This is Part 8 of this fic. It's a flashback, so this all happened before the beginning of the story.
This is my first GW fic series, there is some violence, strong language and it has the yaoi pairings of Heero & Duo (Ack, they're equal partners, so I guess I would say 2x1/1x2, right?) and Quatre and Trowa (once again, I don't want to be yelled at for not saying the correct pair. Let's just say they are equal partners as well). So if you don't like male/male pairings, then don't read this, or pretend that Quatre and Duo are chicks. Okay?
It was two years after the war with Mariemaia. Hilde and I had been working together on L2 as Sweepers, and she had made the little company into a major corporation, with branches on the other colonies. Howard owned part of the corporation and had his offices down on Earth. Hilde owned another part, and her offices were up in space. And I was the go-between.
Hilde and I had been going out for a while, but we found out that we weren't meant to be. After a few differences, we decided to just be friends. She found a friend who would work with her, and I had to go to the Earth anyway.
Why, you may ask? Sally called me the night after the break-up. She said that the Preventers might need an extra hand. On the same day, Howard wanted me to go down there to help on a special operation.
So I packed what little belongings I had, and boarded a shuttle for Earth the next day. I said goodbye to Hilde, and she told me that she would soon be coming to Earth too, since there were enough people up in space working under the Sweepers to take care of this. She hadn't been to the Earth ever, and wanted to take a vacation there. I promised I would take her around, and I left, without turning back. We were like brother & sister; I guess that's why our relationship didn't work. Nothing could really break our bond of friendship, though.
The last time I had come down to Earth was when I was piloting Deathscythe. That was four, almost five years ago. He's gone now; I scrapped him after the war. It's kinda funny that I still refer to my gundam as 'he', but I always felt as if Deathscythe had a mind of its own; kinda like a soul. Of course, with all that supernatural stuff I know, it could be true. But now I'll never know if it did have a spirit or not.
I landed in San Francisco's Marina Spaceport, in the middle of the rain. It was early December, and the weather was going to be gloomy until March. Great.
Sally and Wufei welcomed me. Wufei had definitely changed since I last saw him. He wore his shoulder-length hair down, and he had lost those ridiculous white pants and was wearing blue jeans. But he still had that blue tank top. Over that was a Preventer jacket. Sally was wearing nearly the same thing, except her jeans were dark green and her shirt was black. They greeted me with a smile and a warm hug.
"Hey Wufei, Sally. I see wedding rings... when did that happen?"
They smiled, and I swear that Wufei even blushed. "We got married a few months ago. Sorry that you couldn't come," Sally said.
Then I remembered. I was so busy with my Sweepers work that I couldn't go to their wedding. I sent them an e-greeting and left it at that. I suddenly felt really bad. "I'm really sorry about that, I was so busy at the time..."
"It's okay Duo. We're just glad you're here now," Wufei said. I smiled, and we all left the spaceport.
We took a taxi to the Preventer's headquarters in San Francisco. It wasn't a large building. In fact, it was dwarfed by the skyscrapers next to it. It was painted a nice beige, with blue accents. It was nice building.
Wufei showed me around. We walked here and there, catching up on past times. Turns out Wufei had a wife before he became a gundam pilot. Huh, who would have thought?
We walked around, meeting people. I saw Trowa and Quatre, who were working together on an assignment. We talked awhile, and I found out that they were married. Since San Francisco was practically open for gays, they could be legally married without much hooplah. I was very happy for them. I had never really noticed the looks they gave each other during our piloting days, but now, I saw the love and caring they shared. Kinda made me jealous.
Then Wufei showed me my office. The walls were a light blue and there was a big window to the left, with a grand view of the Golden Gate Bridge. There were a couple of plants in the far corners of the room. I thought the desk was rather large, until I noticed that it was actually two desks pushed back to back, facing the left and right side.
Then I noticed that it wasn't really my office. The first person I saw when I walked in was him. Heero Yuy, one of my best friends. He was the only other gundam pilot who had kept in regular contact with me. He came up to space every once in a while to visit me, and we would go out and get something to eat and we would talk. The guy actually talks if you let him. And he always talked in monotone, without any feeling. Mostly he talked about work, but at least it was something. I felt bad because I never had time to visit him, but then again, he never really invited me.
"Hey Heero, how's it goin'?" My usual greeting, but this time it was met with a surprised look, instead of 'Hn.'
"Duo? What are you doing here?" He got up out of his desk and walked towards us.
"Sally called me, so I came. Said something about needing me to help out around the place."
"Yes," Wufei interjected, "you're supposed to help Heero scope out a new gang. There's a rumor that they want to assassinate the mayor of San Francisco."
"Who made you leader?" I asked him.
"Sally," he said with a smirk, showing off the little badge that said "Vice Executive." My shoulders sagged. Why didn't I notice that before?
"Great, first day on the job, and I insult my superior." Heero tried to hide a smile, and Wufei just chuckled. "I'll let this one go, but next time..." He shook a finger at me in mock-irritation. I gave him a mock-salute in return.
"I'll leave Heero to explain the details. Quatre is offering a room for you in his house, until you can find an apartment." Then Wufei left, leaving me and Heero, alone.
I never really appreciated Heero's body until this moment. When I had entered the room, he was sitting in the chair behind the left desk, typing away on the ever present laptop. When he looked up to greet me, those blue eyes had pinned me to the spot. And when he got up to walk towards Wufei and me, it was like the fluid movement of a cat. Me-ow.
Then he started talking. His smooth voice just kinda lulled me to sleep. He had me sit down on my side of the desks, and he stood behind me, with one hand on my shoulder and one hand on the computer mouse, clicking away to show me reports and all sorts of stuff. This wasn't exciting at all. Where was the action?
So I dozed off as he was explaining the details. But I snapped back to attention when he shook me. "Oi, Duo. This is serious. Why aren't you listening?" I looked at him through heavily lidded eyes. I was more tired than I thought. I needed to rest. "Um, Heero, maybe we can discuss this tomorrow... Shuttle lag, you know."
He just humphed, but let it go. The "Perfect Soldier" probably didn't suffer from shuttle lag. The lucky bum.
He offered to take me to Quatre's house. He said something about a room for us there. Did he say us? I dunno, maybe he was referring to a guest room that he may have used often or something. We walked out of the building, my head getting slightly woozy. "Uh..." I moaned in discomfort. I've never had shuttle lag this badly before.
Heero steadied me as I hopped onto his motorcycle. It was a really nice Harley Davidson. I didn't know they made these things anymore. He was watching me with those eyes of his, stoic yet somewhat caring. I never really understood any meaning behind his eyes. He gave me a helmet and told me to hold on tight. He revved up the engine and I grabbed onto him as we sped away from the parking lot. Heero had been working out; I could feel his tight abs as I clutched onto him for dear life. He was going a little too fast for my stomach, but I didn't complain. I watched as the cityscape gave way to the countryside.
"Here we are." Heero had carried my bags from the office, and he was still carrying them now. He's such a gentleman. I looked in awe at Quatre's mansion. It wasn't as huge as some mansions I've seen, but this was definitely a mansion. And in the middle of nowhere. That's seclusion for you.
I soon learned that Quatre had two houses in San Francisco, one of them was in the inner city on the other side of the bridge, but Quatre said it was incomplete.
When we walked in, I immediately fell in love with homeyness of it all. It had the tastefulness of a rich man's house, but still had that lived-in feel. Like there was a big family that lived here. Very cozy.
I walked towards the stairs, then I realized that I didn't know where my room was. I turned to Heero. He was already walking in my direction. "Your room's up here." I followed him wordlessly.
We ended up in a nice beige room. It was the same beige as the Preventer's building. For me, it was a soothing color. A short dresser that came up to my thigh was to the left of the door, against the wall. There was a door leading to a bathroom in the middle of the right wall. The head of the bed was against the left wall, and the foot of the bed was directly in the line of sight from the door. There was a large window that let in plenty of light on the far wall towards the left, so the sun cast it's warmth over the bed. There were a couple of chairs and a desk in the far right corner. And all the furniture was high quality maple. I could tell because of the light tan color and the fact that I had some cheap maple furniture on L2. [1]
I slumped over on the bed, my feet still on the floor. I watched as Heero put my bags down next to the dresser. I toed off my shoes and threw my entire body on the bed, so I was lying on my back. "Unfamiliar ceiling..." I mumbled. [2]
The ceiling was the same beige, but it had little white diamonds all over it. I never really noticed little things like this. Maybe I was more tired than I thought. I looked over and watched as Heero pulled off his jacket and placed it on top of the dresser. "Heero?" He didn't say anything as he walked over to me and sat on the edge of the bed. Heero has always been my best friend, other than Hilde. I don't know what drew me to him. Relena says he has a hidden charisma. I can agree with her on that one. That thought brought me a topic to discuss.
"How's Relena-san?"
"Okay, I guess."
"What do you mean 'I guess'?"
"I wouldn't know."
I paused. For the longest time, I thought he and she would make a great couple. "Oh," was all I could say. I turned over to face the window.
I saw green, dark green, and blue. There was a green meadow outside, and a little farther off there was the edge of the forest. And the sky was as blue as Hilde's eyes.
"How are you and Hilde?"
I turned back to face Heero. He never asked me about my personal life. I just shrugged. "It's over. We're just friends now. It's okay, we both felt it was time. It wasn't really working out anyway." I watched as he just said 'ah' and looked back towards the door. I smiled and propped myself up on an elbow. I patted his back. "Don't worry, you'll find someone that's just right for you."
He mumbled something so softly that I couldn't hear what he said. I decided to dismiss it as just some self-doubt. He got up and pulled the covers over me. "Oyasumi, Duo," he said softly as he left. The door shut and I was quietly stunned for a moment. I looked over at the jacket he had left on the dresser. "Heero?"
He peeked his head back in. "Hm?"
"You forgot your jacket."
"I know. I'll come back for it." He shut the door again, and I could hear him walking away. I smiled as the warmth flowed through my body. I turned over and closed my eyes, my shuttle lag making me fall asleep quickly, but not before I had a thought.
Heero's a good-looking guy; why wouldn't he get a girlfriend?
I soon found out. Relena had somehow found out that I had come back to Earth, and called me the next morning. We met at a park nearby her hotel during lunch break. She was staying here for the week, because many of the Earth Sphere delegates were staying here for a convention. So of course, the vice foreign minister had to be here to keep the peace. I had nothing against Relena. A lot of people think she's a snobby, stuck-up bitch. I knew better. She's just misunderstood. Think about it: if your father was killed right before your eyes, then you found out that he really wasn't your father, and then you realize that you're the sole heir to an entire kingdom... Yeah, I'd freak out too. [3]
"Duo!" She waved me over to a bench in the middle of the park. She was wearing a spaghetti strap top and linen pants. She looked incredibly normal for a politician. Of course, I always forgot that she was the same age as me. Her hair was tied up in a pony tail, and reached the small of her back. My hair had reached the bottom of my butt by now. It made it hard to sit down without moving my hair first.
"Hey Relena-ojousan," I greeted, flashing her my trademark Maxwell smile. She giggled. Works every time. "So, how are things?"
"They're great. The world is at peace and no one has to fight anymore." I had to give her credit; she really is a pacifist.
"I meant your social life; anyone special?" I wiggled my eyebrows for more emphasis.
She just laughed. "Oh no, no one yet."
"What about Heero?" Oh yeah, I was gonna get negative brownie points for this.
Relena shook her head. "No way, we're just friends. Like brother and sister. We tried dating but—"
My eyes bugged out. "You what? You've already..." I let my sentence hang in the air. There was no need to say the rest.
"Yup," Relena answered to my unstated question. "We've already decided that we needed someone who would understand us more than we did. It's alright, we still talk and we're still friends. How's it going with you and Hilde?"
"Same as you and Heero," I replied. She just nodded, so I continued. "We cared a lot, but we didn't have the passion. It kinda got lost after awhile."
"Yeah, same with Heero and I. I'm still kinda attracted to him, but it just wasn't working. There wasn't any chemistry."
I just nodded. So she still found him attractive...
We talked about life, the universe and everything else we could think of. She told me that Heero didn't really feel ready to have a relationship with anyone yet, after she had tried to set him up on a couple dates. So she left him alone. I think she was trying to hide something from me about Heero's true desire. Or maybe I'm just paranoid.
After an hour or so, we parted ways. She had to go back to the hotel before anyone thought she had been kidnapped, and I had work to do at the Preventer's office. I walked away from the park, my spirit feeling a little bit lighter after the chit-chat with Relena.
I walked into my office, oh, sorry, our office. Heero was sitting at his desk, typing away on his laptop. I somehow managed to get the desktop. Maybe he liked his laptop better. Anyway, I sat down and looked over the files. Turns out this new gang also wants Relena out of the picture. Huh, what's new?
"You'd better look over that carefully," he said over my shoulder. I hadn't noticed that he had walked over to stand behind me. His lips were millimeters from my ear. When he spoke I could feel his breath. My heartbeat quickened and my arms quivered a little. Was it just me, or was it getting hot in here?
"Uh, yeah. Right." I tried to calm down, but it was getting too hot for me. I stripped off the jacket and threw over my chair. Heero had returned to his seat, typing away into oblivion. He was always really thorough in his reports. I slumped back into my soft cushy chair and started reading the information file.
After two cups of coffee and only two ten-minute breaks, I was worn out. My head swirled with the knowledge of the gang from the past two years. I looked up at the clock hanging over the door. It was 7:05. I could have gone home an hour and five minutes ago! Heero was no where to be found. "Crap," I muttered as I shut off my computer, grabbed my jacket and left. Why the hell didn't Heero tell me it was time?
I hailed a taxi and went back to Quatre's house. This was going to be my last night here. Quatre had already reserved a nice little apartment for me near the Preventers' office. That way I could walk, until I could get myself a car.
I got out of the cab and walked into the front door. The first thing that assaulted my senses was the smell of lobster and toasted bread. I ran to the kitchen.
I peeked in, and I immediately got bapped in the nose. "Bad Duo! No peeking!" It was Quatre, who had an apron on. Trowa was near the stove, cutting up carrots. "Go upstairs," Trowa said in his usual calm voice. "Heero's waiting for you." I ran upstairs. Never knew I had that much energy in me.
My heart raced while I ran up to my room. I felt like I was meeting a lover, or something like that. I shook my head. I shouldn't feel like this! He's a guy, a fellow member of the male persuasion. There was nothing wrong with it, but... I don't know. I just don't know.
When I walked into my room, Heero was bent over something. I tried not to, but my eyes wandered over to his ass anyway. Sigh. Here's to trying to be chaste for at least a month. He stood back up, and gave me a look of amusement. "Here," was all he said before he stepped aside to reveal a large box, which was gift wrapped. He must have been doing the finishing touches when I had walked in. "Wow, thanks," I managed to say. He just shrugged and sat down on the bed. I walked over to the gift.
The bow was a normal bow, and looked abnormally small against the huge box. The box came up to about mid-thigh. Hell, it was taller than the bed! I looked at it suspiciously, and I heard Heero snort. I knew he was laughing at me, but I didn't really care. I opened up top of the box. Inside was lots and lots of packing peanuts. I dug through it, trying to find something. I reached down and down...
Heero's voice reached my ears through the styrofome. "Whoops."
It was the only warning I got before Heero 'nudged' me into the box. It was more like he lifted me up and shoved me in. But it helped. My hand brushed up against something in the far corner of the box. I picked it up, and a clink was heard. I felt the object in my hand, and I froze. They couldn't have...
I leaped out of the box, landing on Heero. I lay there for few moments, too shocked to do anything other than lay on top of that mass of muscle that was his stomach. It felt all warm and nice underneath my chest. I looked at him and held up my present. I dangled it in front of his face. "So, where is it?"
He just smiled a crooked half smile and pushed me off him. Too bad, I was starting to enjoy it. He walked out, and I followed him. I followed him all the way to Quatre's garage.
Inside was my REAL gift. A brand new Jeep. It was the kind of Jeep that didn't have a roof, or much of a door either. The kind of Jeep you take with you on wilderness trips across country. It was a dark grey, and the chrome letters on the driver's door took my breath away. "Shinigami's Ride." I don't know who came up with it, but it suited me just fine. I grabbed Heero in a tight bear hug. "Thanks man," I said. He hesitantly hugged me back, then pushed me away, like he was afraid of prolonged contact. "Hn. Tell that to the others. It's time for dinner." He turned around and left, leaving me with my Jeep, and the car keys sitting in my hand. I hopped up and down with joy for a few moments, then headed back to the house. I get hungry when I'm excited.
Dinner was very good; wild rice with soy sauce, creamed corn, roast pork and a pumpkin pie for desert. Trowa is a really good chef. Never knew he had it in him. Hell, I don't even know about his past, not a single bloody thing. I knew a little about the other guys, but Trowa's a mystery to me.
After dinner I went up to my room. Heero was staying the night with us, so it was like the old days, except Wufei wasn't here. But I know why he wasn't here. He was probably getting some nooky from Sally. [4]
I went to bed pretty early that night, about 10 PM. That's early for me folks. I'm a nighthawk; I usually stay up until 2 AM and wake up in time for lunch. I crawled into bed, tired for some reason I didn't know. My mind was just too fatigued to go on, and I collapsed into the sheets, falling asleep quickly.
I could have sworn that someone was touching me in the middle of the night. Maybe I was still in-between dreams, but I felt a hand caress my cheek, and a familiar voice whisper "ai shiteru" in my ear. I didn't know what that meant; it was probably something in Japanese. I know a little Japanese, but not enough to talk to Heero fluently. Anyways, it was probably just a dream.
After that, I fell into a dream world, where my surroundings were mostly dark, lighted only by a green glow coming from strange looking plants. Demons of every shape and size danced around me, and in front of me was a huge bonfire. I looked behind me and saw the shadow of a hooded figure with a scythe. I moved an arm; the shadow moved the same arm. Then I finally looked at myself. I was the one with the hood and scythe!
Then my dream took a turn for the worse, or maybe it was for the better. I don't know. I was suddenly in a dark room. A candle was lighted and a figure was holding it. It wasn't until the person held the candle up to his face that I could see who it was. It was Heero. He stared at me with his blue eyes, and I felt my whole body grow hot with desire. I wanted to run my hands down his body, feel his hard flesh beneath my hands, I wanted him to squirm underneath me as I took him. I shook my head and backed away. I couldn't lust after him, I just couldn't! But he was so enticing...
He put the candle on a table, and abruptly the light grew stronger, casting a faint glow on the rest of the room. It was my bedroom in Quatre's house. Heero walked over to the bed and all of a sudden his clothes disappeared, revealing his gorgeous body in the candlelight. My fallen angel. He lifted a hand and beckoned me, and I went to him. I plastered kisses all over him, kneeling and kissing the soft skin of his stomach, then moving down to his hardened flesh. I licked it, and then he unexpectedly picked me up by the collar of my shirt. He looked into my eyes, and his eyes turned into blue swirling orbs, the color of the deep ocean. No white, no black, just pure blue. I panicked, and it was then when he showed his fangs. This was turning into a nightmare. He bit me hard, and the pain jolted through me, yet it did not wake me from my horrible dream. I felt my teeth changing, and I touched my canines; I had fangs too! I looked at his neck, and realized we were at the perfect angle; he could suck my blood while I sucked his. A union drenched in blood. I moved closer to his neck, breathing in his scent. I licked his pulse, then I sunk my fangs into that beautiful skin and...
I woke up screaming.
"Duo!"
Heero rushed into my room, wearing only his pajama pants. They were white with blue vertical stripes, and made of flannel. I could hear him as he padded into my room, and I felt him sit next to me. I couldn't see anything past the curtain of my hair. I always sleep with my hair down, and on a few occasions, I've nearly choked on it. This time, I used my hair as a blanket while I lay in a fetal position, hugging my knees to my chest.
"Duo..." I had never heard Heero's voice so soft and emotional. He gathered me into his arms, and held me. He stroked my hair and hummed softly. I could faintly remember him doing this to me before... It was the same feeling, the warm skin of his stomach, the soft sound of Heero's voice lulling me back to sleep.
I had always had nightmares about the Maxwell Church Massacre. For ten years the dream haunted me, an eternity of blood and violence following me whenever I closed my eyes. Even when I was on missions, and bunking with Heero when we were hiding in schools, I still had the nightmares. And each time, Heero would hold me and sing me softly to sleep. We were young, and I thought he was doing it to shut me up.
But now, as he held me the same way and murmured a soft song, I re-analyzed those times when we were gundam pilots. I looked back at the time when he didn't shoot me and instead rescued me. I smiled a peaceful grin and snuggled into that safety and comfort that I had forgotten about.
I woke up alone in my bed, but the faint scent of Heero's presence stayed with me the entire night. I got out of bed and washed up, but the whole time my thoughts kept straying towards Heero. I knew he had a heart; I just never knew he could show it.
I walked downstairs, stumbling a bit because it was still early for me. Yeah, 10 AM is early. Today was the day I was going to get my new apartment. That meant more freedom for me, but I still wanted to stay with the guys. I liked it like this, all of us being happy and together again.
I sat down at the dining room table and stared at my cup of coffee.
"Not enough sugar?" Trowa asked. Heero was eating some French toast, Quatre had some pita bread, and Trowa was drinking some coffee.
"Uh, no, it's fine. The coffee, I mean." I wasn't feeling all there today. Everything seemed kinda... muddled.
I drank my coffee and went back to my room to pack what little belongings that were left unpacked. Most of my stuff was in a box in my Jeep. I packed all the little things into my traveling bag and headed back downstairs.
Heero was waiting at the foot of the stairs. "Took you long enough," he said in his equable voice. He had lost all that softness that I had witnessed last night.
"Heero? About last night..."
"Forget it."
"What?"
"Just forget it." That's all he said before he headed out the door. "I'll lead you to your new apartment. I'll expect you at Preventer's HQ by noon."
"Oh. Okay." I followed him out. I didn't feel any resentment towards him. After all, he is supposed to be the perfect soldier: heartless, ruthless, emotionless.
I followed him all the way to my new apartment. Sometimes he would speed off on that damn motorcycle of his, but he always waited on the other side of the street, as if he was mocking me, leading me on, which he was. No one had bothered to tell me the address of my new home.
We ended up in a nice part of the city, on the edge of suburbia. Heero told me the number of my apartment, and gave me some papers. Then he sped off on his bike, never even looking back. I looked at the paper. "Apartment #212, Building 3." I grabbed my box and my bag and headed towards the main office.
A nice lady, probably the receptionist, pointed out my building. I climbed the stairs before I realized there was an elevator. I hit my head against the wall, and continued to my room. It was a nice cozy little place, big enough for two people, and small enough so that I wouldn't feel alone. There was already furniture, all pre-bought with the apartment. I had insisted on paying back Quatre for reserving the apartment for me, but he said to consider it a gift, and to save my money for paying the rent. I let that go, since he said the rent was about $990 a month. That's more than my old apartment for two months. I may be a good business man from the colonies, but I'm not THAT rich.
After I had settled in and put some of my things in their new places, I took a glance at the clock. 12:36 PM. Crap! I was late! I rushed out of my new home, hopped into my Jeep and drove towards Preventers HQ.
Back to: Part 7
[1]: All the furniture is kinda based on mine... All my furniture is light tan solid maple... Floor Plan
[2]: Heh heh, I got that from the second episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
[3]: My friend was telling me that. It kinda gave me a new look on Relena.
[4]: That sentence is dedicated to J. Wakabayashi (sp?) for all her cool Bond-type fics with Pargan trying to get some nooky.
Anyway, feel free to e-mail me your rants and raves, just don't cuss me out, okay?
Copyright reserved 2000 Top Ace
