Author's Note:The second bit to my pirate AU. Enjoy!
Heero stepped into the admiral's office and braced to attention. Trieze didn't look up from the ubiquitous reams of paperwork and maps littering his desk.
"Yui," the admiral said by way of greeting. "Glad you answered my summons so promptly."
"Yes sir," the privateer replied crisply.
"Just letting you know that Chang has disappeared and his ship undergoing refitting. His crew, what remains of it, is being broken up between ships. This means you will have a larger area to cover. I'm sure you can handle it. You are dismissed."
"Sir." Heero saluted and whirled on his heel, stalking out of the office. As soon as he stepped onto the cobble-stoned street, a vicious smirk made itself known on his face. So, Chang's in the hands of the pirates, if not dead. This could bode well.
Thinking deep and possibly sinister thoughts, the privateer captain stalked down the road and disappeared into the confusion of the quay.
*******
Despite being bone-weary and hungry, Duo allowed a pleased grin to spread across his face as the Death's Scythe navigated the dangerous rocks of Quatre's cove. His birthday was in a few days and, true to his promise, he had returned to the island for what promised to be a good party. After parting company with the Canadian schooner almost three weeks before, Duo's command had undergone too many problems to think about. Storms, privateers, and a mutiny that would have been disastrous if not for Hilde's ear on what was happening below decks. All during his run, Duo's thought often turned to the privateer captain he had at the end of his sword, especially when lying in his bunk when he allowed himself sleep. No matter how many times he sternly commanded himself to forget the man, his features had become permanently etched in the pirate's brain.
The Antelope hadn't arrived yet, Duo could see as they finally swung into the sheltered cove. One of Quatre's minions, wandering along the beach, saw the ship and waved before disappearing into the house, most likely to fetch Quatre or Trowa. Both of them were on the beach by the time Duo made it to shore. The exuberant blonde threw his arms around Duo as if they hadn't seen each other for years. Trowa exchanged a resigned look with Duo over the top of Quatre's head. It was all Duo could do to keep from laughing.
"I'm so glad you made it! I was beginning to worry!" the blonde pirate exclaimed, holding Duo out at arm's length. "Now, I've been organizing the party, and Rashid was wondering what to cook, but I told him to wait until you got here before deciding anything, so he'll want to talk to you as soon as possible, and . . . ." Quatre dragged Duo by the arm as he marched resolutely towards his beach-side mansion, babbling about party plans and asking after Duo's health and happiness, while never letting Duo get a word in edgewise. As he prattled ahead of them, Duo fell back to walk beside the calmer first mate.
"Good to see you," Trowa said politely.
Duo raised an eyebrow. "Wow. A whole sentence. I'm honoured."
"Ha. Ha ha." Trowa smirked. "Quatre must be catching."
Duo mock-shuddered. "Oh God, no. We're all doomed when you start talking."
"So how have things been?"
"Awful," Duo sighed. "The weather's been against me, I've become a magnet for privateer bastards, and my crew tried to mutiny."
Trowa flinched in sympathy.
". . . . and here we are," Quatre finished up his monologue, gesturing towards the kitchen, where the hulking bo'sun could be seen wearing an apron and bellowing orders.
Duo grinned at Trowa. "My time to shine."
"Enjoy it while it lasts."
******
One of the pirates came skidding into Kauri's office while she and Wufei would having a heated debate over a seachart laid out on the captain's desk.
"Cap'n, we're just about at Quatre's!" the pirate reported.
Kauri glanced up. "Thank you, Kaminko. Right on time. If my calculations are correct, today's Duo's birthday. Who's at the helm?"
"Wyvern, ma'am." Kaminko replied.
Kauri nodded. "Good. I want you to run to Brodie's cabin and get him. When we reach shore, I'll need Crim and a couple others. We're to pretend our honoured guest over here is wounded, wrap him up like a mummy, and smuggle him on land. Can you spread the story?"
"No problem. Prism and the Child-thing good to go with Crim?"
"Yes, perfect. Bring all three here." Kauri waved her hand dismissively and begin rolling up the chart. "I'm sorry, Wufei, but you'll have to stay in the cabin until we're into the cove, and I ask you not to take a star fix when you're there."
Wufei inclined his head graciously. "Of course not. I do have some honour."
Kauri raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? How come you're working for the Queen?"
"Ha ha." Wufei replied dryly.
Joel Brodie, the ship's doctor, rapped respectfully on the door and stepped inside. Wufei lay down on the bunk wile the man quickly trussed him up to effectively disguise any hint of his appearance. While this was going on, Crimson, the huge crewman who knocked Wufei out in the first place, Prism, and the Child-thing walked in. Prism was one of the female pirates on the mostly female crew. The Child-thing was a girl. No one knew her right name or her age, but she was strong and quick and vicious. Wufei could hear the smack of waves along the ship and the shouts of the crew as the ship danced and weaved. After perhaps five or ten minutes of this, the motion of the ship slowed until it seemed to be at anchor. The three crew heaved him onto the improvised stretcher they had brought with them and carried him on deck. Not being able to move his head, Wufei's view was severely limited, and it was a strange sensation to be manhandled into a boat and dropped. Granted, it wasn't nearly as far down on a schooner then a galley, but he had never made the trip on his back.
A crunching sound told him they had reached shore, and he was lifted again and carried out.
"Is he alright?" a concerned male voice asked nearby.
Wufei could hear Kauri's voice at his side. "Yeah, he'll be okay. All he needs is some good recovery time on land. Could we possibly borrow a room for a while?"
"Of course, of course!" the voice said. "Take him right in. There's an empty room across from the ones you and Tsuki stayed in last time. Take that one. Do you need help?"
"No, we're fine. Crim, get a move on. Brodie, follow him in."
Then he was moving again, across level ground and then up some stairs. He felt the stretcher come to a halt and Crim shuffled to the side, presumably to let someone by.
"What's all this?" a familiar voice asked. "Someone hurt?" Wufei's heart thrilled. That voice . . . . serious now, but still with the hint of laughter that he had fallen in love with.
"Aye," Crim's gruff voice said, bringing Wufei back to earth. "We're just givin' 'im a bit of a lay-down."
"Sounds good," the pirate said pleasantly. "Hope he's feeling better." Then there was the sound of footsteps receding and the stretcher started moving again. In a few moments, the stretcher was set down. Wufei hastily sat up and began undoing the bandages. When his vision was clear, he looked around at the unfamiliar room. "Where are we?"
"Your love's room, Crim said, leaning against one wall. "It's getting dark. The party'll be getting started. If Duo doesn't come back to his room in a reasonable amount of time, Kauri's gonna send him here."
"Thank you," Wufei replied, shedding the bandages with relief.
Crim nodded as he and the two women gathered up the bandages and trooped through the door again. Wufei stood and stretched. He inspected the room, with the open sea bag propped in one corner and the collections of shells, beach glass, and sand dollars that lined the window sill, and found he liked it; his own home, the small flat in England he rented on the brief time away from his ship, was dismal and dingy, with no personal touches at all. He stood at the large window faced towards the beach, where, in the lengthening shadows, Wufei could see bonfires being lit and food being carried out of the house. I hope this party isn't too exciting, Wufei thought, I don't know how much longer I can wait.
*****
"Crawfish pie, jambalaya and gumbo, down in the bijou!" the loud and off-key singing from the other side of the bonfire made Kauri grin as she weaved her way through the pirates who huddled around the two large bonfires, stuffing themselves with food and drinking the alcohol stored up from many a pillage. Kauri finally spotted her query, laughing at a joke one of his crew just made. She bore down on the braided captain and plunked herself down on the log beside him. She took a long drink from the tankard in her hand and handed Duo another she had brought with her.
"Here, my friend, have a quaff o' this. Pinched it meself from one of Mr. A. Keith's fine galleys up in Maritimes," Kauri grinned.
"Mr. A. Keith?" Duo asked wryly, taking a sip. "Whoever the hell he is, he makes damn fine beer."
"Those who like it, like it a lot," Kauri agreed amenably. "So what all'd you get for your birthday?"
Duo shrugged "A bit of this an' that. What do you get for a pirate for his birthday? Are we even supposed to have birthdays?"
Kauri laughed. "I don't know. I guess if you know Quatre you do." She took another drink and gave him a sideways look. "I know what to get a pirate for his birthday."
Duo raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? And what is that?"
"If you layout for your quarters you might see," Kauri replied mischievously.
Duo took another sip. "Is that so?" He stood and stretched, wiping sand off his bum. "See ya," he said in parting and ambled towards the manse. Hilde scootched over towards Kauri and leaned in.
"So whatdja get him?"
Kauri grinned. "It's black and caramel and dangerous and what Duo wants most in the whole wide world. You get three guesses and the first two don't count."
Hilde's eyes widened and she giggled. "You didn't!"
"Oh yes, and I didn't pinch it off its ship, or take away its weapons, or wrap it up as an injured crew man and smuggle it into Duo's room, and nothing that is so, is so, neither," Kauri took another gulp.
The first mate laughed and slapped her knee. "Nice job. I doubt we'll be seeing him again this night."
Kauri raised her glass, not the first nor last. "I'll drink to that!"
******
Duo absent-mindedly sipped at the excellent beer Kauri had given him as he made his way to his room, pondering what she could have gotten him. He pushed the door open and froze. Silhouetted in the window with his back to the pirate was a man Duo had been seeing in his dreams for the past month. The tankard dropped out of his slack fingers and hit the floor with a loud clank. The man at the window jumped at the sound and turned. His mouth curved in a smile as he saw the pirate. They both took a step towards each other and stopped.
Duo swallowed and took a few more steps towards the privateer, raising his hand. "My God . . . it's actually you . . ."
"And you," the privateer replied in a husky voice. Duo started as he realized he didn't even know the man's name.
"I — I never thought I see you again,"
"Nor you,"
Duo dropped his eyes. "I'm sorry, I — I don't even know your name."
"Wufei," the harsh-sounding voice filled in. "Chang Wufei."
My God, even his name sounds delicious. Duo licked his lips. "So you're my birthday present, huh?" Good move, Maxwell, that didn't sound stupid or anything.
"It's a pleasant kind of slavery," Wufei replied. Dammit, that sounded wrong. To help smooth things over, he took another step forward, bringing the two men closer together. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"
Duo shook his head and looked up again. "You didn't. I doubt you could do anything to make . . . me . . ." His voice trailed off as he drank in the sight before him. The exquisite exotic features that had captivated him earlier had lost none of their appeal. He drank in the caramel skin and the ebony hair and the pools of night that were his eyes.
Wufei was similarly lost as the braided pirate's words stumbled to a halt. From somewhere far away, with a part of his mind screaming at him to stop, he heard his voice, saying, "Getting to know each other is a long process . . . could we just skip all that, and could you just be kissing me now?" (1)
Then there was no room for warning as Duo's lips touched his and his arms encircled the pirate and everything was washed away in a flood of emotion.
******* No lemony freshness for you. Bad hentais, no biscuit.
*******
Kauri hummed a happy tune to herself as she strolled through the hallways. Hilde's prediction of the last night proved to be true. It was somewhere in the vicinity of noon and neither hide nor hair of Duo or his "birthday present" had been seen. But Kauri had a job to do, and she was doing it, come hell or high water . . . . or pissed off naked pirates. Actually, she was doing it because of the possible pissed off naked pirates. Stopping at the right door, she tapped on it and waited until Duo's voice sang out, "Go away!" Taking that as her cue, she turned the handle and stepped inside, having picked the lock earlier that morning for this express purpose.
"Good morning, sunshine," she said cheerfully, taking in the room. Clothes were strewn everywhere and the bed was in an advanced state of rumple. Duo sat up on one side of the bed and glared at her.
"Go away," he repeated.
"Just dropping off more of your present before I leave," she said, ignoring him completely. She dumped the belt, sword and pistol included onto the floor and tried to guess which large lump of the covers was the present in question. "Glad to see you enjoyed the rest of it," she smirked. A third arm emerged from under the covers and chucked a pillow at her with surprising accuracy. She ducked behind the door and laughed. "See you lat~er!" came floating back to them as she made her way off to torment some other poor saps.
Back at the ranch, Duo critically eyed the nearest piece of clothing and judged the distance to it from his current position. Having decided against it, he flopped back down and turned towards the bed's other occupant. Wufei's head emerged from under the blankets, ebony hair tousled and eyes winking with laughter. "I like that girl," he said simply.
"Oh, moving on already, are we?" Duo asked teasingly, propping himself up on one elbow. Wufei reached over and smoothed a stray piece of hair away from the other boy's face.
"Never," he said huskily. Duo caught the hand before it retreated and kissed the fingertips. A languid smile spread across his face as leant down to capture the privateer's lips.
*****
Much later, two very happy-looking boys wandered into the main room of the house, hand in hand. Quatre jumped up as soon as he saw them.
"Duo! Where do you—" he stopped and did a double take as he saw the taller boy standing slightly behind Duo. "Who — how — what?" he finished helplessly.
"Wufei, in disguise, my birthday present," Duo replied primly, towing Wufei with him as he sat down at the table. "What's for brekky?"
"Tea, more like," Trowa drawled from his station against the wall.
Quatre's mouth was still hanging open as he sat down again. He blinked a couple of times and quickly regained his mental balance. "I'm sorry Duo, I seem to be working without a script. I think some introductions might be in order. . . ."
Duo nodded. "Of course. Quatre, this is Chang Wufei, captain of the Dragon. 'Fei, this is Quatre Winner, captain of the Sandrock, and his first mate, Trowa Barton."
"Nice to meet you," Wufei replied politely
"The pleasure's mine," Quatre responded automatically, Trowa nodding his agreement. Then he frowned. "Wait a minute . . . the Dragon? Isn't that a . . .?" His tone changed abruptly and he rose from his chair. "Duo? What have you done? Why have you brought him here? You've put us all in danger!"
Duo stood up to face the fuming pirate. "Quatre, it's okay. The story's a bit strange, but you can trust him. And I didn't bring him here, Kauri did."
"Trust him!?!" Quatre threw his arms in the air. "He's a privateer, for Allah's sake! A traitor!" Trowa took a few quick steps and wrapped his arms around Quatre, calming him slightly. Quatre glared at them both from the protective circle of his lover's arms. "I never want to see him on this island again. Or you, if you want to run around with scum like him."
During this exchange, Wufei had stood up. Now he drew himself up and, eyes smouldering with rage, said in a clipped voice. "I see I am not well received. If it is you wish as my unwilling host, I will find Kauri and ask her to ferry me to the nearest port. Goodbye." Then he spun on his heel and strode through the double doors. Duo stood, jaw hanging.
He glared at Quatre. "Thank you, my friend," he said bitterly before also turning and dashing after the privateer.
He caught up to him outside the house, where the sandy beach became solid land in a scrub of dry grass. Wufei marched ahead, one hand on his sword hilt and entire body language screaming rage. Duo clutched desperately at his arm. "Wufei, wait, please! Fei!"
Wufei ground to a halt and turned to face Duo. "Telling me to get out, too?" he asked coolly.
Duo wilted. "No, never," He reached up and ran a hand along the edge of the other boy's face. "Quatre's words were spoken without thought, please, don't listen,"
"I must, Wufei replied. "This is his place. I must leave. that was made abundantly clear."
"I don't want you to go!" Duo argued. "If we can explain to Quatre—"
Wufei's expression abruptly softened and he held out a hand. "Please, don't make this harder for me. I never want to leave your side, but I must. I'll find Kauri and go. Last night was wonderful, something I will never forget and never wish to. I must leave."
Duo nodded mutely and held the proffered hand. Wufei drew him into a close embrace. They clung to each other for a desperate moment. The privateer turned his enemy's face up and gave him one last, tender kiss before breaking the embrace and striding away across the sand to where Kauri was yelling orders and her crew were scurrying around in obedience. Duo watched as Wufei spoke to Kauri, who glanced his way before nodding. He watched as Wufei boarded one of the longboats. He watched until the privateer's form disappeared onto the deck of the Antelope. Then the pirate crumpled to the scratchy grass, silent tears streaming down his face.
Notes:
(1) Pinching lines from Buffy. Excuse me for recognising genius and redistributing it.