Author's Note: Something I forgot to do last chapter was that I wanted to give a thank you out to ShadowMajin for giving me the name for the E.S.A. Siberia. I know it seems a bit belated but I'm only human; I can only do so much. For the rest of you, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: some swearing, slight violence

Battle of the Roses

Duo couldn't help but feel excited that today had come. The past few days had dragged on and on…he could have shot himself, if he had his gun on him, just to liven up his day.

Well, that didn't matter anymore, he was on his way back to HQ. Quatre had insisted on driving, so Duo called shotgun much to Solo's disgruntlement. Currently, they had just entered the city limits, so it would take a bit of time before they arrived. Now that he thought about it, why was Solo coming with them? Oh yeah, that's right, the blond had pleaded to come like a little kid wanting to go with their parents when being dropped off at school on the first day. Despite being the tallest of them, Solo had managed to pull the puppy dog eyes quite well.

Must have learned it from that kid…what was his name again? Oh yeah, Adrian, that was it.

Needless to say, he caved in. He suspected Quatre must have caught sight of it as well since the blond agreed readily. Otherwise, it was noting to mention and paled in comparison to the excitant he was feeling. Not even the quickly destroyed thought of roses waiting for him could put a damper on him.

Why was this taking so long? Maybe that was why Quatre insisted on driving. The Arabian could keep a lid on his own enthusiasm and obey the traffic laws while he, Duo, would have broken every one just to get to HQ sooner. It was something to ponder about but later, much later.

After what seemed like forever, but in reality may have been only fifteen minutes, they arrived and Duo scrambled out of the car as quickly as possible, his excitement energizing him.

Preventers beware, Duo Maxwell was back, baby!

He only waited long enough for Solo and Quatre to get out of the car, Quatre locking the vehicle as well, before setting off into HQ. Man, how he missed this place. He could actually do something now. Fidgeting in the elevator as the metal box transported the three of them up, Duo couldn't wait to get back to his office, despite not having worked in it for months, literally.

When the doors opened, he took the lead, the two blonds following after him like puppies. Solo definitely had a look of wonder, taking in every inch of his surroundings while Quatre, who was used to seeing the office, strode calmly.

He had just gotten to his office door and unlocked it when it occurred to him that there might be something waiting for him inside. Nah, couldn't be. No one really knew when he was going to be coming back in so it would have been a waste of weeds.

However, his assumption was proven misguided as the moment he opened the door, he let out a loud sneeze, Solo reacting the same only a second later. Duo didn't just stop at one sneeze, no, he went through a fit of them and when he was able to gain some semblance of control, his watery eyes caught sight of his worst nightmare.

There, sitting on his desk for all the world to see, were ten vases filled with roses.

He blanched at the sight.

This was just perfect. Now his office was filled with the taint of the hellspawn weed. After being out of commission for so long, this is what he had to encounter on the day he came back? Wait a minute folks, that wasn't all. There was a note among the vases that Duo could clearly read despite the distance between it and Duo.

I missed you.

Welcome back, my love.

Oh hell no. He didn't just…never mind that, he already did. This was unbelievable, unexpected, and yet unsurprising. This was going to have to stop. He couldn't take it anymore. He felt like having a tantrum at the unfairness of it all and felt Quatre place a consoling hand on his shoulder. He gave the Arabian a quick smile before looking to Solo only to find the blond marching a warpath towards one Heero Yuy.

Oh crap. Crap, crap, crap. What the hell was Solo thinking? Wait, how did he know it was Heero who was sending the roses anyway? Never mind that, he had to save his friend's life!

---

Heero Yuy had been waiting long for this day to come. Finally, at long last, the person that he loved the most would soon arrive. For so long he had sent his vision of beauty the flowers that symbolized love only to have nothing come of it yet. He had assumed that Duo had kept his little gifts since he had never had any sent back.

That was a good thing, or so he assumed.

Since he had spent so long waiting for Duo to return, he had planned a special surprise for him. If that didn't scream out his feelings for the braided man, he didn't know what else would.

Recently, however, his attempts to woo Duo had gone astray. First was Duo's decision to take Quatre of all people up with him to L2. Yes, he was aware that the blond Arabian worshiped the very ground Duo walked on and he couldn't stand the fact that he had competition. Duo was his, his alone. Then there was the appearance of that other blond, Wolf, or Solo as Duo called him. He didn't like the piece of trash, not one bit. Another attempt to show his love to Duo had been thwarted when they arrived back on Earth and Relena took the gift he was going to give Duo. Had they not been in a public setting where everybody could see, he would have made good on his promise to kill her. And to add insult to injury, Duo decided to go recover with both blonds at his side.

Now that really pissed him off. No matter. Today was the day where everything changed. Today was the day when he would finally make his claim on the one and only irresistible Duo Maxwell.

There was absolutely no way he could refuse him.

"Who da fuck do ya dink ya are?!" an accented voice demanded from behind him.

He didn't recognize the voice but he knew who it belonged to. Wolf, the blond, gutter-trash interloper from L2. What did he want with him?

Since he was a man of action, naturally, Heero spoke his thoughts. "What do you want?"

Wolf's eyes were blazing in fury as he grabbed him by the front of his shirt and lifted him off the floor, displaying a strength that belied the thin form. "Dun make me have ta beat da livin' shit out of ya," the blond snarled.

What? Beat him up? Heero Yuy? Savior of the world, perfection in its most perfect form? He couldn't help it; he had to laugh. Of course, his laughter wasn't something that one wanted to hear. He sounded insane, the same laughter he made as he had first entered the Earth's atmosphere in Wing. Wolf was eyeing him as if he was creepy. And that was all he needed.

He brought his knee up into Wolf's gut and head-butted him.

The blond fell to his knees, one arm clutching at his stomach and a hand gripping his head. Heero smirked at the fallen but was taken by surprise as Wolf unexpectedly charged into his, knocking him down. He hadn't a chance to get out of the way as Wolf was too close and there wasn't enough space to move.

Wolf now had the advantage and proceeded to pummel him with a fury of punches. The first two hit home but Heero quelled the attack quickly and shoved the blond off him with a snarl. Ready to attack, Heero analyzed various methods of how he could strike down and kill this pest all in a few seconds before deciding on one and tensing in preparation to move.

But he was not given the chance to do anything as someone got in the way.

---

"What the hell is wrong with you two?!" Duo bellowed as he pulled Solo back and stood in the middle of Heero's potential warpath. The God of Death was furious and he couldn't decide on who he was pissed at more; Solo for starting the fight like an immature playground kid or Heero for unmercifully attacking the blond and attempting to respond by sending Solo a one way ticket to a body cast.

"Move Duo," Heero stated in his custom monotone. "Let this garbage finish what he started.

Duo's eyes narrowed and his wrath now had a precise target. His voice was low but menacing as he spoke his next words. "What did you call him?" Solo visibly paled and backed away from the braided one. For the spectators that had gathered, they felt a chill go through them. Death was about to claim another victim…

Heero, however, was heedless of the ominous tone. "He's nothing but a piece of street trash that needs to be put in his place, Duo. Now get out of the way so I can do that."

"No way in Hell!" Duo barked, causing Heero to notice the dire tone in the braided one's voice. "You, of all people, have no right to call him that. Have you ever lived on the streets, always thinking about where your next meal is going to come from and when? Have you ever had to avoid sexual predators who wanted nothing more than to rape the shit out of you because they were horny? Have you ever had to look after a group of orphans and worry about what tomorrow might bring?

"No, you haven't, Heero. You lived with an assassin as long as you can remember and picked up by J when you lost Lowe. Who've never truly had to survive on your own, have you? But remember this, if he's a piece of street trash, then so am I. Whenever you call him street trash, you're calling me street trash. You got that Yuy? Do you fucking understand what the fuck I'm telling you?!"

At this point, Heero's eyes were wide. "Duo…" he whispered. "I'm…sorry…"

"Are you?" Duo challenged. "For somebody so observant, I would think you were smarter than that. I would have thought that by now you would have realized that I hate roses! But you only keep proving me how incredibly stupid one can go."

"I…I didn't know…" Heero said. "If you had told me…I wouldn't have sent you all those—"

"I didn't think I had to tell you that I hated those weeds!" Duo snapped. "I have a mild allergy to them. So does practically every person from L2. Did you even pay attention to what I've been doing with those things? I've been having Trowa and Quatre throw them away because even the smell of them throws me into a sneezing fit. Since you began this thing, I have been miserable, my only solace being that I had good friends who didn't mind me sharing their office space."

"D-Duo…please…forgive me…" Heero begged. "Give me another chance! Let me prove to you how much I love you."

"Hate to tell you this Heero, but your feelings are one-sided," Duo said bluntly. "I understand where you're coming from, but I don't like you in that way. Sorry, but that's just how it is."

With that, Heero felt his world shatter in millions, if not billions, of small pieces. Duo…didn't love him?

However, Duo wasn't paying him any heed as he helped Solo back onto his feet. "Don't think you're in the clear yet, Solo," Duo grumbled as he began to lead the blond away. Finally noticing the audience, Duo barked, "What the hell are you looking at?!" The crowd dispersed immediately and Duo continued towards an office. He wouldn't go to his because of Heero's damnable roses so either Quatre's or Trowa's?

Quatre's would be the safer bet. He'd take care of Solo there first. Now, where was Quatre?