Disclaimers: Don't own any part of Gundam Wing nor its characters. Merely borrowing them for a little torture.
Warnings: Shounen-ai 6x2, other het pairings, possible mpreg but very minor, angst??
Chapter Two
Duo stared at his reflection in the mirror, his fingers fiddling at his bowtie. He hated those things. As far as he was concerned, they were horrible creations, made solely to torture the male gender. If he was a cat he would have hissed at them. As it was, he still felt hissing at it just for the heck of it. With a growl of frustration, he pulled off the tangled mess and pulled out a clip-on.
He adjusted it to his collar and stepped back, admiring his reflection once again. He had to admit he looked good in a tuxedo even if he felt like a penguin. Penguin, birds…
Water treading, feathered fowl.
Duck.
An involuntary smile spread across his lips. He never knew Milliardo Peacecraft to have such a rich sense of humour. All the times he had observed the prince, it had been from afar. And from what he could see, alcohol could freeze from contact with the Lightning Count. Ever since he walked out of Quatre's home a month back, Milliardo had been constantly on his mind. Exactly why, he wasn't really certain.
Prior to that fiasco of a party, he had little to no interest in what Milliardo did, past how it concerned Heero through Relena. Then that one encounter in the living room had changed indifference to active interest. It was completely out of character for him to be that interested in anyone that fast. He was usually slow to take to someone. He overlooked the last four years of falling in and out of relationships with perfect strangers. Sex and something long term and semi-permanent were two completely different things. The strangers that paraded in and out of his life for the last four years were someone to stave off the loneliness that threatened in an empty apartment and an equally empty bed. He really didn't want to come across as a slut in front of his friends, but there were some things that he just couldn't stop. After the relationships had ended, he would look back and wonder why the hell had he got involved with all those people. He didn't even like them, or found them remotely attractive to begin with.
And from there, his reputation for being fickle arose.
He wished he could explain to his friends that he really didn't understand when his relationships lasted such a short time, or how they seem to start so frequently after the last one. While his heart didn't really hurt from them ending, it was still rather sore at having love and lost so many times.
He was afraid Milliardo would turn out the same. After all, his interest of this man started off like all his other relationships; from zero to near obsession in seconds.
He shook his head to clear it of such maudlin thoughts and hurried to complete his outfit. He picked a lightweight camera cum voice recorder off his work desk. It was sleek silver and barely the size of a matchbox. Oh how he loved technology.
The opportunity of tonight's party was hard to come by and he had to make sure he made full use of it. Mark Radax was a hard man to contact these days, and even harder to investigate. If Duo lost this chance, there might not be another one. He needed to get all the information he needed for his story and his deadline was in a few weeks.
His lips twisted in a rather bitter smile. That was his 'career', the one that all his friends thought he didn't have. He was Darien Amendar, a freelance investigative reporter that surfaced from obscurity within the last four years. In his short career, Darien had managed to be a watchdog of sorts; he shied from the word 'hero' since he really was anything but; and had diligently produced stories that had far and reaching consequences for those involved. Drug cartels, smuggling rings, political corruption were a few of the stories he had covered and had brought down a few crime lords and corrupt officials. He was not successful every time, but it felt good that people were aware of them and therefore, more wary. That was all he wanted, to make a difference and he felt like he had in this career he had chosen for himself. He had, in his short career, helped the Preventors in their cases
without Une or Sally, or Heero knowing it was actually Duo Maxwell behind the deed. In a way, he was helping them 'in this time of chaos' even if they were completely unaware of it.
While Heero and the others fought crime their way, Duo decided to do it the way he wanted, without guns, without bloodshed and without violence. He was just glad that his aptitude for stealth had some use after the war. But he found it ironic that a poorly schooled L2 orphan was now a journalist read the world over. He was just as shocked as everyone when he realised he was rather articulate when he wrote.
In the years that followed Duo's decision, Darien started getting slightly too much attention from practically everyone, starting from the newspapers themselves to the very subjects that he wrote about. As Darien, he even had job offers from the Preventors themselves. He had laughed when he saw that email; the only form of communication for Darien Amendar; and had told himself rather ironically 'been there, done that'. There was a time when people were paying less attention to the articles he wrote and more on finding out his identity. There were even attempts to hack into his computer to find out a little more about him. He was quite lucky the training in his younger days were unconventional. He was sure that some of those that wanted to know his identity didn't just want to know for curiosity sake. Revenge was also a prime motivation.
Tonight, he had another story on his plate. He had been patiently investigating his subject for the past two months. Mark Radax, based on his research, was nothing but an average student, civilian during the war and an average worker at the power plant after peace was established. But over the course of the last two years he had gone from minor technician to the new CEO of said power plant. It had started with a lottery win and escalated from there. His climb to power was lined with discontent and plenty of hurriedly silenced mouths. Mark Radax found he wanted more and started extending his feelers towards the government. There was news about him creating a new Eve Wars. This man apparently wanted to take over the world.
Duo hadn't believed in this man's capability. Mark Radax was nothing more than a second grade brown noser. He neither had the ambition nor the intelligence to command such determination. It was more likely he was actually lining someone's pockets. Who, was Duo's question and mission to find out. Since Mark Radax's climb to power and success, so to speak, he had been a rather flamboyant man, though his home was always off limits to everyone. Tonight's party was different though, it was a housewarming for his new palatial mansion.
It was actually one of Quatre's estates actually. When Duo had questioned his friend on why and how much he had sold it, Quatre had shrugged in a confused manner and told him that money was no object. That had shocked Duo and he believed more so than ever Mark Radax was not only bribing someone, he was using some sort of drug to get his way as well. That was the only explanation for Quatre's answer.
This was more than a story, this was personal.
XXxxXX
Duo was standing next to a gaudy potted plant staring at it in horror. How Mark Radax managed to make a potted plant look gaudy he really didn't know. Everything about the place stank of money in a way it had never before when Quatre Winner owned it. It was pure showing off and nothing more.
Not only that, Radax had invited the most prominent figures on Earth and amongst the colonies. And these people had actually attended the party which was nothing more than a cheap excuse to rub his wealth and power in everyone's face. So far, he had been trying to find an excuse to get into Radax's study which he was sure there were records of illegal dealings.
"Horrible isn't it?"
Duo swung around, and took in a water treading, feathered fowl. "Wh… what are you doing here?" He blurted for want of a better thing to say. Standing before him in all his formal attired glory was Duck… uh, Milliardo Peacecraft. That's all he needed tonight, to have his hormones confuse his brain even more!
Milliardo sauntered over, took a casual sip of his glass of champagne and smiled ruefully. "Why how polite of you to say so, Mr Maxwell, it's wonderful to see you as well!"
That caused Duo to flush deeply. He was supposed to be undercover here and he had just insulted a guest in this manner. He fumbled for the tray of drinks he left on the sidebar. Being a waiter sucked but it was one of the better ways to get access to areas a guest had no business being.
"Uh… hello," Duo greeted rather weakly. "What are you doing here?" He asked again, hissing that question from the corner of his mouth.
Milliardo shrugged. "I was invited?" He took another sip from his glass. He drained the glass and placed it on the tray Duo now held, helping himself to another.
Smooth, Duo thought. Nice cover up. Talking to the hired help was rather frowned upon and Milliardo was doing a good job of pretending not to. "Of course, why wouldn't Radax invite you? Relena too I bet."
Milliardo inclined his head toward his sister and her boyfriend, Heero Yuy dressed rather resplendently in his Preventors uniform. Relena was definitely different from the little girl they all knew so many years back. Dressed in a conventional black dress, she was every inch the woman she grew up to be. It was a wonder why her brother wasn't gritting his teeth trying to keep men from ogling her. Then Duo realised it was Heero's job right now.
Heero caught sight of him across the room and they exchanged a long look. They hadn't spoken since Duo walked out of Quatre's home that day. It was more like Duo didn't want to entertain any calls from them. He was far too disgusted with his friends. Just because they had stable everyday jobs doesn't mean they had to impose their values on him. He saw Heero's gaze flick toward the tray he was holding and something akin to resignation crossed his face.
Almost instantly, Duo felt insulted. It was a look that said 'Oh-look-Duo's-at-it-again'. He whirled around and marched in the opposite direction. He wanted nothing more than to throw who he actually was in Heero's face but he knew he couldn't. He would have to live with his friends thinking he was another useless good-for-nothing freeloader for the rest of his life because he was going to do this for the rest of his life. The amount of money he received from his contributions did add up but he never kept much of it, or demanded a high price of it. He did it to help people, and not gain a profit from it. He kept what he needed to survive and donated the rest to charities that needed it.
"Damn it, Duo," Milliardo called out, following him.
Duo turned slightly. "Look, Mill, thanks for sticking with me okay, but just leave me alone for now. I really don't want to talk about this." He dumped the tray near the entrance to the kitchen and huffed away to sulk in a corner. As he turned to lean against the wall in a rather secluded corner of the hallway, he hit a strong chest.
"Damn it, Mill, why are you here?" Duo sighed, raking his fingers through his hair. He sagged against the wall.
"You were upset," Milliardo explained, angling their bodies to be hidden in the sharp corners. "Why do you let Heero and the others bother you so much?"
Duo's eyes flashed with annoyance. "It's their holier-than-thou attitude and their constant looking down their noses at me. Just because I am not some important Preventors agent," he glanced up at Milliardo rather apologetically. "Present company excluded, doesn't mean I am a useless bum! I have never asked any money from them, nor asked them for any help financially or otherwise. Why do they give me that 'Oh poor Duo' look?"
Milliardo looked down at Duo silently, allowing him rant and rave to his heart's content.
"Why must I conform to their stupid standards? Why is their way the only right way?" Duo finished, breathing heavily. Soon after, he realised the silence that had descended. Milliardo hadn't said anything while Duo was having his brain dump. He sheepishly looked up at the man.
Milliardo was smiling almost indulgently down at him. "Finished?"
"Yeah," Duo nodded, his cheeks tinged red. It was then he realised just how close together they were standing. In fact, their thighs were intimately cuddled together. Panic flared as he realised just how… hard Milliardo was, and he was not talking about the man's muscled thighs. He straightened abruptly,
a clear signal for the other man to back off. To his utter relief, Milliardo understood that signal and did just that.
"Look Duo, you don't have to answer to anyone for what you want in life," Milliardo made to place his hands on Duo's shoulders but hesitated at the final minute. They hovered there for a while before they dropped to his sides.
Duo nibbled at this bottom lip, wondering why he wished those hands landed on his shoulders instead of to Milliardo's sides. He wondered how many times he had to tell himself it wouldn't work before he believed it. "I know that," he answered softly. "I know if I am happy about something, no one has any right to tell me what I am doing is wrong it isn't illegal or hurting anyone." He tipped his head back to see a smile of approval on Milliardo's face.
"They worry for you, that's all. They see your potential and they feel that you are squandering it away on these part time jobs when Une has practically begged for you to enter into her folds."
"I know that. I just don't want to live my life like that."
Miliardo smirked, albeit a little sadly. "I know what you mean."
"You're not happy working with the Preventors?" Duo queried softly.
Milliardo shrugged. "What's there not to like? The pay's good, colleagues are competent, gives you are sense of fulfilment."
"I wonder who put those words in your mouth."
The other man reeled back as if hit. He continued to gape at Duo for a while before realising he probably looked really unattractive doing so. "Well, not many would want to hire someone with such a reputation during the war."
Duo could sympathise. He had the same problem before Darien Amendar came into being. A noise along the corridor caused them to jump apart. Well, Milliardo jumped back, Duo just jumped.
"I have to go back to the party," Milliardo said in a self suffering tone. Apparently, rubbing shoulders with the planet's elite wasn't his choice of entertainment.
"And I have to get back to work," Duo announced, feeling his pocket for his camera. He needed to get to Radax's study and get out of there before the party died down.
Milliardo nodded and moved away. Just before he disappeared through the doors that led to the main rooms, he turned. "Call me."
Duo stood there gaping wondering if he heard right. Did Milliardo just proposition him?
Tbc...
