Title: Revelation

Rating: M (just to be safe)

Warning: Slash

Disclaimer: I do not own She's the Man or Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, or What you Will

Summary: Viola gets a startling revelation from her love interest, Duke Orsino.

Notes: I couldn't help it, those guys were begging to be slashed. I actually saw the play a few months before the movie was released, and I love both.

Revelation

CH1: Carnival

"After I was so honest with you about everything! How could you not tell me? Did it just slip your mind?"

"Why do you think I wanted to meet you here, Viola? I had to think things over, and- and talk to Justin." Duke cast a glance that said clearer than words help me, over his shoulder to the placid blond behind him.

"You and my ex, though? How did- I thought you guys hated each other."

"That is how it started, actually." Justin spoke up for the first time, a blush tinting his cheeks. "Our fight at the carnival started it all." Viola forgot her angry retort as she saw the two men share a strange smile. It looked both apologetic and mocking, which didn't really make any sense, she mused. They seemed to be reliving something she probably didn't want to think about.

The Carnival

Justin felt his fist connect with Duke's jaw with a crack. He didn't have time to mourn his bruised knuckles before being knocked off the platform with Duke landing on top of him, driving the air from his lungs. Justin didn't remember to breath until he saw Duke's face hovering over his own. He couldn't afford to pass out during a fight.

Justin gasped in a few ragged breaths before beginning to wonder why Duke hadn't hit him. He struggled to sit up, but Duke had a viselike grip on his shoulders, pressing him into the grass. At least that explained why he hadn't been hit yet. Justin's eyes widened as he felt an unexpected hardness pressing against his thigh. He froze as his body began to betray him, responding to the flushed guy pinning him to the ground.

Duke released him with a curse, and only then did Justin remember the fight. They grappled until their positions were reversed and Justin was pinning Duke to the ground, an insolent smile on his face as he ground himself against Duke. He stumbled to his feet as Duke struggled to a standing position, only to be shoved back into Duke's grasp as Viola jumped onto his back, sending the three of them crashing through the popcorn cart.

Justin felt Duke's nails dig into his arm and heard his breath leave in a hiss as a piece of glass from the flimsy cart sliced open his forearm. In the uproar that ensued, Justin led a dazed Duke through the murmuring crowd to a first aid station on the fringe of the carnival.

Justin held Duke's arm gently and measured the damage as they waited for the nurse to finish with her current patient, a young girl with a skinned knee. The girl giggled, a smile brightening her tear-stained face at something the nurse had said. Justin turned his attention back to Duke's arm. The cut was actually more shallow than he thought, but it was still bleeding profusely. The nurse handed him a bit of gauze without a word and returned to bandaging the child's knee. Justin applied pressure to the cut, stemming the flow of blood. He felt himself relax, hand loosening on Duke's arm.

Duke blinked a few times, as if only realizing where he was, and jerked his arm out of Justin's gentle grasp. He covered the wince of pain by turning to face the nurse, Dorthy her nametag read, who had just ushered the little girl out of the enclosure.

"What the hell's going on?" he whispered, brow furrowed as he studied Justin.

"Don't ask me," he murmured, "you're the one that was very happy to be on top of me." he shrugged and nudged Duke forward to the nurse.

"He got cut up in a fight," Justin said to answer Dorthy's questioning look. Duke remained quiet as she started cleaning the cut.

"Where did the all of this salt come from?"

"It must have been on the popcorn," Justin said, trying to keep his face solemn.

"Popcorn?"

"It's a long story," Duke said with the beginnings of a smile, his eyes never leaving Justin's. The nurse tapped him on the shoulder and Duke looked down to see a bandage taped to his arm. How long, and more importantly, why had he been staring at Justin? Duke felt that smile fade to a look of puzzlement as he followed Justin back out into the open, into the festive chaos of the carnival. Justin turned to face Duke, squinting in the sudden brightness. After an inner battle of sorts, Duke offered his uninjured hand to Justin, who clasped it firmly and let go with a smile, which Duke mirrored.

"About the fight-"

Justin raised his hand, "My fault. I started it- I was just being a jerk."

The seriousness and self-depreciation in those few words surprised him. "It's not that-" Duke's mind raced for a way to take that look off of Justin's face, though he told himself it was because mentioning the fight had been a stupid thing to do. "I just wanted to say you have a solid right hook." Duke's smile widened at Justin's surprised look.

"Am I missing something?" Justin asked, more than a little baffled by Duke's obvious change of heart.

Duke grasped his shoulder, "I'll be at Cesario's at eight tonight. Will you be there?"

"Yeah, I mean- I'll see you there."

To Be Continued...