he sang.
I drank too much last night
Got bills to pay
My head just feels in pain
Missed bus and there'll be hell today
I'm late for work again
And even if I'm there
They'll all imply that I might not last the day
And then you call me
And it's not so bad
It's not so bad
Duo almost smiled as he caught Wufei's embarrassed features. The Chinese man was surely remembering the scathing words he had hurled earlier in the day. I never lie, Duo said in his head. You should all remember that.
And I want to thank you
For giving me the best day of my life
And, oh, just to be with you
Is giving me the best day of my life
"Oh dear," Duo heard Quatre say as Duo and the band launched into the light instrumental bridge. "I didn't know Duo was feeling that bad! He said he was alright!"
"What are you talking about, Quatre?" Trowa asked.
"Duo was with Relena and I last night, at a small gathering."
Relena nodded. "Yes, Duo has been helping us spearhead a project to bring more business to the L2 area. It's always been the poorest area of the colonies and suffered greatly during the war. Duo spent all last night talking to politicians and businessmen to bring more industries and work to L2 to boost the economy."
"Duo's also been rallying to get more charitable institutions and orphanages to L2. He wants the war orphans to have safe places to live. He's even been buying them toys and other necessities from his own pay until the orphanages are properly set up!" the blond's voice held a quiet sort of awe and pride in Duo's efforts. Duo felt a sort of mean happiness go through him that Lady Une, Noin, Wufei and Trowa had all winced when they heard the explanations from Relena and Quatre.
His gaze traveled across all the people he knew who were gathered in the bar. He finally caught sight of Heero, who was having a quiet conversation with Zechs. Duo's eyes devoured the sight of the lean muscles clad in rolled up shirt sleeves. Heero's blue tie was hanging across the back of his chair along with his jacket and his shirt was unbuttoned enough for Duo to get a glimpse of tanned chest before he had to move onto the next verse.
Push the door, I'm home at last
And I'm soaking through and through
Then you handed me a towel
And all I see is you
And even if my house falls down now
I wouldn't have a clue
Because you're near me
Duo saw Heero's gaze snap up as he listened to the words of the song, abruptly breaking off his conversation with the platinum-haired Preventer. Duo shivered as he felt Heero's gaze turn on him. He dropped his violet eyes and concentrated on the chords he was playing. This was what he had needed after all. He could feel his tension and unease seep out of him as he lost himself in the music. Huh, kareoke as therapy... who knew? Finally, Duo felt utterly *right* as he sang out the chorus, the truth of the words making him feel good.
And I want to thank you
For giving me the best day of my life
And, oh, just to be with you
Is giving me the best day of my life
And I want to thank you
For giving me the best day of my life
And, oh, just to be with you
Is giving me the best day of my life
Duo left the stage amidst a crash of cheering and applause. Hands slapped him across the back as he moved from the stage area and he could hear people exclaiming that *they* had to try singing, too. The braided man flushed faintly under all the scrutiny and moved to the table where his friends were and sat down. Before anyone could move to apologize verbally, Duo raised his hand to stop them.
"Nah, forget it. Weren't you listening? My day wasn't that bad."
Everyone around the table smiled and turned back to easier conversation. After an indeterminate amount of time, Duo was jerked out of a conversation with Trowa over how to fix his car by the touch of a hand on his arm. Wide violet eyes followed the tanned arm up and met Prussian blue ones.
"It's getting late, Duo," Heero said. "Let's go home."
Duo looked around the now quiet bar and smiled back easily. "Sure, Heero. Let's go home."
-- Owari? --
A Gundam Wing Songfic
by:
Sailor Seraphim
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Author's Notes:
I do not own Shin Kidosenki Gundam Wing or andy of its related characters. If I did, the series would be chock-full of shounen ai goodness. I also do not own the song "Thank You." This song belongs to Dido. I do, however, own the situations which occur in this fic.
SPOILERS for Gundam Wing TV Series, Endless Waltz and Episode Zero.
TIMELINE is a few years after Endless Waltz. The G-Boyz all work for the Preventers in some capacity. They are roughly 19-20 years old.
WARNINGS for mild angst, a *tad* of OOC-ness, and *slight,* VERY VERY *SLIGHT,* bastardization of characters. It's not noticable... really. Blink and you'll miss it.
Enjoy!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Duo was having what could be called the most horrible day in his life. While it was not as bad as having Maxwell Church destroyed, or living through the L2 plague, or being beaten and interrogated by OZ soldiers who needed other methods of stress-relief, the day was bad in its own way.
The day had started bad from the beginning. The braided American had woken up late and with a slight hangover from the night before. Cursing, Duo had suffered through a cold shower, one mug of day-old tea for breakfast, and had nearly broken his neck falling down the stairs. When he reached his beloved car, hand-built from the best parts available, Duo thought that he had clear sailing. His car was fast, obscenely fast. Duo could get to the Preventer Headquarters in time and not be late.
That was the plan anyway, until Duo stuck his key in the ignition, heard a strange clicking noise and threw himself out of his car just in time to see his engine explode in billowing clouds of black smoke. Duo swore. He had forgotten that he had used his car in a chase to apprehend a truckload of dangerous drug smugglers. Duo had pushed his car into the redlines last week, and he had been so busy over the weekend organizing the evidence for the case that he had not been able to fix the car properly.
Duo's watch beeped and he saw that he had five minutes to get to work. Snarling, Duo walked to the bus stop, hoping he would be in time for the 9:15.
He just missed the bus.
Duo ran the ten miles to work.
When he finally reached Preventer HQ, out of breath, bedraggled, and his hair coming out of its neat braid, Lady Une had barked out his name in front of the whole office. He slunk as inconspicuously as possible into the Lady's office. Even with the door closed, the rest of the office could hear Une's outraged voice bitching Duo out over his tardiness, his improper attire, his general disregard for the authority of the Preventers. And even when he tried to explain about his car, the Lady would hear none of it. She tossed him out of her office and slammed the door.
Duo avoided eye contact with all those in the office, his face flushed with anger and shame. He sat at his desk and started to work. At least, he tried to.
"Your car blew up, Maxwell? That's lame, even for your standards."
Duo looked up from the large piles of paperwork on his desk at Chang Wufei leaning against the near wall. The Chinese man looked particularly smug for some reason and Duo realized just *why* he did not believe in God.
"It's the truth, 'Fei," he said tiredly, struggling with the elastic tie that held his braid together. It had gotten caught on the back of his chair, and now Duo could not move his head without pulling his hair. The tie snapped in half, stinging across Duo's fingers. Duo yelped and stuck his abused fingers in his mouth as his braid started to unravel in his left hand.
"Hn. Considering that you look like death warmed over, are you sure you weren't out late drinking?"
Duo frowned through the mass of chestnut strands that now lay tangled and messy across his shoulders. He fumbled through his desk drawer for a brush and an extra hair tie. "You think I'm lying?" he asked his friend.
Wufei shrugged. "I know how much you love your car. You wouldn't let it blow up."
"That's because--" Duo's hands worked at re-braiding his hair quickly, slipping because his fingers were sore.
Wufei cut in as if he did not hear Duo. "It's almost as bad as that excuse last week. What was it? Oh yeah, the 'dog ate the evidence.'"
"Those drug runners had a really vicious German Shepard!" Duo's voice raised in outrage.
"MAXWELL! GET BACK TO WORK!" Une's voice snapped out from her office.
Duo jumped and lost his hold on his braid, which unraveled again. Wufei chuckled and moved back to his desk. "Be careful, Maxwell... or else you might not last the day."
The American could not formulate a good comeback to save his life, so he just gave up and started to re-braid his hair again, scanning the first file on his desk. This day could not possibly get any worse, Duo thought to himself.
Duo was wrong.
After having to tie his braid with string because he could not find *one* hair tie in his desk, after slogging through file after file of cases and paperwork, lunchtime came. And Duo could not find his wallet. After thumping his head against the desk half a dozen times, which made the stacks of papers tremble and fall over, Duo satisfied his gnawing hunger with a not-so-old candy bar hidden in his desk and worked through the lunch hour. Because he was the only one in the office at the moment (Duo had made sure by looking around cautiously), he pulled out an old photograph which he kept buried in the back of his desk drawer.
Duo had taken the photo shortly after the war had ended. Setting it up carefully against a pile of papers, Duo laid his head down on his crossed arms and stared at the picture. In it Heero stood, throngs of happy people all around him. There was no expression on his face, as usual, but Duo had managed to capture the bright light in his eyes that shone with emotion through the cheap film. The braided young man had never told anyone about the love he held for his fellow pilot. It was too much of a risk, a risk Duo did not want to take. He had lost too many people he had loved to risk being left alone again. Friendship was enough for him. It had to be. Duo ran his fingers lightly down the photo's glossy surface and sighed.
With Heero's picture on his desk, Duo felt revived and attacked the piles of paperwork.
His happiness did not last long.
Once everyone had returned from their lunches, Duo was nowhere closer to finishing his work than he was before he had started. Most of it was the bureaucratic red tape that Duo hated with a passion. Also, Duo had spent most of his lunch hour staring at Heero's picture (once again tucked away in his drawer) and day-dreaming. After two hours of steady work, Duo had managed to complete the paperwork and was rapidly tapping away at his computer, working on a pet project of his. He was so absorbed that he did not notice Trowa come up to his desk until the quiet Preventer made an impatient sound.
Duo's eyes pulled off of the computer screen. "Yo, Tro!" he greeted with a good semblance of his normal cheer. Working on his project generally made Duo happier. "What's up?"
"I hope I'm not bothering you. You're working rather hard."
"Oh, no sweat! What's on your mind?"
"Duo, do you have the work for the case we were assigned two weeks ago? Noin needs it ASAP so she review it before her meeting with Lady Une."
Duo grinned. "Yeah, sure! It's right... it's right... it's... uh..." Duo scrambled through the manila files scattered on his desktop. "It's uh... dammit... I know I saw it..."
"Duo." Trowa's voice had a sort of edge to it, one that you did not normally detect unless you knew the green-eyed man very well. Duo considered Trowa one of his best friends and knew that Trowa was pissed. "You said you would have it done today."
"I do!" Duo exclaimed, hands frantically tearing through piles of paper. "It's here, I swear! I wouldn't lie, Trowa!"
Trowa gave a sharp "hn" and turned Duo's computer screen so he could see it. Duo scrabbled to hide the screen but was too late. He heard Trowa's indrawn breath.
"This is what you were working on so intently?" he asked, quiet tones managing to drip with anger. Trowa stabbed a finger towards the computer screen, where the web browser was set to an online toy store. "Do you know what the Lady will do when she doesn't have the report?"
"Trowa, this isn't what it looks like!" Duo said frantically, waving his hands back and forth. "Let me explain!"
But Trowa had already turned his back to Duo, stalking away quickly. The chestnut-haired man dropped his arms in defeat and slumped in his chair.
"MAXWELL!"
Duo found himself in Lady Une's office for the second time in one day, this time with Une *and* Noin. Returning to his desk after the bitching out, his violet eyes roamed across his desk and in disgust he pried the missing file out of the bottom of a pile. He tossed it to the middle of his desk with a curse.
He also realized that there was a *new* stack of paperwork on his desk.
He clenched his hand into a fist then completely gave up, snatching up a pen instead.
The only saving grace of the day was the phone call Duo received near the end of the day. His heart nearly skipped a beat as he heard Heero's flat voice tell him that he was returning from his mission this afternoon. Because of a mishap when they had first started sharing an apartment together -- one where Duo had nearly shot Heero because he did not expect the other man to be home and thought there was an intruder in the room -- they always informed each other of when they were coming back from long missions. Duo's heart continued to thump wildly even after the call had ended. Cursing himself for being the baka everyone insisted he was, Duo wearily continued his work. He and Heero were just friends after all. Roommates. Partners. It was stupid to think they would be anything more.
Because he had stayed late to finish his work, Duo could not bum a ride home and ended up walking for the second time that day.
And it started to rain.
Duo stared up at the mottled gray clouds that poured a constant stream down on him, cold rain soaking into his uniform and hair. He gave up on cursing his circumstances since it was not helping any. "You hate me, don't you?" he asked the stormy sky. Duo sighed, shoved his hands down into his pockets and continued to trudge back home.
Exhausted and shivering with cold, Duo wearily pushed open the door and stumbled into his apartment. Flicking on the lights he was met with stony Prussian blue eyes.
"Heero!" Duo yelped, clutching at his chest. "Jeezus! Don't do that to me! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"Hn," Heero muttered, raking his eyes down Duo's bedraggled form. The braided ex-terrorist jealously took in Heero's impeccable appearance, perfect even in a simple suit and tie. Duo squashed down all of his feelings of attraction quickly, but could not take his eyes off of Heero's lean form. "I called you earlier to tell you I'd be back."
Duo said nothing, ripping his eyes away from Heero leaning against the doorway, and worked on squeezing what seemed to be a gallon of water out of his hair and clothes and onto the floor. Heero watched Duo impassively then left the room abruptly. He returned a moment later and threw a towel to Duo. "Baka. You're making a mess and you're going to catch a cold."
"Didn't know you cared, Hee-chan," Duo said, his voice muffled under the thick towel. Duo thrilled just a *tiny* little bit as he realized that the blue terrycloth was one of Heero's towels. It even smelled like him.
"Hn. I don't. You're just a pain when you're sick."
Duo stuck his tongue out at Heero, covering the wince that came from Heero saying that he did not care. He rubbed the soft towel across his face instead, nuzzling it slightly. The dark-haired man glared at the childish antics then checked his watch. "It's 6:20 now. We were supposed to meet everyone at the bar at 6:30."
Duo groaned. Then he struggled to pull off his boots and upend them over the floor, water spilling everywhere. All he really wanted to do was have some warm food and then crawl into bed before the day could get any worse. However, Heero took the groan as normal-Duo-antics.
"It's Friday, Duo. We always meet up on Friday."
Duo said nothing as he stripped off his jacket and left it a sodden pile on the floor. Heero shrugged and grabbed his coat. "I'll tell everyone you'll be late."
"Yeah, whatever."
"Duo?"
"What?"
"What happened to your car?"
Duo's temper was rapidly reaching its breaking point. "What does it look like happened to my car?" he asked tersely, stripping off his tie and shirt and throwing them with the rest of his uniform.
"It looks like it blew up."
"And the Perfect Soldier gets another one right!" Duo snapped, fists on his hips and standing in only his pants. Then his face fell and he twisted the towel in his hands. "Look, Heero, I had a really bad day. In fact, I'm waiting to be struck by lightning or have the house fall down on me or something. Just go on ahead. I don't really care what you tell everyone else. I'll get to the bar when I get there." Duo fumbled and rubbed the towel across his damp cheek again. "Oh, and Heero? Thank you for the towel."
Heero was about to answer when Duo whirled around, brown braid whipping behind him. Duo stalked through the apartment and Heero could hear the bathroom door slam shut and the shower turn on. Heero wondered vaguely about why Duo was in such a bad mood, then shook his head.
He left the apartment.
-----------------------------------
The Prussian-eyed Preventer entered the bar and scanned the room quickly. Finding his targets, he crossed the room and Heero sat down at the table where Trowa, Quatre and Wufei were already seated. They greeted each other and Heero ordered his drink from the waitress. "Duo will be here later," he told the group of friends.
"Late again?" Trowa asked.
Heero's brow creased. "What do you mean?"
Wufei snorted and proceeded to tell Heero of all the trouble the American had managed to get himself into on this day. "He even had the gall to blame his lateness on his car blowing up!" Wufei ended with a flourish. There was scattered laughter from the assembled group.
Heero took a swallow of the drink that had been set before him. "He wasn't lying."
Everyone at the table, and even the surrounding ones, looked at Heero.
"You don't have to cover for your partner, Heero," Lady Une said.
"I'm not covering for him. Duo's car is totaled. He pushed it past its limits last week in that chase with the drug runners. I thought he had gotten it fixed, but he didn't have the time because he was trying to make the smugglers' dog throw up the contraband. Apparently when they were ditching the drugs they decided to make their German Shepard swallow bags of the stuff, so they could recover it later. Duo almost got his hand bitten off before he gave up and let the dog expel the drugs naturally."
Quatre choked on his drink and Trowa had to thump him on the back. Hilde muttered an "... eeewww..." before shoving the plate of appetizers away from her. Faces all around were either green from Heero's mechanical and factual retelling, or pale as they realized that they had unfairly judged Duo.
The Japanese Preventer did not seem to notice how uncomfortable everyone around him was. "Actually, I think he was going to ask Trowa to help him fix his car. Duo said something about understanding how much Trowa liked to tinker and fix things."
Trowa blinked and dropped his emerald eyes from Heero's steady Prussian gaze. He fiddled with his drink, stirring the straw to give his hands something to do. Quatre watched his boyfriend's actions carefully but didn't say anything. Heero shrugged and looked up to the bar door to see Relena, Zechs and Noin entering. The three immediately wrangled seats at a table nearby.
Wufei crossed his arms and refused to be moved by the explanations behind Duo's tardiness. "His car blowing up can't be the reason for all of his behavior. The idiot was behind the whole day and he didn't even give reasons. It's not like Duo to not have method behind his madness."
"Duo isn't exactly a Shakespearian character, Wufei," Quatre pointed out, trying to placate his friend.
"Of course he is. He's a Fool."
As he said that, there was a discordant TWANG from the front of the bar. All heads turned to the sound of the noise... and there stood Duo Maxwell.
--------------------------------------
After a nice hot shower and some food, Duo had felt much better. Thankfully, his luck had turned and he had made it to the Mori Bar without any mishaps or having the sky fall down on him. He had entered unnoticed (of course, his specialty was stealth) and was searching through the crowd for where his friends were seated. Then, from his right, he clearly heard Wufei's voice say: "He even had the gall to blame his lateness on his car blowing up!" While that ordinarily would not have bothered him, the laughter he heard from the people he called his friends did.
"Shit," Duo muttered to himself as he pushed his way to the bar proper which was on the opposite side of the room as his friends. "And I thought my day was getting better! I should've known better!" Duo threw himself onto a stool and dropped his head onto the countertop with a thud.
"Maxwell-san?"
Duo lifted his violet eyes and they were met by worried ice blue ones. "Yeah?"
The young woman behind the bar leaned over, placing her hand on Duo's forehead. "Are you alright, Maxwell-san? You don't look very good."
"I'm not having a very good day."
The black-haired owner of the Mori nodded sagely as she passed Duo one of his usuals (a Cape Cod -- cranberry juice and vodka). "Ah, sou ka. That would make anyone look worse for wear. May I suggest something, Maxwell-san?"
Duo had downed half of his drink in one gulp and shrugged. "Sure. Just stop calling me 'Maxwell-san.' I'm not that old."
The woman smiled. "Of course, Duo-san. I was just going to suggest that you drown your sorrows in song, instead of vodka."
Duo stared at the woman as if she was crazy. "Sing?"
"Why not? It's not as if your day is going to get any worse. Besides, what's a night out without some kareoke? The Mori *does* have a band, you know. It would be great for business."
Duo weighed the options in his mind and downed the last of his drink. "Well, if my day is gonna go to Hell, it might as well go in flames. And I've got the perfect song. Thanks, Celeste... you're a lifesaver."
"That's what my husband says, too. Here's another for your bravery! On the house!" Celeste pushed another drink into his hand and Duo resolutely pushed his way to the front of the room.
Perhaps it was the two cocktails swimming in his stomach that had made Duo reckless. He had laid out the plans to the house band who were eager to comply and do something new. Then he heard Wufei calling him a fool and nearly lost his nerve. He had dropped the guitar in his hands, making a horrible noise, and all eyes in the bar were on him. The fact that he was standing in front of a microphone with a band warming up behind him made his plan all too clear.
"Just what we need," Wufei muttered not-so-quietly, "more of Duo's caterwauling."
Duo frowned but hid it as he tuned the guitar he had appropriated from the house band.
"Duo doesn't really sing that bad," Hilde piped up from her table. Duo could have kissed her at that moment for coming to his defense. He hopped up onto the tall stool with a microphone before it with renewed hope.
"We had to stay in safehouses with him," Wufei returned. "He sang in the shower. Badly. If this is more of the same, I'm going to need a stronger drink to get through tonight."
There was muffled laughter all around and Duo felt his cheeks grow hot. His day was bad enough, why subject himself to this? He could leave now and there would be no harm done. I may run and hide, but not tonight, Duo told himself. I'll show them just who sings badly!
Duo gave a sharp nod to the band and they started up with light percussion. He felt himself falling into the song, his world narrowing to the guitar in his hands, the stool he was sitting on, and the words he was going to sing. Duo strummed the guitar as the piano started.
My tea's gone cold, I'm wonderin' why
I got out of bed at all
The morning rain clouds up my window
And I can't see at all
And even if I could, it would all be grey
Put your picture on my wall
It reminds me that it's not so bad
It's not so bad
Duo could hear everyone quiet down as he sang and he spared a glance up to see Wufei shocked into silence. Duo's smooth tenor carried the melancholy song beautifully.
It was even better because Duo poured all of his pent-up emotion and pain into his words as he sang.
I drank too much last night
Got bills to pay
My head just feels in pain
Missed bus and there'll be hell today
I'm late for work again
And even if I'm there
They'll all imply that I might not last the day
And then you call me
And it's not so bad
It's not so bad
Duo almost smiled as he caught Wufei's embarrassed features. The Chinese man was surely remembering the scathing words he had hurled earlier in the day. I never lie, Duo said in his head. You should all remember that.
And I want to thank you
For giving me the best day of my life
And, oh, just to be with you
Is giving me the best day of my life
"Oh dear," Duo heard Quatre say as Duo and the band launched into the light instrumental bridge. "I didn't know Duo was feeling that bad! He said he was alright!"
"What are you talking about, Quatre?" Trowa asked.
"Duo was with Relena and I last night, at a small gathering."
Relena nodded. "Yes, Duo has been helping us spearhead a project to bring more business to the L2 area. It's always been the poorest area of the colonies and suffered greatly during the war. Duo spent all last night talking to politicians and businessmen to bring more industries and work to L2 to boost the economy."
"Duo's also been rallying to get more charitable institutions and orphanages to L2. He wants the war orphans to have safe places to live. He's even been buying them toys and other necessities from his own pay until the orphanages are properly set up!" the blond's voice held a quiet sort of awe and pride in Duo's efforts. Duo felt a sort of mean happiness go through him that Lady Une, Noin, Wufei and Trowa had all winced when they heard the explanations from Relena and Quatre.
His gaze traveled across all the people he knew who were gathered in the bar. He finally caught sight of Heero, who was having a quiet conversation with Zechs. Duo's eyes devoured the sight of the lean muscles clad in rolled up shirt sleeves. Heero's blue tie was hanging across the back of his chair along with his jacket and his shirt was unbuttoned enough for Duo to get a glimpse of tanned chest before he had to move onto the next verse.
Push the door, I'm home at last
And I'm soaking through and through
Then you handed me a towel
And all I see is you
And even if my house falls down now
I wouldn't have a clue
Because you're near me
Duo saw Heero's gaze snap up as he listened to the words of the song, abruptly breaking off his conversation with the platinum-haired Preventer. Duo shivered as he felt Heero's gaze turn on him. He dropped his violet eyes and concentrated on the chords he was playing. This was what he had needed after all. He could feel his tension and unease seep out of him as he lost himself in the music. Huh, kareoke as therapy... who knew? Finally, Duo felt utterly *right* as he sang out the chorus, the truth of the words making him feel good.
And I want to thank you
For giving me the best day of my life
And, oh, just to be with you
Is giving me the best day of my life
And I want to thank you
For giving me the best day of my life
And, oh, just to be with you
Is giving me the best day of my life
Duo left the stage amidst a crash of cheering and applause. Hands slapped him across the back as he moved from the stage area and he could hear people exclaiming that *they* had to try singing, too. The braided man flushed faintly under all the scrutiny and moved to the table where his friends were and sat down. Before anyone could move to apologize verbally, Duo raised his hand to stop them.
"Nah, forget it. Weren't you listening? My day wasn't that bad."
Everyone around the table smiled and turned back to easier conversation. After an indeterminate amount of time, Duo was jerked out of a conversation with Trowa over how to fix his car by the touch of a hand on his arm. Wide violet eyes followed the tanned arm up and met Prussian blue ones.
"It's getting late, Duo," Heero said. "Let's go home."
Duo looked around the now quiet bar and smiled back easily. "Sure, Heero. Let's go home."
-- Owari? --