Chapter Warnings: m/m relationships, language and just whatever else might possibly be offensive…
A Grand Affair
Chapter Ten: Dropping the Ace from the Sleeve
They stood before a million flashing bulbs. The room was engulfed in constant white light. Shouts from both genders, all accents and all ages fought to be heard. Hands of hundreds of sizes and colors shot into the air, trying to be seen. Despite the fact that it was an invitation only press conference, hundreds filled the room. There was one ethnicity particularly absent: Italian.
Duo and Heero stood together, arms around each other in their best suits as they waited for the endless flashes to cease. Duo's hold on Heero was far more dominant as the short-haired boy played down his usually 'in-charge' demeanor. He had a comfortable look on his face as he continued to blankly scan the room from their small stage.
"I could get used to this," Duo murmured, though his lips barely moved.
"The attention or the dominant role?"
"Dominant role."
Heero's hand that had been resting against the small of Duo's back slid down a few inches and he firmly grabbed Duo's backside. Duo hardly flinched but his smile grew just a little. "Don't get used to it," Heero warned.
"Oh, come on, baby, I would just love to bend you over," Duo murmured in a voice as smooth as honey.
"You say that now but the moment I touch you all you'll do is beg for me to get inside you," Heero argued back, taking his voice an octave lower, knowing the pitch would send a shudder down Duo's spine.
He smirked as he felt the man next to him shiver slightly. He removed his hand from its scandalous position and back up onto the small of Duo's back. God, even through his heavy suit Duo had an amazing figure. Heero often wondered if he was truly gay for he thought Duo had a very feminine figure. Anytime that thought came to mind he would just have to dismiss the query. He didn't like women and he didn't like men. He just liked Duo. It was that simple.
At last, the lights died down and Duo and Heero took a seat behind the plain looking desk that held the Preventers symbol.
"How long?" the loudest question came through. The room fell quiet immediately after that since they all needed to know.
Duo nodded for Heero to take the question. "Since we were eighteen."
Instantly pens began to scribble and more hands shot up. Duo pointed.
"So are you truly the father or Relena's child?"
Heero smirked. "There is no child," he answered coolly. An audible gasp filled the room. "A doctor wanted to earn a little cash on the side so he got Relena's signature off a recent document and applied it. As a Preventer I did what I had to in order to uphold her reputation."
"So why not instantly discredit the claim?" another reporter called out.
Duo laughed aloud. "Like you would have honestly believed us."
This caused several reporters to put their hands down and some heads lowered. Duo pointed again to one of the hands raised.
"So, you really aren't married to Relena Peacecraft then."
"The document, as you will find, does not have my hand-written signature on it. It's a stamp. So, yes, I was, but not for any long length of time."
"Duo! You disappeared off the face of this earth after Relena was declared pregnant. Preventers said you had quit. Is that the truth?"
"Officially I did quit my position but I didn't stop working for them. I was doing some mechanical work in the United States. With Heero having to uphold his duties to the Preventers and Relena I thought it best that we…" Duo broke off, seemingly trying to find the best word. Inside he felt his heart breaking. God, he'd never forget that day as long as he lived. "We stay apart to avoid any kind of suspicion."
"During these past months, Heero, rumors had it you were fairly suicidal. There are pictures of you look sickly and despondent."
Heero waved a hand as though to dismiss it physically. "I had a terrible case of the flu and with Duo gone I was not in the mood to be sociable to anyone."
The reporters were taking the bait, Duo noted.
"So, what now?" another reporter exclaimed.
"We recently bought property in the area and intend to live life like any normal couple," Duo remarked. "Might even ask this one to marry me."
There were a few cheers and laughs.
"But you are hardly an ordinary couple," a woman replied from the crowd.
"Maybe in the eyes of the public," Duo pointed out. He physically reached out and took Heero's hand on the table, needing to maintain the look of dominance.
In Heero's earpiece he heard Millardo come through. "It's done," he reported to Heero.
(O)(O)(O)
In a hospital bed in the Sanq Palace, Relena closed her eyes and wiped a tear from her lashes. What a terrible ordeal. But it was over now. Heero and Duo had once again saved her life and reputation.
Relena was no longer pregnant. As she let her head fall back against the pillow she prayed that she could be forgiven. Not just for this easy way out. But for everything.
(O)(O)(O)
Heero poured himself a cup of coffee as he looked down at the frontlines of all the local and worldwide papers. They all pertained to Heero and Duo revealing their relationship. And Relena? Barely a word of her. She gave one comment to the Globe saying she was happy that Heero and Duo were free to live their lives and she thanked them for their endless support to her cause.
Verducci thought he held the cards but when the time came, he ended up just losing the bet. Heero knew this meant trouble. But at least not public scandal and further emotional decay. Verducci could throw anything he wanted at them. They were ready.
With Duo playing the dominant role in public and the one that also went after Verducci, Heero would instantly become the target of Antonio's posse. Duo had thrown a fit but in the end had seen the logic behind it:
Heero could bend steel. Duo couldn't.
And that settled it.
Duo trudged out of the bedroom looking somewhat groggy and not walking with his usual ease. Heero bent his head to hide the smug, male smile that took over his mouth as he watched Duo stiffly walk into the living room. But as Heero glanced up through his bangs he realized it wasn't just last night that gave Duo his restricted walk, but an evident problem was making itself known through his boxers.
"And I only thought that was because you were a teenager. What's your excuse now?" Heero said with little emotion as though the conversation was no more than a discussion of the weather.
Duo glanced down like he hadn't noticed before he shrugged. "Haven't been laid in a while."
"Last night?" Heero pointed out, looking up this time.
Duo smirked. "We were standing. If I recall, you couldn't even make it past the dinner table."
"If I recall, you wouldn't let me get to the bedroom. And if you don't want me to call 'getting laid' what I used to, I'd stop using the word as a pun."
"Oh…God…" Duo groaned. "It was like dirty talking to a robot."
"Excuse me?" Heero nearly barked. "What would you have wanted?"
Duo held his hands up in surrender. "Nothing more. I'm sorry; that was a low shot. So, are we famous yet?"
Heero just pushed a newspaper at Duo.
"That's a yes," Duo replied. "Great! Well, now all we have to do is wait for the bad guys to come and snatch my little princess away."
"Call me that one more time and I can assure you that there will be hell to pay."
Duo walked around the counter and slipped between Heero and the stack of newspapers. He wrapped his arms around Heero's shoulders loosely as Heero instinctually held Duo's hips. Duo leaned in with an impish smile and whispered against Heero's ear, "I like it when it's hot."
Heero instantly felt his body respond to those words. "Don't think you can talk me out of my plans with that act."
"What act?" Duo murmured as he lowered his head and nuzzled suggestively into Heero's neck. His warm lips found a tendon to follow with his tongue and he smirked as he felt his partner's hands tighten on his hips.
"Duo," Heero growled, a distinct warning.
"Mmm, yes?"
"This won't work."
"Oh," Duo responded in his thick voice, his right hand sliding down to the evident bulge in Heero's pants. "I think it's working just fine."
"Duo!" Heero tried again, this time, with a hint of desperation. His will was beginning to dissipate with his rising body temperature. "I'm serious. We're sticking to this plan."
"I wasn't going to try to talk you out of it," the braided devil responded as his hand slipped past the clothing barrier and made contact with iron wrapped in velvet.
"No, you're resorting to this!"
Duo stopped for a brief moment to look up at Heero. "I was willing to go to the ends of the earth and still I lost you," he said seriously. "If that only taught me one thing, it taught me to hold on tighter when I can. If they do come for you, we can't be absolutely sure about the outcome—" Heero opened his mouth to object but Duo quickly fastened his mouth to ex-pilot's and quieted any argument before continuing with a glazed look in his eyes. "And as long as you're right here and I'm here too, I'm going to take advantage of that."
Heero's eyes looked sad as he uncharacteristically reached out and tucked a strand of Duo's bangs back behind his ear. "I'm sorry you have to feel that way."
"Yes, I'm sorry for that, too. But where do we start apologizing? We didn't choose to be Gundam pilots. We didn't really choose the Preventers. We didn't really choose anything in our lives despite our choice to stay together."
"Don't excuse my actions, Duo," Heero bit out harshly.
"Perhaps I shouldn't but I can't dwell over them! Heero, Jesus Christ, I love you and therefore I forgive you! Just, at least, let me do that much."
"We never used to have talks like this when we were younger," the stoic pilot sighed heavily.
"We weren't exactly a set of romantic lovebirds," Duo reminisced with a wry grin. "And besides, we're a lot older now."
"Too old to be doing the same things we did when we were younger. Duo, that's the problem here. When we were younger we didn't really need each other the way we do now. We're too old to take these chances."
"Hey, this whole 'capture me' plan was your idea."
"It was the only logical one and you know it."
Duo didn't even think to argue. How he desperately wished he had lifted more weights as a teen.
"You're right," Duo replied, bringing his head down onto Heero's shoulder. "We need to really let this go. The public knows, Relena's off the hook for now… It's just us dragging this out."
"Once we get Verducci, we're getting out," Heero spoke firmly.
"Can you imagine it?" Duo whispered in an airy voice.
Heero shifted his arms so they encircled Duo's waist. "No. I've never been able to," he admitted in an equally soft voice. "Then again, I never imagined letting the world know our secret."
Duo turned his head inward and inhaled Heero's scent, calming him significantly. "Let's just disappear. Millardo can take care of things."
Heero opened his mouth to say immediately what came to mind, we can't abandon the mission now. But then he stopped himself. His first mission was Duo. If Duo wanted to get out then they should get out.
"Okay," Heero murmured. "I have an idea."
Duo lifted his head and looked into Heero's eyes for some kind of answer.
"I hope your suit is pressed."
(O)(O)(O)
AN: EEEK! We're drawing closer to the end. But how will it end? Anyways, I want to apologize to my readers. I know this has been a long update but my anatomy and physiology class & lab is already taking up hours of my time a day not to mention the psychology class, the honors seminars, the math class, and the psycho English course I'm taking. Anyone want to write a credo for me? Lol. Just kidding. BUT! Enough about me complaining, that's always a downer. Thank you to all my readers and reviewers, you guys keep me going and get me away from those damn textbooks! Thank you very much to: one-hep-cat, A. Minamino, lina, Red Phoniex, datanali, Professor Potter-Malfoy, Nikkler, darkrevenge, Aryam, Animouse03, Shakespeare'sWorstNightmare, Stratagirl, Modified Tam, camillian, and Patty 40.