August 27, 2000
Rating: Mature audience only, please...
Pairings: 1+2+5, 3+4, 6+9, S+11
Warnings: Yaoi and Yuri themes. Sappy in some parts. Angst in other areas. Strong language at unexpected turns. Pregola--pregnant g-boys! Major confusion! Out of control characters... I think that pretty much covers it! ^_^;;
Feedback: C&C is always welcomed and adored.
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters belong to Bandai, Sunrise and Sotsu Agency and are only being used for non-profit entertainment purposes. References to printed texts, films, sitcoms, musical pieces, and/or other fanfictions don´t belong to me either.
Notes: "Oh Baby, Baby" is in approximately 203 AC, placing the boys at ~23-24 years of age.
Hiroshima Jackson has developed ten serums--what they do, we don't know yet, but it's a good bet that they're a part of the "genetically advanced human being dubbed 'the perfect human'" project. We also know one of these serums was used on Fatina Winner 25 years ago.
Mariemeia Khushrenada was expelled from yet another school.
He shifted in the large plush seat--refusing to admit that it was what it was: squirming. Not that the seat was uncomfortable. Absolutely not. 'Matter-a-fact, it was one of the most comfortable things he could ever recall in his life. Maybe that's why it made him so *UNcomfortable*, because he wasn't used to such... niceties. Not that he was complaining, mind you... he just...
"Uncomfortable?" a voice asked from beside him, the man leaning conspiratorially closer. Around them the shuttle's engines began to purr.
He stiffened, the mask on his face tightening. "No, of course not," he replied equally as stiff as his body.
The man continued to smile but leaned back in his own chair, retreating from his personal space. "It's not so bad, you know," he said, closing his eyes and leaning back in his seat.
Jake eyed him, but said nothing.
"I mean, you get used to it," the man continued. "Of course, given time, you can get used to anything." He looked at him and winked, before closing his eyes again. "What's really fun is the re-entry into the atmosphere. But you've got a couple of weeks to prepare yourself for that."
"T-th-the 're-entry'?" The thrusters fired, pushing them away from the L2 colony that had been his home for as long as he could remember.
"Would you like a drink, Monsieur Maxwell?"
He turned away from the window to see the woman with chocolate brown skin and large dark eyes smiling at them.
"Ah, Grace, you know me so well," the man beside him answered with a winning grin and wink.
"Hn, I'd like to know you better," the woman purred in her native Creole accent with a seductive smile and wink.
Duo Maxwell laughed. "Not while you're still married, love. Your husband would tear me apart limb by limb!"
"You probably right...but it t'would be worth it, me thinks." She looked past the braided-heartthrob to the boy sitting at the window. "And for you, cheri? Would you like somethings to drink while we are in flight?"
"Yeah, a kamikaze," Jake replied with a wicked smile.
She laughed. "I's don't think we's have any of d'ose, but I's sees what I can get, no?" And with that she left, leaving a stunned boy and a grinning young man to what conversation they may have.
"Is she really--"
"You asked for it," Duo replied, folding his arms behind his head and settling more into the seat.
"Yeah, but--"
Duo opened one violet eye and *looked* at the boy beside him. "It's no problem. If you don't like it, Grace'll be happy to get you something else to drink."
Jake stared at the man for another minute and then turned back to the window. Already any signs of the colony had disappeared. There was nothing but blackness, studded by white pin-pricks of starlight. He couldn't believe how many stars there were. He'd never seen real stars before. It wasn't like there were many windows in the part of the colony where he lived. It was...
"Beautiful, ain't it?"
He looked back at the man with the long chestnut braid. Slowly he nodded. "I've never seen anything like it before..."
"Trust me, there ain't anything like it," Duo replied. "Even on Earth, you'll never see this many stars." Grace returned setting two drinks in front of them, and then whisked away again. Duo took a sip of his whiskey sour and smacked his lips. "You know, I never really got a chance to kick back and *look* at them until I went to Earth. It's something I'll never forget..."
They lapsed into silence; Jake, staring out the window, afraid to touch the drink set before him; Duo calmly sipping his own, lost in memories of the past. A soft, almost scared voice broke him free from those thoughts.
"What's going to happen to me?" Duo turned to look at boy. In a way, Jake reminded him a bit of Wufei, with his inky-black hair that fell straight to his shoulders. His shifting hazel eyes were like Trowa's, he realized, cautiously taking in everything around him. But the atmosphere that surrounded the boy was one Duo was more than familiar with--that feel of the having lived on the streets. *He* knew that one...
"I mean," Jake continued when the man said nothing. "What are you going to do with me?"
"Well, right now I'm taking you to a satellite in the area," Duo replied, taking another sip of his whiskey sour. "We'll stay over there for a couple of weeks, and then we'll travel to the Earth."
"And when we get there? What then?"
Duo was quiet for a minute, taking another sip of his drink. "Well, I figured you can stay with me and my friends for a while, until you decide what you want to do with yourself. You'll have to continue your schooling, of course--"
"But I--"
"But you don't have to go to any school to do that," Duo continued, ignoring the interruption. He grinned at the boy. "There are several really good correspondence programs and even some distance-learning schools you can enroll in."
Jake seemed to think on that a moment, and then he nodded. "Okay, fine. I'll take some courses or whatnot. But *I* get to pick 'em."
"Cool with me!" Duo continued to sip his drink. Jake continued to eye him.
"So, like, what?" he asked after another moment of silence. Duo turned his eyes towards the boy in question. Jake shrugged. "I mean, I'm, like, gonna live with you for a bit and then what? What do you plan on doing with me?"
"Well, that's entirely up to you," Duo replied. "Legally you can't be considered independent until the age of sixteen, at the earliest. So you'll still be considered a ward of Maxwell Orphanage. However, once you turn sixteen, you can petition for independence and then, legally, I can't interfere worth a damn in your life anymore. It's all completely up to you." Duo took another sip of his drink. "Of course, that doesn't mean I won't."
Jake looked at him, studied the man. Then he turned back in his seat and nodded. "So, where do you live?"
"Everywhere and nowhere," Duo answered with a smile. Jake frowned, clearly put off by the answer. "I won't have a definite answer about where we're going until I talk with my friends," Duo continued, smiling at the boy. "We really do live all over the place. Last year we were at Tuscany, Korea, Peru, L5-015, and--"
"Why so many places?"
Duo continued to smile--the kid was starting to come out of his shell. That was good in his opinion. "Well, mostly because of business--"
"What kind of business?"
"Pretty much everything and anything," Duo returned. "You name it and we probably have a connection to it somehow, someway."
"How'd you get so rich if you're from L2?"
Duo crossed his arms and smiled. "What makes you think I´m from L2?"
"Your accent, the way you act sometimes," Jake replied, crossing his arms, also. "Besides, Lexie said she knew you when you were kids--and I know for a fact Lexie's never lived off our colony."
Duo continued to smile and nod. He wasn't aware that he had an accent, but the kid was sharp. "I made my money in the war. Mostly through stocks and bonds..."
Jake frowned--something not adding up in his mind, but he wasn't sure what. But Duo was saying something.
"As a dependent of Maxwell Orphanage, you have a portfolio, too. If you want, I can show you how to use it." He looked to the boy who was frowning at him. That frown reminded him of Heero. Duo smiled secretly to himself. Either he was missing his lovers overly-much, or this kid was going to work out just fine for them.
Since Duo knew that after last night he *definitely* wasn't hard up for his lovers, he settled on the latter, and his smile grew. Now, hopefully Jake would like his lovers and there wouldn't be any problems...
"Yeah," Jake said after another moment. "I'd like that."
"Hn. The baka's late."
"Since when is that something new?"
"Don't be worried. I'm sure Duo will be here soon. He wanted to see you before you..."
"We can't keep putting this off until he gets here, though."
A sigh. "You're right. I guess--"
"Hey guys! Sorry we're late!" Duo beamed as he walked into the waiting room, a kid following behind him. No one seemed to notice the kid, though. All their attention was focused on the braided-wonder, allowing Jake to stand back and watch.
"It's about time you showed up!" some guy with black hair like his shouted. "Did you expect us to just wait on you forever."
"It would've been nice," Duo replied, sliding up to the man and embracing him. What happened next shocked him. Duo kissed the man. Not just a friendly kiss between friends or a pop kiss, but an actual tongue-in-your-mouth kiss. He stared in a... a... horrible fascination.
Duo pulled back a bit, but not really. His body still pressed up against the other man, and his hands were at the other man's waist, his thumbs playing at the loose white shift the other man wore.
"Scared?" he heard Duo ask although he was talking softly.
The other man gave a small nod of his head. "Maybe just a little."
Duo raised a hand to the other man's cheek, cupping the face and brushing his lips against the others. "Don't be," he whispered hoarsely. "It doesn't suit you." One more kiss and then he pulled back completely, letting a small gap emerge between them. "We'll be waiting for you, Chang Wufei." He lifted one of the hands he held to his lips. "We'll be there when you wake up."
The other man--Chang Wufei--nodded once more and then shot a look to the other three men in the room. Then, with a ceremonious-like bow, he said, "I look forward to seeing you again soon." And then he left the room through another door Jake hadn't realized was there.
In fact, even after initially noticing the other three men, once he saw Duo kiss the one man, he'd been aware of nothing else. 'Duo was a fag,' a voice hissed in his head. 'Shit!'
Duo sighed and leaned up beside another man. "You shouldn't have been so long," the man was saying in a low voice. The voice sent shivers down Jake's back, though he wasn't quite sure why. "He was worried enough without having to wait."
"You're right, I'm sorry," Duo returned, wrapping his arms around the new man. "He's gonna be okay."
Whether Duo said it to reassure himself or the other man, Jake wasn't sure. He watched, again with a shocked fascination, as the new man accepted Duo's embrace, and then returned it, wrapping his arms around Duo and kissing the braided man.
"Of *course* he's going to be okay!" a blond man was saying, gaining Jake's attention. He felt another start when he saw the blond man leaning up against another man--at least he *thought* it was a man, though he really couldn't be sure considering that he couldn't see half his face and his body was hidden by the blond's. "He's a gun--"
"Duo, who's your friend?" the taller man--yes, it was a man--asked suddenly, cutting off whatever the blond was about to say.
"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" Duo jumped in a fashion that was completely new to Jake who'd only seen the man when he was all serious and grownup-like. "Guys, this is Jake Mazzolla. Jake, these are my friends. That's Trowa, Quatre. This is Heero, and you just missed Wufei, but you can meet him later."
He pointed to each young man in turn, and each young man nodded to Jake, a small smile playing over the weird-haired guy's half-hidden face, a genuine smile beaming from the blond, and a--a--was that a scowl? Jake swallowed, turning shocked eyes towards the man who had... "rescued" him from the L2 colony.
"You're gay..."
If possible, the braided-man's smile brightened. "See! Told ja he was a smart kid!"
She lay back in the bed, her companion's body warm and comforting against hers. A hand played in her hair, smoothing, curling, smoothing again.
"You're worried," a voice said calmly.
"Hai." She shifted in the bed.
"I don't see why. It's not like this is something that's going to be difficult to handle. I mean--"
"It's not just..." she shook her head, her large chocolate eyes turning pleadingly towards her companion. Warm, grey eyes stared up at her. "I'm going to contact Heero tomorrow morning. Heero and Quatre."
Sally looked ready to say something, but then nodded. "Okay. I'll warn Doce so she'll be prepared."
Lady Une smiled, relieved. "Thank you," she said, nestling back down into her companion's arms.
"Anne," Sally said softly. "Are you sure?"
Lady Une nodded. "Yes. It is the right thing to do. I can feel it."
Sally was quiet for a moment, and then she hugged the woman in her arms tighter. "I trust your judgement," she whispered.
********** End of "Oh Baby, Baby" Part Eleven **********
Andrea Readwolf
Please send comments to: andrea_readwolf@hotmail.com