sara-chan: Thanks for the review. I just love a protective Heero. Duo
can control any kind of environment condition (rain, fog, storms, etc.)
Pretty handy if you ask me.
April Aries: *happy face* your back. The scene when Duo wakes up is all for you. Poor guys. They never had a chance.
Mystic Dragonfire: Glad you like. There will be more mush so stay tuned.
This took a lot longer to get out than I had thought. Sorry about that. This one is kind of long. I know that there must be several mistakes in this chapter, but if you could kindly point them out in a review I will make the corrections. Thanks for reading. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rest of the trip went uneventful. With Treize and Wufei taking turns driving, they made it to the safe house shortly after noon. They were hours ahead of schedule. Servants were quick to greet them and unload their stuff. They were told that rooms had been readied for them.
Heero looked down at the still sleeping Duo. Not wanting to hand him over to anyone else, he picked up his treasure and carried him into the large house. One of the servants said he would show him to a room.
He followed the servant down several halls before stopping in front of a pair of large doors. The servant opened the doors to revile a very spacious room. There was a large four-post canopy bed with black and red silk sheets towards the back of the room. A large White, Bangle Tiger skin was in the middle of the floor, head and feet still attached.* Small tables and a large walk-in closet also adorned the room. To the right was another door, which led to their personal bathroom.
Heero dismissed the servant with a small nod and proceeded to the put Duo to bed. His small frame with swallowed up by the massive size of the bed. Wanting to make his love as comfortable as possible, he undressed him down to his shirt and boxers. Through all of the manhandling, he did not stir once.
After he completed his task, he sat on the bed next to the braided youth, gently stroking his face and hair. 'Do you know how incredibly beautiful you are? Gods Duo! What would I do if I lost you just when I found you? I do not want to think about it because I will make sure that I will never lose you.'
He gave into temptation and kissed his lips softly. His lips lingered when a noise at the door caused him to drawl back. Startled and slightly annoyed, he stood from the bed to face the door and saw Wufei in the doorway. His lips were turned upright into a mix between a smirk and amusement.
"Well, well, well. Now I know what you do in your spare time Yuy. I wonder what Maxwell would say if I told him that you tried to molest him in his sleep?" He had already walked into the room.
Giggling started at the doorway coming from Sandrock's pilot, but it was his taller lover that answered. "He would say 'Damn. Why didn't you wake me up?'" Wufei and Heero just stood there staring at the part-time clown, while Quatre giggled more at the statement.
"Even after all this time that I have known you, you still surprise me quite often Barton." Trowa shrugged his shoulder at Wufei, a small secret smile gracing his lips.
"Is there something that you all need?" The monotone voice pulled all of the attention back to its owner. Heero was standing next to the bed. From watching his friends, his face had lost some of the hardness it usually held. He still had a hard time believing that these people called him friend first. Each had something special about them, but all together they made an unstoppable team.
Once he gained control of his giggling, Quatre spoke. "Actually, there was something we came in here for. First, we wanted to let you know that lunch is waiting for you in the dinning room. You need to eat. Second, Treize wanted to talk to you after you were done eating. He said that there were some things that you needed to hear, alone." He could see the hesitation in Heero's eyes.
Giving him his most reassuring smile, "Heero, I..we all know that you want to protect Duo. We do not want anything to happen to him either. He is too important to us all to lose him now. He will be safe here for a few hours. The sedative should wear off in about an hour or two, depending upon how much rest his body needs. If you wish, we could have a servant bring a plate for you up here and one of us will stay with him while you talk to Treize."
Heero looked at each in turn and noticed the approval and protectiveness on each face. "Hn." He could not say more, for nothing could make it past his suddenly constricting throat. 'Such trustworthy comrades. No, friends? No, more than that. family? That is it, that is what we are now, a family. However, a dysfunctional one but a good one.'
They left him alone with his sleeping beauty. A few moments later a servant brought him a tray full of different foods and beverages. Just before he was finished eating, someone knocked on his door. Not wanting to yell, he walked over and opened the door. On the other side were Treize and Wufei. He held back a smirk at seeing them a lot closer than they needed to be.
"I hope we are not disturbing you Heero. Is it okay if we come in?" Always the aristocrat, Treize was always civil. He stepped aside to allow them entrance.
"I hope the food was to your liking. If not, I could have something else prepared for you."
"The food was fine, Treize. Quatre said you wanted to talk to me." He had moved back to Duo's side instinctively. This move did not go unnoticed by the other two.
"Straight to the matter at hand as always, 01." His glaze went to the sleeping occupant on the bed and his expression softened before turning back to Heero. "Heero, there is a serious matter I need to speak with you about. It is about Duo, what is happening to him, and your part in it. I think it wise to talk alone. Then, if you wish for the others to know, you can tell them yourself. Wufei will stay with him. I can promise you nothing will happen to him while you are away."
Wufei saw in Heero's eyes and whole body the unquenchable concern for his love. Having been quietly sitting on the bed watching his friend sleep, Wufei spoke up. "Yuy, do you remember what I told back at the last safe house? I will be by his side at all times. Not even for a moment will I let him leave my sight. Barton and Winner will be here shortly as well. He will be safe."
Seeing nothing but truth and determination in those onyx eyes put Heero at ease. "Accepted."
"Good. Shall we go somewhere a bit more private?" A head nod was his answer. "Very well then. Will you please follow me Heero?" He gave Wufei a small kiss on the forehead before leaving causing him to blush. Heero snickered at this before he to kissed his partner, then followed the former head of OZ out of the room.
Several halls and doors later, Heero found himself in Treize's private study. Said owner seated himself behind the desk in the room and motioned him to take the seat in front of it.
As soon as he was seated he asked, "Alright Treize. What did you want to talk to me about?" Both parties lost all forms of pleasantries and now wore equally serious expressions.
"Do you remember what I told you in the van about you being Duo's calm and him not being able to control his powers completely?"
"Yes, and?"
"I want to be perfectly blunt with you on this Heero. Duo is a storm user. He needs a calm in order to focus all his power. You are his calm. However, just being by his side is not enough." He paused for the question he knew he would be asked.
Heero had a questioning look on his face. "What do you mean?"
"sigh I mean that Duo is still unclaimed. He is still vulnerable to outside interference. Zechs knows this and wants to claim Duo for himself. He is a user like Duo, but where as Duo is a storm user, Zechs is a mind user. He can control vulnerable minds. Right now Duo has such a mind." Again he paused for the questions. He could see the confusion followed by rage on the young man's face.
"What exactly do you mean by claim and what are all the reasons in which Zechs wants Duo?" 'There is something you are not telling me. What is it Treize?'
"In order to claim him, to be his calm, you must be one with him in mind, body, heart, and soul. But if you think that puts Duo out of danger, think again. I told you earlier that Zechs is a mind user. He can manipulate other's minds. He can make Duo think that he is his one true love if he can catch Duo in the right state of mind. The storm at your last safe house was an example of what he can do. He used Duo's state of loneliness to access his powers and create the storm. He probably had minions there waiting but with the severity of the storm you all could not sense them."
"So you are telling me that in order to keep him safe I must have sex with him. Can Zechs manipulate our minds as well?" He was still angry even more so now that he knew for sure what Zechs would do with his braided baka. 'Not going to happen, Zechs.'
Trying not to laugh at Heero's choice of wording, Treize tried to explain a little more. "Not just sleep with him Heero. You must be him in a way. You will see what he sees, know what he knows, and feel what he feels. If there are any doubts in either of your minds at the moment of completion, it will not work. He will still be unclaimed and open for Zechs. As for Zechs controlling your minds, I would say no. But, if he caught you at a vulnerable moment then he could. Of course, it would be a lot harder even if he caught you in a weaker mind set." He could see his confusing grow again, so he further explained.
"Trowa, Wufei, and you all have very strong mental training. You all have built mental barriers that would take Zechs too much effort to break down, but if he wanted to badly enough, he could probably do it. Quatre, on the other hand, is completely safe from him. His space heart will prevent anyone to take over his body or mind. As for me, I fall in the same category as you with a slight advantage; I have known him longer and would know the second he tried anything on me."
Heero could see that Treize had a sad expression on his face and a far away look in his eyes. 'There is still something you are not telling me. I will find out one way or another.' "You still have not fully answered my question. Why does Zechs want with Duo? Why him and now? Tell me Treize. I know you know."
A sad smile graced his lips as he looked at the young man in front of him and thought about his long-time friend and what had happened to him. "Yes, I do know but I want to wait until everyone is around before I say. Zechs was not always this way. I want to make sure all of you see the whole picture at the same time. I promised I would help you and I will keep that promise no matter what, but I also have a good friend to try and save at the same time. I will keep nothing from you. Weather or not you want to tell the others what I have just told you is your decision. I would hope that you would tell them, but I will go with what you wish."
Wing's pilot was thoughtful for a few minutes as he fully processed all the information. After several long moments of silence, he came to a resolution. "I will tell them all that you have told me. I do not want to scare Duo, so, I will talk to him alone about the claiming. I do not want to keep them in the dark on anything. I trust them and I know that they would do anything for Duo."
Treize was very pleased with his answer and it showed on his face. "Wise choice Heero. I think that it is time to go check on sleeping beauty."
Heero was more than eager to return to his bishounen, so, he followed the ginger haired man back down the halls. When they reached the hall that leads to his shared room, they heard lots of commotion coming from his room. It sounded like yelling and fighting.
His first thought what that Duo was in trouble. The second was that he was going to kill Wufei slowly. As he raced down the hall, the noises grew louder as he got closer to his room. Treize was right at his heels. Just as he was about to open the door, he stopped. Something told him that Duo was not in any kind of danger. The atmosphere was too carefree. He listened at the door to try to find out what was going on inside. What he heard made him blush down to his toes, his eyes widen to impossible proportions, and it took every once of his strong will to not break down laughing right there. Treize was in the same shape.
######################################################################## *inside the room right after Heero and Treize left*
Wufei watched as the two left him alone with Duo. He sighed as moved closer to his best friend. He sat down on the bed quietly as to not disturb its occupant. Some of his chestnut hair had come undone from its customary braid and was hanging in his face. With more care and tenderness that anyone would have guessed, he brushed the hair to the side and tucked it behind his ear.
This was the sight that Trowa and Quatre walked in on. Quatre's soft laughter at the sight caused Wufei to jump back, resulting in him falling off the bed completely. This only caused Quatre to laugh harder, which was difficult being as he was trying to be as quiet as possible. Even the normally silent youth could not keep in the laugh at the site of the proud pilot of Shenlong in a startled heap on the floor. He calmed down much more quickly than his koi.
The laughter turned into an evil smirk. "Now, what do we have here, Quatre? How do you think Duo would react to knowing that Wufei tried to molest him in his sleep?"
Quatre had to bite his tongue to keep quiet when he saw Wufei pale and do a lovely impression of a fish out of water. Not one to pass up such a wonderful opportunity, he forced his laughter down so he could speak. "Duo? very evil grin What would Heero and Treize say if they knew?"
Now Wufei was panicking. "You wouldn't dare. They would probably kill the messenger first. You would not chance it. Wait a minute! What the fuck am I doing? I do not have anything to worry about. Damnit! I hate how easily you two can do this shit." He glared at the two that were still wearing matching evil grins. "Sometimes you two really scare me." After thinking about it for a minute, he started to laugh. 'I can just imagine how that looked. He picked himself off the floor to take a seat in the closest chair.
"So how is he doing today? He looks better, more color, breathing is less labored, and the shaking has stopped. Has anyone checked his temperature today, Wufei?"
Wufei shook his head at he blonde. 'Only Winner can go from pure wicked to mother hen in the blink of an eye.' "Actually, I do not think anyone has checked. I would go get a thermometer for you, but I promised Yuy that I would not let him out of my sight for even a moment."
He knew that Wufei would not break that promise unless he was not bodily able to follow it through. He had no doubt that he would follow Duo into the bathroom if he had to. Not wanting to leave, he turned to his tall lover and gave him the dreaded puppy eyes.
The other two took quick notice that the tall youth's whole body, along with his facial expression, softened and slumped in defeat. "I will be right back." Quatre winked at him and gave him a thousand watt smile.
Once Trowa was out of the room, "You do realize that you have him wrapped around your little finger don't you, Winner?"
"Of course, but so does he, so we are even." They lapsed into a comfortable silence till Trowa came back with a digital thermometer. He handed it to Quatre who took it with a thank you and a quick kiss. It only took a few seconds to register.
"Well koi, what is it?" Trowa walked behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist and rested his chin on his shoulder.
"99.8. It is not as bad as it was before, but he still has a slight fever. He will have to stay in bed for a day or two."
Wufei groaned at what Quatre said. "You are going to be the one to tell him he has to stay in bed." When they realized what he was talking about they all groaned. They had learned earlier on that a bed-ridden Duo was not a good thing.
Motion from the bed's only occupant caught all of their attention. Within a second, they were all by the side of the bed. They watched as Duo stirred awake slowly. First thing he did was to pull the cover over his head. Then he started cursing everything that crossed his mind.
"Agggrrr. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Ouch. Ouch. I am going to kill'em. I am going to fuckin' kill'em." Through his pain filled haze he could hear the others talking to him.
"Duo, are you okay? Can you hear me, Duo?" Quatre's concerned face faltered when the said head popped out from under the cover. 'Oh shit!' He was looking into the face of Shinigami. "Now, Duo. You are still sick. You don't want to strain yourself, do you?" The evil grin was NOT the answer he wanted. "Duo, calm down before you hurt yourself. Duo, what are you doing? Why are you looking at Trowa like that? Duo, wha.Trowa run!"
He was too late. Before they could move to help their fallen comrade, Duo had the taller pilot hog-tied on the floor with strips he had made from the pillowcase and was moving towards Wufei. In the blink of an eye, he had the Chinaman tied to the chair he had been sitting in. His feet were in the process of being tied when Quatre finally came to his senses and moved to help Wufei.
Duo gave up on Wufei and turned to Quatre. He slowly approached the blonde was a predatory look in his eyes. Quatre swallowed hard and tried to reason with the other pilot. "Come on Duo. It's me Quatre. We can talk this out." The back of his legs hit the side of the bed and he fell back on to it. Duo was on him a spit second later.
Quatre was in a nightmare. Duo was tickling him without mercy, finding spot that even he did not know were ticklish. He was laughing so hard tears were leaking from his eyes and he just knew he was about to piss on himself if he did not stop. Just at that moment, the tickle torture stopped. He lay there trying to catch his breath when he felt something smooth and soft tied around his wrists. The same happened to his ankles.
Duo stood back to admire his handy work. Trowa was still on the floor and Wufei was struggling in the chair. He turned to Wufei first. "I know that you had nothing to do with it, so I will not do anything to you. However, I cannot let you go till I have I my revenge."
"Maxwell, what the fuck are you talking about?"
"They drugged me. Do you know what kind of headache I get from that shit? smirk Now its payback time. Here piggy, piggy." He strolled his way to Trowa and stopped a few feet from him. He stood there with one hand on his elbow and the other on his chin, thinking. 'That's it! Oh, I am so good.' "Don't go anywhere. I will be right back."
A short time later he came out of the bathroom with his arms full of things. He straddled Trowa's back, being careful not to hurt him. He had a big bottle of hair gel and a comb at hand. He used the comb and gel to part those wild bangs straight down the middle and slick them to the side of his face. He looked like a drowned puppy. Next, he used some feminine hair clippies to put in his hair along with some make-up he found in the bathroom. Satisfied, he moved to Quatre.
The helpless blonde was pleading with him not to do anything rash. "Duo, it was your own good. You needed the sleep. You still need to be in bed." After seeing the devilish look cross the other's face, Quatre begin to think that he should not have said that. He did not know how right he was.
"Alright Q. If you want me back in bed, then back in bed I will go." He jumped onto the bed right on top of the helpless pilot on it.
He let out a squawk when Duo landed right on top of him. Now he was face to face with the avenging pilot. Swallowing hard, "Umm Duo? What are you going to do?" He paled when he saw the other shift to seat on his stomach with a knee on each side of him and wiggle his fingers at him. "No! Duo, you can't! Not again! Please anything but."
He was cut short when hands descended on his body once again and started tickling without mercy, only this time, Duo hit the more sensitive spots he had purposely avoided the first time. Duo felt a great deal of satisfaction upon hearing the incoherent pleas for him to stop.
"Duo..stop.nooooo..not there..Trowa, help.I give, I give!!" Even Trowa and Wufei were laughing at the state Quatre was in now. His skin was a dark red hue. Between badly formed words, he would snort and laugh. He was laughing so hard he could not control the drool that was steadily coming from his mouth.
The door swinging open almost went unnoticed, except for the unsure voice that broke up the commotion. "What the hell is going on in here?"
Everyone looked up to see Heero and Treize standing slack-jawed staring at the four roughed up looking pilots. Treize was trying, unsuccessfully, to keep a straight face while looking at a transvestite looking Trowa, an unstable looking Quatre, and an utterly helpless Wufei.
Heero did not know if he should laugh at the site, or get mad at Duo for being out of bed and the others for letting him. 'Of course, by the looks of things I think you took that choice away from them.' He gave into his merit and snickered at the site.
Duo was sheepishly standing by the bed shifting from foot to foot while playing with the end of his half undone braid. He was looking everywhere but at Heero's eyes. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Treize untying Trowa, then each moving to their counterpart. Once the adrenaline wore off fully, he began to notice how tired he still was.
All thoughts of reprimanding Duo flew out the window when he swayed slightly. Heero was by his side before the others could even blink. "Duo- kun, you should not be out of bed. Get back in bed right now."
"But Hee-chan, I don't think that I can find a spot that is not covered in drool."
Everyone in the room but Quatre found this very funny. Quatre, on the other hand, was blushing from his head to his toes and was trying to hide under the bed. After several long minutes, Duo was settled back in bed and the others left the room.
"Duo-kun, I had a talk with Treize. There are some things I need to talk to you about." Heero sat down on the bed next to Duo and told him everything that Treize had told him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *note: Don't worry all of you animal lovers out there, the skin is a fake. I do not approve of killing animals like that for there skins.
Hope you all liked it. IN THE NEXT CHAPTER: Duo's reaction to hearing what Treize said and a surprise visit from an unlikely person causes trouble for the gang.
April Aries: *happy face* your back. The scene when Duo wakes up is all for you. Poor guys. They never had a chance.
Mystic Dragonfire: Glad you like. There will be more mush so stay tuned.
This took a lot longer to get out than I had thought. Sorry about that. This one is kind of long. I know that there must be several mistakes in this chapter, but if you could kindly point them out in a review I will make the corrections. Thanks for reading. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rest of the trip went uneventful. With Treize and Wufei taking turns driving, they made it to the safe house shortly after noon. They were hours ahead of schedule. Servants were quick to greet them and unload their stuff. They were told that rooms had been readied for them.
Heero looked down at the still sleeping Duo. Not wanting to hand him over to anyone else, he picked up his treasure and carried him into the large house. One of the servants said he would show him to a room.
He followed the servant down several halls before stopping in front of a pair of large doors. The servant opened the doors to revile a very spacious room. There was a large four-post canopy bed with black and red silk sheets towards the back of the room. A large White, Bangle Tiger skin was in the middle of the floor, head and feet still attached.* Small tables and a large walk-in closet also adorned the room. To the right was another door, which led to their personal bathroom.
Heero dismissed the servant with a small nod and proceeded to the put Duo to bed. His small frame with swallowed up by the massive size of the bed. Wanting to make his love as comfortable as possible, he undressed him down to his shirt and boxers. Through all of the manhandling, he did not stir once.
After he completed his task, he sat on the bed next to the braided youth, gently stroking his face and hair. 'Do you know how incredibly beautiful you are? Gods Duo! What would I do if I lost you just when I found you? I do not want to think about it because I will make sure that I will never lose you.'
He gave into temptation and kissed his lips softly. His lips lingered when a noise at the door caused him to drawl back. Startled and slightly annoyed, he stood from the bed to face the door and saw Wufei in the doorway. His lips were turned upright into a mix between a smirk and amusement.
"Well, well, well. Now I know what you do in your spare time Yuy. I wonder what Maxwell would say if I told him that you tried to molest him in his sleep?" He had already walked into the room.
Giggling started at the doorway coming from Sandrock's pilot, but it was his taller lover that answered. "He would say 'Damn. Why didn't you wake me up?'" Wufei and Heero just stood there staring at the part-time clown, while Quatre giggled more at the statement.
"Even after all this time that I have known you, you still surprise me quite often Barton." Trowa shrugged his shoulder at Wufei, a small secret smile gracing his lips.
"Is there something that you all need?" The monotone voice pulled all of the attention back to its owner. Heero was standing next to the bed. From watching his friends, his face had lost some of the hardness it usually held. He still had a hard time believing that these people called him friend first. Each had something special about them, but all together they made an unstoppable team.
Once he gained control of his giggling, Quatre spoke. "Actually, there was something we came in here for. First, we wanted to let you know that lunch is waiting for you in the dinning room. You need to eat. Second, Treize wanted to talk to you after you were done eating. He said that there were some things that you needed to hear, alone." He could see the hesitation in Heero's eyes.
Giving him his most reassuring smile, "Heero, I..we all know that you want to protect Duo. We do not want anything to happen to him either. He is too important to us all to lose him now. He will be safe here for a few hours. The sedative should wear off in about an hour or two, depending upon how much rest his body needs. If you wish, we could have a servant bring a plate for you up here and one of us will stay with him while you talk to Treize."
Heero looked at each in turn and noticed the approval and protectiveness on each face. "Hn." He could not say more, for nothing could make it past his suddenly constricting throat. 'Such trustworthy comrades. No, friends? No, more than that. family? That is it, that is what we are now, a family. However, a dysfunctional one but a good one.'
They left him alone with his sleeping beauty. A few moments later a servant brought him a tray full of different foods and beverages. Just before he was finished eating, someone knocked on his door. Not wanting to yell, he walked over and opened the door. On the other side were Treize and Wufei. He held back a smirk at seeing them a lot closer than they needed to be.
"I hope we are not disturbing you Heero. Is it okay if we come in?" Always the aristocrat, Treize was always civil. He stepped aside to allow them entrance.
"I hope the food was to your liking. If not, I could have something else prepared for you."
"The food was fine, Treize. Quatre said you wanted to talk to me." He had moved back to Duo's side instinctively. This move did not go unnoticed by the other two.
"Straight to the matter at hand as always, 01." His glaze went to the sleeping occupant on the bed and his expression softened before turning back to Heero. "Heero, there is a serious matter I need to speak with you about. It is about Duo, what is happening to him, and your part in it. I think it wise to talk alone. Then, if you wish for the others to know, you can tell them yourself. Wufei will stay with him. I can promise you nothing will happen to him while you are away."
Wufei saw in Heero's eyes and whole body the unquenchable concern for his love. Having been quietly sitting on the bed watching his friend sleep, Wufei spoke up. "Yuy, do you remember what I told back at the last safe house? I will be by his side at all times. Not even for a moment will I let him leave my sight. Barton and Winner will be here shortly as well. He will be safe."
Seeing nothing but truth and determination in those onyx eyes put Heero at ease. "Accepted."
"Good. Shall we go somewhere a bit more private?" A head nod was his answer. "Very well then. Will you please follow me Heero?" He gave Wufei a small kiss on the forehead before leaving causing him to blush. Heero snickered at this before he to kissed his partner, then followed the former head of OZ out of the room.
Several halls and doors later, Heero found himself in Treize's private study. Said owner seated himself behind the desk in the room and motioned him to take the seat in front of it.
As soon as he was seated he asked, "Alright Treize. What did you want to talk to me about?" Both parties lost all forms of pleasantries and now wore equally serious expressions.
"Do you remember what I told you in the van about you being Duo's calm and him not being able to control his powers completely?"
"Yes, and?"
"I want to be perfectly blunt with you on this Heero. Duo is a storm user. He needs a calm in order to focus all his power. You are his calm. However, just being by his side is not enough." He paused for the question he knew he would be asked.
Heero had a questioning look on his face. "What do you mean?"
"sigh I mean that Duo is still unclaimed. He is still vulnerable to outside interference. Zechs knows this and wants to claim Duo for himself. He is a user like Duo, but where as Duo is a storm user, Zechs is a mind user. He can control vulnerable minds. Right now Duo has such a mind." Again he paused for the questions. He could see the confusion followed by rage on the young man's face.
"What exactly do you mean by claim and what are all the reasons in which Zechs wants Duo?" 'There is something you are not telling me. What is it Treize?'
"In order to claim him, to be his calm, you must be one with him in mind, body, heart, and soul. But if you think that puts Duo out of danger, think again. I told you earlier that Zechs is a mind user. He can manipulate other's minds. He can make Duo think that he is his one true love if he can catch Duo in the right state of mind. The storm at your last safe house was an example of what he can do. He used Duo's state of loneliness to access his powers and create the storm. He probably had minions there waiting but with the severity of the storm you all could not sense them."
"So you are telling me that in order to keep him safe I must have sex with him. Can Zechs manipulate our minds as well?" He was still angry even more so now that he knew for sure what Zechs would do with his braided baka. 'Not going to happen, Zechs.'
Trying not to laugh at Heero's choice of wording, Treize tried to explain a little more. "Not just sleep with him Heero. You must be him in a way. You will see what he sees, know what he knows, and feel what he feels. If there are any doubts in either of your minds at the moment of completion, it will not work. He will still be unclaimed and open for Zechs. As for Zechs controlling your minds, I would say no. But, if he caught you at a vulnerable moment then he could. Of course, it would be a lot harder even if he caught you in a weaker mind set." He could see his confusing grow again, so he further explained.
"Trowa, Wufei, and you all have very strong mental training. You all have built mental barriers that would take Zechs too much effort to break down, but if he wanted to badly enough, he could probably do it. Quatre, on the other hand, is completely safe from him. His space heart will prevent anyone to take over his body or mind. As for me, I fall in the same category as you with a slight advantage; I have known him longer and would know the second he tried anything on me."
Heero could see that Treize had a sad expression on his face and a far away look in his eyes. 'There is still something you are not telling me. I will find out one way or another.' "You still have not fully answered my question. Why does Zechs want with Duo? Why him and now? Tell me Treize. I know you know."
A sad smile graced his lips as he looked at the young man in front of him and thought about his long-time friend and what had happened to him. "Yes, I do know but I want to wait until everyone is around before I say. Zechs was not always this way. I want to make sure all of you see the whole picture at the same time. I promised I would help you and I will keep that promise no matter what, but I also have a good friend to try and save at the same time. I will keep nothing from you. Weather or not you want to tell the others what I have just told you is your decision. I would hope that you would tell them, but I will go with what you wish."
Wing's pilot was thoughtful for a few minutes as he fully processed all the information. After several long moments of silence, he came to a resolution. "I will tell them all that you have told me. I do not want to scare Duo, so, I will talk to him alone about the claiming. I do not want to keep them in the dark on anything. I trust them and I know that they would do anything for Duo."
Treize was very pleased with his answer and it showed on his face. "Wise choice Heero. I think that it is time to go check on sleeping beauty."
Heero was more than eager to return to his bishounen, so, he followed the ginger haired man back down the halls. When they reached the hall that leads to his shared room, they heard lots of commotion coming from his room. It sounded like yelling and fighting.
His first thought what that Duo was in trouble. The second was that he was going to kill Wufei slowly. As he raced down the hall, the noises grew louder as he got closer to his room. Treize was right at his heels. Just as he was about to open the door, he stopped. Something told him that Duo was not in any kind of danger. The atmosphere was too carefree. He listened at the door to try to find out what was going on inside. What he heard made him blush down to his toes, his eyes widen to impossible proportions, and it took every once of his strong will to not break down laughing right there. Treize was in the same shape.
######################################################################## *inside the room right after Heero and Treize left*
Wufei watched as the two left him alone with Duo. He sighed as moved closer to his best friend. He sat down on the bed quietly as to not disturb its occupant. Some of his chestnut hair had come undone from its customary braid and was hanging in his face. With more care and tenderness that anyone would have guessed, he brushed the hair to the side and tucked it behind his ear.
This was the sight that Trowa and Quatre walked in on. Quatre's soft laughter at the sight caused Wufei to jump back, resulting in him falling off the bed completely. This only caused Quatre to laugh harder, which was difficult being as he was trying to be as quiet as possible. Even the normally silent youth could not keep in the laugh at the site of the proud pilot of Shenlong in a startled heap on the floor. He calmed down much more quickly than his koi.
The laughter turned into an evil smirk. "Now, what do we have here, Quatre? How do you think Duo would react to knowing that Wufei tried to molest him in his sleep?"
Quatre had to bite his tongue to keep quiet when he saw Wufei pale and do a lovely impression of a fish out of water. Not one to pass up such a wonderful opportunity, he forced his laughter down so he could speak. "Duo? very evil grin What would Heero and Treize say if they knew?"
Now Wufei was panicking. "You wouldn't dare. They would probably kill the messenger first. You would not chance it. Wait a minute! What the fuck am I doing? I do not have anything to worry about. Damnit! I hate how easily you two can do this shit." He glared at the two that were still wearing matching evil grins. "Sometimes you two really scare me." After thinking about it for a minute, he started to laugh. 'I can just imagine how that looked. He picked himself off the floor to take a seat in the closest chair.
"So how is he doing today? He looks better, more color, breathing is less labored, and the shaking has stopped. Has anyone checked his temperature today, Wufei?"
Wufei shook his head at he blonde. 'Only Winner can go from pure wicked to mother hen in the blink of an eye.' "Actually, I do not think anyone has checked. I would go get a thermometer for you, but I promised Yuy that I would not let him out of my sight for even a moment."
He knew that Wufei would not break that promise unless he was not bodily able to follow it through. He had no doubt that he would follow Duo into the bathroom if he had to. Not wanting to leave, he turned to his tall lover and gave him the dreaded puppy eyes.
The other two took quick notice that the tall youth's whole body, along with his facial expression, softened and slumped in defeat. "I will be right back." Quatre winked at him and gave him a thousand watt smile.
Once Trowa was out of the room, "You do realize that you have him wrapped around your little finger don't you, Winner?"
"Of course, but so does he, so we are even." They lapsed into a comfortable silence till Trowa came back with a digital thermometer. He handed it to Quatre who took it with a thank you and a quick kiss. It only took a few seconds to register.
"Well koi, what is it?" Trowa walked behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist and rested his chin on his shoulder.
"99.8. It is not as bad as it was before, but he still has a slight fever. He will have to stay in bed for a day or two."
Wufei groaned at what Quatre said. "You are going to be the one to tell him he has to stay in bed." When they realized what he was talking about they all groaned. They had learned earlier on that a bed-ridden Duo was not a good thing.
Motion from the bed's only occupant caught all of their attention. Within a second, they were all by the side of the bed. They watched as Duo stirred awake slowly. First thing he did was to pull the cover over his head. Then he started cursing everything that crossed his mind.
"Agggrrr. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Ouch. Ouch. I am going to kill'em. I am going to fuckin' kill'em." Through his pain filled haze he could hear the others talking to him.
"Duo, are you okay? Can you hear me, Duo?" Quatre's concerned face faltered when the said head popped out from under the cover. 'Oh shit!' He was looking into the face of Shinigami. "Now, Duo. You are still sick. You don't want to strain yourself, do you?" The evil grin was NOT the answer he wanted. "Duo, calm down before you hurt yourself. Duo, what are you doing? Why are you looking at Trowa like that? Duo, wha.Trowa run!"
He was too late. Before they could move to help their fallen comrade, Duo had the taller pilot hog-tied on the floor with strips he had made from the pillowcase and was moving towards Wufei. In the blink of an eye, he had the Chinaman tied to the chair he had been sitting in. His feet were in the process of being tied when Quatre finally came to his senses and moved to help Wufei.
Duo gave up on Wufei and turned to Quatre. He slowly approached the blonde was a predatory look in his eyes. Quatre swallowed hard and tried to reason with the other pilot. "Come on Duo. It's me Quatre. We can talk this out." The back of his legs hit the side of the bed and he fell back on to it. Duo was on him a spit second later.
Quatre was in a nightmare. Duo was tickling him without mercy, finding spot that even he did not know were ticklish. He was laughing so hard tears were leaking from his eyes and he just knew he was about to piss on himself if he did not stop. Just at that moment, the tickle torture stopped. He lay there trying to catch his breath when he felt something smooth and soft tied around his wrists. The same happened to his ankles.
Duo stood back to admire his handy work. Trowa was still on the floor and Wufei was struggling in the chair. He turned to Wufei first. "I know that you had nothing to do with it, so I will not do anything to you. However, I cannot let you go till I have I my revenge."
"Maxwell, what the fuck are you talking about?"
"They drugged me. Do you know what kind of headache I get from that shit? smirk Now its payback time. Here piggy, piggy." He strolled his way to Trowa and stopped a few feet from him. He stood there with one hand on his elbow and the other on his chin, thinking. 'That's it! Oh, I am so good.' "Don't go anywhere. I will be right back."
A short time later he came out of the bathroom with his arms full of things. He straddled Trowa's back, being careful not to hurt him. He had a big bottle of hair gel and a comb at hand. He used the comb and gel to part those wild bangs straight down the middle and slick them to the side of his face. He looked like a drowned puppy. Next, he used some feminine hair clippies to put in his hair along with some make-up he found in the bathroom. Satisfied, he moved to Quatre.
The helpless blonde was pleading with him not to do anything rash. "Duo, it was your own good. You needed the sleep. You still need to be in bed." After seeing the devilish look cross the other's face, Quatre begin to think that he should not have said that. He did not know how right he was.
"Alright Q. If you want me back in bed, then back in bed I will go." He jumped onto the bed right on top of the helpless pilot on it.
He let out a squawk when Duo landed right on top of him. Now he was face to face with the avenging pilot. Swallowing hard, "Umm Duo? What are you going to do?" He paled when he saw the other shift to seat on his stomach with a knee on each side of him and wiggle his fingers at him. "No! Duo, you can't! Not again! Please anything but."
He was cut short when hands descended on his body once again and started tickling without mercy, only this time, Duo hit the more sensitive spots he had purposely avoided the first time. Duo felt a great deal of satisfaction upon hearing the incoherent pleas for him to stop.
"Duo..stop.nooooo..not there..Trowa, help.I give, I give!!" Even Trowa and Wufei were laughing at the state Quatre was in now. His skin was a dark red hue. Between badly formed words, he would snort and laugh. He was laughing so hard he could not control the drool that was steadily coming from his mouth.
The door swinging open almost went unnoticed, except for the unsure voice that broke up the commotion. "What the hell is going on in here?"
Everyone looked up to see Heero and Treize standing slack-jawed staring at the four roughed up looking pilots. Treize was trying, unsuccessfully, to keep a straight face while looking at a transvestite looking Trowa, an unstable looking Quatre, and an utterly helpless Wufei.
Heero did not know if he should laugh at the site, or get mad at Duo for being out of bed and the others for letting him. 'Of course, by the looks of things I think you took that choice away from them.' He gave into his merit and snickered at the site.
Duo was sheepishly standing by the bed shifting from foot to foot while playing with the end of his half undone braid. He was looking everywhere but at Heero's eyes. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Treize untying Trowa, then each moving to their counterpart. Once the adrenaline wore off fully, he began to notice how tired he still was.
All thoughts of reprimanding Duo flew out the window when he swayed slightly. Heero was by his side before the others could even blink. "Duo- kun, you should not be out of bed. Get back in bed right now."
"But Hee-chan, I don't think that I can find a spot that is not covered in drool."
Everyone in the room but Quatre found this very funny. Quatre, on the other hand, was blushing from his head to his toes and was trying to hide under the bed. After several long minutes, Duo was settled back in bed and the others left the room.
"Duo-kun, I had a talk with Treize. There are some things I need to talk to you about." Heero sat down on the bed next to Duo and told him everything that Treize had told him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *note: Don't worry all of you animal lovers out there, the skin is a fake. I do not approve of killing animals like that for there skins.
Hope you all liked it. IN THE NEXT CHAPTER: Duo's reaction to hearing what Treize said and a surprise visit from an unlikely person causes trouble for the gang.
