Disclaimer:We do not own or profit from Gundam Wing. For who could love Dorothy's eyebrows?

Author Notes: We've been delayed posting chapters because Cltcmistress is preparing for a trip, where she will drive and drive for at least 14 hours. At the end of her trip she'll wind up at my house and we'll have Wendy's. Hopefully Tuesday at 10pm I'll be talking to her in person instead of AIM. It takes us a full day to write a chapter of 2000-5000 words. Yikes! Also, I had to go and spend the day at the optometrist because I'm half blind. Now I got the sexy librarian look. Go me. And I'm drawing a picture for rooftops... =P This fic is about over and the next one of the series planned. Which will tie all these together. Will we stop there? Who knows?!

Update: Cltc is almost here!! About 4 more hours. We are going to have sweet tea and lazer tag.

Warnings: This chapter and the next few will be dark. We can't help it. It's how they asked us to write them out. We will be returning to the fluff soon, so don't you worry. ;)

Authors:Foxy Mcgee and Cltcmistress

Quatre watched the car pull up and Heero step up and around the front to open the passenger door. Backing away from the window he shouted to the others. "They're here!" He opened the door, not waiting for Wufei or Duo to respond, and went out to meet them. "Hey, Trowa. Welcome home! I made sure your room is clean and ready for you. And there's epsom salt in the bathroom for soaking." He gave him a small smile and stood with his arms wrapped around himself.

Trowa smiled at the blonde, then faltered as he got a closer look. Quatre seemed... tired... lifeless even. He pushed the thought away and regained his smile. "Thank you, Quatre."

He nodded and turned to look at the front door where Wufei was walking out. The Chinese pilot waited for them to come up and smiled at Trowa. "Welcome back." Quatre glanced from the door, to Wufei and back as a frown replaced the smile on his face. "Didn't Duo hear me? I'll go find him." Slipping in the door, he looked for some sign of the braided pilot. At the sound of the basketball game still on the television, he went into the room and scowled at Duo still lounging on the couch. His eyes weren't on the screen, but that did nothing to make matters any better in Quatre's eyes. "Trowa's home. Are you going to tell him welcome back?"

"When he comes in." Duo kept his eyes focused on the wall.

"Why not now?" He glanced over his shoulder at the door where the other three stood talking for a moment. Trowa was leaned against the wall. He'd been going through physical therapy for his shoulder and some for the damage to his legs from being pinned for so long. He was doing much better, but it was clear he still got tired. Quatre looked back to Duo. "At least I saw him once in the hospital. You could at least stand and say hello." Without waiting for a response, he returned to the others. "He's inside." Even though he tried, his tone still came out more bitter than he intended. "Why don't you come in, and I'll fix something for a snack before dinner." He smiled again and stepped aside to make room.

Duo shot Quatre a look. "Once. I went, too." He turned the t.v. off and flung the remote next to him, glancing at the others. "Good to see you, Tro."

Trowa looked up from the doorway, noticing Duo's appearance, similar to Quatre's but gloomier. "Thanks, Duo." He turned back to the blonde. "Ah, I'm good for now, thanks though."

"Alright then. I guess I'll let you get settled back in." He flashed a look at Duo before going into the kitchen anyway.

Wufei glanced at Heero who shared the same concerned look before turning their attention back to Trowa. "If you're up to it, I've got some things I could use your assistance working on," Heero shifted the conversation.

Trowa nodded. "Of course."

Duo started to get up, but sat back down with his arms crossed, glaring into the kitchen.

Heero led the way back to the office, talking over the noise Quatre made in the kitchen as they walked. "Preventers have one person in custody we're certain is responsible for the blast. He's given the names of three others, but we still are working on apprehending them." Wufei trailed behind them, not wanting to remain in the room with either Quatre or Duo. The two of them had been at odds with each other lately and he'd learned the hard way just how uncomfortable it could be to be around them like that.

Quatre banged his way around the kitchen, ignoring the noise he made as he pulled out various pans and things from the cupboards.

Duo stomped into the kitchen and knocked the pan out of Quatre's hand, watching as it crashed to the floor with a long 'pong!' "What the fuck is your problem?" He growled.

"Problem? What problem?" The blonde picked up the pan, placed it on the counter and began filling the large pot in the sink with water. "I just thought Trowa might be happy to see his friends welcome him back. And since that wasn't possible I'm making him that pasta dish he likes. Hospital food is terrible, so I thought this would be a nice change." He shot Duo a smile over his shoulder.

"Don't blame this on me, it's not like you were in any rush to go see him at the hospital." Duo crossed his arms and leaned against the counter top. "I'm sick of your fickle attitude."

"I'm not blaming anything on you." He shut off the faucet then turned his back on Duo and placed the pot on the stove to boil. "I didn't want to go to the hospital because you were upset when I talked about going to see him."

"Yeah, whatever Quatre." Duo turned around and headed back to the couch.

He looked over his shoulder as Duo moved around the counter to leave. "You've become rather good at leaving conversations. Well done. This may be a new record." He knew he was getting close to pushing Duo's buttons. It only took the right words at the right time. He suppressed a smirk at how good he'd gotten at that over the past two weeks.

Duo turned around and glared at Quatre. "It's hard to argue with a broken record."

His head cocked to the side and his eyes took on a devious glint. "Or perhaps it's your ears and not the record that's broken." The blonde stepped tot-to-toe with Duo and locked eyes with him. Grabbing his collar, he pulled the pilot's face down and whispered harshly into his ear. "Should I hold back my screams next time or would shouting louder be easier on your hearing?"

Duo froze as Quatre's words sunk in and he felt a shiver travel down his spine. He smacked the blonde's hands away. "Don't you have pasta to be making?"

"I suppose." He strolled back to the stove and dropped the dry pasta into the boiling water. "I'm the only one who knows how Trowa likes it anyways." He snickered to himself and stirred the pot.

Duo pressed himself up against Quatre's back, pinning him to the counter, and grabbed his wrists. "I bet you do."

Quatre felt his pulse quicken and his cheeks flush. "I like it his way, too. He prefers it a little more al dente." He smirked and pushed against Duo's weight at his back. "Yours tends to be too limp."

"Is that so?" Duo pressed the blonde against the stover harder, tightening his grip on Quatre's wrists. "That's not what you said this morning."

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"I remember a certain blonde telling me I had a way with macaroni and cheese."

He twisted in Duo's grip to look behind him over his shoulder. "Oh really? I seem to have forgotten saying that."

"Maybe I should jog your memory."

"I doubt you'd be up to the task. You've been a bit slow on the uptake today. Perhaps you should step out of the kitchen for a bit. It may be too hot in here for you." Prying one of his hands from Duo's grasp he returned to stirring the pasta.

Duo growled and knocked the spoon out of the blonde's hand while turning the stove off with the other. He turned Quatre around to face him. "Is that what you think?"

Quatre's eyes glowed as his heart beat faster. He was getting closer to that breaking point. "You sound surprised. Perhaps I was right earlier. Maybe I should scream louder so your ears can hear better. That way there's no question of what I think later."

"And just what do you think?"

"That depends." He cocked his head to the side and smirked. "You gonna be as slow as you were this morning or do you plan on proving me wrong before we die of old age?"

"I have nothing to prove to you. Your noodles are getting soggy." He smirked.

"That tends to happen when you're around. I get distracted." Quatre turned back to the pot and pulled it from the burner and reached for the colander. "That reminds me, I need to write down that shopping list I was thinking about earlier."

Duo grabbed the pot and threw it over the counter, letting noodles and water splash all over the kitch. "You talk too fucking much."

Quatre whirled on Duo and punched his jaw. "I can't help that words fill my mouth more than other things."

"If you want something in your fucking mouth, I have something for you!" Duo grabbed the blonde hauling him onto his shoulder before storming from the kitchen. "You better be fucking hungry too."

He squirmed in Duo's arms and tugged on his braid. "Big words for a little boy."

"Hm." Duo kicked his door closed behind him before tossing Quatre on the bed. With a growl he pinned the other pilot's shoulders to the bed.

"Get off me." He shrugged out of Duo's grip and scooted closer to the headboard, away from the braided pilot. "You're not worth the effort."

"Hm, if you insist." Duo climbed off the bed and headed for the door. "You can sit there and fantasize about your other boyfriend."

"Maybe we should invite him to join. Then you could watch and learn a few tricks," Quatre sneered. That usually worked when Duo wouldn't put up the fight he wanted. Mentioning Trowa was always a sure-fire way to rile him up.

Duo paused for a moment before he turned slowly and studied Quatre. Slowly, Duo climbed back on the bed, crawling on all fours to the blonde. "You are turning into quite the liar, lately, or your memory is getting worse."

"Really? What makes you say that?" He tensed as Duo stalked his way up the length of the bed. "As I remember last time, I fell asleep first. Seems to me that says which one of us was bored with the other."

"Like I said, you talk to fucking much." He pushed their lips together in a bruising kiss.

Quatre's breath caught in his throat at the force of the kiss. After a moment he was able to recover and wound his arms around Duo's neck. Gripping his braid he yanked the pilot's face away from his own. He shoved Duo away from him and crawled on top so he straddled Duo's hips, keeping one hand wrapped in the braid. He propped himself up with the other hand and leaned over Duo's face. "You kiss like a girl."

"How would you know... the closest you've been to a girl is wearing a fucking dress." Duo bucked him off, rolling with him to the floor.

"Yeah, well if that's what it takes to get you to man up..." He snickered and rolled back on top of the braided pilot. His face took on a look of mock surprise. "Forgive me, Father," he leaned down and whispered in Duo's ear, "but does this count as a sin?"

He pushed the blonde off and shoved him against the wall, hard. As Duo stood he jerked Quatre up with him. "To bad you can't hit much harder, I'm starting to get use to what comes out of your mouth." He turned Quatre's face to the wall, slamming up behind him, trapping him with his hips.

Quatre grit his teeth as Duo slammed him into the wall. He hadn't expected him to react so fast, but he could already feeling himself getting excited at the anger held in that action. His cheek was pressed against the cool surface of the wall as he looked over his shoulder. "Too bad you can't fuck me harder. I'm starting to get used to not coming."

Duo growled and grabbed Quatre by the hair, forcing the pilot down to his knees. He wrapped his arms around Quatre's chest, one hand moving slowly to the zipper and tugging it down. "Then I'll quit when you're bleeding and begging me to stop."

Trowa stopped mid-sentence as another crash sounded from the kitchen and he blinked at the other two unfazed pilots. Seeing they weren't concerned, he continued speaking, only to be interrupted as Duo walked past with Quatre flung over his shoulder, the blonde struggling violently - though enjoying it - and he turned and stared at Heero. "Is that normal?"

Heero glanced up and nodded. "Starting to be."

There was a loud slam of a door, followed by muffled yelling, then silence. Seeing his chance, Trowa started up again. "And I-" He stopped again as he heard an agonized scream and his eyes grew wide. "Is that -?"

"Quatre." Wufei took a deep breath and stood to close the door. "Yes." He quietly latched the door, dimming the sound, though not blocking it completely. He took his seat again and returned to the papers on the desk.

"What the hell?" Trowa turned to look at Wufei. "What's going on?"

"I think it's obvious." The pilot snorted and flinched as another shout pierced the walls. He looked over at Heero and back to Trowa.

Trowa stared at Wufei then Heero. "And you just let them...?"

Heero nodded. "It hasn't interfered with their work and it's not our place to meddle in their relationship." Wufei ground his teeth but nodded. "The worst they've done yet is bruise each other."

"Relationship? That's not a relationship, that's abuse." Trowa sat down in the closest chair. "And Quatre doesn't sound alright."

"We tried talking with them about it. Neither seemed to be concerned that anything was amiss." Wufei pushed the papers away from him and turned in his seat to face the tall pilot. "Quatre gives as good as he gets from what we hear." He clenched his jaw and glared at the door.

"If it were more one-sided then we would step in. Until then we're letting them work out whatever it is that has them so riled with each other." Heero looked up from his computer and over to Trowa. "If you want to discuss it with them, that's your choice. However, they probably wont acknowledge any problem with they way they act."

"They look... lifeless. It's like they are different people. Looks like they aren't getting anything worked out at this rate."

The Chinese pilot nodded. "Wait till they finally come out of the room. It's as if this is the only way for them to -be- normal."

"I see." Trowa turned his gaze to the window and he sat quietly for a moment. "We should put a stop to this."

"I agree. But I don't see either listening in the near future. It will take something drastic for them to realize what they're doing to each other." Wufei folded his arms across his chest and looked to Heero who nodded his agreement.

"So you're just going to let them tear each other apart?" He stood up slowly and paced the room. "I can't listen to that every day. Or seem them like that."

"You have a solution for the situation?" Heero studied Trowa as he prowled.

"I will." He turned to face Heero. "I'm surprised you don't. How are they when apart?"

"Dull. As you said. Lifeless. There's none of the compassion they had before. Only anger and lust."

"Hm." Trowa moved in front of the window where he stood in silence. "We end this."

Where was he? Quatre had looked all over for Duo and was starting to get irritated. One last place in mind, he headed for the office where Trowa and Heero had mentioned looking over some papers. Looking in he saw them focused on the screen of Heero's computer while Wufei leaned over Duo's shoulder. He narrowed his eyes at that. "Hmm." Stepping past Wufei he leaned over and whispered in Duo's ear. "Come with me."

Duo glanced at the others before looking back at Quatre and shaking his head. "Not a good time."

He placed his hand on the back of the chair and leaned in closer to whisper again, "Now, Duo."

"Not here, Quatre." He pushed the blonde away gently.

"It would have been elsewhere, but it took too long to find you. Now."

Duo turned around in his seat ignoring the looks they were getting. "No."

Gripping Duo's braid where it met his neck, Quatre yanked upward, hauling the pilot out of his seat. Wufei stumbled back, startled at the abrupt action. "I said now, Duo."

"And I said no." He stood calmly, his head tilted slightly from the blonde's hold on his hair.

"You don't tell me no." He jerked on the braid and pulled him toward the door.

Duo twisted his head around enough to grab Quatre's arm and dug his feet into the carpet. "I say whatever the hell I want. And I said no. What are you going to do about it?"

Quatre paused and looked from Duo to the stunned looks on the other pilots' faces, and back to Duo. He gave him a sly smirk and his eyes took on a mischievous glint. His fist flew out and hit Duo square in the jaw hard. Not waiting for a reaction he launched another punch into his gut. "That's what."

Wufei looked at Trowa and Heero, shock distinct on his face. "I think now is a good time."

Duo staggered over, cradling his stomach for a moment, then stood slowly, gasping for breath. After a few seconds he moved towards Quatre tackling the other pilot to the ground. "You think... you can just snap your fingers... and get what you want?"

Heero held up a hand to Wufei. "Let's give them a minute, if it gets out of hand we'll stop it."

Wufei stared at Heero then looked back to the two wrestling on the floor. "Hrm..." He clenched his fists, but waited.

Quatre growled and shoved Duo off, flipping so he pinned the braided pilot beneath him. "Yes, I do. And you know the correct response. Try again."

Duo grabbed Quatre by the shoulders, hard, digging his fingers into the other pilots skin. "Make. Me."

The blonde smacked his hands away and sat up so he was straddling Duo's hips and planted another fist into his jaw. "I said, say it."

Trowa stood up and gave Heero a look, but the japanese pilot's hand shot up and stopped him. "Give them a minute to work it out, Duo is capable of handling himself."

Duo blinked then rubbed his jaw, staring at the blonde in shock. Slowly, he narrowed his eyes and grinned. "And I said, make me."

The scowl on his face grew into a sneer at Duo's words. "If you insist." Quatre pulled himself off the pilot, keeping a firm grip on the braid and threw him hard against the wall. "I said say it." He didn't care what the others thought. Duo was really starting to piss him off with his responses. Why couldn't he just cooperate? Part of him, though, was excited by the idea of the pilot putting up this much of a fight. It made things generally more interesting. With another growl, he used the braid to jerk back on Duo's head and used his other hand to grip the back of his neck. Pressing his body close to the pilot's back, Quatre whispered harshly into his ear, "Now."

Duo struggled for a minute, his hands latching onto Quatre's shoulders again and he dug his nails in. He dropped his voice to a low whisper. "Master." He bit his lip, hating the part of himself that enjoyed this game with the blonde so much.

A chill ran down Wufei's spine at the tone of that word coming from Duo's mouth. He looked at Heero and ground through his teeth, "Still want to wait?"

"Yes." Heero crossed his arms.

Before the other pilot had a chance to respond, Quatre smiled and released his grip on Duo. "Too late." His fists connected with the pilot's gut in a series of quick punches until Duo dropped to his knees.

Duo's head shot up, his eyes dark, face in a feral sneer. He stood slowly and started making his way towards Quatre.

Quatre backed up and grinned. Yes. This is what he wanted. Finally, Duo was going to cooperate and give him what he was looking for. "Say it again. Maybe I'll forgive you." He folded his hands over his chest and tapped his toes. "Maybe." Something dark gleamed in his eyes as his grin turned a little more sinister. He pointed at his foot and sneered. "Kiss it."

Wufei's mouth dropped open as Duo crawled across the floor, heading towards Quatre's shoe. At the last moment he pulled the blonde pilot's legs out from under him and flipped him over. Duo jumped on his back grabbed Quatre by the hair, pulling his head back as Duo dug his knee hard into Quatre's lower back. He grabbed both hands, twisting them behind the blonde pilot. "If you want it so fucking bad, you'll get it!" He slammed Quatre's head down into the carpet and held it there. He leaned forward so that only Quatre could hear him and whispered. "I'll really make this hurt. You better be begging me to stop. I want to see tears on that pretty little face." "

Quatre whimpered. Duo's knee was pressed hard into his back and his shoulder protested the forcefulness the pilot used to wrench them behind him. Struggling to twist his head around, be bit his limp as another whimper escaped. Not waiting for Heero's ok, Wufei tackled Duo with a growl and jerked him off the blonde lying on the floor. "Enough!"

Heero jumped over Quatre landing next to Wufei to help him restrain the struggling Duo. Trowa bent down and pulled Quatre to his feet, forcing the blonde to sit in the chair behind him.

Duo struggled to free himself from the two asian pilots. "Get the fuck off me!"

Quatre tried to step around the taller pilot, but was careful not to push him. "Leave him alone!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Wufei pulled Duo's arms behind his back and back farther away from where Trowa stood in front of Quatre. "You're going to seriously hurt each other."

"And what business is it of yours?" Duo growled out. "Do you see him complaining?"

Quatre folded his arms across his chest and glared at Wufei who turned to look at him. "You have to be joking." "Leave us alone. Just stay out of it next time, alright? We can handle ourselves just fine," the blonde gave each of the three a scowl before turning on his heel and leaving the room. The stunned Chinese pilot released Duo and looked from Heero to Trowa. Focusing on Duo again he frowned. "Whatever you're doing needs to stop before something happens to either of you."

"You don't have a right to get involved!" Duo turned and gave Wufei and icy glare. "What the fuck do you care anyway, huh? It's not about you, it's our problem to handle!"

"It becomes our problem when you two get into a fist fight in the middle of work!"

Duo grabbed Wufei by the collar. "I'll give you a fucking problem!"

The way Duo's eyes were so dark and cold that he was taken aback at first. That wasn't just Duo. The blonde was pushing him to let out Shinigami. That's what was going on! He took a breath and forced his face to calm. "Alright. Should we take this outside?" If Duo needed some way to take out his anger, better that it was him rather than Quatre. He and the others had agreed to stop this downward destructive spiral. So now was better than never to start.

Duo studied him a moment, watching Wufei's expression before his hands started shaking slightly. He shook his head, backing away from Wufei, eyes wide. "Just get away from me. Please." He pushed past the other two pilots, refusing to meet their eyes and ran from the room.

I hope to update ASAP, guys. But we'll see how it goes whilst she is down here on vacation!