At the End of the Game

by TeasingWinds

Quatre needs Duo, a theft, to steal something back from his friend Heero, but misunderstandings ensue and the problem turns out to much more dangerous then stealing between friends and much more deadly then any of them could ever imagine.

1. At the End of the Game

At the end of the game

By Indi Doran

Warnings: boyxboy goodness. Pass NCS (not the focus). Language and nudeness

Catotogory: Angst, Au, Adventure, NCS(not the focus) 1x2, 3x4..more to come.

Disclaimer: Boys no mine. I don't own Gundum Wing, nor Heero, Duo or any other Gundam character. I am a child and I am broke. I don't make money and I'm not worth suing. Enjoy the story.

REQUEST: I am in need of a beta reader. Let me know if you are good at editing and want to help me. Also let me know if you like what i'm writing. I'll write more only if you, the reader, want me to.

Chapter 1

I think I'll begin this story at the beginning. That's the best to start something right? No one wants to start at the end, well unless you are one of those nosy people who start a book by reading the last page first to check if the ending is happy. Well that's not how we do things here. As I said I'll start at the beginning. There I was in the Fallopian tube...ok maybe not that far back into the beginning; I don't even know whose fallopian tube it was. I was an orphan. Don't feel bad. I don't. I just try not to think about it because as a friend said once, "Don't sit in shit because then you smell like shit." Not the most eloquent thing I know but it means if you dwell in something then you can never move on and it got me through the hungry years. I had a lot of hungry years, with no one take me in I basically grew up on the streets. I did what I had to survive. I did a lot of things that I'm not proud of. I have blood on my hands. A lot of blood. But let's get this straight I sure in hell not an innocent, but even I didn't deserve some of crap thrown my way. However I just put one foot in front of the other and pulled through my hard times. On the good side I came with out a ton of skills. One of those skills was that was I was good with people, another one of those skills was slip in and out of places unnoticed. I was real good at that. Another thing my friend used to say back on the streets when I was young was to play your talents because they were all you had. So I became a thief. I picked a lock, slipped in and slipped out. Easy stuff at first, but soon I moved on to the bigger and better stuff, stuff that needs vaults and alarms. I didn't know scratch about complex alarm systems, but I figured out safe locks pretty quickly. That just meant I needed to find alternate ways of getting to the safe unnoticed, without triggering any alarms. So that brings me to the real beginning, standing here in an itchy white suit, a too tight white bow tie; becoming rapidly over heated in one of the most well outfitted, busiest kitchens in this side of the country.

"Boy, Ze' better 'urry up and finish coating ze' Profiteroles au Chocolat[1] you must come 'ere and prepare the Clafoutis aux Abricots."

I nodded really having no clue what the hell a Clafoutis was but Perrier just gave me easy stuff to do, he really was so bad once you got past his cheesy fake French accent. He really was a good cook.

I went over and beat the batter into submission, while around be the kitchen was in full swing. I was on the kitchen staff of "Un très bon canard" [2] the catering group doing the coming out ball for the Winner's only and youngest son, Quatre Winner. The Winner's had given some very generous gifts (in way of jewels) to their darling boy right before the party. The jewels were just sitting unguarded in Quartre's room upstairs until they could be moved a safer location. Now you're beginning to see it my way. His was the far room at the end of the hallway on the left (I had done my homework). The job got me on the property now I had to just get upstairs without looking suspicious. I waited until most of the food had been prepared and brought outside to the guests. There was a lull in the cooking storm and I decided that now was my chance to put this plain into action. I casually walked over to the dumbwaiter, that was convientaly located in a semi private walled in space. I had checked this out before, the house has a working dumbwaiter. It was just large enough to hold a small, skinny person, like me. I reached for the door handle.

"Hey, kid!" A middle aged kitchen hand barked, "slacking off?"

"I've been working hard," I moaned flashing her my sweetest, smile and puppy dog eyes.

She actually giggled back at me, "Working hard or hardly working?" She giggled again at her own joke, but luckily moved on and didn't hand around.

I opened the dumbwaiter, it looked really small now that I was actually contemplating climbing inside. However I didn't want risk getting spotted again and quickly slipped in back first so I would be facing the right way once we hit the 2nd floor. I tucked my knees in under my chin and hugged them to my chest with one arm and with other I quickly reached out and pushed the 2nd floor button and the dumbwaiter door slid close. I don't have claustrophobia, but if I had to spend more then 10 minutes in that thing I think I would have developed a nice case of it. The ride was not a whole lot of fun, just because the Winner's have a working dumbwaiter, it didn't mean that it worked very well and about 5 minutes into the ride it is stopped. Ok maybe I do have a touch of claustrophobia.

"Shit" I tried to control my breathing. I told myself that I was not going to get stuck here. That my little 2- foot by 2-foot crawlspace was not a coffin. That when they found me a week later all that would be left would not be a lump of putrid, rotting flesh. "Oh shit, Oh shit, Oh shit" I was gonna die. The box gave a great lurch and I think I sucked my breath in so fast that I punctured a lung, but then the dumbwaiter was moving merry along again, crawling upwards. I don't think I breathed out again until we made it to the 2nd floor.

I uncurled out of the dumbwaiter and hurried to the youngest Winner's room. When I got there I leaned a hand against the doorway and noticed that it was trembling, the little ride of terror had scared me more then I like to admit and I swore that I would never ride a dumbwaiter again. I would just have to find some other way back down to the second floor. As I willed my body to stop shaking I surveyed the room. The Winner's have a reputation for sparing no expense and this room was no exception, every inch of the floor was covered by Persian rugs. The walls were lavishly painted I knew from the house blueprints that the door to my left contained an adjoining bathroom. However the door was closed, so I disregarded it and moved on with the scan of the room. Big mistake. Anyhow. In the center of the room was a giant four poster bed and to the right of the bed was a glass table. My eyes fell on an intricately craved box on the table. I crossed the room and looked at it. It was a thing of beauty. The scene craved on the box depicted the moon goddess twirling on lake, the water droplets dancing around her twirling figure. She looked oddly familiar. The goddess was inlayed with mother-of- pearl, with little diamonds for her eyes. While the lake was inlayed with Sapphire waves. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. It had to house the jewels I was searching for. I relevantly picked up the jewel box and crossed the room to the doorway unable to rip my eyes away from the beautiful object. However right before I got to the door, my instincts kicked in and glanced up just in time to stop myself from plowing into a small child that was blocking my path. I backed up told a good look at the kid and realized that while he was small, like me was not a kid. He was slick, and wet. He had silky blond hair and a pale smooth body. He was clothed in a small white towel and had the most amazing aquamarine eyes I had ever seen. He looked cross. I might have been a street rat, but I had a razor sharp mind and while my mouth hadn't got past "What in the..." My brain had already figured out the boy was wet because he came out bathroom to my left, the bath is in Quatre Winner's room, therefore boy is Quatre Winner. Wasn't he supposed to be downstairs at his coming out ball, you know coming out? My brain said run and I did. I darted around the blond boy and fled down the hallway. I had no plan, but I certainly didn't expect what happened next. The kid took off after me and damned he was fast and for Christ sakes he was wearing a towel! Before I was Duo, I had been named Dodger[3] because when I ran, I ran like a bat out of hell. I sped down that hallway, taking a right here and left there all the while running over the blueprints for the house in my head trying to find a way out. Thank god everyone was downstairs at the party, but the Winner house was huge and my legs were starting to cramp and my lungs felt like they were on fire. I snuck a glance behind me. Mother o fucking lord the kid hadn't slowed by a second if anything he was gaining on me. His eyes focused in dead concentration and his mouth was cracked in a manic grin. He looked....scary and I suddenly really didn't want him to catch me. I added another burst of speed leapt out the next open window I saw. It was a gutsy move, but I snagged the on ledge and hauled myself up. Another jump and scrabble and I was on the roof. I crawled around on top of the roof so that the crowd below wouldn't see me. I crept behind a divot where the roof and the chimney met. I hid and I waited.

I'm sincerely glad that no one was there to see my expression when Quatre Winner bounded onto the roof wearing nothing but his teeny, white hand towel, his eyes were narrowed, he did not bother to duck. I must have looked like a very surprised carp[6]. Someone below spotted Quatre and screamed. The sound seemed to snap him out of his trance and the scary look in his eyes disappeared. His face turned all kinds of interesting shades of red and he ducked behind one of the 9 chimneys on the roof. Any guesses as which one of the chimneys he picked? That's right, mine. His eyes grew wide went he saw me. His hesitation was his downfall and I put the box aside and threw myself right at his chest. A brief struggle ensued where I managed to grab hold of his towel and yanked it off. He stopped fighting then and was very embarrassed. So here I was a strange and if may say so myself quite terrifying robber pinning down a naked boy who is if one can imagine physically smaller then myself and what does said boy do? Once again not what I was expecting. I'm not sure what I expected. Scream? Defiantly. Cry? Maybe. Laugh? No. The boy burst into a fit of giggles, squirming beneath me bubbling with laughter.

"What's so funny?" I snarled. Today was a not a good day.

Quatre Winner managed to tone the laugher done to outright smirking. Little asshole. He looked straight at me.

"Look in the box."

I was at a lost for words, a rare thing. I did the only thing I could think of doing and crawled off the boy and over to the box. I opened it up and found,

"KLEENEX!!!"

A little voice in my brain supplied that they were not just any Kleenex, but soft, white, monographed Kleenex. I think my jaw actually dropped. The little voice in my head added completely deadpan that I had just stolen the Kleenex box of the rich and famous. My goose was cooked. I had been caught. I couldn't kill the kid and hope to get out of here alive, I didn't have the jewels and the only way my day could possibly get worst was if I fell off the roof. I spared a glance in that direction to make sure I was not indeed in danger of my day getting worst. About 4 feet. I looked back at the Winner boy, who had sat up and grinning again.

"Why did you just chase me clear across the house, in a towel no less, if you knew all I had was a box of Kleenex?" My mind had been puzzling over that one.

"It was mine, you stole it," he said it seriously, but his eyes glittered.

You know how sometimes the moment just clicks. I just looked up at him and we burst out laughing. I was nervous, I had no idea how I was going to get out of this situation; but you have to admit it was a pretty damned hilarious situation when you looked at it. I think tears were coming out of my eyes. All that work for nothing. Hahaha. So what if my laugh had a bit of hysterical tone to it. Ha.

I was surprised when Quatre got and started walking to the ledge. I stopped laughing when Quat. gestured to me to follow. I didn't have that much of a choice so I did. We slipped back through the window into the house. We had barely taken two steps into the room when a frantic servant practically smothered us. The man babbled so fast that Quatre actually had to keep interrupting him in order to get a word in.
"Young master, oh, young master where have you been? A guest at the party said you were on the roof, oh please young master say it wasn't so. She said you were naked. Oh no. We thought that perhaps she had been mistaken, but no. Look at how you are dressed. Just look. Oh, Your great father would die if he knew you faced such danger. Alone, in a tea towel and unprotect---"

"Now, Now I am sure the women was just over come by exhaustion from dancing and thought see saw something," Quatre said explained calmly, trying to tame his messy hair.

"How did you know it was a women, I said guest, young master," The servant said his worried tone changing to an accusatory one.

Quat. gulped and looked unsure of what to say, my mouth rushed in, "Why because he heard her in his bath and rushed to see what the matter was."

"Ah yes and who are you, may I ask," he looked disdainfully at my rumpled catering suit.

"Well, you see...funny thing...that is..." and then I had an idea. I ran my fingers through my hair and blushed, trying to look bashful. I shot a heavy lidded glance at a very surprised Quatre and said, "We were just looking for some privacy." I opened my eyes very wide and tried to look as if I was honestly telling the truth. Mentally I was cringing. Oh god why did I say that. Quatre was going to kill me, no way was he going to protect me now. The servant looked as shocked as Quatre did.

"I'm sorry I interrupted you," He sneered, "two. I'll tell your father that you were to bu-sy to have been on the roof, as that women claimed." He stood there seeming to enjoy embarrassing us, but to my surprise Quatre snapped,

"Yes, do that. You are dismissed."

The man glared one more time at me, sniffed airily and turned around and walked out of the room.

I stared at Quatre

"I..." I began.

Quatre looked at me with the ghost of smile and said, "I can't believe you did that," and walked out in the direction of his bedroom. Not really sure what the hell was going on, but sure as hello not having a choice, like an obedient puppy I followed him. When we were alone in his room, he stopped walking, sat down on a chair at his desk and started talking.

"You were trying to steal my Birthday jewels." It was more of a statement then a question and as I was left there awkwardly standing in the middle of the room, dazed by the change in mood. I managed a nod.

"So your a thief!" He said like he had just learned that Christmas had come early this year. I wearily nodded my head.

"Let me introduce myself, I'm Quatre Winner, the youngest and only son of the powerful Winner family"
"I figured," I said before my brain could catch up with my mouth, "look, what's going on here? Why didn't you just hand my ass to the servant out there? Why do you gain by this? If I were you, I would have me drawn up and quartered, I would...." Opps. My brain caught up, better stop giving him ideas.

Quat's smile just grew if that was possible, he really looks like a little kid when he smiles. Oh Gods, was I ever that innocent. I was so lost in thought about how different we looked, even though we were about the same age, that I almost missed when he stood up and said,

"I have decided to enter the noble art of thievery."

I think I did my really good carp impression. Before I had no clue where this conversation was going, now I wished I was back to having to no clue. Helloooo, I wanted to say, being a robber isn't something that people choose to do for fun, it is something that they have to do, a last resort, so they don't starve, which if you haven't noticed you are in no danger of doing. Instead I politely answered, "no".

His aqua eyes flooded with tears but his voice was steady when he said, "Please it's my calling in life and besides you really don't have much choice do you." The last bit was said with a little bit of a smile.

Ah, pleading mixed with a threat. Now that's something I understand. I ran over what I knew of the boy, he was small and fit. He looked like a sweet little boy, with his blond hair and big eyes. But I knew better, he had chased me all over the damned house and tackled me, a scary robber, on the roof. And as he said what choice do I have.

"Good," the boy smiled. Hey did I say that last bit out loud or can the kid add mind reading to his list of talents? "I am serious in my choice, I will work hard ..." I sort of toned him out, thinking of what I was going to do next. "Of yes and you can have my birthday jewels as payment for taking me in." That brought me back to reality real fast. We talked a bit more and made plans to use one of his ten pool houses as a base on operation and when we would be later. As I walked out of the room he called after me, "Wait, I don't even know your name!"

"Duo...Maxwell"

"Duo, you can keep the Kleenex box."

That said everything about my new partner in crime, Quatre Winner. He had an odd sense of humor. You do not steal from Quatre Winner, for he would give it to you if you gave him the chance.

With my new partnership with Quatre, I quickly found myself relocated, per the blond boy's orders, to one of Quat's 10 luxurious pool houses. I was in a bit of a daze as I trailed after a servant who led me to the pool grounds. I was in a total lose as what to expect as I walked up to the first of the houses. Each house was set on a small plot of land, which was finely landscaped. The houses themselves where painted of blue, varying from a very faint blue-white to a rich, deep purple color. All the houses were about 2 stories high, with window shudders and thatched roofs. The servant informed me that I was allowed use of the 2nd to last house down, Cottage 9 ( I wasn't sure if the fact that the house's paint job, a bright purple, matched my eyes was a conscience or not, but decided to give it the benefit of a doubt). I got the feeling that the servant didn't think to highly of me because he gave me the what-is-that-horrendous-smell haughty-tighty look as told me that his master, Quatre Winner would meet me in Cottage 4 (the cobalt one) at precisely 7:30 the following morning. He gave me one more disgusted sniff, (what was it with the servants in this house sniffing at me) and then left me to get settled into my new quarters alone. I scouted out the house and found it fully furnished and lovely. It also revealed that the house had plenty of escape routes and had very minimal security which consisted of a camera in living room, however I got the feeling that I was not welcome to the leave the grounds anytime till after my meeting with Quatre. So I decided to get some shut-eye. As I waited to fall asleep, I thought. I had no idea what would happen tomorrow. Whether Quatre would keep his promise or not, or whether I would have to flee. But I did know that what ever happened would happen tomorrow and let myself relax into the cushy feathery goodness of what I knew was the most comfortable bed I had ever sleep in. I closed my eyes and for the first time in a long time shut out reality and slept.