The Mexican (Part 1)
yue kato
210501
"Thank god, we're finally here!" The braided, chestnut-haired man dumped his bags at the door and proceeded to rush around the room, opening doors and cabinets, before finally pausing at the curtains drawn across the large floor-to-ceiling windows. Throwing back the curtains, he gave a gasp of awe. "Oh man, look at the view!" From his vantage point up on the 72nd storey, where the penthouse suite of the hotel was located, the entire illuminated cityscape of Greater L.A. was revealed, like millions of stars scattered over the land, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Duo pressed his face to the glass, trying to absorb the various twinkling lights without having to peer through the reflection coming from the lamps within the room. "Hey, I wonder if I can see Vegas from here..." He trailed off as a pair of arms wrapped firmly about his waist and lips descended upon the side of his neck, gently nipping.
Turning around, he met those lips in a searing kiss, neither willing to part until they both had to gasp for breath. Resting his chin on his boyfriend's shoulder, enjoying the feel of the hands idly caressing up and down his back, his gaze swept the rest of the room. The large violet eyes lit up at the winding staircase that led up to an additional level where he could just glimpse the foot of a king-sized bed.
"You really didn't have to get such a grand room, you know," he said, looking up to meet the clear blue eyes of the other, running his fingers through the soft, silky blond strands. "We were only going to stay for a night only."
"This is supposed to be a trip to remember, and I want only the best for you. Besides, it's not as if I can't afford it," Quatre replied, closing in for another deep kiss.
"Yeah," Duo retorted, breathlessly. "But I was hoping we could leave more money for the casinos..."
"Isn't there anything more interesting to do than gamble here?" The blond young man released his partner, slowly, seductively making his way to the staircase. Placing one long slim hand on the railing, he turned back, blue eyes smouldering. "Now, what was it I recall about christening every bed from here to Nevada?"
View forgetten, Duo bounded across the room into Quatre's arms, winding his arms tightly around the Arabian's neck. "That was just a figure of speech, my good man. But if you want to prove it true, I ain't gonna stop you."
***
The low beeping roused Quatre from the comforting embrace of sleep. Groaning, he dragged himself back from a wonderful dream involving him, Duo, and lots of whipped cream to find himself entangled within the silk sheets of the bed, Duo half on top of him, and his entire left side still asleep under Duo's weight.
The beeping continued, demanding to be attended to, and Quatre began to slowly remove himself from the bed without waking the other man. Duo stirred and mumbled a little at the loss of his human pillow, but settled down again when Quatre slipped a real one into his arms instead.
Pulling on his pants, he padded down to the lounge, and tapped a few keys on the comm unit. Static showed up on the screen for a moment, and then it cleared and he was staring back into a pair of emotionless cobalt blue orbs. "Winner."
"Heero Yuy," he acknowledged. "What is it?" He kept his words brief, more than a little annoyed that he was being contacted when he was supposed to be on vacation with Duo. He had dealt with the other man on occasion before, but the scale of his demands could have easily been handled by one of his sisters. Unless they had decided to shunt it to him to spoil his plans with Duo - again. /If I find out it's one of them.../
Preoccupied with his own internal grumbling, he lost most of what Heero was saying except for the tail end of his sentence. "-- Treize has a job for you."
That got his attention. "What does he want?"
Heero didn't answer, and a moment later, he was looking upon the refined features of the Russian aristocrat. "Mr Winner, I hear that you are able to locate rare items, even if they have been declared missing for a long period of time."
"At the right price, anything can resurface."
"Good, just what I wanted to hear. Now, Mr Winner, there's a gun that I've been longing to add to my collection for years," a fanatical gleam rose in his eyes, "and I was hoping you could obtain it for me."
"I have to know what exactly it is first." But in his mind, he was already calculating how much he could charge for this transaction. He had no doubt that Trieze Khushrenada was Heero Yuy's financial backer, and everyone knew that the Romefeller Foundation was very, very wealthy indeed.
"The information is being sent to you right now." A chime indicated a file packet was being received by the comm unit. A few more taps on the keypad brought up the image of a silver pistol with a longish barrel, intricate engravings upon the handle, which was reinforced with some sort of black stone. Closer observation revealed that the engravings were in the pattern of an angel-like bird.
"The Angel of Peace."
"Yes, the gun that triggered off the final war which steered the Sank Kingdom onto its path of absolute pacifism. It has been a collector's dream for nearly 200 years." Quatre could practically hear the drooling in this voice.
Not replying, he keyed in a number and sent it.
Treize raised an eyebrow as he received it, but apart from that, Quatre could not detect any other reaction. "I realise that you have a policy of non-bargaining, but isn't this a little steep, even for the Angel of Peace?"
Quatre shrugged. "Take it or leave it." He hoped that Treize didn't see through his nonchalant facade to the absolute excitement thrumming underneath. A lead had surfaced a few days ago in Mexico that the gun had been seen in one of the small local towns, and one of his operatives had been going down to retrieve it. He'd known he had struck gold then, he would have the highest bidders at his feet, but he had not expected an offer so soon. No matter, he was aware that the number of people who had the capability of out-bidding Khushrenada could be counted on less than 3 fingers, and none of the others were gun fanatics that he knew of. This was as good as it was going to get.
"You can't blame a man for trying," Treize replied. "Very well, on one condition."
"What?" Quatre asked warily.
"I want this operation carried out by you personally, no delegation to the underlings. And Heero goes with you. I want to make sure that the gun comes to me in perfect condition."
With the amount of money he would be getting, he wouldn't have minded if his entire staff threw down everything else to search for the firearm. "Fine with me. When do you want it?"
"By next week."
"Next week?!" Shit! Shitshitshit!!! He knew better than to argue with the likes of Khushrenada over such a demand: it was expected. But the only way he could get it to him within the week was if... he postponed his vacation with Duo. Yet, if this deal fell through, he would finally be free... "Fine. I'll meet Heero tomorrow at the spaceport."
"Very good. I like doing business with you, Mr Winner, though, I must say, you drive a hard bargain." The nobleman smiled, and Quatre thought he saw something malicious lurking behind it. It made him vaguely uneasy. "I shall leave Heero with you to hammer out the details."
Heero's image flickered back on and after a few more minutes of discussion, Quatre switched off the unit, slowly climbing back up to the bed. Sitting down on the side of the bed, he let his eyes run over the glorious being that lay there, shiny chestnut spilling over the sheets and pillows, swathing parts of his body, while leaving bare creamy expanses of smooth skin, just waiting to be worshipped by him. He was so beautiful, and he thanked Allah everyday that this amazing being had come into his life.
Sliding back into bed next to Duo, he savoured the sensation of Duo cuddling in his arms, inhaling his unique scent, struggling to remain awake as long as possible. He had the feeling that it wouldn't be happening for a long time after he broke the news to Duo. Closing his eyes, he expelled a long, drawn-out sigh.
Duo was going to kill him.
End part 1
