Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, have any relation to Gundam Wing, have no permission from those who created Gundam Wing to write this. This is purely for fun, to waste time, and to make other people happy reading and to spread the joy of literature to all those poor unenlightened fellow man out there. I am making no profit from this.

Pairings: 1x2x1, side pairing 3x4

Summary: In the world of assassins, everyone knows Heero Yuy's name. And so he is given a seemingly impossible assignment: to track down one Dee Maxwell, and kill him. But then he gets to know an angel named Duo… and life gets really interesting.

Angels and Assassins

Chapter One: In Which a Disgusting Cliché Appears

There was a long line outside the club, but Heero strolled right up to the entrance, giving the bouncers ample time to take a long look at him. He knew he looked good – tight, black leather pants riding low on his hips over black boots and a form-fitting dark blue sleeveless turtleneck, a simple combination that he knew nevertheless made him look taller, and his legs longer. Black leather cord was loosely wound around one wrist, a fine silver chain around the other. He'd spiked his dark brown hair and put on black kohl that drew attention to his unique Asian eyes, something that he'd found drew a lot of American men especially with his dark blue gaze tending towards the intense side.

He was let in without anything more than a few wolf-whistles; the bouncers knew him, and even if they hadn't beautiful people were let in on principle. Heero hadn't liked flaunting his body like this, but once every couple of weeks the craving would grow in him and he had to visit the nightclubs and pick up a one-night stand, and so he'd gotten used to it and now saw these club nights as nothing more than a way to maintain his body's perfect condition.

This club had been a factory once; now its entire ground floor had been cleared for dancing. A second floor, installed all around the perimeter of the inside wall, was where the food and drink was sold and overlooked the dance floor like a balcony. It was about eight paces across – just enough for the bar, and a two-person wide path. A waist-height railing with glass panels marked where the floor ended and the air began. Metal and glass, silver and black were the main themes; the lights were varying dark shades of blue, red and purple. Subtle, and not flashy like most. He liked that.

Heero took the winding spiral stairs up to the second floor and found a place at the bar; seeing the bartenders all busy, he turned in the chair to face the dance floor, leaning on his elbows against the counter. He watched the thrashing crowd below him go through convulsions centering mainly around the hips. He'd seen this form of 'dancing' before, and sadly, it hadn't improved any since then.

Movement on his right: the man who'd been ordering came away from the counter with four mugs of beer clutched in his hands. Finally. He turned slightly on his stool and nodded to the bartender, who paused behind him.

"Something light."

"Sweet?"

"Yes."

The bartender brushed a thick bang out of his face and scrutinised him with sharp green eyes. "Ausbruch?"

"Austria?" A nod. "Hmm… no. something less alcoholic."

"A Muscat. Brown liqueur, Australia."

He considered that; it was a good wine, one he'd tried before and liked… no. he was in the mood for something… "Lighter. Frontignan?"

"Lower Rhone?"

A good wine. He nodded.

"A moment."

Another thing he liked about this place – its bar offered higher-class wines from the best locations for those patrons who wanted something better than the crass beer so many drank, and its bartenders were carefully chosen and trained. The one he'd talked to was new, but no less professional than his older counterparts.

Something on the dance floor caught his eye.

There were two women near the edge of the crowd, dancing together. He watched the one with the long auburn hair, beautiful hip-length hair that fell softly in waves down her back, the strands from the sides pulled back to make a braid that gave some order to the rest of the mass. She was slightly shorter than he was, from what he could see, with a lithe build that lent itself well to dancing – her movements were graceful and fluid, nothing like the spasms going on around her. Her friend, though good, paled in comparison. He wished he could see more than her back.

If only she were male, he mused. I'd take her to bed in a second.

Then the dancer turned, and he got a good look at the body and face that was definitely not female. He was beautiful enough to be one, though; beautiful enough to be an angel fallen to sin. A long-sleeved, v-neck wire mesh shirt showed off his lean torso; he wore dark red leather pants and black boots similar to Heero's own. The man tilted his head back, and his expression was of one lost in the music, in the dance: sultry, hungry. His kohl-lined eyes were heavy-lidded, and his lips blood red.

Heero wanted him with a sudden, fierce need that surprised himself. It wasn't only the gorgeous features that attracted him – it was the way he abandoned himself to the music, and the liquid grace with which he moved. The way Heero himself moved, when he deigned to dance. He was a little appalled at the way he'd lost control of his want so easily, but couldn't bring himself to look away.

Then those eyes opened, and locked onto his; Heero saw them widen, and then lower again – and that gaze was as hungry as his expression. His world narrowed to that one figure on the dance floor as the dancer licked his lips and gave him a slow smile that said keep watching. He raised his arms over his head, stretching in a way that offered Heero his entire body, then lowered his arms, slowly running his hands down over his upper body, his hips… Heero licked his own lips, aware of those eyes watching him as intently as he was watching the other man, and raised his gaze to meet them. I want you, said both pairs of eyes.

"Your Frontignan, sir."

That jerked Heero out of his trance – suddenly the music was too loud, the lights too flashy. What was he doing? He'd never lost control of himself like that before. Turning on his stool, he picked up the glass by its slim stem and delicately swirled it, savouring the smell to clear his mind, then sipped it. The wine was good, and cool as it flavoured his mouth and trickled slowly down his throat. He nodded at the bartender and offered him a small smile. "It's good. Thank you."

The bartender nodded, and the one visible green eye was pleased. He moved off, and Heero hesitated, staring down at the liquid in his glass.

I'm not supposed to… ah, screw it. It's the one night I can let myself go, and I'm not going to give up someone like that.

But when he turned back to face the railing, and looked down at the crowd, the dancer was gone, and only his friend remained to tell him that the man hadn't been his imagination. A deep sense of disappointment welled in him, but he ruthlessly pushed it back down. There were other men around that would do.

He knew, though, that after seeing the dancer, 'other men' would never be enough.

I've gone insane, he thought to himself, sighing. All this fuss over one man. He turned back to the counter, suddenly not wanting to look at the crowd, and lifted his glass to drink from it.

A warm body pressed against his back, an arm wrapping around his waist while a hand slid down his right arm to curl slim fingers around Heero's own, holding the glass stem. "May I have a taste?" purred a low voice in his ear. His body, which had tensed at first contact, relaxed and Heero repressed the delicious shiver that wanted to run through it at that voice, but he couldn't stop the heat that spread through him and coiled low in his belly. He instinctively knew who this newcomer was. "Be my guest," he replied, his own voice soft and almost a purr.

The man behind him shifted to stand beside him, though the arm remained around his waist. To his surprise and increasing arousal, the auburn-haired man gently took the glass from Heero, put it on the counter, and brought Heero's hand to his mouth and pressed his lips to the back of it. Heero nearly groaned out loud as glittering purple eyes looked up at him, and the man smiled, cat-like. He did let out a small moan as the man turned his hand over to kiss the base of his palm, then licked his way up to the wrist, where his tongue darted out and licked the pulse point.

"Very nice," was the murmured pronouncement, and lust coloured every syllable. Then he gently released Heero's hand and picked up the wine glass. Heero watched as he smelled, and then sipped the wine delicately. Then that beautiful face turned to him, and purple eyes trapped his own deep blue ones. "Not as good, but for a mere wine, it'll do. A Frontignan… you have good taste."

Heero allowed a smirk to surface as he openly ran his eyes over that lean body before meeting those eyes again. "Yes. I do."

Heat filled the purple gaze, and he gently put the glass down before tugging Heero to face him, side to the bar. The stool was high enough that it put Heero slightly below eye level with the other man, and fixed to the ground so that even as he parted his knees slightly, allowing the long-haired man to fit himself comfortably between Heero's legs, both arms wrapping around him, he was still balanced and in no danger of falling.

Once the man was within his reach, he reached up with a small growl and yanked his head down, claiming his mouth in a searing kiss. The other man leaned into the kiss, parting his lips and their tongues tasted each other, demanding and pleading, hungry and intimate. Arms tightened around Heero's waist as the man let out a quiet whimper, and Heero, who hadn't thought he could get so aroused from a kiss, wanted to take him right there. He pulled back for air, but the other man let out a growl and dragged him back into a second equally demanding kiss.

With difficulty they finally pulled apart, and stared at each other, lust shining in both pairs of eyes. Finally the purple-eyed man licked slightly swollen lips and said hoarsely. "What's your name?"

"Heero," he replied. Somehow lying to this man, even about something so small like his name, which he had done to all his previous partners – somehow lying to him felt wrong.

A slow, delighted smile. "Heero," the other man repeated, getting it right on the first try, which surprised and gratified him. "I like it. When others hear that, do they usually make some pun or crack a joke?"

He grimaced slightly. "Yes."

This time, the smile was sweetly amused. "Then I shan't. I don't want you to remember me as merely one more face amongst the many people you must have met."

He couldn't help it, and smiled. "You don't have to worry about that."

"I'm glad. My name's Duo."

"Duo." He tried it out, and liked the way it flowed off his tongue. There was nothing he didn't like about Duo, actually, so far. He found that he wanted to know more about him, to hold him and protect him and make love to him for reasons so much more than satisfying his body so that he could work without distractions.

Excuse me, do you know – do you have any idea – what you sound like? the voice in his head demanded.

He knew, and realized too late that it was… well, too late. He knew, and he didn't care.

A long time ago I promised myself never to be so moronic as to write a love-at-first-sight romance, because such things are stupid and never happen in real life and take all the fun out of watching two people with UST in denial.

I am a moron.

To those people who hate this story now, feel free to abandon it, or leave me a little note that goes 'yes, you're a moron', and I'll feel hurt but I'll get over it. To those people who hated this story – or more specifically, me, for posting a new story when the old ones aren't done – before this chapter even came out, well, now you can feel justified. -sheepish grin- The thing is, I've been writing so many serious, sad, or long plotful stories, that I wanted to do something… slightly pointless, more action-than-thought, kind of story. So here it is.

To those who didn't mind, or even supported my ever-wandering mind, thank you loads! I don't feel so guilty and wretched now for posting this, though I think I actually ought to. To those who told me in their replies to my other story update that they don't mind, either, I thank you even more. It helped, is all I can say.

Oh, and to redroseprincess678 – thanks for the honest questioning of Heero's out-of-character-ness, and background. Like I said this was meant to be some chicklit relief, so I didn't actually think much about all that, but now that you mention it I realize I should have. I'll work on it – thanks again!

Anyone else has any questions, critique, requests that I take this story more seriously like the others – please do let me know.

Okay, even with the love-at-first-sight thing, hope you enjoyed? Mysterious stuff happens later! Like two chapters later.

Ashen Skies
"Not as good, but for a mere wine, it'll do."