A/N: Wishing Kangofu-CB the happiest day of birth. I hope you enjoy this and thank you for letting me write you a thing!

A/N2: Title inspired by the HAIM song by the same name.

A/N3: Always, always thanks to Ro for beta reading and supporting me. You are, quite literally, the best. I also want to thank ChronicWhimsy, who graciously gave me another set of eyes and editing on this.

A/N4: Look, in the future I can hope we have all switched to metric like rational beings. But the reality is that I grew up on the Imperial system and I cannot be bothered to do all of the conversions from inches/feet to meters, especially with Trowa as a carpenter. I'm sorry.

Warnings: angst, language, sex

Pairings: 2x3

Ready for You

Chapter 7

On Monday afternoons, the shop usually knocked off work an hour early to catch the happy hour specials at High Dive, the corner bar that had hosted more than a few work parties over the years.

Sarah had insisted they go on Mondays - after a weekend to relax, everyone usually dragged a bit on the first day back, and going out for drinks at the end of the day made the afternoons far more productive than the mornings.

The apprentices had started tagging along last month, when Harlan finally, grudgingly, extended the invitation to them. Trowa had also had to wait to be asked, when he had been an apprentice. It was, like many things at the shop, part of a long-standing tradition.

There was comfort in that, and even though Trowa knew it was a bit of a weakness to take comfort in traditions and routines, that had certainly been part of his attraction to the job in the first place.

As usual, Trowa settled in at the bar beside Harlan, both men sipping at glasses of the happy hour draft special - some craft brew from upstate that was too fruity for Trowa's tastes - and sitting in comfortable silence.

Sarah was, also as usual, sitting on her own and flirting with attractive women with varying degrees of success.

Jose and Martine, the other two master carpenters, were engaged in their weekly pool table showdown. The draftsman and designer had begged off attending. In all the years that Trowa had worked for C&C, he could count on one hand the number of times those two had joined them.

Mohammad was sitting in the back of the bar with a group of regulars, all laughing and joking and gesturing wildly.

The apprentices seemed to be engaged in some kind of darts competition with some grizzled regulars, and they didn't seem to be representing the shop very well.

Harlan watched them with a weary expression and finally sighed.

"Damn kids are going to make us all look bad," he muttered, and stood up.

Trowa arched an eyebrow.

"Well, someone's gotta show them how it's done," Harlan continued to mutter. "Fucking idiots."

He tossed back the last of his beer and walked over to the dart boards.

Trowa had to smirk as he leaned back against the bar and watched Harlan start gesturing at the apprentices and the dart boards.

"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, huh?"

Trowa couldn't quite kill the smile on his face at the sound of the familiar voice.

He turned to see Duo approaching, a matching smile on his own face that grew when he took in Trowa's expression.

"You know Casablanca?"

Duo shrugged and walked close enough to gently nudge Trowa with his shoulder before pulling up a stool to sit on.

"It's one of, like, five decent films you Terrans ever made."

"Four hundred years of cinema, and we only made five decent ones?"

Duo held up his hands.

"Hey, not my fault you suck. You've even had our superior artistic vision to copy for the last two hundred years, and you still can't get it right."

Trowa rolled his eyes, but he wasn't about to fall into the trap of having that argument with Duo. Especially when most of Trowa's favorite films were colonial.

Duo worked whatever magic he seemed to have on bartenders, and the man walked away from ogling another bar patron to take his order.

"What can I do you for?"

Duo snorted a laugh.

"Um… what are you drinking?" He gestured towards Trowa's class.

Trowa slid it his way, and Duo took a sip.

He shrugged, unimpressed.

"Not that. Give me a glass of the rosemary ale?"

"Coming right your way." The bartender winked and walked off.

Duo snorted again and shook his head.

"So, how was your Monday?" he asked, voice saccharine as he teased Trowa with domesticity.

Trowa lifted one shoulder.

"New commissions came in today."

"Anything exciting?"

Trowa nodded.

"I'm starting work on an elm medicine chest."

"Elm, huh? Your kinda wood."

Trowa rolled his eyes.

"What's a medicine chest? Like the thing on the wall in a bathroom?"

"No. It's a box - modeled after the pre-modern boxes you used to keep. It's basically a square chest. Pretty popular these days as a liquor cabinet."

"Oh yeah?" Duo waggled his eyebrows. "That's my kind of medicine."

Trowa pulled out his phone and showed Duo photos of the draftings and the layout he had started on.

"Oh, oh, cool. That's… Shit, Trowa, that's awesome."

It was stupid to feel smug about Duo's appreciation, stupid to be practically preening because he approved.

Trowa put the phone away.

"How did moving Alice go?"

Duo groaned and shook his head.

"I swear to fuck, it was easier sneaking onto a freaking OZ base and…" Duo trailed off as a few patrons walked by. "Anyway, it was fine."

Saturday morning, he and Duo had met in the park to watch the jazz trio. Trowa had hoped to invite Duo over to his place for the afternoon and evening, had planned on getting in some of the much-hinted-at 'waking up next to each other naked in bed' parts, but Duo had reluctantly begged off, citing Alice's move from the Columbia dormitories into an apartment.

"Sore?"

Duo gave him a heated look.

"Don't worry, I didn't strain anything that would ruin whatever nefarious plans you have in store."

"Nefarious plans? Me?"

Duo chuckled and sipped at his beer.

"Well, this is weird as hell."

Trowa took a sip of it and had to concur.

"The happy hour specials are always really cheap, but the beers are…"

"Really weird. Yeah. I'm getting that. Hey, where's the goddess of destruction?"

Trowa gestured towards Sarah. The shop foreman had Diana in one hand, a beer in the other, and a cluster of cooing women around her.

"Wow. Damn, she's good - how often does that work for her?"

"Too often," Trowa grumbled.

Duo gave him a look.

"Oh, like you never used that puppy to hook up with someone?"

Trowa sniffed and adopted a superior sneer.

"I don't need gimmicks to get laid."

Duo laughed.

"Amen to that." He raised his glass in a mock salute.

Trowa smirked as Duo swept his gaze over him, head to foot, not bothering to hide what was clearly on his mind.

"So," Duo looked away from Trowa after letting his eyes linger on his crotch and sighing, "this is where the Trowa Barton hangs out."

While it wasn't a bar that he frequented often - really ever outside of Monday nights - it wasn't too radically different from the neighborhood bars where he did spend more time. A little brighter. A lot less chatter about politics. Cleaner clientele.

"Only when I'm pre-gaming before a wild night out."

Duo snorted.

"Oh yeah, Trowa Barton - party animal, cruising the city, dancing at all the clubs, showing up on Page 6 photos with celebrities and his puppy. Nah. This place is nice. Very chill."

It was nice, Trowa thought, sitting here beside Duo at a bar, drinking beer and talking and just… as close to being civilians as Trowa imagined they would ever get.

"So, you up for a game?"

Trowa followed Duo's gaze to the dart board.

"You want to challenge me to a game of darts?"

Duo's smirk was predatory.

"Oh, hell yes, I do. C'mon, you afraid to lose?"

Trowa arched one eyebrow.

"I was raised by mercenaries. I'm not some rube who grew up crewing a ship in zero-G."

Duo nodded.

"Sure, sure. See, look at the advantage you've got over me. Whaddya got to lose?"

That Duo didn't try to argue that he was, in fact, better equipped to win at darts immediately put Trowa on guard.

"The better question is, what do I have to win?"

Duo leaned close.

"Winner tops?"

Trowa wouldn't say they raced to the dart board, but he did take full advantage of his longer legs to get there first.

Duo tried to elbow him, but Trowa caught his arm and, smirking, gave Duo a little shove forward.

Harlan turned away from lecturing the apprentices and raised an eyebrow.

An eyebrow that immediately sank back down, following the downward motion of his lips as well.

"Friend of yours?"

"Harlan, this is Duo. Duo, this is Harlan."

"Nice to meet you." Duo put on his most charming smirk and held out his hand.

Harlan stared at Duo, his eyes hard. He made no move to reach for Duo's hand.

"Duo, huh? Duo Maxwell?"

Trowa saw Duo's fingers curl, and then he dropped his hand back to his side.

"Yes, sir," Duo responded, his tone without emotion and his face frozen.

"Huh." Harlan turned his disapproving gaze on Trowa. "And this is a friend of yours?"

Harlan, who had no problem with Heero Yuy, and who, Trowa was fairly certain, at least suspected that Trowa had been somehow involved in the war, had never shown such public dislike for anyone. Not even the apprentice who had been fired for the unmentionable work violations.

"Yeah," Trowa responded.

"How'd you meet him?"

It wasn't a question Harlan had ever asked about Heero.

"He saved my life once, you know… Good guy, Trowa." Duo's half-hearted attempt did nothing to ease the tension between him and Harlan.

"Huh. Go figure."

Harlan walked past them, giving Duo a wide berth.

"Do you-"

"Shit. Holy shit. You know Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell? Like- Shit. I have your action figure!"

The apprentices abandoned their clearly still-losing dart game and descended upon Duo.

Their expressions of hero worship were enough to make Trowa sneer.

"Duo, these are the apprentices. I mentioned them a few times."

"Yeah." Duo shook himself and offered up a broader, though no less fixed, grin. "You never mentioned their names, though."

He held out his hand again.

"I'm Tim. Holy shit, I wish Trowa had said you were coming by. I would have brought my cards and-"

"There are cards?" Trowa made no attempt to hide his disgust.

He knew about the action figures. He had seen them. Had, in fact, sent Heero both the Tallgeese and Wing Zero figures for Christmas one year. But cards?

"Uh, yeah?" Tim wasn't in the least bit embarrassed.

"I'm Aaron."

Duo shook both of their hands, and it was telling that he was just as guarded in response to their enthusiasm as he had been with Harlan's disdain.

"So… holy shit. How does Trowa know you and Heero Yuy? Man, all the luck."

Trowa glared down at Tim, but he only had eyes for Duo.

"Oh, you know, we go way back… So, we were hoping to get in a game of darts, if there's an opening?" Duo shrugged, nonchalant and wound so tight that Trowa could see the bunched muscles along his jawline.

"Yeah, yeah, of course! Shit. You are going to wreck Trowa. Ha! This is great. Fuck. I never thought I'd get the chance to meet you."

Duo turned wide eyes and that fake smile up at Trowa. He was clearly struggling.

"Round the World?" he asked Duo, ignoring the apprentices. It had always been the best strategy for dealing with them.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure."

Duo's first few throws were off, which didn't seem to phase his new fan club. Tim and Aaron cheered him on, and no amount of glaring or non-too-gentle shoving from Trowa would shut them up or get them to back off.

Duo settled down, however, and the game became tight.

Trowa had always been good at darts. Not, perhaps, as good as Cathy, but he used to win extra rations from the Mercs, and he and Cathy had made an undefeated team at the circus.

It was clear, however, that Duo's facility with knives and his superb aim with weapons translated well to the game.

When Trowa won, earning a chorus of groans from Tim and Aaron, it was only because Duo had fallen behind early.

"We'll have to play again," Trowa said as he and Duo shook hands.

"You bet your ass we will," Duo agreed with a smirk that was still dark around the edges.

Aaron and Tim moved forward, all wide-eyed and eager.

"Mind if we step outside for a few minutes?" Trowa asked Duo, turning his back to the two apprentices.

"Sure," Duo shrugged, and shoved his hands into his pockets.

Trowa looked for Sarah, saw that she didn't seem to be on her way out with a lady on each arm, and decided to leave Diana with her.

He led Duo towards the back of the bar and, after nodding at the chef and kitchen crew, used the rear entrance to take him and Duo into the alley behind the bar.

"You know the chef?" Duo asked.

"Not well." Trowa closed the door behind them.

It was warm, but the narrow alley and tall brick walls meant there was plenty of shade. He walked towards one of the brightly-tagged walls and leaned against it.

A moment later, Duo joined him.

"A few years ago, we came for the Eve Celebrations. I didn't care much for it, and Ameer let me… hide back here."

Trowa realized abruptly that Duo didn't get that option. He didn't get to hide from the wars, from what he had done. He had been unmasked, his name and face displayed for all of humanity to judge.

He thought about Avery and Ines and the other students Duo spent most of his time with, the way they viewed him as part mythical figure and part peer. Then there were the apprentices, who clearly couldn't wrap their heads around the idea of Duo being a person. And then there was Harlan…

"So," Duo drew in a deep breath and then let it out, "those kids are a lot. Now I totally get why you think they're going to set the shop on fire."

Trowa nodded emphatically.

"They treat Heero like that? I'm surprised they're still walking and talking."

"They're afraid to talk to him. Whenever he comes around, they just stand there and stare." Trowa shook his head. "It's kind of sad."

"And just think how much they'd piss themselves if they knew they worked beside a Gundam pilot every damn day."

Duo sounded bitter, and Trowa swallowed down the urge to defend himself.

"Sorry about your friend, Harlan. That-"

"Why the fuck are you apologizing?"

Duo gave him a genuinely confused look.

"Because I'm sorry if it makes things weird for you. I know you care about him; he's like your mentor and father figure, and-"

"He's not a father figure."

"Okay, 'course not. He just taught you everything you know about carpentry and helps keep your head on straight. And thinks the world of you. Definitely not a father figure."

"It's not like that," Trowa snapped. He didn't want to delve into why the idea, the label, was so unsettling, but it was. It reminded him of the captain, another man who had taught Trowa how to survive and who Trowa had disappointed.

"Okay, I get it. I'm sorry. I- Fuck, I should just go."

Duo pushed away from the wall, but Trowa reached out for him.

The other man stared at his hand, then sighed and took it in his own. Duo let Trowa reel him in, and he held the shorter man against his chest and wrapped his arms around him.

"Don't go. Not yet." It didn't take the ZERO system to guess that Duo coming over to his apartment later was off the table.

"Gonna miss me?"

Trowa rubbed his nose against the top of Duo's head, fine strands tickling against him and the scent of his shampoo lingering.

"Maybe."

Duo laughed and tilted his head back to look up at Trowa.

"It's just for two weeks. Then I'll be back, and I was thinking… There's this art studio down the street from me. They do this 'drink and draw night' thing. And I know how you like to work with your hands." Duo put his hand over one of Trowa's, the one that had been maneuvering towards his ass.

"Sounds good. I can't convince you to skip your vacation and just sit around in your apartment waiting for me to call you instead?"

"Tempting, Barton. Very tempting. But a house on the Cape with lots of booze and books is just barely going to beat out your offer."

Duo had mentioned the trip weeks ago. Ines's family apparently had a place in Massachusetts, and this was an annual pilgrimage that she, Sven, Alice, Jehan, Duo and Avery made. Avery.

It wasn't that Trowa was jealous that Duo would be spending two weeks with his ex. But he was concerned. There had yet to be an encounter between Duo and the other man that Trowa could describe as anything short of painful. He couldn't imagine two weeks with him would be better. Even if it was on a beach.

"I'll be back before you know it. Plus, I'll call you and we can work on your phone sex skills."

"You don't even know if they need work."

Duo grinned.

"Then I guess we'll find out."

Trowa rolled his eyes, but when Duo lifted his chin for a kiss, he leaned down and brushed his lips over his.

He started to pull away, but Duo put one hand around his neck and kept him close, deepening the kiss, teasing Trowa with his tongue and teeth.

"So, we did agree that the winner got to top," Duo murmured.

"We did." Trowa reversed their positions, pushing Duo up against the wall and kissing him until he had Duo groaning and clutching at him. "At least I've got that to look forward to."

"No time like the present, is there?" Duo challenged.

Trowa arched an eyebrow.

"My place?"

Duo shook his head.

"No, I need to grab some stuff before I head out, and knowing you and your obsession for battle plans and tactics, if I went to your place, you'd keep me in bed for hours."

"If it's worth doing," Trowa teased, thrusting his pelvis against Duo's, "it's worth doing right."

The glitter of arousal in Duo's eyes had almost eclipsed the earlier darkness. But Trowa could still see it there, lingering.

"Agreed. Still… we're here now… and I know for a fact that someone brought along the right supplies."

Trowa snorted.

"You want our first time to be in the alley behind a bar?"

Duo shrugged, a wicked smirk sliding across his lips. He nipped at Trowa's throat, finding that spot that made Trowa arch into him.

"I want us to have a first time. So I can start thinking about the second. And the third. And the fourth. And damn, Trowa, the plans I'm making for the fifth time…"

Duo's voice was just above a whisper, the words spilling from his lips against Trowa's skin.

"Besides, it'll give me something to think about when I'm sleeping by myself for the next two weeks." Duo moved his right hand down the front of Trowa's shirt and then lower, squeezing Trowa's rapidly-hardening cock through the thick fabric of his jeans. "C'mon, Trowa, fuck me."

It wouldn't be the first time Trowa had had sex in an alley. He didn't know if it would be a first for Duo. He suspected it was, especially when Duo grimaced at the feel of the brick catching at his hair as Trowa kissed him again. This wasn't the time or the place for lengthy prep, for torturing Duo with his mouth and fingers until he was crying out for more. It wasn't at all how Trowa had pictured things between them.

He stared into the darkness in Duo's eyes.

Trowa traced Duo's jaw with both hands before curving them to fit around his head and pull him closer.

"I'm not going to fuck you in an alley, Duo."

There was a flash of anger, fueling that darkness, and Duo's lips thinned.

"Not for our first time. Maybe for round six."

It took a moment for Duo to relax, to let go of whatever had inspired the suggestion in the first place.

Trowa closed the space between them and kissed him again, dragging his lips over Duo's until Duo tilted his face up and captured Trowa's mouth.

While he kept Duo's mouth occupied, Trowa let his hands wander. He skimmed over Duo's sides, pausing when Duo sucked in a breath. Trowa made a note of that sensitive spot. Some other time, he would explore that in detail.

He tugged Duo's shirt up and smoothed one hand over Duo's bare skin.

Duo shivered at the touch, and when Trowa pinched his left nipple, Duo gasped into his mouth and pulled back from the kiss.

"What happened to 'not here' for our first time?"

He looked thoroughly kissed, and Trowa couldn't help but smirk at the dazed expression on his face. No sign of the darkness now.

Trowa leaned close and bit down on Duo's right earlobe. Duo arched against him.

"I'm not going to fuck you here. Doesn't mean I'm not going to take advantage of you wanting me."

Something flashed in Duo's eyes, but it was gone as soon as Trowa pressed against Duo's trapped erection with his palm.

"Or don't you want me on my knees?"

Duo's eyes widened, and he licked his lips.

Trowa squeezed the hard flesh under his hand, and Duo rocked against him.

"Surely some of your fantasies about fucking me involved your cock in my mouth? Fucking my face? Filling my throat with your cum?"

"Fuck, Trowa," Duo chuckled. "I take it back, you don't need practice with your phone sex skills."

Trowa smirked.

"I've got excellent source material to work with at the moment," he murmured.

He put one hand against the wall, just beside Duo's head, and shifted his other to the fly of Duo's jeans.

One-handed, he unfastened the fly and then slipped his hand under the thin fabric of Duo's boxers.

He found Duo's cock, hard and hot and the head already slick with precum.

"Well?" he challenged Duo, pressing his thumb against the head of his cock and then dragging it over the sensitive flesh underneath.

Duo sucked in a breath and then kissed Trowa again, hands digging into Trowa's shoulders as Trowa continued to caress him.

He fisted his hand around Duo's cock, stroking the shaft up and down until Duo was thrusting against him.

Trowa moved his hand lower, giving Duo's balls a gentle squeeze that had him making a sound and thrusting his tongue deeper into Trowa's mouth.

Duo moaned when Trowa pulled away from the kiss, and he had to smirk at the expression on the shorter man's face.

He shoved Duo's jeans down his thighs, allowing Duo's cock to spring free.

"Should I get on my knees?"

"Fuck yes," Duo breathed, and Trowa chuckled as he sank down. He kept his eyes fixed on Duo's, looking up at him through the fringe of hair that fell over his own face.

He pressed his lips to the head of Duo's cock, a teasing kiss that had Duo releasing a breath in what might have been a laugh.

Duo definitely wasn't laughing a moment later, however. Trowa flicked his tongue over the head and then swirled it around the underside.

"Fuck," Duo moaned again. His fingers clutched at the jeans riding low on his hips.

Trowa ran his tongue along the shaft, savoring the taste and feel of Duo and the sounds of pleasure Duo made.

He lifted Duo's cock up and continued to explore Duo, licking the sensitive skin of his scrotum before teasingly sucking on the flesh. He tightened his grip on Duo and started to stroke the shaft, twisting his hand as he did so and making sure to rub against the head.

"Jesus, fucking- Trowa!" Duo's hips surged forward as Trowa licked his perineum.

"Oh, sorry. Should I not do that?"

The look in Duo's eyes suggested a severe lack of appreciation for Trowa's teasing.

"Would you rather I did this?"

He put his mouth back on the head of Duo's cock, parting his lips slowly as he pushed against the hard length, letting it pierce his mouth.

Duo groaned.

"You're such a fucking tease, Barton," he growled.

"Mhm," Trowa hummed in agreement.

"Oh my God," Duo whined, half-amused, half-exasperated. Completely at Trowa's mercy.

Trowa took as much of Duo into his mouth as he could, the angle not great for deepthroating, and Duo on the larger side in any case. He traced over the shaft with his tongue as he pulled back.

After admiring the sheen of his saliva, Trowa met Duo's gaze again.

"You never said, do you fantasize about fucking my mouth?"

"Yes," Duo groaned. "Of course I do."

Trowa smirked.

"Here's your chance."

Duo licked his lips.

"Yeah?"

Trowa shrugged.

"I'll let you know if I'm not enjoying it. Don't worry."

He teased his tongue over Duo again, and the other man gave a shallow thrust, his cock just barely parting Trowa's lips.

"Harder than that," Trowa encouraged.

Duo thrust again, slow and deep, and Trowa opened his mouth to accommodate the movement. Duo's cock nudged the back of his throat, just past the point of comfort, and Trowa forced himself to relax.

"That okay?" Duo asked.

Trowa nodded and sucked on the cock still filling his mouth.

Duo set a tentative pace, each movement careful and slow.

Trowa suspected that Duo hadn't been with too many partners who wanted or enjoyed this sort of penetration.

He reached for Duo's balls again, fondling them and eliciting another groan and a forceful thrust from Duo. When he traced over Duo's perineum again and teased at his anus, Duo finally let himself go.

His movements became erratic, hips pumping as he fucked Trowa's mouth, and his eyes were dark and narrowed as he stared down at the sight of their bodies joining together.

Trowa held his gaze, stroking against Duo's most sensitive spots, and alternating between sucking on the cock filling his mouth and wrapping his tongue around it and humming. Both seemed to excite Duo.

"Fuck, Trowa, fuck," he moaned, voice barely audible over the sound of his labored breathing.

His thighs trembled, and the fingers that had previously been clawing their way into his own skin spasmed.

"Tro, I'm close, I'm gonna come, I'm-" Duo's words became unintelligible as he groaned and gripped Trowa's head.

Duo's cum tasted salty and only slightly bitter. Wave after wave coated Trowa's throat and he held Duo's gaze as he rode out his orgasm, holding onto Trowa and shuddering with ecstasy.

When Duo finally dropped his hands back to his sides, he slumped against the wall and closed his eyes.

"God. Fuck, Trowa. That was amazing."

Trowa released the softening cock slowly, giving it one last gentle caress with his tongue before rising back to his feet.

"Good. Maybe now you won't forget about me while you're on the beach."

Duo snorted and wrapped one hand around Trowa's neck.

"I think I'm going to have the opposite problem."

Trowa arched an eyebrow.

"What problem would that be?"

Duo smirked and pulled Trowa into a kiss.

"The problem of not being able to stop thinking about you while I'm on the beach," he said.

It was Trowa's turn to smirk.

"I fail to see how that could possibly be a problem."

"Walking around with a hard-on for two weeks isn't exactly my idea of pleasant."

"Mm. You did mention something about phone sex."

Duo groaned.

"You're trying to fucking kill me, aren't you?"

Instead of answering, Trowa kissed him again.

When they parted, Duo's face was flushed, his lips swollen and his eyes hooded. It was a breathtaking look.

"Jesus. Next time, you're going to call in sick, and we're going to spend three days in bed together."

Trowa ran his thumb over Duo's lips.

He smirked when Duo gave him a playful bite.

"I've got vacation days saved up. We can work something out."

Duo laughed, and then sighed as he reached down and set his clothes to rights.

"I hate to do this, but I should really get going. I-"

Trowa kissed him again.

"It's okay. I appreciate you coming."

Duo waggled his eyebrows and grinned.

"I appreciated it too."

Trowa rolled his eyes.

"You want to go sign autographs before you leave?"

Duo snorted, and his eyes took on a shuttered look.

Trowa wished he hadn't said anything. He could see Duo's mind drifting from the apprentices to Harlan and the man's cold reaction.

"I'm sorry," Trowa said.

"It's whatever," Duo shrugged.

"It's not whatever."

"It is," Duo insisted, jaw set.

Trowa sighed and tugged Duo away from the wall.

He kept their fingers laced together as they walked back into the bar, not letting go until Duo pulled away from him.

"Call me?" Duo asked, sounding just a little unsure.

Trowa ignored the way that tone tugged at him, ignored the desire to pull Duo against him and kiss him one last time.

"Of course."

Duo nodded, waved at the apprentices ogling him, and left.

Trowa watched him walk out, watched him through the front window of the bar, and then he looked for Harlan.

The master carpenter was back at the bar.

"What the fuck was that?" Trowa demanded, keeping his voice low but making no effort to hide his anger.

Harlan gave him a hard look and then shook his head.

"I always figured you were involved. Even before Heero Yuy started coming around. I figured… you were young. You were too young. Maybe you helped him? Maybe you took care of him when all of 'em went into hiding?"

Harlan sighed and his face shifted, strength fading away and revealing the tired, aged man that he was.

"He killed my boy. He- he took away the one thing I had left. And you…"

Harlan looked away and shook his head.

"How can you just fuck a murderer and look at yourself in the mirror after it? Huh? You know what he did! You-"

Harlan reached for Trowa's shirt and Trowa grabbed his wrist, battling against him and forcing his hand back to the bartop. He kept his grip tight.

"I am a murderer. Heero Yuy is a murderer. We were all murderers. Do you think any of us will ever forget that? Do you think we can ever look at ourselves in the mirror and see anything except the blood on our hands? Duo- Duo did what he had to. He did what no one else would."

Trowa realized his grip was too tight, realized he was going to leave bruises, realized Harlan's arthritis was going to make it so much worse.

He forced himself to let go.

"I'm sorry about your son. Heero would be too. And Duo-"

Trowa could so easily imagine the look in Duo's eyes if Harlan tossed that accusation at him, if Harlan called him a murderer.

"Your son shouldn't have died. And Duo should never have had to kill him."

It was likely the worst apology Trowa could offer. But it was also the only one he could offer.

He laid down money on the bar to cover his tab and then walked over to Sarah's table.

She took in his dark expression with raised eyebrows, but passed over Diana without comment.

Trowa grabbed his bag from the front of the bar and looked back at Harlan.

The master carpenter was staring down at the bar top in front of him, shoulders slumped and head bowed.

Trowa walked out.

-o-