Only took 63 reviews to make me take action. nervous laughing Please don't maim me.

Disclaimer: Might I dare suggest that this is erroneous and unnecessary?

Warnings: Language, melodrama, & cliches (which will hopefully be rectified shortly).

Control Freak III

Heero sat at the library table, dispassionately staring down at the book open before him, glare firmly affixed on his face. He was obviously in a bit of a snit; he had loosened his uniform's tie and the top four buttons were undone on his shirt. His sleeves were pushed up to the elbows, showcasing white-knuckled fists curled tensely closed. A ramrod straight back completed the picture of carnassial vexation. Duo was not at all certain he wanted to approach him, especially given that he was nearly half an hour later than planned. Still, he had little choice in the matter. Wondering why he was so intimidated by a prissy private school boy, he strode to the table and pulled back a chair, flopping unceremoniously down.

"Sorry I'm late," he offered flatly, opening his backpack and removing a notebook and pen.

"Let me guess," Heero snapped. "You were... detained."

"Your masterful control of sarcasm is duly noted," Duo ground out, desperately seeking patience. Socking his tutor would not bode well for graduation. "However, I got here as quickly as possible. Now if we could just get this over with, I'm fairly sure we've both got other things we need to be doing."

"Actually, I'm free for the rest of the afternoon," came the cool reply. Heero closed his book and pulled Duo's essay from beneath it, laying it on the table between them and smoothing it unnecessarily with his hands. "That's probably a good thing, given your paper... if you can call it that."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Duo snapped, tolerance evaporating into a puff of smoke. He had better things to do than this. Things that paid, dammit, which in his own humble opinion was a lot more important than listening to some white bread pansy lecture him on the proper use of commas. "It sucks, doesn't it? Fine, then," he said, grabbing his book and preparing to leave, "I'll just go home and write a new one-"

"Sit down," Heero commanded. Then, sensing the open fury emanating from his tuttee, added "Please."

Duo warily sat.

"Look," Heero started. "I'm sorry I'm being rude. It's just..." He paused, closed his eyes, and breathed deeply. Having regained a semblance of equilibrium, he returned his gaze to Duo and continued. "I trust you'd rather not hear of my personal life, but suffice it to say that things have not been pleasant at home lately. I was transposing my anger onto you and for that I apologize. Now if you would like to continue this in a more civilize manner, I'd be more than willing to begin again."

"Whatever." He shrugged and dropped his notebook back on the table. "Tutor at will."

"Thank you," he sincerely replied. "Now, if we could discuss your essay. It's actually quite good. I really... there wasn't much I could do to improve it. There were a few slang phrases here and there that needed work, but other than that it's perfect."

"Yeah, if there's one thing I do well, it's communicate," Duo flatly said, propped his chin in his hand, elbow leaning on the table.

Heero blinked at him, surprised at the near rejection of his praise. "Before we go over the revisions, I just wanted to ask you about a few statements you make. Such as this one on page five. What do you mean when you... I'm sorry, but would you mind removing your hood? It's very distracting to not be able to see you."

Now it was Duo's turn to blink. "Uh, sure. I guess. Whatever." He pulled down the hood with one swift movement. "I forget I'm wearing it most of the time. Force of habit." He narrowed his eyes as he noticed Heero staring blankly at him. "Got a problem there, buddy? Something you'd like to say, maybe?"

"I'm sorry," Heero replied near-vacuously. "I was under the impression I was tutoring a boy."

"That's it. I so don't need this shit." Duo yanked his hood back into place and shoved back his chair, grabbing his things in one swift movement. Before Heero knew quite what was happening, he was half-way to the exit.

"Wait!" he shouted, scrambling to collect his things. "I didn't mean to offend you! You're a very pretty girl!"

"FUCK YOU!" was all the response he got as his tutee slammed out the library doors.

"Well, shit," Heero said vacantly. He shifted under the disapproving gaze of the other patrons, then sighed and made to leave. Maybe he could still catch up with the other student. As he passed the circulation desk, one of the librarians quietly called to him.

"Young man, come here for a moment, if you will." Shooting a desperate glance towards the door, he reluctantly complied, fully expecting to be reprimanded for disturbing the quiet atmosphere. He came to a halt in front of the desk.

"You, young man, have just made a very grave mistake," the tall, blonde woman clucked. "If there's one thing that upsets Duo, it's being mistaken for a girl."

"You know... him?"

"Oh, quite well. He's come here every Saturday since he was in pre-school. He used to be such a nice young thing, but then life happened. A shame, really." She shook her head sorrowfully, seeming to momentarily forget Heero was present. Then abruptly she turned to stare at him. "This may be an imposition on my part, but I would strongly suggest you apologize to him post haste, lest you find yourself in a rather unpleasant situation."

Heero frowned. "Is he part of a gang?"

The woman broke out laughing. "Duo?! Heavens, no. He is, however, rather too fond of using his fists. I wouldn't be surprised if he was waiting for you right outside."

"You approve of his behavior?" he asked distastefully, interpreting her mirth as consonance. An image of Duo's split knuckles at their first tutoring session burst into his mind.

She affixed him with a stern look. "Listen to me, young man. I've never seen Duo assault anyone unprovoked. He might intimidate the hell out of you, threaten violence, but unless you make the first move he won't touch you."

"How do you know that?" he asked suspiciously.

"Who do you think he goes to to get fixed up? I've known him since he was three. It was I who taught him to read and write. Precocious child if I ever saw one. A shame he's forced to live the way he does."

"Live what way?"

"Oh, dear. I've said too much. He'll be angry with me. Oh, well. That's nothing new." She sighed. "Please, you should go now and find him. Try to apologize and for heaven's sake don't try to hit him."

"Thank you for your help, Miss..." he glanced at her name-tag. "Miss Po."

"Sally, please. Now, shoo shoo. You've already disturbed our library quite enough for one day."

He stepped out into the blinding sunlight and, sure enough, there was Duo waiting for him, leaning up against a lamppost with a less-than-pleased expression on his face. When he saw Heero, he levered himself upright and stalked feverishly over, starting to talk before he could even begin to apologize.

"Number one," he spat, coming to a stop well within Heero's personal space, "you have a big fucking trap and if you know what's best for you, you'll learn to keep it closed around me very quickly."

Despite his lack of height and seemingly scrawny physique, the boy still managed to put off a very intimidating aura. Heero was a little put off. He steadily maintained eye contact, however, silently telling himself that he didn't have to listen to a thing Duo said. Unless he wanted to, of course.

Sensing the other's defiance, Duo moved in closer still, standing with legs spread little more than a foot away. "Number two. I'm sure you'll find after closer examination that that mailbox looks more like a girl than I do. Yeah, I have long hair. The resemblance ends there and you'd best remember that."

To his surprise, Heero found that Duo was correct. Once he looked past the shaggy, overgrown hair, the boy's features were undeniably male. There was nothing soft or girlish about them, with the possible exception of the wide, blue eyes. Of course, given as they were currently narrowed to near slits and held a look of deep grained hatred, even they were fairly masculine at the moment. It was a face not unpleasant to look at.

"Third and finally," Duo continued seriously, by now face-to-face with the object of his animosity. "You are not any better than I am. You might have the bucks and toys and all that shit, but you are not better than me and you cannot intimidate me with your fancy-pants upbringing. Kapish?"

"I never said I was better than you," he responded automatically.

"Oh, come off it, Yuy. Superiority was dripping from your pores from the second you saw me. You probably decided I was drunk or stoned that first day in the library," he accused. When Heero didn't deny it, he practically growled in frustration. Angrily, he spun on his heel, walked a few paces away, spun once more, and stalked back over. Jabbing an accusing finger in Heero's face, he continued, "Let me tell you something, fuck-twat. When you haven't slept two nights straight because you were up to your eyebrows in cow entrails in a subzero meat locker, then you can sit on your throne and judge me. Until then, you can just keep your little inbred, aristocratic opinions to yourself. You're my tutor, not my guidance counselor. You're here to correct my grammar, not my fucking lifestyle. So just hand over the goddamn essay and we'll call it even. I've had enough of this bullshit play school crap." He made a snatch at the papers Heero still clutched unwittingly in his hand. Unfortunately, Heero interpreting the move as an assault rather than a harmless grab.

I thought Miss Po said he never made the first move, he thought half-unconsciously, his body already reacting to the threat that Duo seemed to be posing. Years of kick-boxing drills told him that the quickest way to win this would be a swift kick to the head. So that was just what he did. Dropping his books to the ground, he shifted his weight to the right and swung his left leg up, slamming it into the side of Duo's head. Although he quickly regaining his balance, no further defense was necessary. He was gratified to note that, as he keeled over onto the sidewalk, Duo's hood fell off his head, revealing a very surprised expression. He made no effort to break the other boy's fall.

He stood above the figure writhing on the sidewalk, currently occupied with clutching its now bleeding lip. "You stand there accusing me of arrogance and apathy," he stated blandly, stooping to gather his things. "You label me with a superiority complex and mark me as a snob. You claim I think you're inferior to me. Why shouldn't I? I've never treated you with anything but politeness and you've been nothing but cold and abrasive towards me. I agreed to meet with you according to your schedule and you've been late every time. I complimented your work and you dismissed it outright." He straightened and stared down at the other boy, his blank countenance belying his internal anger. "To top it all off, now I try to apologize for making a stupid mistake and you jump down my throat and attack me before I can get a word out."

"I didn't attack you, you fucking twit," Duo grunted, preoccupied with wiping away the blood dripping down his chin. He propped himself into a sitting position and glared upward. "I was just trying to get my fucking work. If you call taking what belongs to me assault, you must be missing a few cogs in the head."

"You claim you weren't trying to grab me?" Heero demanded.

"I don't claim anything. I state I did not try to assault your fucking personage, your highness." He thrust to his feet, still holding his jaw with one hand. The other he held out, fingers splayed, in clear supplication for his paper. "Now just give me my goddamn work and we never have to see each other again."

Heero stared at the extended hand, his brain in turmoil. The person standing before him might be a mass of contradictions, but one thing was certain. He had just made a huge ass out of himself. He sighed deeply in resignation. Instead of holding out the papers, he grabbed Duo's hand and shook it as an expression of his contrition. "I'm sorry," he offered. "Sometimes I react without knowing what I'm doing. I tend to... overreact."

"There's an understatement," came the muttered reply, sarcastic as expected. Duo withdrew his hand from the grasp, but continued to hold it out. "My papers?"

"I think we should try and work this out," Heero responded, still holding tight to the essay.

"I think you should maybe give me my work before I knock your face in," Duo replied in an overly-friendly and obviously fake tone. "I am trying very hard not to at the moment and only Miss Eagle-Eyes at the window there is keeping me from doing just that."

Heero chanced a look behind him and found Miss Po staring out at them from a nearby window, disapproval clearly on her face. It was not directed at Duo. Wondering if he'd ever be welcome at this particular library again, Heero once more tried to offer his apologies. "Look, I think we should make another stab at this. I really would like to talk about some of your ideas."

"And I would like to leave before I'm out of a job," Duo grit out. "Papers. Now."

"Fine." Heero handed them over without further delay. As soon as he had them safely ensconced in his backpack, Duo pulled up his hood, pivoted, and strode swiftly away. "I'll see you next week then," Heero called after him. A one-finger salute was all the response he got.

-end chapter three-

A/N: Thank you for your patience. As I'm sure you all know, life has a way of interposing itself between you and your hobbies. Let's just say that my life is needier than most.

I'm sure you noticed a change in writing style. I apologize, but I had a really hard time maintaining the previous voice. That's another reason why it took so long for part iii to come out.

Coming next:

What happened with his family to put Heero in such a pissy mood?

Exactly what way is Duo "forced to live?"

Thank you to the following awesome people for prodding me onwards and not letting this fic fade away into oblivion: First and foremost, Kitana (who just might have to sharpen her pencils after all!). Also Bethany, the peace person, sphinx, tica, tiger shinigami, moon light dragon, scarlet red, dream keeper, mage of swords, darkphoenix365, sara, duosdeathscythe, painted smile, devona wolf, karen mccoy, foxrocker, care, shadow-seraph, lilli39, ani anime, nina, rikasakuraduo-heerosyliaspike, kitty kat 3030, doublemint, link worshiper, shinu, mama-sama, anrui, shin-chan, ellen, maigo, plastic tree, keiran, teearejay, p, shinigami11, pewp, kael kalespell, xxmelodyxx, akenna, kelp soda, bane's desire, katrina, maxwellschurch, midnight, caeolite, ryoko-caolan, hikaru, kairo-chan, violet eyes, shadow seraph, shru, midori5, and mariana1.