Part Three - Heero
It wasn't the third, or even fourth time I wondered how I came to be sitting in a coffee shop across the street from Duo's studio. I knew something had to change, but I wasn't sure what amounted to stalking him on L4 was going to help. Of course, I wasn't sure it wasn't either.
Soon enough, Duo emerged from the building. I could almost hear the cheery farewell he tossed over his shoulder. I knew it was long after his show had finished taping, and he had apparently changed clothes afterwards into a soft black outfit with thin boots. He had his braid tucked under the collar of a dark trench coat. After giving him a sufficient head start, I followed him down the street.
Duo strode down the sidewalk, apparently enjoying walking around at the ungodly hour of two a.m. Occasionally he even whistled a snatch of song. The gradual change in his manner was subtle at first, but it was obvious to me. His steps became softer, his eyes more intense until soon he was just drifting down the street, his presence no more intrusive than the gentle breeze. I knew that attitude, and took extra precautions. Shinigami was on a mission.
Twice I was sure he knew he was being followed, but each time I managed to elude detection. Duo stopped in front of an imposing office building. He took something small and metal out of his pocket and tossed it into the air. The light glinted off it for a brief second before he caught it with a feral grin.
I knew what was coming. As many times as I'd tried to see this, the actual moment defied my surveillance once again. Duo just vanished, sliding into the darkness like smoke into the night. One of these days I would be able to quantify how he did that, but until then the actual moment of transition was still a mystery.
I moved closer and studied the building that was so obviously Duo's target. I frowned in surprise as I found it was the local offices of Winner Enterprises. I caught the smallest flash of light from one of the windows near the top floor. I waited, and waited some more, until the familiar prickle on my neck let me know what I was waiting for. Duo would not resurface, he must have known he was under observation, but couldn't pinpoint who or where. This wasn't getting me anywhere, it was time for a change in tactics.
Deliberately stepping into the light, I waited a moment. "We should talk. Meet me." I didn't bother to raise my voice, I had no doubt he would hear me. I turned and walked back the way we had come.
Two streets later I had reached my objective; a dingy all-night diner. The cracked vinyl caught on my jeans as I slid into a relatively clean booth. I was completely unsurprised when Duo sat down opposite me a moment later.
"Hey, haven't seen you in awhile. What brings you all the way out here?" The words were cheerful enough, but there was something wary in Duo's eyes.
Now that the moment was here, I found I wasn't quite sure what to say. I deflected the question with one of my own. "Will you have something to eat?" He studied me a second, then added an order for some pie and coffee. The food arrived within moments.
I still felt awkward and uncomfortable. I decided to indulge my curiosity a bit before addressing my reasons for being here. "What were you doing back there?"
Duo sighed and mashed a piece of his untouched pie with his fork. "Did Quatre send you? I thought I'd timed it right, must be going soft in my old age."
I frowned. Apparently I wasn't the only one with reason to deflect a question. "No, I wasn't sent. What were you doing back there?"
"Really? Promise? Cross your heart and hope to die?" The guarded look was still in Duo's eyes.
"No." I was beginning to get irritated now. I let it show in my voice as I continued. "I wasn't sent, I haven't talked to Quatre, and I asked what you were doing back there."
Duo slowly smiled. He was more eloquent with a smile, or a laugh, than most people could ever dream of being. I was forced to admit that had always fascinated me. This smile radiated gleeful mischief, and delight. I knew he was dying to tell me.
"About a week ago," he began, "It became...necessary for me to access Quatre's calendar system." Duo's voice was distracting. Apparently just seeing him wasn't the answer to the problem. In fact, Duo's smooth tone coupled with his appearance, black working clothes with his face flushed and eyes sparkling with joy, was making it exponentially worse. I was having trouble breathing.
I wrenched my attention back to the thread of his story just in time to realize I was being asked a question.
"What's the one thing people almost always forget when they enter a potentially hostile room?" Duo asked.
"To look up," I answered absently, my attention on trying to rewind the conversation mentally.
"Right. And what's the one thing people almost always forget when trying to protect their system from hackers?"
It clicked, and I made a small sound of understanding. "The hardware."
"Exactly. All Quatre's appointments tomorrow are going to be with the firm of Grim and Reaper and Ms. Angel of Death and...well, you get the idea."
Duo was smirking. I blinked as I tried to process this information. Duo was causing mayhem for Quatre? He was fairly glowing with his success. A computer system as large as Winner Enterprises had to have some fairly sensitive data, not to mention the chaos it would cause if any vital operations were interrupted. When had I missed such a dramatic change in the interpersonal dynamics of my friends? I was beginning to regret my decision not to stay in touch with my fellow pilots for the last two years.
"Why did you sabotage Quatre?" I asked. "Are you two fighting?"
Duo looked at me blankly for a moment, and then grinned in realization. "No, you don't understand. It's all friendly; Cat knows the password to get things back to normal. We've played this game before, and it helps keep our edge to practice on each other." Duo smiled one of those eloquent smiles, full of sly remembrance. "One time, he managed to get all the systems in my apartment to play over an hour's worth of commercials for that hideous health drink thing his company puts out. I still can't figure out how he did that one, and he won't tell me, the fiend."
I relaxed and we ate in silence for a few moments. Mashing the last bit of his pie onto his fork, Duo got to the point.
"Your turn to answer. You never did tell me before, what are you doing here?"
I studied him a moment, unsure how to begin. "I need some information."
"Um, aren't you supposed to go through channels for that?"
"The Preventers can't get me this information. I need it from you." I could feel my whole body tense. I kept staring at Duo, hoping for inspiration.
He cocked his head curiously and laughed, this one invited the listener to join in. He was always finding something to laugh about, another thing that fascinated me.
"You're staring at me like I'm some kind of mission," Duo said, still grinning.
And suddenly there it was, the perfect opening. "I always knew you were perceptive," I replied evenly.
Duo's grin faded into puzzled contemplation. "Should I be worried?" he asked. For someone who had spent hours focused on his voice as I had it was easy to hear he was a bit nervous and deadly serious.
The impulse to sigh in frustration was tempting, but I resisted it. "Duo," I said, "what do you know about me since we all split up? Outside of mission parameters, that is."
Duo rested his elbows on the table, his chin on top of his folded hands. He stared across the narrow table, appearing to give the question his full attention. Our eyes met and I found I couldn't look away.
"Outside of work, as it were? I know you stopped being Relena's bodyguard eight months before she got married. I know you've moved twice since then and you live in Minsk now. I know your curtains are red. I know you have miso soup and fish for breakfast every day. I know you've got four chairs and a kitchen table but you sleep on the couch. I know you keep an emergency stash of ID and cash taped under the sink. I know you have a hell of a singing voice, when there's no one around to hear it." I didn't know whether to be astonished or angry; I ended by being uncomfortably impressed. Duo looked away then, and this time his smile was completely unreadable. "What, you think I've never gone on a mission of my own?"
"How....when....we'll need to talk later." I was determined not to be distracted now that I'd begun to say what I had come here for. But I had to admit this revelation that Duo knew more about me than I would have believed was...disturbingly intriguing.
I had to be direct. Uncomfortable as it was, it was time to be blunt. "I listen to you every night and for awhile now..." I trailed off, not even knowing myself where that sentence was going. "Whenever I hear you," I tried again, "I get the strangest feelings."
I was acutely aware the explanation was hopelessly inadequate.
Duo's eyes were narrowing in concern, so I tried clinical detachment. "The physical side effects are an increased pulse rate, rise in body temperature, restlessness and nervous energy. There's this...desire... to do something or take some action but I can't focus on what it is. Hearing you makes me want...something," I finished, miserably frustrated. I knew what I wanted alright, I just couldn't seem to say it.
I watched the play of thoughts on his face, which he didn't bother to hide. Once, his eyes widened as if struck by an idea, and he almost looked at me, but then shook his head with a bitterly ironic grimace. Duo finally looked at me again, and once more I was captivated by the depths of blueness in his eyes. If sunshine were a color, I thought irrelevantly, it would be that exact shade. Those eyes were suddenly filled with revelation and something oddly like hope.
"Oh. Man, you're gonna kill me if I'm wrong, but what's life without a little adventure?" I mentally shook my attention from the microcosm of Duo's eyes, to see him grinning with gleeful intent. "Take your chances, eh?" He stood and rounded the table to slide into the booth beside me. I automatically scooted over but we were still close enough that when Duo turned and laid his hand along the back of the seat, our legs pressed together.
"Let me get this straight," he began, "when you listen to me, your body gets all tense and flushed, and you feel this need to do something." I nodded confirmation, hearing to Duo's gleeful voice edged with apprehension. I started when his hand came down around my shoulders, but let myself be pulled close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body. "I have a theory." Duo moved his head closer, and now I could feel soft exhalations caressing my cheek and lips. I shivered. "How do you feel now?" he asked.
I could only stare. I swallowed, not finding any words to convey the desperate feeling of drowning. My eyes must have confirmed whatever he was looking for. "Please don't kill me for this, okay?" he purred. Then, to my utter shock, Duo leaned forward the last inch and kissed me.
He tasted of coffee and sweet apples, and I went into sensory overload. I was acutely aware of the barest tickle of breath against my skin, the subvocal whimper of Duo's need, the fresh scent of soap and desire from his heated flesh. Then the moment was gone, along with the kiss.
We sat very still for a moment, breathing hard and struggling for control. Duo, as could be expected, was the first to speak.
"Oh, yeah. I think I know what you need." With a smile of transcendent joy, he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the booth. "Come on, we'll go to my place."
It wasn't the third, or even fourth time I wondered how I came to be sitting in a coffee shop across the street from Duo's studio. I knew something had to change, but I wasn't sure what amounted to stalking him on L4 was going to help. Of course, I wasn't sure it wasn't either.
Soon enough, Duo emerged from the building. I could almost hear the cheery farewell he tossed over his shoulder. I knew it was long after his show had finished taping, and he had apparently changed clothes afterwards into a soft black outfit with thin boots. He had his braid tucked under the collar of a dark trench coat. After giving him a sufficient head start, I followed him down the street.
Duo strode down the sidewalk, apparently enjoying walking around at the ungodly hour of two a.m. Occasionally he even whistled a snatch of song. The gradual change in his manner was subtle at first, but it was obvious to me. His steps became softer, his eyes more intense until soon he was just drifting down the street, his presence no more intrusive than the gentle breeze. I knew that attitude, and took extra precautions. Shinigami was on a mission.
Twice I was sure he knew he was being followed, but each time I managed to elude detection. Duo stopped in front of an imposing office building. He took something small and metal out of his pocket and tossed it into the air. The light glinted off it for a brief second before he caught it with a feral grin.
I knew what was coming. As many times as I'd tried to see this, the actual moment defied my surveillance once again. Duo just vanished, sliding into the darkness like smoke into the night. One of these days I would be able to quantify how he did that, but until then the actual moment of transition was still a mystery.
I moved closer and studied the building that was so obviously Duo's target. I frowned in surprise as I found it was the local offices of Winner Enterprises. I caught the smallest flash of light from one of the windows near the top floor. I waited, and waited some more, until the familiar prickle on my neck let me know what I was waiting for. Duo would not resurface, he must have known he was under observation, but couldn't pinpoint who or where. This wasn't getting me anywhere, it was time for a change in tactics.
Deliberately stepping into the light, I waited a moment. "We should talk. Meet me." I didn't bother to raise my voice, I had no doubt he would hear me. I turned and walked back the way we had come.
Two streets later I had reached my objective; a dingy all-night diner. The cracked vinyl caught on my jeans as I slid into a relatively clean booth. I was completely unsurprised when Duo sat down opposite me a moment later.
"Hey, haven't seen you in awhile. What brings you all the way out here?" The words were cheerful enough, but there was something wary in Duo's eyes.
Now that the moment was here, I found I wasn't quite sure what to say. I deflected the question with one of my own. "Will you have something to eat?" He studied me a second, then added an order for some pie and coffee. The food arrived within moments.
I still felt awkward and uncomfortable. I decided to indulge my curiosity a bit before addressing my reasons for being here. "What were you doing back there?"
Duo sighed and mashed a piece of his untouched pie with his fork. "Did Quatre send you? I thought I'd timed it right, must be going soft in my old age."
I frowned. Apparently I wasn't the only one with reason to deflect a question. "No, I wasn't sent. What were you doing back there?"
"Really? Promise? Cross your heart and hope to die?" The guarded look was still in Duo's eyes.
"No." I was beginning to get irritated now. I let it show in my voice as I continued. "I wasn't sent, I haven't talked to Quatre, and I asked what you were doing back there."
Duo slowly smiled. He was more eloquent with a smile, or a laugh, than most people could ever dream of being. I was forced to admit that had always fascinated me. This smile radiated gleeful mischief, and delight. I knew he was dying to tell me.
"About a week ago," he began, "It became...necessary for me to access Quatre's calendar system." Duo's voice was distracting. Apparently just seeing him wasn't the answer to the problem. In fact, Duo's smooth tone coupled with his appearance, black working clothes with his face flushed and eyes sparkling with joy, was making it exponentially worse. I was having trouble breathing.
I wrenched my attention back to the thread of his story just in time to realize I was being asked a question.
"What's the one thing people almost always forget when they enter a potentially hostile room?" Duo asked.
"To look up," I answered absently, my attention on trying to rewind the conversation mentally.
"Right. And what's the one thing people almost always forget when trying to protect their system from hackers?"
It clicked, and I made a small sound of understanding. "The hardware."
"Exactly. All Quatre's appointments tomorrow are going to be with the firm of Grim and Reaper and Ms. Angel of Death and...well, you get the idea."
Duo was smirking. I blinked as I tried to process this information. Duo was causing mayhem for Quatre? He was fairly glowing with his success. A computer system as large as Winner Enterprises had to have some fairly sensitive data, not to mention the chaos it would cause if any vital operations were interrupted. When had I missed such a dramatic change in the interpersonal dynamics of my friends? I was beginning to regret my decision not to stay in touch with my fellow pilots for the last two years.
"Why did you sabotage Quatre?" I asked. "Are you two fighting?"
Duo looked at me blankly for a moment, and then grinned in realization. "No, you don't understand. It's all friendly; Cat knows the password to get things back to normal. We've played this game before, and it helps keep our edge to practice on each other." Duo smiled one of those eloquent smiles, full of sly remembrance. "One time, he managed to get all the systems in my apartment to play over an hour's worth of commercials for that hideous health drink thing his company puts out. I still can't figure out how he did that one, and he won't tell me, the fiend."
I relaxed and we ate in silence for a few moments. Mashing the last bit of his pie onto his fork, Duo got to the point.
"Your turn to answer. You never did tell me before, what are you doing here?"
I studied him a moment, unsure how to begin. "I need some information."
"Um, aren't you supposed to go through channels for that?"
"The Preventers can't get me this information. I need it from you." I could feel my whole body tense. I kept staring at Duo, hoping for inspiration.
He cocked his head curiously and laughed, this one invited the listener to join in. He was always finding something to laugh about, another thing that fascinated me.
"You're staring at me like I'm some kind of mission," Duo said, still grinning.
And suddenly there it was, the perfect opening. "I always knew you were perceptive," I replied evenly.
Duo's grin faded into puzzled contemplation. "Should I be worried?" he asked. For someone who had spent hours focused on his voice as I had it was easy to hear he was a bit nervous and deadly serious.
The impulse to sigh in frustration was tempting, but I resisted it. "Duo," I said, "what do you know about me since we all split up? Outside of mission parameters, that is."
Duo rested his elbows on the table, his chin on top of his folded hands. He stared across the narrow table, appearing to give the question his full attention. Our eyes met and I found I couldn't look away.
"Outside of work, as it were? I know you stopped being Relena's bodyguard eight months before she got married. I know you've moved twice since then and you live in Minsk now. I know your curtains are red. I know you have miso soup and fish for breakfast every day. I know you've got four chairs and a kitchen table but you sleep on the couch. I know you keep an emergency stash of ID and cash taped under the sink. I know you have a hell of a singing voice, when there's no one around to hear it." I didn't know whether to be astonished or angry; I ended by being uncomfortably impressed. Duo looked away then, and this time his smile was completely unreadable. "What, you think I've never gone on a mission of my own?"
"How....when....we'll need to talk later." I was determined not to be distracted now that I'd begun to say what I had come here for. But I had to admit this revelation that Duo knew more about me than I would have believed was...disturbingly intriguing.
I had to be direct. Uncomfortable as it was, it was time to be blunt. "I listen to you every night and for awhile now..." I trailed off, not even knowing myself where that sentence was going. "Whenever I hear you," I tried again, "I get the strangest feelings."
I was acutely aware the explanation was hopelessly inadequate.
Duo's eyes were narrowing in concern, so I tried clinical detachment. "The physical side effects are an increased pulse rate, rise in body temperature, restlessness and nervous energy. There's this...desire... to do something or take some action but I can't focus on what it is. Hearing you makes me want...something," I finished, miserably frustrated. I knew what I wanted alright, I just couldn't seem to say it.
I watched the play of thoughts on his face, which he didn't bother to hide. Once, his eyes widened as if struck by an idea, and he almost looked at me, but then shook his head with a bitterly ironic grimace. Duo finally looked at me again, and once more I was captivated by the depths of blueness in his eyes. If sunshine were a color, I thought irrelevantly, it would be that exact shade. Those eyes were suddenly filled with revelation and something oddly like hope.
"Oh. Man, you're gonna kill me if I'm wrong, but what's life without a little adventure?" I mentally shook my attention from the microcosm of Duo's eyes, to see him grinning with gleeful intent. "Take your chances, eh?" He stood and rounded the table to slide into the booth beside me. I automatically scooted over but we were still close enough that when Duo turned and laid his hand along the back of the seat, our legs pressed together.
"Let me get this straight," he began, "when you listen to me, your body gets all tense and flushed, and you feel this need to do something." I nodded confirmation, hearing to Duo's gleeful voice edged with apprehension. I started when his hand came down around my shoulders, but let myself be pulled close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body. "I have a theory." Duo moved his head closer, and now I could feel soft exhalations caressing my cheek and lips. I shivered. "How do you feel now?" he asked.
I could only stare. I swallowed, not finding any words to convey the desperate feeling of drowning. My eyes must have confirmed whatever he was looking for. "Please don't kill me for this, okay?" he purred. Then, to my utter shock, Duo leaned forward the last inch and kissed me.
He tasted of coffee and sweet apples, and I went into sensory overload. I was acutely aware of the barest tickle of breath against my skin, the subvocal whimper of Duo's need, the fresh scent of soap and desire from his heated flesh. Then the moment was gone, along with the kiss.
We sat very still for a moment, breathing hard and struggling for control. Duo, as could be expected, was the first to speak.
"Oh, yeah. I think I know what you need." With a smile of transcendent joy, he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the booth. "Come on, we'll go to my place."