A/N: Wow, yet another late chapter, huh? Thanks to the great reviewers,
especially the latest ones; ya'll gave me the impetus to keep going! The
shameful truth is that after my computer crashed and I lost all but an
incomplete printout of my outline for this story I. . .I. . .okay, I was
going to quit. But your lovely reviews gave me strength! Like a magic
potion, they uplifted me! :P So, here we go. A chapter in which not very
much happens. Except Heero being pissy. And Zechs. But take heart! I
promise thee laser tag in chapters to come! Um, and possibly, a plot will
start developing amid all this pointlessness!
Disclaimer: I. . .I. . .I admit it! I (*sniff*)...much as it pains me, I REALLY DON'T OWN GUNDAM WING!!! WAAAAHHHH!!!
Chapter Three: In Which Paranoia and Missions Abound and Lunch is Made.
Half an hour later, Treize was looking surprisingly relaxed. That is, he was looking surprisingly relaxed as far as Quatre, Trowa, Heero, and Duo were concerned. Wufei, however, could see the stress and tension hovering just under the calm façade. Not that he felt any different; the Chinese boy was hiding it well, but he knew that if this session went on much longer, he was going to snap and break Heero's neck. Knowing that Duo would kill him didn't make the thought any less sweet.
It wasn't that Heero was doing anything wrong, exactly. He was just being his usual self; one *extremely* paranoid, annoyingly suspicious bastard. He had obviously spent time on his laptop formulating the questions he was asking, which were covering and re-covering the same ground; obviously in the hope that he would catch Treize out in a lie. Every time the Japanese pilot jumped on one of Treize's answers, Wufei's muscles jumped as well. He thought he was probably going to develop a twitch from being so permanently on edge.
Quatre had been watching the whole performance with some concern. His erratic empathy was cooperating for once, so he knew that Wufei was unhappy and on edge; he just couldn't tell why. This didn't stop him from suggesting a break once he started sensing concern from Duo on top of exhaustion from Treize and a positive wave of murderous frustration from Wufei. Whatever the cause, if they didn't stop soon Quatre had a feeling that Wufei would lose his fierce self-control and do something permanent to Heero.
"Guys," he broke in softly, as Heero was taking a breath to continue badgering Treize about the answer he'd given to the latest question. "Why don't we take a break? We've been doing this for half an hour; we can give Mr. Kushrenada a while to recover and reconvene in a few minutes."
Heero growled slightly, but acquiesced. Trowa, who had been sitting silently throughout the interview with only the occasional interjection when he felt Heero was getting out of hand, rose and left the room without a word. Treize, Wufei, and Duo all shot Quatre surreptitious looks of gratitude, which the blonde boy pretended not to see as he left the room.
"I'll stay in here and guard T-man, OK?" Duo called after the others. Wufei, who'd been hesitating between stalking off to confront Heero and staying with Treize, smiled his thanks; Duo just shrugged dismissively.
"No problem, 'Fei. Go have a good fight with my pig-headed boyfriend; I know you're dying to rip him a new one."
"I don't doubt you'd appreciate it," Wufei said dryly, then gave Treize a quick kiss before heading after the others into the safe house's main room.
* * *
"I don't trust him."
Quatre sighed, Wufei growled, and Trowa simply said nothing. The four boys were gathered in the living room in variations on the theme of 'sitting' in the key of 'we are having a meeting'. Predictably, the first words out of Heero's mouth were *not* in Treize's favor.
"Really?" Wufei retorted sarcastically. "I would never have guessed based on your gentle-and-trusting-as-a-lamb interrogation methods." He let a bit more of his irritation show. "What possible reason would he have to lie to us, Yui? His own men imprisoned him and then shot him! He doesn't have anywhere else to go!"
Heero's eyes narrowed. "We have only his word on that."
"Personally," Quatre put in, "I've always been of the opinion that Mr. Kushrenada is an honorable man. Not always a merciful or tolerant one, but certainly an honorable and trustworthy one."
Mentally, Wufei thanked the Bodhisattva for Quatre. Without the blonde pilot's calming influence, he and Yui would have killed each other long since. It helped, too, that Quatre seemed to be on Wufei's side in this particular fight. Outwardly, the Chinese boy didn't let his expression change.
"Exactly what I've always said, and may I remind you that, out of all of you, I have the most experience in dealing face-to-face with Tr. . .Kushrenada." Wufei cursed his slip, but it was so seldom that he ever discussed Treize with his fellow pilots! It was hard to say the right things and keep the right balance of hostility mixed with trust in his voice and expression, especially when two-thirds of him was still vibrating with rage towards Romafeller, and a good part of the rest wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed with Treize and keep reassuring himself that the man was really, truly here, back with him, and more-or-less intact.
"That may be so, but. . ." Heero was cut off by an insistent beeping from his laptop. The brown-haired boy leaned forward to the coffee table, where his prized computer had been settled, and flipped it open. He growled in frustration.
"I've got a mission."
Instantly, the other three were all business, even Wufei putting his frustration temporarily in a back cupboard of his mind. "How urgent?" Trowa asked.
"I'm leaving now. J wants me to check out a base in Siberia; a lot of mobile forces have been massing there lately and there's nothing in the official reports to explain it."
Wufei nodded, keeping his expression impassive although inwardly he couldn't have been more pleased; with Yui out of the way, he could bring Quatre and Trowa around to trusting Treize and they could all gang up on 01 when he returned. Heero, looking slightly angry but mostly resigned, clicked his laptop closed, unplugged it from the wall, and proceeded outside to get Wing in order before he told Duo goodbye.
* * *
In the small bedroom occupied by Treize, an awkward silence had descended. Duo finally sighed, shaking his head. "This is stupid."
Treize raised an aristocratic eyebrow inquisitively, and. . .Duo burst out laughing. Both eyebrows of the former Oz leader descended in genuine puzzlement. "What's so funny?"
"N-nothing," Duo grinned, swallowing giggles. "Just had a flashback. Nothing to- heh - ahem! Worry about."
"This has something to do with that obscure nickname Zechs and Wufei thought up for me, doesn't it?"
Treize watched as Duo turned quite an interesting shade of red trying to stifle a dangerous set of guffaws. "N-no!" he finally managed to squeak, "Why - ha! Wh-Why would you think that?"
"What is a 'Tigger', anyway?" Treize asked, seemingly quite unconcerned, although his eyes held a suspicious glint. "I really don't see how it can be so amusing."
"Sometime, I'll let you watch the show, T-man," Duo promised, color returning to something more approximately normal. "You'll understand."
"Hmm." Silence descended again. This time, Duo broke it quite promptly, and with more confidence.
"So, how did you manage to hook 'Fei?"
"Blunt, aren't you, Maxwell?" Treize grinned, then turned serious. "To be honest, I have not the slightest idea."
Now it was Duo's turn to raise an eyebrow. "What, it was an accident?"
"Accident is. . ." Treize sought for a term, then gave a half-shrug. "Probably the best word to use, actually. It was definitely one of the most fortunate accidents I've ever had, though."
"Details, please." Treize looked at him inquisitively; Duo just grinned. "Hey, I've heard 'Fei's side of things, now it's your turn. Oh, and just so you know, 'Fei's one of my best friends. If you hurt him, I'll beat you to death with a shovel."
Surprisingly, Treize only smiled. "Trust me, if I hurt Wufei, I doubt there will be a shortage of volunteers to beat me to death with a shovel. Starting with myself, if that makes any sense."
Deciding that no reply was needed for Treize to continue, Duo settled for looking encouraging and hoping the ginger-haired man would take the hint.
Treize let out a long sigh, then looked thoughtful. "It started with the duel, of course. Wufei probably told you the same thing; pretty much everything starts with the duel. Really, for me it was a case of fascination at first sight. He was so. . .volcanic, I suppose. It was amazing to me that one slight body could hold that much passion, even if it was all fury towards me. So after I beat him, I let him go, not because he was weak- do you have any idea how hard it was for Zechs and I to break him of the whole "I am weak and unworthy" complex, by the way? Took us *months*. Anyway- it wasn't because he was weak, but just because I didn't want to kill him. Probably extremely stupid of me, but there it is. And then he started turning up, every few months, and I. . .liked him. I really did. He was so young, but he seemed so. . .mature beyond his years. He was someone I could talk to, *really* talk to, and I didn't have very many people like that around." Treize frowned. "That's not even exactly it, but even I can't put it into words, precisely. After I so much as told him that I knew he was a Gundam pilot, that I didn't care, and that I was. . .falling in love with him, and he left. . .I was scared. I hadn't realized until then how much I cared, even though I'd only seen him a grand total of three times."
"So, you love him?" For once in his life, Duo appeared to be completely serious.
"Yes." Treize's answer came without a trace of hesitation. The braided pilot studied him carefully for a moment, then broke back into his usual grin.
"Well that's good. Because, you know, brains and blood and stuff? Really hard to clean off of shovels."
Usually, this typical Duo silliness wouldn't have been enough to make Treize laugh, but it had been a long, long month or two. A chuckle escaped from the ginger-haired man, and Duo joined in. It was just then, with predictably bad timing, that Heero, opened the door.
"Duo, I'm. . ." He stopped, practically frozen, as both of them cut off rather guiltily in mid laugh, and cobalt blue eyes narrowed. Duo could *see* him trying to decide whether to march out or demand an explanation, and the violet-eyed pilot heaved an internal sigh. Heero was a wonderful boyfriend, even leaving out the great sex, but Duo also thought that for an unreasonably large percentage of the time, Heero was the solar system's most sensitive pain in the ass.
"I have a mission." Heero's voice had gone cold, and Duo's heart sank. This was the last thing he needed. The Japanese pilot stalked out of the room, and the braided boy cursed silently.
"Sorry."
Duo turned to look with some surprise at Treize, who wore a genuinely penitent expression. The teenager sighed, then buried his frustration. "Look. . .don't worry about it, okay? Be right back." With that, Duo got up and jogged out of the room after his boyfriend.
"Heero! Get back here, you dumb ass!" Heero's back stiffened even more, and Duo cursed himself, this time. He didn't have an ounce of tact in his body; neither did Heero, and what they didn't have was exactly what they needed right now. Quatre shot the two boys a puzzled look as they strode through the living room, Heero resolutely ignoring Duo and Duo resolutely pursuing him. The front door slammed behind them, and the three pilots in the living room exchanged glances.
A sigh from the entrance to the hall pulled their heads around. Treize was standing in the doorway, leaning heavily on a doorjamb and looking...disheveled. And rather upset. The sight of him alone was enough to make Wufei want to jump his bones then and there, regardless of whatever problems Heero and Duo happened to be having, but the Chinese boy restrained himself for the sake of his two witnesses. Quatre was the one who rose, looking concerned.
"Mr. Kushrenada, you really shouldn't be. . ."
"I apologize." Treize cut the blonde boy off mid-sentence. "Whatever problems Maxwell and Yui are having are because of me. I would say I should never have come here," he chuckled mirthlessly, hiding pain, and it was all Wufei could do to keep from running to him then and there, "but I have nowhere else to go. So, again, I apologize." With that, he inclined his head to the three pilots and turned to limp carefully back to his bedroom. Wufei, after shooting a positively murderous obsidian glare towards the door that Yui had disappeared through, caught up to his lover and supported him down the hall, no longer caring what Trowa or Quatre might think of this display. He had had just about enough of the hiding, lying, and other assorted forms of bullshit which were quickly developing into a trademark of this particular day.
* * *
Wufei was just sitting down after helping Treize back to bed when they heard the slam of the front door. The two exchanged glances, and Wufei rose to his feet again.
"I'll be right back," he assured Treize, and slid out of the room quietly.
Duo was sprawled on one end of the couch as Wufei entered the living room, head tilted back, eyes closed, and an expression of frustrated weariness on his normally cheery features. Quatre was watching him worriedly, and even Trowa looked concerned.
"Hey." Wufei broke the tense silence gently, and Duo opened his eyes to glance over at the black-haired boy. "You okay?"
Duo laughed harshly. "Yeah, fine, great, except that I think I just alienated my boyfriend for life." He leaned back, closing his eyes again. "Damn Heero. Damn me, too, come to think of it. Both of us stubborn bastards and neither of us willing to forget it for a second."
Wufei sighed. "I'm sorry. What set him off?"
Duo opened his eyes to roll them in exasperation. "Nothing! Jeez, he finds me joking around with T-man and acts like I'm committing a freakin' crime! Paranoid asshole. . ."
Wufei groaned internally, and hoped Treize couldn't hear this from his bedroom. If he did, he'd be back out here apologizing -again- after Wufei had just gotten him back to bed, and it wouldn't do him or Duo any good, anyway.
"Duo. . ." Quatre started, sounding worried, but Duo cut him off.
"It's okay, Q. I'll. . .get over it. I hope to *God* he will too. Damn. . ."
"He will." This reassuring voice, surprisingly, was Trowa. The green-eyed boy even cracked a slight smile. "He may be a paranoid asshole, but he's not too stupid to know what he's got in you."
Duo smiled, albeit wearily, at Trowa. "Thanks, man. Now I just have to talk myself into believing that and I'll be free and clear."
They all sat quietly for a moment, just existing, before Wufei heaved a sigh and levered himself to his feet.
"I'm going to check on Treize." The Chinese boy noticed that he'd slipped again, but couldn't bring himself to really care. "Keep me updated on any missions." With that, he slipped out of the room, down the hall, and back to his boyfriend. Behind his back, Quatre looked confused as his empathy told him something about the black-haired pilot that he knew couldn't possibly be real.
* * *
When Duo opened the door to Treize's bedroom an hour or so later, he found his friend and the ginger-haired ex-Oz general deep in conversation and smiling faintly at each other.
'At least someone around here is cheerful,' the braided pilot thought, then attracted the pair's attention with the accepted stratagem of clearing his throat. Both turned to look at him.
"Q and Tro have a mission," Duo announced without preamble. "In fact, they should be leaving right about. . ." He made a show of listening for takeoff noises which he couldn't possibly have heard, "Now." He grinned faintly at them. "Just you and me now, guys."
Treize frowned slightly. "Didn't 01 just receive a mission? Is it normal for you all to be so. . ."
"Busy?" Wufei cut in dryly. "Depends. Since you disappeared from Oz and Romafeller officially took over, we've been a lot busier than usual."
"You can say that again," Duo agreed, plunking himself down on Treize's bed. The older man had drawn himself up into a sitting position at the head of the bed, supported by pillows, with Wufei facing him from the middle of the aforementioned piece of furniture. The black-haired boy moved so that he could see both Treize and Duo without giving himself whiplash, and settled back down.
"So," Duo continued, his normal grin slipping back across his face. "Anyone for lunch?"
"Didn't you just eat breakfast. . ." Wufei checked the digital clock beside the bed, "Two and a half hours ago?"
"So?" Duo asked innocently. "I have a fast metabolism. Besides, *you* didn't eat breakfast. Too busy cuddling with T-man, as I recall. . ."
To his surprise, the pillow that hit him in the face had been absentmindedly lobbed not by Wufei, but by Treize. "Hey!" he exclaimed, pouting. In reply he received only an inquisitive ginger eyebrow raised innocently at him. Duo pouted. Wufei rolled his eyes.
"Okay, okay, break it up, we're having lunch."
* * *
Lunch turned out to be ramen, which was just about the only thing Duo and Wufei were absolutely sure they could cook without scorching either the kitchen or themselves the first time. Treize had wanted to come to the kitchen and watch them, probably in order to snicker at their culinary incompetence, but Wufei had been dead set on him staying in bed. After quite a lot of what was basically whining in the guise of well-reasoned arguments, however, Treize had won a compromise from his boyfriend and was currently ensconced on the couch in the living room, watching the news. At least, when Duo had left the living room, Treize had been watching the news. The sounds now audible from the kitchen sounded more along the lines of anvils predictably smashing an unsuspecting coyote, possibly named Wile E.
The ramen was ready in only a few minutes, and the three current inhabitants of the safehouse had just settled in the living room to eat it when a thunderous sound made itself heard over the television. Their heads jerked up; all three of them recognized it immediately. It was the sound of a mobile suit engine.
* * *
Zechs rubbed his eyes, shaking his head and blinking to try and force them to focus properly on the glowing screen which was informing him of his current location. It had been nearly fifty hours since he'd last slept, and although he could go (and had gone) without sleep for a week, he couldn't prevent the effects of sleep deprivation from beginning to make themselves known. But he was almost there now, only a few minutes away, and he wouldn't allow himself to sleep until he'd seen Treize with his own eyes and knew that he was safe.
In the distance, almost hidden among the snow-covered trees, a house was rapidly approaching. The pilot checked its coordinates with the ones Wufei had given him.
"That's it," he whispered, and gunned Tallgeese forward. There wasn't much space to land in the forest of evergreens, but a clearing beckoned, about two hundred yards south of the house. Zechs noticed Deathscythe concealed in another clearing, further away, skillfully hidden under branches and snow. If he hadn't been so close and so tense that he was jumping at shadows, he would never have noticed the black Gundam.
Dismissing the machine for now, he came in above the clearing he'd selected, got Tallgeese and its burden aligned with the open ground, and cut the jets. The suit landed with a thump; it was a very sloppy maneuver, and normally Zechs would never have done anything so ungraceful, but now he was in a hurry. His fingers flew over the straps of his harness; he was out of the mobile suit almost before it finished settling into the frozen ground and dashed towards the house he'd observed without bothering about any kind of camouflage.
Trees gave way to cleared ground, a perimeter of about three hundred feet in front of the house and one hundred around the sides and back. Zechs would have mentally complimented the pilots on this security measure, but as soon as he came within sight of the house the entire force of his attention focused on the tall, ginger-haired figure standing on the porch and the smaller, black-haired one supporting it. From Wufei's perspective, Zechs seemed to fly up the path in only a few strides; for the blonde- haired man, it seemed to take forever until he mounted the steps and stopped, his eyes boring intensely into Treize's. The older man smiled, blue eyes full of undefined emotion, and Zechs crossed the last few feet between them and hugged Treize with all his might.
The former general winced, but hugged him back as Zechs drew Wufei into the embrace. Duo watched from the doorway, feeling vaguely uncomfortable but not enough to look away from the reunion. After the braided pilot considered that a sufficient amount of time had passed, he cleared his throat politely.
"Sweet as all this is, my ramen is getting cold. You can have some too if you hurry, Zechsy."
Reluctantly, the three withdrew somewhat from each other's arms. Zechs offered Duo a hesitant smile, his arm still around Treize's shoulders.
"Ramen would be good. Then I'd like to sleep for a few days or so." Wufei grinned in understanding; then the blonde pilot suddenly frowned, raising an eyebrow. "'Zechsy,' Maxwell?"
"Leave it," Treize warned him affably. "He called me the... what was it? Ah- the 'most honorable stripy one' this morning."
Zechs blinked once or twice; then the reference settled over him like a particularly hilarious cloak. The blonde man doubled over laughing as Wufei and Duo chortled. Treize, on the clueless hand, merely looked put out.
"*What* is so funny??"
Disclaimer: I. . .I. . .I admit it! I (*sniff*)...much as it pains me, I REALLY DON'T OWN GUNDAM WING!!! WAAAAHHHH!!!
Chapter Three: In Which Paranoia and Missions Abound and Lunch is Made.
Half an hour later, Treize was looking surprisingly relaxed. That is, he was looking surprisingly relaxed as far as Quatre, Trowa, Heero, and Duo were concerned. Wufei, however, could see the stress and tension hovering just under the calm façade. Not that he felt any different; the Chinese boy was hiding it well, but he knew that if this session went on much longer, he was going to snap and break Heero's neck. Knowing that Duo would kill him didn't make the thought any less sweet.
It wasn't that Heero was doing anything wrong, exactly. He was just being his usual self; one *extremely* paranoid, annoyingly suspicious bastard. He had obviously spent time on his laptop formulating the questions he was asking, which were covering and re-covering the same ground; obviously in the hope that he would catch Treize out in a lie. Every time the Japanese pilot jumped on one of Treize's answers, Wufei's muscles jumped as well. He thought he was probably going to develop a twitch from being so permanently on edge.
Quatre had been watching the whole performance with some concern. His erratic empathy was cooperating for once, so he knew that Wufei was unhappy and on edge; he just couldn't tell why. This didn't stop him from suggesting a break once he started sensing concern from Duo on top of exhaustion from Treize and a positive wave of murderous frustration from Wufei. Whatever the cause, if they didn't stop soon Quatre had a feeling that Wufei would lose his fierce self-control and do something permanent to Heero.
"Guys," he broke in softly, as Heero was taking a breath to continue badgering Treize about the answer he'd given to the latest question. "Why don't we take a break? We've been doing this for half an hour; we can give Mr. Kushrenada a while to recover and reconvene in a few minutes."
Heero growled slightly, but acquiesced. Trowa, who had been sitting silently throughout the interview with only the occasional interjection when he felt Heero was getting out of hand, rose and left the room without a word. Treize, Wufei, and Duo all shot Quatre surreptitious looks of gratitude, which the blonde boy pretended not to see as he left the room.
"I'll stay in here and guard T-man, OK?" Duo called after the others. Wufei, who'd been hesitating between stalking off to confront Heero and staying with Treize, smiled his thanks; Duo just shrugged dismissively.
"No problem, 'Fei. Go have a good fight with my pig-headed boyfriend; I know you're dying to rip him a new one."
"I don't doubt you'd appreciate it," Wufei said dryly, then gave Treize a quick kiss before heading after the others into the safe house's main room.
* * *
"I don't trust him."
Quatre sighed, Wufei growled, and Trowa simply said nothing. The four boys were gathered in the living room in variations on the theme of 'sitting' in the key of 'we are having a meeting'. Predictably, the first words out of Heero's mouth were *not* in Treize's favor.
"Really?" Wufei retorted sarcastically. "I would never have guessed based on your gentle-and-trusting-as-a-lamb interrogation methods." He let a bit more of his irritation show. "What possible reason would he have to lie to us, Yui? His own men imprisoned him and then shot him! He doesn't have anywhere else to go!"
Heero's eyes narrowed. "We have only his word on that."
"Personally," Quatre put in, "I've always been of the opinion that Mr. Kushrenada is an honorable man. Not always a merciful or tolerant one, but certainly an honorable and trustworthy one."
Mentally, Wufei thanked the Bodhisattva for Quatre. Without the blonde pilot's calming influence, he and Yui would have killed each other long since. It helped, too, that Quatre seemed to be on Wufei's side in this particular fight. Outwardly, the Chinese boy didn't let his expression change.
"Exactly what I've always said, and may I remind you that, out of all of you, I have the most experience in dealing face-to-face with Tr. . .Kushrenada." Wufei cursed his slip, but it was so seldom that he ever discussed Treize with his fellow pilots! It was hard to say the right things and keep the right balance of hostility mixed with trust in his voice and expression, especially when two-thirds of him was still vibrating with rage towards Romafeller, and a good part of the rest wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed with Treize and keep reassuring himself that the man was really, truly here, back with him, and more-or-less intact.
"That may be so, but. . ." Heero was cut off by an insistent beeping from his laptop. The brown-haired boy leaned forward to the coffee table, where his prized computer had been settled, and flipped it open. He growled in frustration.
"I've got a mission."
Instantly, the other three were all business, even Wufei putting his frustration temporarily in a back cupboard of his mind. "How urgent?" Trowa asked.
"I'm leaving now. J wants me to check out a base in Siberia; a lot of mobile forces have been massing there lately and there's nothing in the official reports to explain it."
Wufei nodded, keeping his expression impassive although inwardly he couldn't have been more pleased; with Yui out of the way, he could bring Quatre and Trowa around to trusting Treize and they could all gang up on 01 when he returned. Heero, looking slightly angry but mostly resigned, clicked his laptop closed, unplugged it from the wall, and proceeded outside to get Wing in order before he told Duo goodbye.
* * *
In the small bedroom occupied by Treize, an awkward silence had descended. Duo finally sighed, shaking his head. "This is stupid."
Treize raised an aristocratic eyebrow inquisitively, and. . .Duo burst out laughing. Both eyebrows of the former Oz leader descended in genuine puzzlement. "What's so funny?"
"N-nothing," Duo grinned, swallowing giggles. "Just had a flashback. Nothing to- heh - ahem! Worry about."
"This has something to do with that obscure nickname Zechs and Wufei thought up for me, doesn't it?"
Treize watched as Duo turned quite an interesting shade of red trying to stifle a dangerous set of guffaws. "N-no!" he finally managed to squeak, "Why - ha! Wh-Why would you think that?"
"What is a 'Tigger', anyway?" Treize asked, seemingly quite unconcerned, although his eyes held a suspicious glint. "I really don't see how it can be so amusing."
"Sometime, I'll let you watch the show, T-man," Duo promised, color returning to something more approximately normal. "You'll understand."
"Hmm." Silence descended again. This time, Duo broke it quite promptly, and with more confidence.
"So, how did you manage to hook 'Fei?"
"Blunt, aren't you, Maxwell?" Treize grinned, then turned serious. "To be honest, I have not the slightest idea."
Now it was Duo's turn to raise an eyebrow. "What, it was an accident?"
"Accident is. . ." Treize sought for a term, then gave a half-shrug. "Probably the best word to use, actually. It was definitely one of the most fortunate accidents I've ever had, though."
"Details, please." Treize looked at him inquisitively; Duo just grinned. "Hey, I've heard 'Fei's side of things, now it's your turn. Oh, and just so you know, 'Fei's one of my best friends. If you hurt him, I'll beat you to death with a shovel."
Surprisingly, Treize only smiled. "Trust me, if I hurt Wufei, I doubt there will be a shortage of volunteers to beat me to death with a shovel. Starting with myself, if that makes any sense."
Deciding that no reply was needed for Treize to continue, Duo settled for looking encouraging and hoping the ginger-haired man would take the hint.
Treize let out a long sigh, then looked thoughtful. "It started with the duel, of course. Wufei probably told you the same thing; pretty much everything starts with the duel. Really, for me it was a case of fascination at first sight. He was so. . .volcanic, I suppose. It was amazing to me that one slight body could hold that much passion, even if it was all fury towards me. So after I beat him, I let him go, not because he was weak- do you have any idea how hard it was for Zechs and I to break him of the whole "I am weak and unworthy" complex, by the way? Took us *months*. Anyway- it wasn't because he was weak, but just because I didn't want to kill him. Probably extremely stupid of me, but there it is. And then he started turning up, every few months, and I. . .liked him. I really did. He was so young, but he seemed so. . .mature beyond his years. He was someone I could talk to, *really* talk to, and I didn't have very many people like that around." Treize frowned. "That's not even exactly it, but even I can't put it into words, precisely. After I so much as told him that I knew he was a Gundam pilot, that I didn't care, and that I was. . .falling in love with him, and he left. . .I was scared. I hadn't realized until then how much I cared, even though I'd only seen him a grand total of three times."
"So, you love him?" For once in his life, Duo appeared to be completely serious.
"Yes." Treize's answer came without a trace of hesitation. The braided pilot studied him carefully for a moment, then broke back into his usual grin.
"Well that's good. Because, you know, brains and blood and stuff? Really hard to clean off of shovels."
Usually, this typical Duo silliness wouldn't have been enough to make Treize laugh, but it had been a long, long month or two. A chuckle escaped from the ginger-haired man, and Duo joined in. It was just then, with predictably bad timing, that Heero, opened the door.
"Duo, I'm. . ." He stopped, practically frozen, as both of them cut off rather guiltily in mid laugh, and cobalt blue eyes narrowed. Duo could *see* him trying to decide whether to march out or demand an explanation, and the violet-eyed pilot heaved an internal sigh. Heero was a wonderful boyfriend, even leaving out the great sex, but Duo also thought that for an unreasonably large percentage of the time, Heero was the solar system's most sensitive pain in the ass.
"I have a mission." Heero's voice had gone cold, and Duo's heart sank. This was the last thing he needed. The Japanese pilot stalked out of the room, and the braided boy cursed silently.
"Sorry."
Duo turned to look with some surprise at Treize, who wore a genuinely penitent expression. The teenager sighed, then buried his frustration. "Look. . .don't worry about it, okay? Be right back." With that, Duo got up and jogged out of the room after his boyfriend.
"Heero! Get back here, you dumb ass!" Heero's back stiffened even more, and Duo cursed himself, this time. He didn't have an ounce of tact in his body; neither did Heero, and what they didn't have was exactly what they needed right now. Quatre shot the two boys a puzzled look as they strode through the living room, Heero resolutely ignoring Duo and Duo resolutely pursuing him. The front door slammed behind them, and the three pilots in the living room exchanged glances.
A sigh from the entrance to the hall pulled their heads around. Treize was standing in the doorway, leaning heavily on a doorjamb and looking...disheveled. And rather upset. The sight of him alone was enough to make Wufei want to jump his bones then and there, regardless of whatever problems Heero and Duo happened to be having, but the Chinese boy restrained himself for the sake of his two witnesses. Quatre was the one who rose, looking concerned.
"Mr. Kushrenada, you really shouldn't be. . ."
"I apologize." Treize cut the blonde boy off mid-sentence. "Whatever problems Maxwell and Yui are having are because of me. I would say I should never have come here," he chuckled mirthlessly, hiding pain, and it was all Wufei could do to keep from running to him then and there, "but I have nowhere else to go. So, again, I apologize." With that, he inclined his head to the three pilots and turned to limp carefully back to his bedroom. Wufei, after shooting a positively murderous obsidian glare towards the door that Yui had disappeared through, caught up to his lover and supported him down the hall, no longer caring what Trowa or Quatre might think of this display. He had had just about enough of the hiding, lying, and other assorted forms of bullshit which were quickly developing into a trademark of this particular day.
* * *
Wufei was just sitting down after helping Treize back to bed when they heard the slam of the front door. The two exchanged glances, and Wufei rose to his feet again.
"I'll be right back," he assured Treize, and slid out of the room quietly.
Duo was sprawled on one end of the couch as Wufei entered the living room, head tilted back, eyes closed, and an expression of frustrated weariness on his normally cheery features. Quatre was watching him worriedly, and even Trowa looked concerned.
"Hey." Wufei broke the tense silence gently, and Duo opened his eyes to glance over at the black-haired boy. "You okay?"
Duo laughed harshly. "Yeah, fine, great, except that I think I just alienated my boyfriend for life." He leaned back, closing his eyes again. "Damn Heero. Damn me, too, come to think of it. Both of us stubborn bastards and neither of us willing to forget it for a second."
Wufei sighed. "I'm sorry. What set him off?"
Duo opened his eyes to roll them in exasperation. "Nothing! Jeez, he finds me joking around with T-man and acts like I'm committing a freakin' crime! Paranoid asshole. . ."
Wufei groaned internally, and hoped Treize couldn't hear this from his bedroom. If he did, he'd be back out here apologizing -again- after Wufei had just gotten him back to bed, and it wouldn't do him or Duo any good, anyway.
"Duo. . ." Quatre started, sounding worried, but Duo cut him off.
"It's okay, Q. I'll. . .get over it. I hope to *God* he will too. Damn. . ."
"He will." This reassuring voice, surprisingly, was Trowa. The green-eyed boy even cracked a slight smile. "He may be a paranoid asshole, but he's not too stupid to know what he's got in you."
Duo smiled, albeit wearily, at Trowa. "Thanks, man. Now I just have to talk myself into believing that and I'll be free and clear."
They all sat quietly for a moment, just existing, before Wufei heaved a sigh and levered himself to his feet.
"I'm going to check on Treize." The Chinese boy noticed that he'd slipped again, but couldn't bring himself to really care. "Keep me updated on any missions." With that, he slipped out of the room, down the hall, and back to his boyfriend. Behind his back, Quatre looked confused as his empathy told him something about the black-haired pilot that he knew couldn't possibly be real.
* * *
When Duo opened the door to Treize's bedroom an hour or so later, he found his friend and the ginger-haired ex-Oz general deep in conversation and smiling faintly at each other.
'At least someone around here is cheerful,' the braided pilot thought, then attracted the pair's attention with the accepted stratagem of clearing his throat. Both turned to look at him.
"Q and Tro have a mission," Duo announced without preamble. "In fact, they should be leaving right about. . ." He made a show of listening for takeoff noises which he couldn't possibly have heard, "Now." He grinned faintly at them. "Just you and me now, guys."
Treize frowned slightly. "Didn't 01 just receive a mission? Is it normal for you all to be so. . ."
"Busy?" Wufei cut in dryly. "Depends. Since you disappeared from Oz and Romafeller officially took over, we've been a lot busier than usual."
"You can say that again," Duo agreed, plunking himself down on Treize's bed. The older man had drawn himself up into a sitting position at the head of the bed, supported by pillows, with Wufei facing him from the middle of the aforementioned piece of furniture. The black-haired boy moved so that he could see both Treize and Duo without giving himself whiplash, and settled back down.
"So," Duo continued, his normal grin slipping back across his face. "Anyone for lunch?"
"Didn't you just eat breakfast. . ." Wufei checked the digital clock beside the bed, "Two and a half hours ago?"
"So?" Duo asked innocently. "I have a fast metabolism. Besides, *you* didn't eat breakfast. Too busy cuddling with T-man, as I recall. . ."
To his surprise, the pillow that hit him in the face had been absentmindedly lobbed not by Wufei, but by Treize. "Hey!" he exclaimed, pouting. In reply he received only an inquisitive ginger eyebrow raised innocently at him. Duo pouted. Wufei rolled his eyes.
"Okay, okay, break it up, we're having lunch."
* * *
Lunch turned out to be ramen, which was just about the only thing Duo and Wufei were absolutely sure they could cook without scorching either the kitchen or themselves the first time. Treize had wanted to come to the kitchen and watch them, probably in order to snicker at their culinary incompetence, but Wufei had been dead set on him staying in bed. After quite a lot of what was basically whining in the guise of well-reasoned arguments, however, Treize had won a compromise from his boyfriend and was currently ensconced on the couch in the living room, watching the news. At least, when Duo had left the living room, Treize had been watching the news. The sounds now audible from the kitchen sounded more along the lines of anvils predictably smashing an unsuspecting coyote, possibly named Wile E.
The ramen was ready in only a few minutes, and the three current inhabitants of the safehouse had just settled in the living room to eat it when a thunderous sound made itself heard over the television. Their heads jerked up; all three of them recognized it immediately. It was the sound of a mobile suit engine.
* * *
Zechs rubbed his eyes, shaking his head and blinking to try and force them to focus properly on the glowing screen which was informing him of his current location. It had been nearly fifty hours since he'd last slept, and although he could go (and had gone) without sleep for a week, he couldn't prevent the effects of sleep deprivation from beginning to make themselves known. But he was almost there now, only a few minutes away, and he wouldn't allow himself to sleep until he'd seen Treize with his own eyes and knew that he was safe.
In the distance, almost hidden among the snow-covered trees, a house was rapidly approaching. The pilot checked its coordinates with the ones Wufei had given him.
"That's it," he whispered, and gunned Tallgeese forward. There wasn't much space to land in the forest of evergreens, but a clearing beckoned, about two hundred yards south of the house. Zechs noticed Deathscythe concealed in another clearing, further away, skillfully hidden under branches and snow. If he hadn't been so close and so tense that he was jumping at shadows, he would never have noticed the black Gundam.
Dismissing the machine for now, he came in above the clearing he'd selected, got Tallgeese and its burden aligned with the open ground, and cut the jets. The suit landed with a thump; it was a very sloppy maneuver, and normally Zechs would never have done anything so ungraceful, but now he was in a hurry. His fingers flew over the straps of his harness; he was out of the mobile suit almost before it finished settling into the frozen ground and dashed towards the house he'd observed without bothering about any kind of camouflage.
Trees gave way to cleared ground, a perimeter of about three hundred feet in front of the house and one hundred around the sides and back. Zechs would have mentally complimented the pilots on this security measure, but as soon as he came within sight of the house the entire force of his attention focused on the tall, ginger-haired figure standing on the porch and the smaller, black-haired one supporting it. From Wufei's perspective, Zechs seemed to fly up the path in only a few strides; for the blonde- haired man, it seemed to take forever until he mounted the steps and stopped, his eyes boring intensely into Treize's. The older man smiled, blue eyes full of undefined emotion, and Zechs crossed the last few feet between them and hugged Treize with all his might.
The former general winced, but hugged him back as Zechs drew Wufei into the embrace. Duo watched from the doorway, feeling vaguely uncomfortable but not enough to look away from the reunion. After the braided pilot considered that a sufficient amount of time had passed, he cleared his throat politely.
"Sweet as all this is, my ramen is getting cold. You can have some too if you hurry, Zechsy."
Reluctantly, the three withdrew somewhat from each other's arms. Zechs offered Duo a hesitant smile, his arm still around Treize's shoulders.
"Ramen would be good. Then I'd like to sleep for a few days or so." Wufei grinned in understanding; then the blonde pilot suddenly frowned, raising an eyebrow. "'Zechsy,' Maxwell?"
"Leave it," Treize warned him affably. "He called me the... what was it? Ah- the 'most honorable stripy one' this morning."
Zechs blinked once or twice; then the reference settled over him like a particularly hilarious cloak. The blonde man doubled over laughing as Wufei and Duo chortled. Treize, on the clueless hand, merely looked put out.
"*What* is so funny??"