I still don't own Gundam Wing and I'm still just as broke so please no sueing. Oh and this is still my first fic so . . . uhm go ahead and read it, if you dare . . .muahahahaha. I'm aware that it's not very good so how about we focus on it's potential. . .heh . .yeah potential (damn it's hard to type sarcasm).

These Boots Were Made for Racing

Living Out Loud

"When I win, I want a kiss from Death." Duo's jaw just dropped, while Heero raised a daring eyebrow. Did he know just how sexy he was when he did that? Duo closed his mouth, then opened it, then closed it again. Finally a grin snuck onto his face.

"Are you sure that's what you want, Death's kiss can change or end your life. But, if that's all you want then I think I'm getting off easy. Which I don't really like but I'm not stupid, I'll take it." Duo grinned but it wasn't nice, it was a nasty smirk that seemed to guarantee pain.

"I beg to differ, I think that I'm, by far, getting the better end of this deal." Heero's smirk was back in place, his air of confidence restored.

"Just don't fall in love with me or you'll be in real danger." It was meant to be taken as a joke, a barb, but Heero saw hidden sincerity in Duo's eyes and it made him wonder. He was taken aback for a second, but recovered quickly when Duo's infamous smile was turned on him.

"Hey, if you two are done, the rest of us would like to start the race." The voice came from the other side of Heero's car, where a young man with cinnamon brown hair that covered half his face was making his way toward the two drivers. Duo heard a gasp come from Qautre's direction.

"T...Trowa, is that you?" Qautre's soft, lilting voice sounded hesitant and yet hopeful. Duo had never heard the young man so insecure; so unsure of himself. Duo glanced back at the newcomer to see his reaction, which wasn't much. His eyebrows lifted slightly in recognition, his features softened if only slightly, and a small curve found its way to his face.

"Great you two know each other." Duo let out an exasperated sigh. "Heero Yuy I would appreciate it if you didn't use your pit crew to seduce my engineer." At this Qautre flushed bight pink.

"It's good to see you again, little one." Heero raised his eyebrows at his teammates strange behavior, to which Trowa returned his own quirk and a small half grin. In response Heero nodded his head and the silent conversation was over.

Duo gawked at the exchange. "You guys are weird."

"Duo, this is Trowa, This was my rival at MIT during my time there before I left to join you." Quatre said meekly. Duo's grin increased ten fold.

"So, this is the infamous MIT rival." Duo drawled on, extending the length of each word. "Geez Q, you make it sound like I forced you to drop, you already had two freaking degrees, what were you sticking around there for?"

Qautre's blush only deepened. "I had some unfinished business, that I suppose is still unfinished, right Trowa?"

"Yes, I believe we have a score to settle." Trowa walked over to Qautre and extended his right hand, intending to shake hands with his rival. Qautre, on the other hand, merely pushed the hand away instead giving the taller boy a slightly lingering hug. Trowa smiled faintly and returned the hug.

"I hope that wasn't to forward of me." Qautre backed up, a light flush on his cheeks.

"Of course not, it has been a long time." Trowa still held Qautre's arm as he gazed at the boy with an unreadable expression.

"Too long." Qautre offered a dazzling smile to his old friend? What had they been back then? Seeing Trowa again was bringing back emotions that Qautre had nearly forgotten how much he missed. Despite how confused Trowa made him, he loved not needing to understand this.

"Okay I take back what I said earlier, you two are weird." Heero smirked at this and faced his opponent. Duo caught the movement in the corner of his and turned to face Heero, and winked at him.

"Alright, if all you guys are ready we would like to start a race here. Thanks for the show Maxwell I think my wife almost left me. And I don't mean that in a bad way." The Ref had come back over to the track when the two drivers didn't strap in for a race.

"Now if you don't mind, we're going to start this drag race in two minutes and if one of you isn't ready to go, well that's just too damn bad." He slapped Duo's car, he and the boy had a personal relationship ever since he let the kid sneak into his first race without any registration. It was hard for people to get a break in this business, and the kid had a genuine love for the race that he hadn't seen in a long time. 'Everything is so commercialized these days, the kid would have never been picked up by a sponsor, you have to know somebody to get anywhere in this world. So I helped out a true lover of the sport, we need more like him anyway. Yuy reminds me of that, the once or twice that I talked to him, he was just lucky enough to know someone who knows someone that could get him on the track. I hope Duo does well, hell he's been fantastic so far, the kid deserves some joy after all he's been through.'

"Yeah, yeah Howie. Don't get your pink lacy panties in a bunch, I want to race this guy even more than the crowd wants me to." And on that final note Duo did a twirl on the hood of his car, putting his jacket back on at the exact same time. He then crouched down and did a back flip off his car onto the street. To top it all off he glanced back over his shoulder at Heero and blew him a kiss.

"Howard." Heero nodded, then accepted Duo's unspoken challenge by going into a handstand on the edge of his vehicle, holding it, then pushing off completing a single flip. To top off his display Heero fired off an imaginary gun made by his fingers in Duo's direction.

Duo slammed his helmet onto his head easily and glided into the driver's seat of DeathScythe. He couldn't believe how much this guy was getting to him. True they were the same age, which was rare out here, true he never really got a response out of the older drivers except for a flick of the bird, and true the guy was a walking, talking (sort of), sex god, but all that aside, Duo shouldn't be so thrown off his game by him.

Heero too put on his helmet and slid into his car, with a lot less flare than Duo, he gripped his steering wheel willing the race to start so he could focus. It was too easy for the longhaired racer to distract him. He had never had this problem before; he could always block out unnecessary emotions and focus on what he had to do. Though he had never really been attracted to anyone before, but he thought that this is what it would feel like. Trowa was certainly no help, Heero could hardly find the words to ask the question, and Trowa's less than sufficient description didn't tell him anything. They really were hopeless; thank the powers that be that Trowa had found Qautre again. The guy had been searching for the blonde ever since he graduated so unexpectedly. What a coincidence they would end up in drag racing...

"Don't worry Heero, I'll take really good care of your machine. I'll use it as my backup, just in case DeathScythe ever needs a break." Duo hollered from his car, trying to get Heero riled up to ensure a great race.

"And every night I'll cherish the memory of your kiss." Heero smirked at the implications of his statement, 'now if Duo were a smart boy...'

There was a sputtering noise from Duo's car. 'Guess he's got some brains in there somewhere.'

'Then again, maybe not.' Heero thought as the longhaired devil yelled, "Cherish this!" and stuck his middle finger out the passenger window. "I'll blow you a kiss from the winner's circle." Duo spat out as he turned the key and revved his engine.

Heero answered by gunning his own engine. He was about to throw Duo's trash talk back in his face when he noticed the lights change. And with that both driver's completely focused on the race and it alone. To them nothing else existed; Duo was deaf to the cheers of the crowd, and Heero could see nothing but the strip of asphalt in front of him.

The lights changed one more time, the second orange light, it had only been seconds but an eternity had passed for the drivers waiting for the race to start. Duo had been gripping his wheel so hard he could see his knuckles turning white. Heero was so tense you could see the definition lines of the muscles in his arms and shoulders. Neither one dared to blink even though their eyes were stinging. And then it was go time; in one instant both drivers released the fury of their vehicles in a deafening thunder clap. The speed was so intense that they could hardly see straight, holding it on good faith that if they kept the wheel as straight as possible they would stay in their own lane. The steering wheel threatened to rip from their grip, the whole car shook with the sheer force of the powerful engine.

Out of the corner of his helmet Duo could see Heero catching up to him, he had started out first but only by a hair. Now they were neck and neck, exchange only a few centimeters gap back and forth. There was no way to tell who was going to win this. Duo had shifted as high as he could go, and was hitting the gas with all his might, and still he couldn't shake the other car. Neither driver had participated in such an arduous race. They had never had such a challenge in another driver before. Duo let out a battle cry and closed his eyes completely as he passed over the finish line.

And then, just as soon as it had began, the race was over. Drag races were the sprints of the car racing community, over in only few seconds. To Duo it felt like a few lifetimes had passed, he thought he would be locked in that battle for a centimeter forever. His eyes remained closed and he sat there, waiting for Qautre to come and get him and tell him the news. He found himself wondering what a kiss from Heero would be like, he quickly shook off that thought; Duo Maxwell never looses. He took a sidelong glance at Heero out of his helmet, the guy had already removed his. He sat there, eyes closed, head tilted back, breath coming a little fast. Duo followed a single drop of sweat as it made a path down the side of Heero's face. He glanced back up and noticed a pair of burning eyes memorizing him in return. He removed his helmet, and Heero just continued to stare, neither said anything, they didn't move, and for a second Duo thought it wouldn't be so bad if he lost this one. 'Might be worth it.'

It was then that Duo finally noticed the light tapping at his door. "Hey Q-tip, what's the word."

The young blonde looked like he had seen a ghost, or something equally unbelievable. "Uhm Duo, I don't know how to tell you this, I didn't think this could happen..."

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Living Out Loud is movie staring Holly Hunter, Queen Latifa, and Danny De Vito. It's sort of about this chick that's now single who kisses a total stranger. And I found out, thanks to Amazon, that it's original title was The Kiss, so it's kind of fitting, ne? Anyway if you're feeling extremely kind reveiws and constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.