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A Million Ways to Slay a Raven

Jessenia

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Chapter Five: Come Into My World

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Duo had a plan and it was brilliant.

He pressed down on the gas pedal and smirked as the car revved forward. He was vaguely aware of Quatre clinging to the seat in front of him, and Trowa clinging to the door handle, but Duo was focussed on his task. They were going to save Heero. "Uh. Duo?" The car purred as it notched up a speed. "This is the building." The car screeched to a halt as Duo expertly guided the car into an open spot. He was a pro, and it wasn't just from the course that Preventers made him take on how to drive a car in a high-speed chase.

"Okay, let's go." Trowa reached a hand over, effectively stopping him. "What?" Duo scowled, and Trowa pointed.

"We don't have to." Duo followed where the slender brunette was point and saw Heero and Shinigami walking down the street. Relena came bounding out of the building they had been prepared to 'infiltrate' and was calling to him. Duo rolled down his window.

"Heero! Get back here! Don't pretend that you can't hear me!! Heero!!!" Duo shook his head and hopped out of the car. He bounded over to the Japanese boy and was vaguely aware that Shini-chan stopped, tail wagging. A perplexed expression crossed the boy's face before Duo spoke-up.

"Need a ride?" A smile slowly spread over the beautiful features and Duo felt his insides melt. Heero nodded, and Duo grinned and carefully took Heero's arm.

"Heero! What do you think you're doing?" Duo look unfazed at Heero's older sister.

"I'm taking him home." Duo said and opened the door for Heero who carefully situated himself in the back with Quatre. Relena bent forward to say something but Duo slammed the door shut. He turned back to face Relena and gave her a threatening glare. "He's not your toy. If you ever do that again, you'll have me to contend with." He flicked his braid over his shoulder and bounced over to his side of the car, opening his door and tossing her a wide grin. "Bye!" He called with a smile that belied the again that he had just previously displayed. And then he sped off.

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Three weeks since Duo had sped-off to rescue Heero from a psychiatrist and Relena still had not left. She was driving Heero crazy and Duo could sympathize. In an attempt to give the poor boy a break, Duo had invited his friend to take shelter for a few days at his house.

It was, in all honesty, something that was really needed. Heero was not able to sleep, and could hardly keep his food down since he was constantly nervous. Duo had asked Quatre why Heero was so nervous around her, but Quatre had only looked darkly at their blind friend and then shook his head, as if that moment was not the right one.

Duo reported this back to Wufei, but his partner had no leads. One thing that had perked their interest was that Heero had a massive fortune. Wufei had written-up a report on whether it was possible Heero could still be a target and, in his research, had found that the vast majority of the Yuy fortune had been passed-down to Heero. At least, would be passed-down. The will had stipulated that Heero would receive the fortune when he was twenty-one. Duo had looked at Relena with a different eye after that, remembering something that Trowa or Quatre had said, that Relena had been greedy.

As suspicious as she was, Duo could not picture Relena being the mastermind behind that plain-crash. He knew there was something that he was missing, something that was made blatantly clear when Trowa had called him and asked him to check on their friend since Quatre and Trowa were going on a field-trip for the week. Apparently the quiet boy was concerned because Heero was wasting away. Quatre had elaborated and said this was often the way Heero behaved under stress. Impractical and maybe still a rub-off from his once suicidal behaviour, but Duo had nonetheless took pity on his frail friend and promptly absconded with him.

They were now both in hiding in Duo's apartment.

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Heero laughed, and Duo closed his eyes, coming to the conclusion that it was the most pleasant sound he had ever experienced. "I'm serious!" Duo added when the laughter had softened to a soft chuckle.

"Duo, the chances of any of that having actually happened are so incredibly slim ..." Duo snorted.

"Yeah, well. It may just be a story but it got you laughing, didn't?" Heero nodded.

"Yes." There was a pause and then Heero smiled, a small hint of smile that made Duo mirror the look. "Thank-you." Duo shrugged.

"Anytime." Heero yawned and Duo looked at the clock, and startled, a bit guiltily. "We should probably get you to bed." Heero shrugged.

"I'm not that tired." Duo snorted and hauled Heero up.

"That's an outright lie. It's four o'clock in the morning!" Heero stopped then shook his head.

"Okay. Good-night."

"Night, Heero." He watched the boy, guided by his dog, enter his bedroom and shut the door. Duo sighed and flopped into the sofa, snuggling into the warm-patch where Heero had just been sitting. "He'll be the end of me." He whispered, then a grin split his face. "And what an end that will be."

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"I got you a Christmas present!" Duo said at breakfast and Heero had looked confused.

"It isn't Christmas." Then, a bit hesitantly, "Is it?" Duo slid the package across the table, bumping it gently against Heero's fingers.

"Nope. Not yet. But it's come early just for you." Heero smiled softly and fumbled with the packaging. Duo watched with anticipation as the book softly plunked onto Heero's lap. A tentative hand ran over the cover, and the soft smile that had been on the boy's features spread.

'Sir Thomas Malory?" Duo smiled.

"The tale of King Arthur. Well, a chunk of it. There were too many, maybe I'll get you one each year." Heero smiled, he ran his fingers over the braille again. "I remembered you said you liked history, and I figured Arthur is one of the best." Heero smiled secretively and held the book close to him. It was massive, the braille made it bigger than it would have been usually, but Duo was so excited when he had found it. He had thought that maybe they didn't put books like that into braille.

"Thank-you." Duo smiled at him and ruffled the boy's hair.

"No problem." Heero waited in silence as Duo put-out breakfast. Scambled eggs, toast, orange juice. It wasn't much, but Duo wasn't much of a cook. Duo told Heero the rough placement of everything on his plate and Heero nodded, but held his fork, not eating.

"Duo ..." He said after a while. Duo shifted nervously in his seat. "You said it was a Christmas present. But ..." Duo winced. He was stupid, he shouldn't have drawn attention to it. But he had wanted to give the book to Heero, and had thought that even if it were painful, he still deserved something on his ... "but it's my birthday." Duo sighed and stood-up, kneeling down by Heero's chair and wrapping Heero's hands in his own.

"I know." Heero nodded but there was a pained expression on his face. Duo lunged forward just as Heero dropped into his arms and they stayed like that for a while. Duo wasn't sure how long, but then Heero pulled back and blushed a little, mumbling an apology under his breath, as if he were afraid Duo would hurt him.

Duo couldn't take anymore. He couldn't think clearly, he'd felt Heero, how wonderful it was to have the boy pulled close against him and he couldn't get enough. He yanked the boy back into his arms and Heero, shocked by the action, slipped off the chair completely into Duo's lap.

He wasn't sure how it happened, he was pretty sure he was the one who had tilted Heero's head back, but then they were kissing. Full-blown, hot and passionate. Devouring each other.

It felt like ascending to heaven.

Duo's entire body was on fire.

He couldn't stop himself, his hands and body had a mind of their own. He slid a hand underneath the shirt that Heero wore, already conveniently untucked, and soon he felt his entire body shaking as he touched Heero.

The boy was electric.

The responses he would give, whimpers, sighs, gasps, were pushing Duo out of his mind and had to ask himself seriously if he minded. He decided he didn't.

He shifted Heero off his lap, pushing the boy to the floor and leaning over him. It was easier to access the sublime body beneath him. Heero was gasping for breath as Duo shifted his attention away from his mouth, taking his soft ear between his lips and biting gently. "Duo ..." It was a low breathless voice and Duo was driven crazy by it.

"What?" He asked, voice husky. He couldn't stop shaking, it was overload, every cell driven crazy by the amazing boy beneath him.

"Why?" It was a bare whisper and Duo caught his breath. He became aware of two things.

One, Heero wasn't going to stop him. At this moment, the boy didn't care what Duo was going to do to him, he was going to let him do it.

Anything.

It was a complete surrender.

Duo bit his lip, senses returning to him.

The other thing he realized was that he simply could not take advantage of the boy. It meant too much. He sighed, fully in control of himself now, and he caressed the smooth cheek, earning him a shudder from the boy beneath him.

"Because, Heero. I love you." There was a gasp and the sightless eyes flew open. The expression was stunned, but, to Duo's astonishment, there was excitement in the boy as well. He sat back, confused. He wasn't expecting this. Wasn't expecting Heero to seem so enthralled by the prospect.

He was still blinking in confusion when Heero raised a hand, savagely clinging onto his shirt-front and yanked. Duo yelped as he was pulled back down and blinked in surprise when he made contact again with that heavenly mouth. He moaned and closed his eyes.

When they pulled back they were both breathless and Heero was smiling. Duo blinked in astonishment, love for the boy beneath him growing with each passing moment. "Good." Heero said, and closed his eyes, contented smile on his face.

Duo knew that they couldn't go any further. It was too much too fast, and he wanted to savour every piece of Heero. The boy was simply too good to be true. Duo laughed in surprise and Heero blinked at him. "Come on." Heero tilted his head with a coy expression on his face and Duo shook his head, loving how animated the boy had become in just a few moments. "I'm hungry." Duo said, with a tone that implied he wasn't looking for food. Heero blushed.

"You're always hungry." He mumbled, and Duo laughed, pulling the boy into a tight hug.

"Only when you're on the menu."

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Duo shifted uncomfortably for the nth time. Quatre frowned at him. "What's wrong, Duo?" The boy's face flushed and he looked down at his plate, poking at the beans he found there.

"Nothing." He said, voice cracking slightly. Quatre frowned and looked at Heero, who was sitting across from Duo. He looked completely composed, eating his food and not even focussing on the boy across from him.

Quatre frowned. What was going on?

"Gah!" Duo dropped his fork and looked guiltily around the table. Duo sat back looking a little tense. He quickly snatched the napkin from the side of his plate and dropped it onto his lap.

/Hn. A little late to be polite./ Trowa thought, then a slow smile split his face. He caught Quatre's eye, but the blond looked concerned. Trowa smiled.

"Heero." He said, in a calm voice. "Please remove your foot from Duo's lap and let the poor boy finish his meal." Quatre looked stunned at Trowa, then stared open-mouthed at Heero. Heero looked-up, smiling a little. Duo winced.

"Excuse me." He muttered and dashed off. Heero returned to his meal and Trowa shook his head.

"Now look what you've done." Heero shrugged but smiled to himself. Trowa felt as if a heavy burden was lifted off his shoulders. He hadn't seen Heero smile like since ... His smile grew and he and Quatre couldn't stop grinning like idiots at each other as Heero continued, oblivious, eating his meal. "Happy birthday Heero." Heero put his fork down carefully and sighed.

"Thank-you. It is."

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Relena shifted awkwardly in her seat and waited. She heard a door open and stood-up, "Heero?" She could hear the faint jingle of that dog and knew that Heero was finally awake.

"Heero, do you think it's wise to be traipsing off to the wilderness in your condition?" Heero stopped walking and smirked a little at her. She had never seen that expression on her brother's face.

"Hello, Relena. I think that a vacation was exactly what I needed." She heard water running in the bathroom and frowned. Who...?

"Relena?" She blinked as a boy with a long braid bounced out of the bathroom and smiled.

"Who?"

"Oh really, Relena-san. It's me, Duo!" She shuddered. Of course, the cretin. "I'll make breakfast, Hee-chan." Heero nodded and Relena looked at them both.

"What...?" Duo rolled his eyes.

"Heero was exhausted after yesterday and he fell asleep before he made it to his bed, so I had to haul him up the stairs and get him situated. Can you believe that? Well, after all that I figured, fuck it. I'm just gonna sleep right here." Duo shrugged again and bounced over to the kitchen where he began opening all the cupboards, examining their contents.

"Are you okay, Heero?" Heero was still smiling a little and she blinked. But the smile was gone. Heero nodded.

"I suppose you'll be wanting something to eat, ne Relena?" Relena spun around, still confused.

"Uh. No, thank-you ... I just ... no." She looked at the sofa where a blanket and pillow were tossed. "I just ... Heero ... I have to go." She left quickly and Heero sat at the table.

"What's wrong with her?" Heero shrugged.

"Why did she think I was in the wilderness?" He heard Duo's warm chuckle and couldn't help smiling wider.

"Well, I couldn't say you were staying with me, she'd track us down! So I said you were on vacation." Heero shook his head. "Well, I had to say something!" Heero raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, forget it! That's the last time I try to help you!" To Duo's surprise Heero flashed him another coy look. "You devil! I can't believe, I mean ..." He was cut off as Heero, estimating his proximity, snatched at his shirt and pulled Duo forward.

Duo stopped complaining.

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TBC

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Jessenia: Yeah, after the angst I needed to toss in some fluff. Now I have to stir accordingly! I hope everyone is enjoying so far!! Thanks so much for the reviews!! I really appreciate. More please! See you in the next chapter.