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 Four: In Which Heero Is Cool, and Duo Does Make-Up
"Ugh…"
Heero threw his arm over his eyes against the autumn sunlight and refused to remove it, even when he heard a low chuckle coming from somewhere in the vicinity of the window. The window took up three-fourths of the wall from the ceiling down, leaving a thigh-high bit of wall at the bottom – he liked the view it afforded. However, as it faced east, the late morning sun now shone in his eyes mercilessly, or would have if he hadn't covered them.
"I didn't think you the type to like to sleep in."
He lifted his arm to mock-glare at the figure shadowed by the light. "Usually I don't, but you see, this devil took over my bed last night and sapped all the energy from my battered and bruised body," he said mildly.
"Oh? All the energy, you say…?" The blinds were re-shuttered and Heero blinked a few times to get rid of the light spots dancing in his eyes, and then stared appreciatively as Duo ran his hands over his entirely butt-naked body, stretching and arching his back to show it off. The fall of unbound hair was the perfect frame for his body, and when he turned, bending over, the hair fell to his sides and presented a lovely eyeful of his… assets.
Heero groaned a little, sitting up in the bed. "Come here," he ordered, trying and failing to restrain the amused and (he had to admit) slightly depraved grin surfacing on his face.
Duo straightened and turned back to face him, hands on his hips and a similar grin on his face. "I thought your battered and bruised body was drained of energy?" he said innocently.
"I didn't say it was a bad thing – Duo!" Heero yelped as the blinds were withdrawn from the window, letting in the light again to attack his eyes. When his sight had adjusted, he shook his head in helpless amusement as Duo struck a pose and crooked a finger at him. "Come here, Heero," the American coaxed. "You know you want to."
"Duo… the entire world can see you."
"I know." Duo gave him a smug grin and turned to face the glass. "That's the whole point. And if you come here and we're within an arm's reach of each other, they'll see us both, and wither away knowing that all they can do is watch us two gorgeous men shagging each other silly."
Heero had to laugh. "Exhibitionist," he said, and he found that he didn't even mind all that much the fond note that had crept into his tone.
"You know you love it."
And he had to admit, too, that he did. Duo was right – if they were within reach of each other… he still remembered all of last night. They'd stumbled into his apartment, unable to let go of each other, and had left clothes all over the floor in their haste – the first time had been fast and rough, with Heero on top. Duo had reversed their positions, and their speed, the second time: their lovemaking had been slow and torturously drawn out, with Duo wringing all sorts of noises and reactions from his body. The third time Heero had tied Duo up with a tie he'd grabbed from the cupboard, and that time had been slow but turned rough as Duo made full use of his acting skills to play the role of the debauched maiden; the fourth time Duo had taken advantage of Heero's temporary rest to flip him onto his back, and on his knees... The fifth time, the sixth, the seventh and the eighth times had all been different, but one thing remained constant – they couldn't keep their hands off each other.
All these thoughts ran through his mind in a frozen instant, because in the next second, Heero saw something that made his blood run cold.
There was a red laser dot on Duo's chest, steadily centering on his heart.
"Get down!" he yelled, launching himself out of bed. He impacted with Duo in mid-crouch, sending them both sideways and out of the window as the glass shattered all over where Duo had been standing previously, and bullets ripped holes in the wood floor. Heero yanked on the cord, and the shutters dropped to block the light and the view of the sniper; the bullets stopped as he scrambled to his feet and pulled Duo to his in the same movement.
"Why is someone trying to kill you?" he demanded as he avoided the glass on his way to the cupboard, opening it and yanking out two pairs of worn jeans, two plain body-hugging long sleeved shirts, and two pairs of briefs; he tossed one of each item to Duo, who had retreated to the corner of the room. There was a pounding on the door; he shoved the clothes aside, pressured a panel in the wood, hit another spot with his other hand. There was the sound of machinery, faint, but he knew the metal plate had accordingly slid into place over the door since the sounds had been muffled.
"I don't know!" Duo snapped back as Heero dressed. The Japanese man whirled around at the reply to glare at Duo.
"Think again."
Heero knew how his expression must have looked like at that instant because of Duo's own face, shock and hurt overriding the fear, but he ignored it in favour of vaulting across the bed to the window – if he let himself think about it, they'd never get out alive. He knelt carefully amongst the glass and parted two slats of the shutters slightly, peering through. Black mask, black outfit, no bullet-proof padding. Sniper gun, Springfield from the shape, an older make from the bulk – either Ingrid's or a Red. Ingrid would have more men, climbers – dammit, let it be the Reds.
He looked closer, willing his eyes to focus – there! A flash of red on the ear, tiny but there. Yes! Reds – that explains the sloppy work by the sniper, they prefer face-to-face – also the ignorance of a possible witness, since they're known for being fast and ruthless, so they won't have researched me. Good. Reds, Reds… no, their firepower's only enough to get through the steel with time.
A plan of action formed in his head in a second. He moved back from the window and pinned Duo with a piercing stare. "Do exactly as I say."
Duo nodded, his expression one of only calm determination. Heero spared a moment for a quick, approving smile; then he was all business again. He'd found, in the days before they'd realized that his skill with a partner was nothing compared to when he was unhampered by one, that a partner when unfamiliar with the operation would keep asking questions, and he was glad that Duo wasn't being so stupid.
It's because he trusts you, the voice in his head whispered. I know, he wanted to reply. He would do anything not to betray that trust.
He only hoped Duo would do the same with the trust that he was risking.
The apartment was furnished with nothing incriminating, just things that a struggling artist would stock; the background to that particular alter-ego was watertight. Only the steel door would betray that their struggling artist was either particularly paranoid or they'd been really dumb in such a rash plan of action, but he was confident that they wouldn't find out about his involvement.
He triggered the trick door in the ceiling; a system of pulleys had a section of floor rising up. Once he blew the rigging there wouldn't even be a hollow section of floor to show that there had been a trapdoor; the wood floor would be just that – one solid section of panel-covered concrete; the seams of the section and blown rigging were undetectable except with special X-ray equipment. It was extremely overkill for an organisation like the Reds, and other mainstream groups would have a hard time discovering it, too, but he'd always been careful.
He turned to Duo, indicated the trapdoor. "It's a one-level drop, you have to –"
"Roll with the movement, I know," Duo interrupted, using the bedpost to vault nimbly over the glass shards and land next to the hole. He lowered himself quickly as far as his arms allowed, then dropped. Heero saw him land cat-like, roll with the movement, get up just before he vanished from sight.
No one moves like that without training.
Later; he had to set it aside for later. He followed Duo, landing not so gracefully but still unhurt, and used the control wired to the wall to blow the rigging. The section of floor fell back. He cut the wires with the knife placed there for that purpose and shoved the remaining wires back into the plugging so that it looked undisturbed, and only then he allowed himself to relax fractionally, looking around the bare apartment except for the cupboard in the corner and the table and chair next to it, strewn with make-up materials with a semi-large mirror propped up in the middle. The cupboard was open, and from the closed bathroom door he surmised Duo was in there.
"Duo?" he called, going over to the door.
"How long do we have?" was the muffled reply.
"They won't find this apartment, but to be safe –" He thought back to the Reds' equipment, then to the steel plating. "I'd rather we get out of here in seven."
"More than enough." The door opened, and Heero blinked at Duo in a shapeless granny dress, his body shape altered beyond recognition.
"Duo?" he said again, this time in disbelief.
The American grinned at him. "I used the padding in your bathroom – hope you don't mind. I assume this apartment's under the lease of an old couple? All the clothes are grandparent-ish. My face is more feminine, so I chose the dress –"
"How the hell do you know this stuff?" Heero interrupted, mind racing with suspicions.
Duo gave him a level look. "We get out of this shit first, then you ask me about how I know and I ask you about why you have reinforced doors and rigged boltholes and a faked apartment with disguises in it. Deal?"
He had a point. "Deal."
Duo pointed to the cupboard. "Pick something and change. I'll do the tune-ups after."
Heero did as he was told, not bothering to use the bathroom – Duo had only done so because the padding was all inside, behind the door. He put on slacks, a worn cotton shirt, a gnarled pullover. Socks, flat shoes; he found another pair and brought them over to Duo, who was expertly using the make-up to transform himself into an old, rosy-cheeked grandmother. Heero watched in awe.
Finally Duo was done, and even Heero would have a hard time recognising him. He told Duo as much as the American got up from the table. Duo grinned at him, and there was a touch of shy pride in it. "Thanks. Sit down and I'll do you. Nice combination of clothes, by the way – perfect for what I had in mind."
Heero almost felt like holding his breath as he watched himself change in the mirror – Duo's touch was gentle, professional, and under it he became a worn but dignified elderly man, with wrinkles tempered with laugh lines and shadows that made him look thinner, frailer.
"Done," Duo said finally. Heero checked his internal clock; not six minutes had passed since they'd first dropped into the apartment. Adrenaline was racing in his veins; the past few minutes, sitting down to let Duo do his work, had done little to diminish it. Now he made an effort to calm down, to think grandfather. Emotions and mindset affected a body more than people realized, and from the meditative exercises Duo was doing, he knew it too.
A minute later they were at the door to the apartment, arm-in-arm; a hunched but proud, frail but loving elderly couple. Duo's hair was entirely white, braided and pinned in a way that made it look shorter than it was; Heero's was streaked and straightened to look longer. Both wore blue-coloured contacts. Just as Duo was about to open the door, though, Heero stopped him.
"My words back upstairs," he began, then hesitated, not knowing how to apologize for the harshness of his manner.
Duo smiled at him. "Don't worry about it, love," he said gently.
Heero nodded, and gave him a quick kiss. Then they opened the door, and went outside.
Finally – some action! Whee. I'm so happy that everyone still likes the story… Hope this chapter lives up to your expectations then. Angst coming up! But first…
Next Chap: we have Really Cool Trowa making his appearance!
And did I hear something about... cookies?
Ashen Skies
"You know you love it."