Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

This is your Father?

"The weather just had to clear up, didn't it?" Duo grumbled as they entered their first period classroom.

Having a whole day and a half of another school day canceled had been great but Mother Nature decided to be fickle and made this glorious Friday perfect. That meant no clouds, all sun, not even a gentle breeze, to make it clear to everyone that their free time was up.

"What, you prefer it to be flooding or something?" Solo asked.

"If it means staying in bed, then hell yeah," Duo muttered as he planted his face into his folded arms, trying vainly to catch just a couple more z's. Solo just shook his head at the braided one's antics in amusement.

While Duo had been in a foul mood all morning, Solo was still giddy about having that blackmail situation resolved. An incredible weight had been lifted from his shoulders, instilling within him all this energy that he just had to spend or bestow on somebody else, much to the woe of anybody who just happened to be nearby.

"What was with you anyway?" Duo demanded, his head still bowed onto his desk. "God, my ass is still sore…"

"You love it and you know it," Solo teased.

Having nothing to say to that, Duo just groaned about how tired he was, despite having gone to sleep early last night. Man, he was just so freakin' tired! He wouldn't change what they did yesterday for anything, though.

Eh? What was that sound? Sounds like the clacking that high heels make…and they were coming closer.

"Shit," Solo muttered under his breath. "It's the slut."

"Good morning to you too," Dorothy greeted dryly. "You think you could have said that quieter? Or better yet, not have said it all? That's a fine thing to say to the person who saved you after all."

"Well, what is it that you want?" Solo sighed, his cheery mood now spoiled. This girl had all the rotten timing…

"Maybe a date," Dorothy answered. "You know, to pay me back."

Solo just gave her a look.

"I thought so," Dorothy continued.

"You have no power over me," Solo stated. "Not this time, not next time, not any other time after this. Can't you just give it up?"

"Depends on your answer," Dorothy replied.

"Just answer her already!" Duo whined, his voice muffled.

"Fine," Solo sighed, patting Duo on the back. "You heard the guy, my answer is 'no' so stop asking me already, okay?"

"I seem to recall that you still owe me," Dorothy said aloud.

"If that's so, then is there anything else you might want? I'm not going to date you, I'm already taken and happily am so, so think of something else."

"Well, there is something you could do for me," Dorothy said. "I remember seeing a tall guy, I think his name was Alex. You think you could set me up with him?"

"You just gonna use him like all the others?"

"What makes you think that?"

Solo just looked at her.

"Okay, you have justification for that. But there's something different about this one. I swear to you, I've only met him once but there's just something about him that draws me. I would really appreciate it if you could help me out."

Solo continued to look at her skeptically before replying, "You better be sure you're not playing your games with him. He's not the type that's gonna let just anybody walk all over him. Just because he can't hit you cause you're a girl doesn't mean he won't find some other way to beat the piss out of you. Still sure you wanna go through with this?"

"While your concern for my welfare is appreciated, I'm positive about this," Dorothy answered steadfastly.

Solo eyed her before ripping off a piece a paper and writing down a phone number. "You can call him with that," he said as he handed the paper to her. "Now shoo, you're interrupting my quality time."

"Whatever you say," Dorothy said, a small smile gracing her face as she left.

"And you make fun of Q for being a matchmaker," Duo drawled, lifting his head up. "So, what was all that she was talking about? I'm just dying to know."

"I'll tell you all about it later," Solo told him. "I don't think this is the time and place to be talking about such things."

"And when has that ever stopped you before?"

"Just now. Now be quiet, teach is coming in. We gotta learn now."

Duo only snorted as he sat up straighter.

--

"Damn English teacher," Solo swore as they left the school building that day. "Why'd she have to make us do an essay anyway? And what was that 'and don't try to bullshit your way through it' anyway?"

"Maybe she expects us to do the work; did that ever cross your mind?" Duo asked dryly.

"It's still too much to ask for," Solo grumbled as he crossed his arms. "I have better things to do than work on a damn essay."

"Senioritis hitting you hard, huh?"

"Senioritis? What's that?"

"Something only High School seniors get. You see, since it's their last year and all, they get the sudden urge to slack off even more than usual."

"It's an excuse to be lazy?"

"You got it."

"Damn, I've had that since the first grade."

"It's a wonder you've gotten as far as you have, isn't it?"

Bantering with one another, they were still caught up in it when they finally arrived back at the Winner estate. The sight of another car in the driveway was enough to cut through their debate, the two long haired teens staring at the vehicle curiously.

"That looks like my dad's car," Solo finally said after a few minutes of scrutiny.

"What's your old man doing here anyway?" Duo wondered aloud.

"Don't know," Solo answered, stumped.

Glancing at the blond slyly, Duo said, "I guess it's time for one of those 'meet the parents' moments huh?"

Looking down at the braided one, Solo grinned. "I guess so. Now all we need is to set one up with yours and we'll have a sequel."

Duo's good mood was instantly soured and he looked away hastily. The normally cheery violet eyes held a miserable light in them, one that Duo sought to hide, not wanting show how deep the unintended barb had cut into him. Damn it, he needed to get his act into order!

Making an effort to keep his voice from cracking, he replied, "Then lead on, lover boy. We can't stay out here all day, you know."

He must have done a good job since Solo didn't seem to notice anything. Hey, he could be a good actor when he wanted to be! It's just that things had been out of control a bit over the past couple weeks. He had to get back into control again, get a hold of the old routine. This was just Solo's father. He wasn't anything like his own deadbeat parental figure. He had to be since he was Quatre's father's brother for Christ's sake!

"Hey dad."

Duo jerked back into reality, unaware that he had gotten lost in his own thoughts and was inside the mansion as well. Beyond his notice, they were in one of the living rooms, Mr. Winner and an unfamiliar guest sitting on a couch. The guest bore a great resemblance to Mr. Winner except that he was noticeably younger looking and possessed the same green eyes that Solo had.

So this was his dad, Solomon's father…

He could actually see some similarities between the man and Solo. However, there weren't enough similarities that one could positively identify the two as related. Maybe Solo inherited more from his mother than his father. According to Howard and the others, he, Duo, resembled his mother more than his father. It could just be that the same held true in this case as well.

Solo looked impassive as he watched his father. Duo couldn't help but think that his boyfriend should have been at least more expressive than he was currently. This was his father, his family! Didn't families love one another or something like that?

"Hello Solomon," Solo's father greeted in return, a small smile on his face. "It's good to see you again. I hope you haven't been causing too much trouble…"

"I've been behaving myself," Solo stated, crossing his arms.

"That's good," Solo's father said hesitantly.

It was obvious that the guy didn't seem to know what to do. It was even obvious to Duo that he was like a fish out of water. Solo was how old? And this guy still didn't know how to communicate with him? Geez, talk about misplaced priorities.

"So…have you made any new friends?" the man asked hesitantly, as if he was unsure what to say.

"I've made a few," Solo answered before stepping to a side to reveal Duo fully. "Here's one of them, Duo Maxwell. Duo, this is my dad, Ezekiel Winner."

"It's nice to meet you," Ezekiel said, his confidence obviously lacking.

"Same here," Duo picked up. "It's nice to actually meet Solo's family."

"You still go by that name, huh?" Ezekiel asked, turning back to Solo.

"Yeah, what of it?" Solo said. Uncrossing his arms, he snaked one around Duo's waist and pulled the braided one up against him in a silent statement.

Ezekiel smiled shakily. "I guess you have a relationship with each other, huh?"

"You guess?" Solo repeated.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Ezekiel asked awkwardly, out of his element entirely.

"More than sure," Solo said, not even blinking.

"As long as you're happy," Ezekiel said uneasily. The poor schmuck really did look like he rather be somewhere else. Duo couldn't help but feel pity for him yet it all just seemed unreal. Solo was related to this guy? They were complete opposites! If he hadn't known better, he would have thought that Mr. Winner was Solo's father instead of this guy. This Ezekiel guy was a joke! He had to be. There was no other explanation for it.

At this point, Mr. Winner injected himself into the conversation. "Solomon, your father is going to be staying with us for a bit. His presence is required for something extremely sensitive at the company. I want for you to be on your very best behavior. That means no getting into fights at school or anything of the like, understand? I'm telling you right now, if you screw up just once, you are out of here. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Solo answered.

"The same goes for you too, Duo," Mr. Winner continued. "Do you also understand?"

"Crystal," Duo said.

"As long as we understand each other," Mr. Winner concluded. "Now, go off and do whatever it is you kids do these days. Just try to make yourselves scarce tomorrow. We are having another guest stopping by and his business is very important."

"Got it," Solo said. Without another word, he led during away from the two men and towards the bedrooms. The two teens remained quiet the entire way, not speaking until after they had closeted themselves in Solo's room where the blond proceeded in collapsing onto his bed bonelessly.

"So," Duo began, "that was your dad, huh?"

"Yep," Solo confirmed, staring up at the ceiling.

"Are you sure?" Duo asked.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"You and your dad…well…you guys don't seem to…I don't know…"

"C'mon, spit it out."

"You guys just seem so different! It's like you were complete strangers or something!" Duo exclaimed.

Solo raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"It's just that," Duo began before exhaling the air from his mouth out in exasperation, causing his lips to flop. "I don't know what I was expecting," he sighed finally. "It's just that you're just so…dominating I guess and he's…he's a wimp! You just walked all over him and he didn't do anything!"

"He's always been like that," Solo replied, waving the matter away as if it meant nothing. "What does it matter anyway?"

"I don't know. Maybe 'like father, like son'? Something like that. I just was expecting something completely different from your old man, that's all."

"Sorry to disappoint," Solo said sarcastically. "Why's it important anyway? What does it matter?"

"Just, how did someone like you come from somebody like that? Please, my mind won't let it go!" Duo exclaimed.

"He let me run wild when I was younger," Solo shrugged. "I guess you could say that was how I got involved with Mueller and the others. He didn't start paying attention to me until I started getting myself in trouble. Does that answer your question? Does it put your mind at ease?"

"Maybe," Duo muttered.

Solo's eyes narrowed. "C'mere."

"Huh? What?"

"Come over here."

"Why? Is there something on my face or something?"

"Would you just come over here already? Don't make me get up."

Frowning, Duo made his way over to the prone blond. "What are you up to?"

Then, Solo's hand shot up and grabbed the braided one's wrist, pulling the surprised teen down and rolling them over so that the blond was now on top.

"Has anyone ever told you that you ask too many questions?" Solo purred from above, his green eyes half lidded and peering down at Duo sultrily.

Duo recognized this look. He had seen it more than enough times to know what it meant. With his body pinned down, there was no escape for the captive teen. Once again, he was at the mercy of this overbearing blond and subject to his every whim.

Kinda like he always was even when he wasn't pinned down…

"Well, actually this is a first," Duo admitted, never taking his eyes off the blond.

"So either you ask just the right amount or you ask too little," Solo commented. "Maybe we should encourage you to ask more, shall we?"

"What do you plan to do?" he asked.

"Just wait and see," Solo growled playfully before descending and capturing Duo's lips.