A/N: Chapter 2! Chapter 2! How exciting! This chapter's a tad bit confusing, but that's intentional. And yes, I do skip time each chapter, usually.
Warnings: Profanity, eventual (kinky) 1x2x1 & 3x4. Moderate OOC, extreme AU, lots and lots of pirates, and ship talk.
Disclaimer: I don't own the main characters. The plot's mine, though.
Sea of Silence
Chapter 2
The Dog
There was an eerie silence onboard. The deckhands moved quietly, barely disturbing the constant quiet thrashing of the waves against the hull.
Down below, in the First Mate's quarters, were three young men. Trowa was lying easily on the wooden floor surrounded by discarded blankets the blonde and cheery Quatre had demanded he take. The blonde himself slept calmly in the queen-sized bed, curled around his blanket cocoon. The third boy, however, couldn't sleep as he lay silently next to his lifelong friend, staring at the ceiling.
With a barely audible sigh, Heero got out of bed, dressing quickly before he slunk towards the door.
"...you aren't going to escape, are you," Trowa muttered without opening his eyes, and Heero shook his head.
"Just getting some air," he said, and opened the door as quietly as he closed it.
The crisp air relaxed him a bit as he strode across the wooden floor, stopping on the right side of the boat. Honestly, he had no idea if it was port, or starboard, or what. Ships had never been his area of expertise. For a moment, he looked around, catching the fleeting sight of sleepy sailors at their posts tugging at an occasional rope. Wait, line. That was the ship term.
Heero frowned. He'd have some trouble with adapting to being on the ocean for so long, that already was obvious. With a grimace, he added captive to the list. With a quick flick of his eye, he noticed the Nataku, attached to the left side of the ship, was unmanned. Then again, it didn't really need to be, what with being lashed to the most feared ship in the water.
His thoughts were broken when a disheveled pirate captain opened his door glumly. His boots were unlaced, and his shirt...Heero quickly averted his eyes. He was not going to let himself even think about that bastard as anything but a pirate, albeit an occasionally attractive one. Heero frowned. He hadn't meant to add that to the description.
"If you're gonna jump, go ahead," the pirate grumbled, sounding groggy and ticked off at the same time. "Spare us the trouble of fishing out your body, though, and just slice your throat." Heero glared at the pirate.
"I was just out enjoying the air, until you showed up," he muttered, leaning against the rail.
"Can't sleep, then," the captain asked, and after Heero's glance smiled. "Good. It's about time something wiped that smirk off your face, even if it's the ocean and not me." Heero chuckled.
"Like you could," he said, appraising the captain's bandaged leg. "What happened? Shark bite you?" He chuckled.
"Took a blade on our last commandeer," he said. "It was either my leg, or Trowa. I chose my leg. It'll heal in no time, and then I can whoop your butt off my ship." For a while, the two just stared out at the midnight ocean. "So what's the deal with you and the blonde?"
"He's my friend," Heero said, wary of the dreaming boy. The guy was either an idiot, or brilliant. "I look out for him."
"Why," he asked, sweeping one of the loose strands of hair behind his ear. Heero blinked, and the pirate could sense his confusion. "Why do you look out for him? I mean, you act like a bodyguard, but you do it for free? That's just bad business, if you ask me."
"I didn't," Heero snapped, and walked back into the ship. God, why could that...BOY get him so riled up? The kid wouldn't even understand if he told him. And why would he tell the kid anyway? He's the enemy. He's the one who rammed Wufei's ship, and keeping Quatre and himself captive to sell them back to whoever wanted them. Heero slumped against the hallway in front of Trowa's door.
This was just stupid. Heero Yuy does not get emotional, illogical, or impulsive. He does his job. Right now, that was get Quatre out of here and out to Algon. Heero shook his head, trying to get rid of all the thoughts and emotions. With a deep breath, he returned to the first mate's quarters.
"Have fun," Trowa asked on the floor.
"Hn," Heero said. If you count confusing the hell out of yourself, yes. He pulled off his shoes and returned to bed.
"You're getting slow, boy," a voice in the distance grunted. Fog swirled around his body, a sword in his hand. "I didn't train you to end up slow." He took to his opening stance.
"I'm done with you, old man," Heero stated calmly, ready for the attack. "We're all done." The voice chuckled, and changed. Now, it was far more familiar.
"Come now, you know that isn't true," it said. Glasses glinted in the distance. "It's never over for you five." Five.
Five.
Time shifted. Heero was six years old, standing in a dirt square. Rain turned the dirt to mud. Three figures stood behind him, one in front. The figure in front was pure black.
"Of course you'll see him again," an adult said cheerily. "It's just his time to leave!" The three behind him nodded, but Heero remained motionless along with the black figure. A woman in a long dress ushered the black figure away, waving crazily.
"Bye, guys," the figure waved, changing, as it disappeared.
The world changed. Now, Heero was seven. Two figures stood behind him, one in front. A tall man ushered the other away.
"Bye," he said casually. He too wavered, and was gone.
Now, he was nine. Quatre stood at his left, and the figure in front stood casually. "Take care, Winner," he said. "Yuy." A man with a sword at his hip ushered him out. They wavered, and were gone.
"Why, boy? Did you ask why," that taunting, harsh voice asked. He was once again in the fog, sword at the ready. "Don't you already know?" There was a crack, and pain swirled across his shoulder. "Recite!"
"My duty is to protect, to kill, and to serve. Above all, safeguard the prince. Above all, place others. Below all, place yourself," Heero murmured. "I am the guardian." There was a satisfied sound from the fog.
"You're a dog, Yuy," the voice grated, and a symbol lit under Heero's feet. "That's all you'll ever be. Now, wake up. You're wasting time with all this sleep, you lazy bastard."
"Heero."
"Heero, wake up," Quatre said, eternally cheerful. Heero could have punched him for it. "Bad night?"
"Hn," Heero stated. Understatement of the day. Quatre smiled at him.
"Well, Trowa's offered to give us a tour of the ship," he said merrily. "Want to come?"
"No," Heero said. He was NOT a morning person. You'd think after living with him for all his eighteen years he'd know this. Quatre just smiled at him again.
"Glad to see you trust Trowa," he said, and ruffled Heero's hair. He hated when Quatre did that. "Bye, grumpy." Quatre bounced off the bed, fully dressed. Heero groaned as the door opened to reveal full daylight. It had to be ten, at least.
Five minutes later, he walked back on deck. There was nothing interesting going on, save that annoyingly sexy pirate steering the ship with whatever that big wheel was called. Heero had given up on attempting nautical terms. Left was left, right was right, the bathroom was the bathroom, and rope was rope. It didn't matter anymore.
He walked back over to the side where he'd been before, enjoying the breeze on his skin.
"I could push you, if it'd help," the pirate said. Heero barely held back a groan. He hadn't even heard the kid come over.
"Just leave me alone, damn it," he grumbled, and the pirate chuckled.
"Call me Cap'n Duo," he said, slapping Heero's back friendlily. "Now, get with the suicide. I want to laugh when you start freezing your butt off and drowning at the same time." Now, Heero did groan.
"Did I forget to tell you I'd kill you," he asked, and the kid- Duo-grinned.
"No, and I didn't either," he said, and turned back towards the wheel-thingy. Heero had given up on eloquence as well. "Have you eaten anything since yesterday?" Heero shook his head.
"Scurry over to Wuffles' ship. He'll feed you," he said with a wink, and was immediately back to Devilish Pirate Captain mode as his hands took the wheel. Heero suddenly realized he was hungry, and did as Duo had suggested.
Onboard the Nataku, it was almost a ghost ship. Whereas on the pirate vessel sailors were constantly moving, pulling on one rope or another, the hands on Wufei's ship just sat around playing cards. The difference astounded him. Wufei himself was lounging near the wheel, polishing his sword. That in itself made Heero smirk.
Meanwhile, Quatre was busy with Trowa aboard the Deathscythe. They walked further and further into the ship.
"...So, the kitchen's called the galley, and the bathroom's called the head," Quatre asked, and Trowa nodded, amused to no end by the younger boy. "Why is it different?" He shrugged.
"That's just how it is," he replied cryptically. "Honestly, I can't say. You might ask the captain or one of the older men." Quatre nodded. "So, what brought you and Heero out into the ocean?"
"Well, we're traveling to Algon," Quatre said truthfully. "We've been planning to ever since we were little." Trowa nodded.
"So, it's pleasure, not business," he clarified, and at Quatre's blush explained. "I mean, it's for fun. I'm not implying anything between you and Heero." He nodded, blush dissipating. "But, I have to wonder, why Algon?"
"What's this here," Quatre asked, suddenly intrigued by the single locked door. Trowa sighed, but decided to let him avoid the subject.
"That's a secret, hence the lockage," Trowa said, jiggling the doorknob for emphasis. "Only the captain's got a key. Well, the captain and me, but I'm not going to let you in. Duo would kill me." Quatre laughed, and butterflies rammed against Trowa's stomach.
"Well, can you tell me at least? I'm very trustworthy," he said, looking innocent as always. Trowa shook his head. "Okay. So, anything else back here?" Quatre looked around, and realized they were at the end of the hallway.
"Just you and me," Trowa responded. "We're on the second-to- lowest level, and with the lowest level being the bilge, the tour is most certainly done." Quatre gave him a confused look.
"Bilge," he asked, and Trowa gaped at the boy. How could he not know what that was?
"The...ah...waste area," he said, trying to phrase it politely. Now, the boy looked embarrassed. "So, you've probably been on land all your life. What's that like?" Trowa quickly turned the conversation, along with turning them back to deck.
"Well, it's pretty hard. For us, at least. We've been pressured all our lives, though. Both of us are very good fighters, but I'm also politically inclined, so I learned all sorts of business things and useless diplomatic devices," he said, waving it off with his hand. "Heero...he's different."
"How so? He seems a bit cold, but that's not 'different'," Trowa asked, making quotation marks in the air. Quatre giggled, and those damn insects came back.
"He just is," the blonde said mysteriously. "So, what do you do the rest of the day?" Trowa shrugged.
"Basically, my job is to yell at people when Duo's not on deck, and basically do everything Duo is doing right now," Trowa responded with a shrug. "But, when he is on deck, I'm normally in the Crow's Nest. I like it up there." Quatre waited for an explanation. Lord, the kid knew nothing about ships. "It's basically a big barrel on the top of the mast where I scout out for ships and stuff." Quatre nodded.
"That seems pretty dangerous," he said. Trowa shrugged.
"Everything's dangerous on a pirate ship," he responded. Soon, they were back on deck. Duo was looking moody as he leaned against the Navigator's Wheel. On second thought, he looked sleepy. Well, he hadn't ever been one for sleep, since Hilde's disappearance. Trowa strode up to the wheel, and Duo blinked at him.
"Hiya, Tro," he said. "Have fun playing tour guide?" Trowa frowned. He was either sleep deprived, or drunk. Duo's yawn answered the question.
"Go get some sleep. You look terrible," he said concernedly, but Duo brushed the comment aside with a wave of his hand.
"Nah, I'll be fine. You just worry about the blonde and company," Duo said, yawning again.
"Did you get any sleep last night," Trowa asked quietly, and the braided boy was quiet. "Duo. Did you sleep?" Duo's violet eyes glared at his first mate.
"Butt out, man," he said. "I don't care if I haven't slept in three days. I've done it before." Nobody noticed Heero return to the pirate ship.
"Duo, go in and go to bed," Trowa said dangerously. Violet glinted, losing its haziness momentarily.
"Are you mutinying," he asked, equally dangerous.
"No. Go to bed," Trowa said calmly, and the hazy purple returned. Duo blinked a tad bit frantically, and then smiled.
"'Night, Tro," he said, and fell to the wooden floor. Trowa slung him onto his shoulder just as Heero walked next to Quatre. Duo's door opened, and the captives noticed the sparseness of the captain's quarters. And the crates. Trowa, taking care with the captain's wounded leg, set him on the bed and began pulling his boots off. But, mid-unlacing, he swore and ran back out to the wheel, which had slowly been swinging left.
"Quatre, help me out and hold onto the wheel while I take care of Duo," he said, and a nervous Quatre slipped forward to wrap his hands on the wood. "No, not like that, like-never mind. It's okay." Trowa swore again. He couldn't just leave Duo in there, and nobody on this shift was trustworthy or skilled enough to take the helm. And the pirate captain would kill him if someone gained entry to his room. Trowa sighed. Damn that boy's stubbornness.
"I'll take care of Duo, if you want," Quatre interrupted his thoughts, and Trowa frowned. Normally, this wouldn't bother him so much. On the thought of bothering, an idea popped into his head.
"If you would, please get Wufei," Trowa asked the blonde politely, his mind too absorbed with the adorable younger boy to realize Heero was standing right next to him. Quatre nodded, and crossed to the other ship.
And Duo decided to take that moment to begin to fall off his bed. For a moment, Heero looked around helplessly. Hell, he wasn't supposed to care if the injured, unconscious kid rammed headfirst into an anvil. But, he wasn't as heartless as he'd always wanted to be. Damn.
With a sigh, the brunette sprung forward and grabbed the braided boy just before he fell face-first onto the floorboards. Oh, crap. Heero hadn't ever expected a pirate to smell this good. It was like the sea, or maybe rain, mixed in with some nameable sweet thing he was too swept up to identify. He quickly snapped out of it, and gently put the bastard back on the bed.
Partly fearing for his life (which in itself was confusing; Heero had no qualms about dying), he walked back out the door just as Quatre and Wufei trotted to the disaster area, Trowa eyeing him with interest. Heero glared at him, and returned to his usual post at the side. Wufei took the wheel, Quatre looked around helpfully, and Trowa went back to putting the captain in bed and tucking him in. He locked the door behind him.
--------
A/N: So, that's chapter 2! Look, this is going up at a moderately decent hour. I'm so proud. (And, I got this up MUCH sooner than I expected! I deserve chocolate!)
Well, thanks for reading, and please review! Special thanks to (chronologically, of course):
Pretty Pilot!
Fire of Phoenix!
Angel-of-shadows123!
Mlaine!
Emmy-chan!
Regina!
Wow...that's so cool! So many people on only the first chapter! (Does little happy dance.)
Warnings: Profanity, eventual (kinky) 1x2x1 & 3x4. Moderate OOC, extreme AU, lots and lots of pirates, and ship talk.
Disclaimer: I don't own the main characters. The plot's mine, though.
Sea of Silence
Chapter 2
The Dog
There was an eerie silence onboard. The deckhands moved quietly, barely disturbing the constant quiet thrashing of the waves against the hull.
Down below, in the First Mate's quarters, were three young men. Trowa was lying easily on the wooden floor surrounded by discarded blankets the blonde and cheery Quatre had demanded he take. The blonde himself slept calmly in the queen-sized bed, curled around his blanket cocoon. The third boy, however, couldn't sleep as he lay silently next to his lifelong friend, staring at the ceiling.
With a barely audible sigh, Heero got out of bed, dressing quickly before he slunk towards the door.
"...you aren't going to escape, are you," Trowa muttered without opening his eyes, and Heero shook his head.
"Just getting some air," he said, and opened the door as quietly as he closed it.
The crisp air relaxed him a bit as he strode across the wooden floor, stopping on the right side of the boat. Honestly, he had no idea if it was port, or starboard, or what. Ships had never been his area of expertise. For a moment, he looked around, catching the fleeting sight of sleepy sailors at their posts tugging at an occasional rope. Wait, line. That was the ship term.
Heero frowned. He'd have some trouble with adapting to being on the ocean for so long, that already was obvious. With a grimace, he added captive to the list. With a quick flick of his eye, he noticed the Nataku, attached to the left side of the ship, was unmanned. Then again, it didn't really need to be, what with being lashed to the most feared ship in the water.
His thoughts were broken when a disheveled pirate captain opened his door glumly. His boots were unlaced, and his shirt...Heero quickly averted his eyes. He was not going to let himself even think about that bastard as anything but a pirate, albeit an occasionally attractive one. Heero frowned. He hadn't meant to add that to the description.
"If you're gonna jump, go ahead," the pirate grumbled, sounding groggy and ticked off at the same time. "Spare us the trouble of fishing out your body, though, and just slice your throat." Heero glared at the pirate.
"I was just out enjoying the air, until you showed up," he muttered, leaning against the rail.
"Can't sleep, then," the captain asked, and after Heero's glance smiled. "Good. It's about time something wiped that smirk off your face, even if it's the ocean and not me." Heero chuckled.
"Like you could," he said, appraising the captain's bandaged leg. "What happened? Shark bite you?" He chuckled.
"Took a blade on our last commandeer," he said. "It was either my leg, or Trowa. I chose my leg. It'll heal in no time, and then I can whoop your butt off my ship." For a while, the two just stared out at the midnight ocean. "So what's the deal with you and the blonde?"
"He's my friend," Heero said, wary of the dreaming boy. The guy was either an idiot, or brilliant. "I look out for him."
"Why," he asked, sweeping one of the loose strands of hair behind his ear. Heero blinked, and the pirate could sense his confusion. "Why do you look out for him? I mean, you act like a bodyguard, but you do it for free? That's just bad business, if you ask me."
"I didn't," Heero snapped, and walked back into the ship. God, why could that...BOY get him so riled up? The kid wouldn't even understand if he told him. And why would he tell the kid anyway? He's the enemy. He's the one who rammed Wufei's ship, and keeping Quatre and himself captive to sell them back to whoever wanted them. Heero slumped against the hallway in front of Trowa's door.
This was just stupid. Heero Yuy does not get emotional, illogical, or impulsive. He does his job. Right now, that was get Quatre out of here and out to Algon. Heero shook his head, trying to get rid of all the thoughts and emotions. With a deep breath, he returned to the first mate's quarters.
"Have fun," Trowa asked on the floor.
"Hn," Heero said. If you count confusing the hell out of yourself, yes. He pulled off his shoes and returned to bed.
"You're getting slow, boy," a voice in the distance grunted. Fog swirled around his body, a sword in his hand. "I didn't train you to end up slow." He took to his opening stance.
"I'm done with you, old man," Heero stated calmly, ready for the attack. "We're all done." The voice chuckled, and changed. Now, it was far more familiar.
"Come now, you know that isn't true," it said. Glasses glinted in the distance. "It's never over for you five." Five.
Five.
Time shifted. Heero was six years old, standing in a dirt square. Rain turned the dirt to mud. Three figures stood behind him, one in front. The figure in front was pure black.
"Of course you'll see him again," an adult said cheerily. "It's just his time to leave!" The three behind him nodded, but Heero remained motionless along with the black figure. A woman in a long dress ushered the black figure away, waving crazily.
"Bye, guys," the figure waved, changing, as it disappeared.
The world changed. Now, Heero was seven. Two figures stood behind him, one in front. A tall man ushered the other away.
"Bye," he said casually. He too wavered, and was gone.
Now, he was nine. Quatre stood at his left, and the figure in front stood casually. "Take care, Winner," he said. "Yuy." A man with a sword at his hip ushered him out. They wavered, and were gone.
"Why, boy? Did you ask why," that taunting, harsh voice asked. He was once again in the fog, sword at the ready. "Don't you already know?" There was a crack, and pain swirled across his shoulder. "Recite!"
"My duty is to protect, to kill, and to serve. Above all, safeguard the prince. Above all, place others. Below all, place yourself," Heero murmured. "I am the guardian." There was a satisfied sound from the fog.
"You're a dog, Yuy," the voice grated, and a symbol lit under Heero's feet. "That's all you'll ever be. Now, wake up. You're wasting time with all this sleep, you lazy bastard."
"Heero."
"Heero, wake up," Quatre said, eternally cheerful. Heero could have punched him for it. "Bad night?"
"Hn," Heero stated. Understatement of the day. Quatre smiled at him.
"Well, Trowa's offered to give us a tour of the ship," he said merrily. "Want to come?"
"No," Heero said. He was NOT a morning person. You'd think after living with him for all his eighteen years he'd know this. Quatre just smiled at him again.
"Glad to see you trust Trowa," he said, and ruffled Heero's hair. He hated when Quatre did that. "Bye, grumpy." Quatre bounced off the bed, fully dressed. Heero groaned as the door opened to reveal full daylight. It had to be ten, at least.
Five minutes later, he walked back on deck. There was nothing interesting going on, save that annoyingly sexy pirate steering the ship with whatever that big wheel was called. Heero had given up on attempting nautical terms. Left was left, right was right, the bathroom was the bathroom, and rope was rope. It didn't matter anymore.
He walked back over to the side where he'd been before, enjoying the breeze on his skin.
"I could push you, if it'd help," the pirate said. Heero barely held back a groan. He hadn't even heard the kid come over.
"Just leave me alone, damn it," he grumbled, and the pirate chuckled.
"Call me Cap'n Duo," he said, slapping Heero's back friendlily. "Now, get with the suicide. I want to laugh when you start freezing your butt off and drowning at the same time." Now, Heero did groan.
"Did I forget to tell you I'd kill you," he asked, and the kid- Duo-grinned.
"No, and I didn't either," he said, and turned back towards the wheel-thingy. Heero had given up on eloquence as well. "Have you eaten anything since yesterday?" Heero shook his head.
"Scurry over to Wuffles' ship. He'll feed you," he said with a wink, and was immediately back to Devilish Pirate Captain mode as his hands took the wheel. Heero suddenly realized he was hungry, and did as Duo had suggested.
Onboard the Nataku, it was almost a ghost ship. Whereas on the pirate vessel sailors were constantly moving, pulling on one rope or another, the hands on Wufei's ship just sat around playing cards. The difference astounded him. Wufei himself was lounging near the wheel, polishing his sword. That in itself made Heero smirk.
Meanwhile, Quatre was busy with Trowa aboard the Deathscythe. They walked further and further into the ship.
"...So, the kitchen's called the galley, and the bathroom's called the head," Quatre asked, and Trowa nodded, amused to no end by the younger boy. "Why is it different?" He shrugged.
"That's just how it is," he replied cryptically. "Honestly, I can't say. You might ask the captain or one of the older men." Quatre nodded. "So, what brought you and Heero out into the ocean?"
"Well, we're traveling to Algon," Quatre said truthfully. "We've been planning to ever since we were little." Trowa nodded.
"So, it's pleasure, not business," he clarified, and at Quatre's blush explained. "I mean, it's for fun. I'm not implying anything between you and Heero." He nodded, blush dissipating. "But, I have to wonder, why Algon?"
"What's this here," Quatre asked, suddenly intrigued by the single locked door. Trowa sighed, but decided to let him avoid the subject.
"That's a secret, hence the lockage," Trowa said, jiggling the doorknob for emphasis. "Only the captain's got a key. Well, the captain and me, but I'm not going to let you in. Duo would kill me." Quatre laughed, and butterflies rammed against Trowa's stomach.
"Well, can you tell me at least? I'm very trustworthy," he said, looking innocent as always. Trowa shook his head. "Okay. So, anything else back here?" Quatre looked around, and realized they were at the end of the hallway.
"Just you and me," Trowa responded. "We're on the second-to- lowest level, and with the lowest level being the bilge, the tour is most certainly done." Quatre gave him a confused look.
"Bilge," he asked, and Trowa gaped at the boy. How could he not know what that was?
"The...ah...waste area," he said, trying to phrase it politely. Now, the boy looked embarrassed. "So, you've probably been on land all your life. What's that like?" Trowa quickly turned the conversation, along with turning them back to deck.
"Well, it's pretty hard. For us, at least. We've been pressured all our lives, though. Both of us are very good fighters, but I'm also politically inclined, so I learned all sorts of business things and useless diplomatic devices," he said, waving it off with his hand. "Heero...he's different."
"How so? He seems a bit cold, but that's not 'different'," Trowa asked, making quotation marks in the air. Quatre giggled, and those damn insects came back.
"He just is," the blonde said mysteriously. "So, what do you do the rest of the day?" Trowa shrugged.
"Basically, my job is to yell at people when Duo's not on deck, and basically do everything Duo is doing right now," Trowa responded with a shrug. "But, when he is on deck, I'm normally in the Crow's Nest. I like it up there." Quatre waited for an explanation. Lord, the kid knew nothing about ships. "It's basically a big barrel on the top of the mast where I scout out for ships and stuff." Quatre nodded.
"That seems pretty dangerous," he said. Trowa shrugged.
"Everything's dangerous on a pirate ship," he responded. Soon, they were back on deck. Duo was looking moody as he leaned against the Navigator's Wheel. On second thought, he looked sleepy. Well, he hadn't ever been one for sleep, since Hilde's disappearance. Trowa strode up to the wheel, and Duo blinked at him.
"Hiya, Tro," he said. "Have fun playing tour guide?" Trowa frowned. He was either sleep deprived, or drunk. Duo's yawn answered the question.
"Go get some sleep. You look terrible," he said concernedly, but Duo brushed the comment aside with a wave of his hand.
"Nah, I'll be fine. You just worry about the blonde and company," Duo said, yawning again.
"Did you get any sleep last night," Trowa asked quietly, and the braided boy was quiet. "Duo. Did you sleep?" Duo's violet eyes glared at his first mate.
"Butt out, man," he said. "I don't care if I haven't slept in three days. I've done it before." Nobody noticed Heero return to the pirate ship.
"Duo, go in and go to bed," Trowa said dangerously. Violet glinted, losing its haziness momentarily.
"Are you mutinying," he asked, equally dangerous.
"No. Go to bed," Trowa said calmly, and the hazy purple returned. Duo blinked a tad bit frantically, and then smiled.
"'Night, Tro," he said, and fell to the wooden floor. Trowa slung him onto his shoulder just as Heero walked next to Quatre. Duo's door opened, and the captives noticed the sparseness of the captain's quarters. And the crates. Trowa, taking care with the captain's wounded leg, set him on the bed and began pulling his boots off. But, mid-unlacing, he swore and ran back out to the wheel, which had slowly been swinging left.
"Quatre, help me out and hold onto the wheel while I take care of Duo," he said, and a nervous Quatre slipped forward to wrap his hands on the wood. "No, not like that, like-never mind. It's okay." Trowa swore again. He couldn't just leave Duo in there, and nobody on this shift was trustworthy or skilled enough to take the helm. And the pirate captain would kill him if someone gained entry to his room. Trowa sighed. Damn that boy's stubbornness.
"I'll take care of Duo, if you want," Quatre interrupted his thoughts, and Trowa frowned. Normally, this wouldn't bother him so much. On the thought of bothering, an idea popped into his head.
"If you would, please get Wufei," Trowa asked the blonde politely, his mind too absorbed with the adorable younger boy to realize Heero was standing right next to him. Quatre nodded, and crossed to the other ship.
And Duo decided to take that moment to begin to fall off his bed. For a moment, Heero looked around helplessly. Hell, he wasn't supposed to care if the injured, unconscious kid rammed headfirst into an anvil. But, he wasn't as heartless as he'd always wanted to be. Damn.
With a sigh, the brunette sprung forward and grabbed the braided boy just before he fell face-first onto the floorboards. Oh, crap. Heero hadn't ever expected a pirate to smell this good. It was like the sea, or maybe rain, mixed in with some nameable sweet thing he was too swept up to identify. He quickly snapped out of it, and gently put the bastard back on the bed.
Partly fearing for his life (which in itself was confusing; Heero had no qualms about dying), he walked back out the door just as Quatre and Wufei trotted to the disaster area, Trowa eyeing him with interest. Heero glared at him, and returned to his usual post at the side. Wufei took the wheel, Quatre looked around helpfully, and Trowa went back to putting the captain in bed and tucking him in. He locked the door behind him.
--------
A/N: So, that's chapter 2! Look, this is going up at a moderately decent hour. I'm so proud. (And, I got this up MUCH sooner than I expected! I deserve chocolate!)
Well, thanks for reading, and please review! Special thanks to (chronologically, of course):
Pretty Pilot!
Fire of Phoenix!
Angel-of-shadows123!
Mlaine!
Emmy-chan!
Regina!
Wow...that's so cool! So many people on only the first chapter! (Does little happy dance.)