Part 14: Late Night

"Heero?"

Heero opened his eyes and moved back a bit to look down at the boy who was using his chest as a pillow. "I thought you were asleep."

"Mmm. Heero?" Duo whispered, not looking up. "I came really close to dying today..."

Overwhelmed by the angry possessiveness that surged in him, Heero growled and pulled the boy closer.

"You didn't," he said sharply. "You're fine now."

"I know...but I came really close."

With a sigh, Heero wondered what he should say. They couldn't stage attacks without being aware of the risk. It was something they all might face at one time or another.

He felt lips move over his chest and was broken from his thoughts, his body freezing.

"Duo...?"

He pushed the boy back and stared at him in surprise.

Duo frowned, wrapping an arm around Heero's neck.

"Come on, Heero," he murmured. "We could both die tomorrow...why are we acting like we don't want each other?"

Eyes wide, Heero shook his head. "I don't know."

"Do you want me?" Duo asked, frowning in frustration. At Heero's sharp nod, he let out an exasperated breath. "Then what's the problem? What are we waiting for?"

He didn't have the patience to wait for Heero to recover from his shock. Duo leaned forward and kissed him, giving a sound of approval when Heero's arms tightened around him. He closed his eyes and let his emotions, not to mention raging teenage hormones, guide him.

.-.

Quatre made a tentative effort to move back and sighed when Trowa immediately tightened his grip. Although he loved being in the tall boy's arms, he was getting very frustrated that Trowa wouldn't talk to him.

He still had no idea what had happened to the others and he really didn't want to intrude in their minds when Trowa could very easily tell him. He had checked to make sure they were all in the safe-house, but this had led him to discovering the presence of two strangers as well. And he couldn't ask about them because Trowa didn't want to talk. He knew that Trowa was extremely upset, but he was getting a little annoyed himself.

"Trowa," Quatre said drolly, "I can't breathe."

He was released abruptly, and his eyes widened in shocked disbelief. Then he started to laugh.

"You mean that's all I had to say?" he asked as he tried to stop laughing.

Trowa's dark, concerned eyes helped him sober up quickly.

"Okay," said Quatre. "Now that I've got your attention, why don't you explain what that was all about?"

He saw Trowa's hands twitch and scooted back quickly before he could be grabbed again. There really was such a thing as too much glomping.

"Oh, no you don't!" he cried as he got out of grabbing distance. "You're going to talk to me now."

Trowa folded his arms over his chest and frowned at him for a long moment. Then he sighed. "I don't want to talk right now..."

His eyes were clouded with a pain that Quatre couldn't decipher.

"I...Quatre, I have something I need to tell you. But I'm...afraid that if I do it will change things between us. That's why I want to hold you now. Because after I tell you...I might not get to again."

"Trowa? You can tell me. Anything. You know that, don't you? What could be so bad that it would make me leave you? I love you."

Shaking his head, Quatre slowly inched toward him, ready to bolt if the green-eyed boy made a move in his direction. As much as he loved him, he wanted answers and he knew he wouldn't get them if he was caught again.

"Trowa, I know you can read my mind so you have to know that I'm absolutely certain nothing you could say will change my feelings toward you. However," he warned, "if you don't start talking to me real soon - like five minutes ago - I'm going to go sleep on the couch."

"No you're not!" Trowa cried angrily.

His eyes widened in outrage and he leapt across the bed. Grabbing the smaller boy, he held him tight as if he were going to struggle. As it was, Quatre was much too shocked to move, let alone try to struggle.

"Trowa! What's wrong with you?"

Fury blazing in his green eyes, Trowa slowly loosened his grip a bit.

"Wufei's sleeping on the couch," he said coldly, "and you're sure as hell not sleeping with him."

"Oh!" Blushing bright red, Quatre quickly shook his head at the angry boy. "I didn't know! Really. I wasn't saying I was going to...I didn't realize he was on the couch."

As Trowa calmed himself, he loosened his grip even more.

"I'm sorry, Quatre," he said softly. He exhaled roughly, finally releasing the boy completely from his former deathgrip. He moved back until he could lean against the headboard of his bed. "I...I'll tell you. You deserve to know, especially since it's obvious I haven't gained full control over my emotions yet."

Trowa stared into Quatre's wide eyes and willed himself to be calm. Quatre was right there, safe. Sweet and gentle and he was scaring him.

He motioned for the smaller boy to sit beside him, waiting and wondering if he would. He really had been out of control. When Quatre finally moved beside him, Trowa let out a soft sigh and dropped his gaze. By the time he allowed himself meet the boy's wide eyes, Trowa's expression was solemn and much calmer.

"I've known you for longer than you know," he said slowly, nodding at Quatre's confusion. "I first sensed you over a year ago when I was passing your base on my way back from a mission. Quatre, there's something about you that calms me..."

He stopped and shook his head, deciding to take a different approach. "Flying isn't my only ability."

Quatre was still struggling to get over the fact that Trowa had known him a year ago. He frowned in confusion.

"What else do you have?" he asked. "Why didn't you tell me you'd met me, Trowa? Why the secrets? Is it really that bad?"

"Yes," said Trowa. "There is something in me, a fire or something. When I feel emotions I feel them completely. It's overwhelming and powerful, Quatre, and when I first sensed you...that was the first time I was able to control it, my rage. Just being near you enabled me to build the wall between me and the fire."

He stopped, taken aback by Quatre's steady gaze. "You don't seem to be taking this badly. I don't think you realize. Quatre, I've been following you for the last year. Except for missions, I stayed where I could sense you, where I could feel your...peace. And as strange as that is, it isn't what I was afraid to tell you. You are sensitive, Quatre, fragile..."

Quatre frowned and started to shake his head, but Trowa stopped him, reaching out to grasp his chin lightly.

"In here," said Trowa, laying the fingertips of one hand on the boy's pale temple. "You feel deeply, and you don't know how to block other people's emotions out. That's what scares me. The knowledge that my fury could hurt you. Destroy you."

"You wouldn't hurt me," Quatre protested. His eyes narrowed and he interrupted whatever Trowa had started to say. "Even if your...fury - and I still don't understand what that is - even if it did get out... Do you really believe you wouldn't be able to control it? You said that you stayed near me because I helped you keep a rein on your emotions. Then why would you loose control?"

Quatre held up a hand to forestall Trowa as he sorted out what he was trying to say. "Okay. You're afraid you'll lose control and the force of your anger will hurt me, right?"

Trowa nodded and he shook his head at the pain in those green eyes.

"Don't you see?" asked Quatre. "If I helped you control it before it got out, wouldn't I be able to help you once it's loose? Especially if I were prepared? You said I was fragile. Whose mind isn't fragile if something they aren't prepared for attacks? I'm sorry, Trowa, but I think that if you knew that your anger was hurting me, you'd control it immediately. I don't believe you'd hurt me."

"I wouldn't!" Trowa cried, trying to get the boy to understand. "Not on purpose! But when I lose control I can't even think. Whatever emotion I'm feeling runs rampant and I can barely control my actions. How could I control my thoughts if I can't control my actions?"

He dropped his eyes, his hands curling into fists. "I have to learn to control this by myself. When you were knocked out, I ...I went berserk. I didn't care about anything but getting to you. Don't you see? I'm becoming dependent, even more now that you're mine."

Quatre blinked in surprise at how nice it was to hear him say that, and had to center his thoughts quickly.

"So what do you plan to do?" asked Quatre. "I mean, if the only time you lose control is when you're cut off from me then how could I get hurt? If I'm not there then how could I be affected by your anger? Trowa, I don't think you're giving this enough thought. You're not being rational."

"No, I'm not," Trowa agreed, still not meeting his eyes. "I can't be rational when I'm faced with the prospect of leaving and not seeing you. I can't be rational."

"Leave! Why?" Pain soared through him and Quatre grabbed the taller boy's shoulder, pulling his head up so their eyes met. "Why would you leave me?"

"Because I have to learn control and that means letting down my guard, the wall I keep between myself and the fury. I can't do that where it could hurt you. I won't."

Though Quatre was still shaken, he straightened with suspicion. His eyes narrowed as he met Trowa's hurt gaze.

"And exactly how do you plan to go to a place where I won't sense you?" Quatre asked angrily. "Now that I know I'll be able to sense you with your wall down, there's nothing to stop me from searching you out no matter how far you go. Don't you get it, Trowa? I'm not going to let you run away from me because you don't want me hurt. And if you try, then realize it's just going to hurt me even more because I'll be waiting for you to let down that wall, and the moment you do, I'll be there."

Trowa's eyes widened as he read the conviction in the boy's mind, and Quatre nodded sharply.

"You've had me there for a year, Trowa, but I just found you. And I won't let you go so easily."

.-.

Heero's mind warred with his body as he and Duo kissed. This was what he'd wanted since the first time he'd touched the beautiful boy, yet a part of him was yelling at him to stop.

At first he ignored it, tilting his head as he explored Duo's hot mouth, driven by the boy's tongue and the small muffled sounds he made. Then his mind switched from urgent yelling to screaming and he slowly separated from the other boy, meeting his passion-glazed eyes with a reluctant gaze.

The loss of Heero's mouth was not immediately realized. Not until he opened his eyes and saw that they were no longer joined. Blinking in rising confusion, Duo frowned.

"What?" he asked. His breaths came fast and he barely restrained himself from pulling the Japanese boy back to him.

"You're recovering from the shock of almost having died," Heero said slowly, his voice slightly strained from holding in his own lust. "You're not thinking clearly and I won't have you hating me or yourself in the morning."

Duo rolled his eyes and let out a frustrated groan.

"I'm not going to hate anyone in the morning," he muttered. "In fact, if you hadn't stopped I'm sure I would have been very happy come morning. What's the real problem, Heero? Is it you? Are you having doubts about wanting me?"

Hurt tried to consume him at that possibility, and Duo hid it behind a glare.

"If that's it then tell me now," said Duo. "Don't try to spare my feelings by acting like I'm the one with doubts, because I know what I want."

"Nothing like that," Heero said, shaking his head. "You had a shock and I don't want to take advantage of you." He saw Duo roll his eyes again and sighed. "And I had a shock as well. As you said, you almost died and there is nothing I'd like more than to have you right now."

Duo's eyes shone, and he grinned at his words, not the least bit upset when Heero put a restraining hand on his chest to keep him from moving closer.

"But," said Heero, "I'm not going to let some crisis ruin my chances with you."

Duo's grin turned into a smirk and he dropped his eyes.

"Well, that's really too bad," he drawled, "because I happen to think a crisis is the perfect excuse to get rid of pesky pleasantries and get down to what we really want."

He looked up sharply and closed a hand around Heero's wrist. "And if you don't want to take advantage of this crisis then I'll have no choice but to take drastic measures."

Heero's brows drew together, but he didn't resist when Duo climbed off the bed, tugging on his hand until he got to his feet. He looked at the longhaired boy in confusion, not voicing his questions only because Duo had opened the bedroom door and he didn't want to wake anyone up.

Though he wasn't sure if he wanted to know what Duo was planning, Heero nevertheless followed him. They moved silently down the hall and stopped at the door to the shower room.

Duo opened the door and pushed Heero inside. He quickly locked it behind him before Heero managed to get the lights on.

"I may not know much about seduction," Duo said with a smirk, "But I do know something that will help you get rid of your inhibitions. I learned it from you."

Heero's eyes narrowed and Duo continued with a cheeky grin.

"You're sexy as hell when you shower."

Heero threw away his reservations with a slow growing smirk. He stepped toward Duo, closing the distance between them.

"I thought you'd like that," he said, voice low.

Duo's eyes widened as he saw Heero's smirk and the words registered in his head. Then he let out a soft oath and grinned.

"You mean you knew?" Duo demanded. "You knew I was there the whole time..."

Duo shook his head with a mock glare.

"You shouldn't take such risks," he warned, "I came very close to jumping you."

"I was hoping you would," Heero smirked.

Duo's heart sped up as he saw Heero pull his shirt over his head. He quickly undid his own, tossing it onto the bench with Heero's. He glanced back to the dark-haired boy and frowned. Heero had sat down on the bench and was watching him, arms folded over his chest, one eyebrow raised. At Duo's confused look, he smirked.

"What are you waiting for?" Heero goaded, "You watched me. It's my turn."

Blushing, Duo silently cursed his embarrassment. Then his eyes narrowed. He could be just as sexy as Heero if not more so. Determined to put on a very good show, he smiled a sultry smile and, reaching behind his back, pulled his braid over his shoulder. He caught and held Heero's eyes as he slowly pulled off his hair tie and started to unbraid his hair, turning his back to the boy when he reached the hair at the base of his neck.

Heero's breath caught as he watched Duo's long fall of hair loosen, his eyes following the unraveling from the tips up to the back of the boy's head. Then he let his eyes move down again as he admired the golden-brown hair, hands clenched to his arms to keep them from moving in response to his desire to run his hands through the shining mass.

Duo tossed a coy look over his shoulders, smirked, and, his back still turned, undid his pants and slowly pushed them down.