Notes: #...# indicates thoughts/thinking.
Interlude Part V
Duo leaned back making a contented noise. "Doesn't get much better then this, T-chan" he sighed, nuzzling Treize on his neck. "A roaring fire and champagne. You do know how to spoil a boy."
"You deserve it." Treize replied, slowly nibbling his way down Duo's body. They were both lying in front of a roaring fire in Treize's study. They had both decided that an audience wasn't something that they wanted to put up with, so they decided to spend the night out here. Duo had shown up prompting Treize to build a fire and ignore his duties. He would much rather feed strawberries and champagne to Duo then do reports. It had taken very little coaxing to get the boy naked and curled up on the rug. Treize started to feed him strawberries, popping them into his mouth, between kisses and sips of champagne. Both were of them slightly tipsy and it was getting harder to ignore their desire. Duo had started to glow with the amount of alcohol that he had imbibed and was getting a mischievous look on his face. He was randomly giggling and having a hard time finding Treize's mouth to feed him strawberries. After a while he gave up, lying back on the rug and making kissing noises at Treize.
"See, see, see" he complained, stabbing a finger at Treize. "I'm gettin' too silly for words. Good thing that you got to know me before this happened. You might think that I'm an idiot."
"I would never think that you are an idiot, Duo," Treize murmured at him, teasing his lips with a strawberry. Duo giggled some more as Treize played with him, not letting Duo get a bite before stroking it over his lips or nose or nipples or any of the hundreds of ticklish places Duo seemed to have sprouted with drinking the champagne. Treize was sorry when he ran out of strawberries, was contemplating what else he had in his cupboard to feed Duo, just to keep that look on his face.
"T-chan, what's wrong?" Duo asked in slurred voice.
"I am regretting the fact that we've run out of strawberries and there is nothing else in my cupboard, freezer or refrigerator to feed you, that goes with champagne."
"Told you that you should keep more stuff on hand." Duo teased him.
"I'm just going to have to make do with the champagne," Treize said regretfully. "Have I informed you that it isn't as sweet as your skin? Or that the strawberries pale in comparison to the taste of your lips?"
Duo stopped giggling and leaned up to capture Treize's mouth in a fierce kiss. "Nothing in the Universe compares to you, T-chan." he said simply and breathlessly. "I wish that I could compare you to a summer's day and all that but all I can say is that you are priceless to me. You have given me back things that no one else could have."
Treize, buried his head in Duo's chest, moved to speechlessness by Duo's simple declaration. In the past friends and lovers had traded quick-witted quips about love and the depth of their feelings. Duo made that all fade into nothingness with his simple words, because Treize knew how much they had cost him and how much he had relaxed the guard around his heart so that it could happen.
Treize leaned down and started tickling and kissing his way down Duo's body, enjoying the noises that he wrung from him, not letting Duo kiss back, slowly tormenting him. He frowned slightly when he realized how prominent the hip bone that he was nibbling on was. Treize, put that worry aside, concentrating on making Duo moan. He could always scold him about his eating habits later.
Duo shifted underneath him, becoming aggressive again to have his mouth start it's own exploration of Treize's body. Treize forgot to think as Duo managed to find every sensitive spot on his body, with his mouth and hands. He thought that he was going to explode before Duo at last stopped teasing him and allowed Treize to enter his body slowly, whimpering as each inch filled him.
"Ah T-chan," he moaned, "You do know how to make me forget..."
Treize started to gently rock at that, enjoying the small gasps that his movements caused. As his rocking turned into gentle thrusts, he leaned down to kiss Duo, enjoying the broken words and sounds of pleasure that were coming out of his partner. He managed to hold off his own climax until Duo started to spasm uncontrollably beneath him, spraying both of them. He came a few moments later, enjoying the sight of a very dazed Duo underneath him. He rolled to the side, to avoid crushing his partner beneath him. With the amount of weight that he noticed the boy had lost, Duo looked more feyish then ever.
"If I could make you eat, I would be happier" Treize sighed. "You weren't too heavy to begin with, you're all skin and bones now. I swear you've dropped kilos since we've started our affaire d'amour. How are you going to overthrow my evil, oppressive government if you don't eat?" He punctured his words with kisses, enjoying the small contented sounds that Duo was making.
"You forgot hair, T-chan" was Duo's sleepily reply next to him as he curled around the other man, spreading it over the two of them like a blanket. #T-chan, you are a romantic at heart. And I think that you didn't just capture my heart, but my soul with your kindness.#
"And what glorious hair it is my sweet, but I wish that there was more of you to hold it up." he purred, kissing Duo gently. #Not that I don't like what I see, you've gotten some life back into you, but at the cost of something else. You're too fragile. One good hit in Shinigami and you're going break.#
"Me too, I want a growth spurt like you dream about." Duo murmured. #To be able to look at an adult straight in the eye would be a dream come true.#
"Eating is needed for that" Treize scolded. "When I was your age, I inhaled food. You don't seem to eat anymore" #And when I was your age I was in the Academy. I wasn't a terrorist on the run half the time. Is it nerves or something else that is making you fade away. Are you ghosts robbing you of food as well as sleep? All you need is wings and you'd look like one of the fairies from ‘A Midsummer's Night Dream.'#
"..." was the only reply that he got, as Duo slipped into sleep next to him. Treize dozed, holding Duo, enjoying the feel of the other in his arms. He wondered if Duo would ever believe him if he told him that it was the quiet times like these that he treasured with Duo.
Treize chuckled at the expression he imagined on his face, he would be torn between wonder and cynicism. Wonder that anyone would think that cuddling out weighed sex and cynical that someone actually wanted to cuddle him. Duo still didn't believe that he deserved to be loved. Duo murmured and stirred at this sound, but fell back to sleep when Treize stroked his back. Treize frowned when he felt how prominent Duo's ribs and spine were. The boy was wasting away to nothing. He definitely was going to start insisting that he eat more. He thought he knew why Duo wasn't eating, but he was still going to scold him. For a person that admitted he adored any kind of food, not eating was a bad sign. And it might be getting very bad if food was something that Duo wasn't enjoying any more.
Both of them were jerked back to awareness by the sound of quiet footsteps in the office.
"Une?" Duo mouthed, blinking the sleep out of his eyes, his adrenal glands kicking him awake. And she wouldn't have barged in unless it was an emergency, and she would have called first. He couldn't think of anyone else that would walk into T-chan's private rooms without being summoned. Not even those creeps from the Romafeller Foundation. This might be very bad.
Treize shook his head no. Duo stood to reach for his gun, when the door to the study swung open and Wufei entered the room.
"Treize Khushrenada I challenge...." Wufei's voice trailed off when he saw the state that his enemy was in. And who he was with.
"Maxwell! What are you doing here?" he exclaimed, starting to blush at the state of undress of the other two. #Gods,# Wufei thought, #I've never seen your hair down, I didn't realize that there was that much of it! Or how beautiful you actually are.#
"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you?" he growled, his embarrassment turning into anger. #I knew that you were an idiot Maxwell, but sleeping with the enemy General? Were you ever loyal to the colonies? #
Duo just stared at him. Treize stopped eyeing Wufei long enough to turn to see how his lover was reacting to being found out by his fellow pilot. He was alarmed to see all the color drain from Duo's face, as he just stared at Wufei. Treize barely had time to catch him before Duo collapsed into a heap. Treize ignored Wufei as he carried Duo to the couch and pulled an afghan over him. He started rubbing his hands, worried at how cold the boy felt. He didn't feel that cold a minute ago.
"Wufei I am not ignoring you, but I feel that this requires my attention more. Also you're not going to stab me in the back" Treize called over his shoulder distractedly.
"How long?" was all Wufei said, before sitting down and sheathing his sword. #Fainting is not what I expected out of Maxwell as a reaction, what is going on? #
There very little else that he could do. He was dependent on Khushendra's good graces not to call his guards. Not that he had to worry about that really, explaining Duo might be a problem for the man. If he was actually trying to keep this affair or whatever it was he had stumbled upon, a secret from his staff.
"You can discuss that later. Right now I more worried about his collapse. He hasn't been eating lately has he?" Treize asked.
"I haven't noticed." Wufei replied stiffly. His tone softened, "I really haven't been paying attention. He shows up for meals, he looks like he's eating, but it could be like his fighting style, all illusion and misdirection. He's a really good actor if this affair has been going on for a while and we didn't know about it. Quatre's been worried, but..." his voice trailed off as he shrugged. "Quatre worries." #Quatre should if this is one of the things that had been keeping him occupied over the last months. Maxwell never had been around much, and no one really is close to him. The fact that he is the fifth wheel doesn't help. We just thought that he wasn' t interested.#
"A result of so many sisters, probably." Treize replied absentmindedly, happy to see Duo's eyelashes flutter. He had never seen Duo so pale, no matter how many times he had shown up injured in his bedroom.
"How did you...?" Wufei asked, slightly stunned. #What has Maxwell told him? Can I kill the both of them now? It wouldn't be honorable, but it would be safer.#
"Wufei, with the exception of Duo and Trowa, I probably have enough information on you all to tell when you started to walk. And what you had for breakfast yesterday. And none of it was supplied by Duo" Treize replied, seeing the train of thought that Wufei was contemplating. It wasn't hard, but he didn't want to have to hurt the other pilot if his sense of self preservation outweighed his sense of justice. Thankfully Wufei was willing to get some answers before he killed them.
"Ah" was Wufei's only comment as he started to see Duo stir and moan, then sit up. He blinked his eyes, looking at Wufei. #I can wait. It's not like they are going anywhere. And if I was in danger, Treize would be calling his staff, not hovering over Maxwell.#
"I guess the jig is up T-chan?" Duo asked softly, starting to shiver. "All of a sudden it's cold in here."
He folded in on himself, wrapping the afghan around him. Treize started to rub his body though it, his eyes dark with worry.
"You're in shock." Wufei observed. #T-chan, General Khushenada allows Duo to call him T-chan? How long has this been going on?# was the thought that was going through his mind.
"Oh. Wufei, whatcha going to do with me?" Duo asked, looking at his fellow pilot with huge eyes. He couldn't think. They had finally been found out, Une didn't count in his mind. That had been like you sister catching you, not someone who thought that you were supposed to be some place else tonight. The cat was out of the bag, the game is a foot and a dozen of other stupid similes that popped into his mind. What passed as thought soon turned into the buzz of white noise. All he could do was gape at Wufei and react to whatever he threw at him.
Wufei could see why Treize was worried about Duo. His eyes dominated his face and Wufei noticed for the first time how stretched the skin seemed over his bones. Duo was starting to look translucent. And he just wondered how long that problem had been going on, because he had thought that was Duo's normal look. He had never been too heavy, but now Duo looked like he was skeletal.
"After you pull yourself together, I am taking you back to our safe house and we will discuss things from there. Or I can administer justice to you here, but I assume that the general will object to that?"
"Damn right!" Treize growled, glaring at Wufei. #I will kill you, honor or not because if you think that I will let you harm him, you are mistaken.#
"T-chan, he has every right to kill me, we are supposed to be tryin' to kill each other not kissing each other" Duo protested, freeing one arm to hug Treize and try and stop him from killing Wufei. #T-chan, you do not want an enraged Heero Yui on your ass. And he would kill you, because that would be the last straw after New Edwards.# was Duo's quick thought before, finishing his sentence. "Wufei, under my pile of clothes is my gun. Take it. I'll go back with you peacefully. I just want to take a shower. And don't panic when I grab my clothes. I'll kick the gun over to the side."
"I'll let you do that, so long as you promise you won't do anything stupid in there." Wufei said soberly, worried that he was going to top this stupidity with something worse.
"I promise." Duo said. "Why are you going to believe me though?"
"Because, you never really lied about your activities, you just never stayed around or shut up long enough for us to ask you about them. Not that we really paid attention to you, you were good at disappearing at the right time." Wufei said seriously. "And you better start you shower now, it's a long ride back."
"Okay, Wufei" Duo said meekly, standing up to shuffle to the bathroom, grabbing his clothes on the way by. Treize followed him with worried eyes, barely restraining himself from helping Duo into the bathroom when he saw how shaky he was.
Wufei retrieved Duo's gun and stuck it in his pants. He was relieved when Treize pulled on a pair of pants and sat down opposite him.
"Would you like something to drink while you're waiting for Duo?" Treize offered.
"No thank you." Wufei replied eyeing the champagne bottle.
"No, no not that," Treize protested, " you have to drive. I have juice and tonic if you want some."
"Juice would be good" Wufei said, feeling that he should respond to Treize's kindness. #The perfect host, even the person that was dragging his lover off to what might be his death.# Wufei thought sarcastically.
He felt like he had woken from a very strange dream, given the surrealistic air this encounter had taken on. By this time he thought that he would have either beaten Treize or have been beaten by him in their sword fight. He never thought that he would be bringing Duo back to their safe house to be judged by the rest of the pilots.
Wufei noticed that Treize wasn't as calm as he appeared by the slight tremors in the other man's hands as he handed him his glass.
"You're worried about him?" Wufei asked in astonishment. Then mentally kicked himself. This had been going on for a while if Duo was acting as familiar as he did with Kushrendra. There was an ease between the two of them that spoke of a long time relationship. And affection, he couldn't think of anyone that he knew that would ignore his enemy to worry about his lover. May be Quatre, but he had gotten tougher over the last few months. He might sacrifice Trowa if he had to. And then quietly kill himself to join him. He and Heero knew that to each other the other was expendable if the orders required them to be. No regrets would be had by either of them.
"While I expected this to happen someday and Duo expected this to happen someday, the happening is still is a surprise. You have a tendency to shoot first and ask questions later with your group. I am not too hopeful that he' s going to get out of this without some damage. Or the rest of you" he said quietly. #Because Duo would rather be tortured then tell you what he's been doing. And why. I have a sneaking suspicion Wufei, that even you have no idea how much he has been hiding from you about your controllers. And you usually have the best intelligence about what is going on.#
Treize sighed, his eyes distant, remembering past encounters with Duo . Wufei could see the confidence slowly leave the man sitting opposite him, as he continued, "So I am going to worry about him. Would you believe that we never discussed anything that had to do with the rest of you or the war, except for one night? I love him and he's fond of me, I hope."
Treize frowned at the memory. It was the night that Duo told him why he was really in his bed. Duo's honesty about his reasons for starting this affair, not his superiors. The one night that Treize realized how hag-ridden Duo was under his teasing eyes and quick laugh. The night that Treize realized that Duo had become very important to him. Duo someday might tell him that he loved him, but he'd settle for what he could get.
"If he doesn't love you what is he doing here?" Wufei asked, bewilderment evident in his face.
"T-chan, you talk too much" Duo said loudly, walking out of the bathroom and toweling off his hair. Treize was both relived that he was dressed and disappointed. He really didn't want to see how much weight Duo had lost, but would have liked Wufei to notice it.
"Let me do that for you, Duo" Treize said, grabbing a brush and walking over to him.
"T-chan..." Duo protested.
"If you want to get out of here before Lady Une calls me for breakfast, you better let me brush out your hair." Treize said. "I don't think she would appreciate the two of you here. She might think that I was getting greedy."
"Take your time," Wufei said softly, blushing. He didn't want to get caught by that woman at anytime, "I don't want to..." he trailed off trying to not sound too frightened of a mere woman, even if it was Lady Une. And she knew about Duo? What were her reasons for not turning him or Khushrendra into the Romafellers? Was she waiting for the right moment? Or was she so devoted to Khushrendra that she was willing to overlook his relationship with the enemy? And who else among his staff knew Duo was here? Questions, too many of them were passing through his mind as he waited for Duo to be able to leave.
"Thank you" Treize said softly before starting to work on Duo's hair.
Wufei was astonished at the care that Treize showed with it. Wufei vaguely wished that Heero would do that for him once in a while, even though such a wish was weak. He saw how much pleasure Duo was getting out of it and how much he had relaxed. It was a shame to disturb him, but they did have to go. Heero would be not worried, exactly, but something, hopefully, if he didn't get back in time. Just how he was going to explain this to the rest of the group, he wasn't going to even start thinking about yet.
"Duo," Wufei started, causing the other boy's head to jerk up from its study of the rug , "How did you get here?"
"Bike...woods" Duo mumbled, tensing up again, turning those huge blank eyes at him. Wufei was willing to say that Duo was still in shock, for all that he appeared to be functioning.
"I will follow you back, it's going to be getting light out soon. And you have few minutes to say your good byes." Wufei said as he turned and walked into the other room.
He really didn't want to intrude on their privacy. He could hear the murmur of their voices, but couldn't understand the soft tone of their words. He knew that neither one of them was going to do anything to harm him, even if he couldn't hear what they were saying to each other.
"Duo," Treize started softly, "You don't have to go back. Stay here. You can go back to the cabin. You'll be safe."
Duo smiled at that remark. It wasn't his usual devilish grin, but something more real, something very sad. "No I came to Earth to fight for the freedom of the colonies. That we finally got caught at this, well we both knew that this wasn't gonna be like a forever thing, T-chan." Duo's tone was wistful before it hardened. They had hoped, but.... "Just don't let your guard down again. And be nice to whoever my replacement is, okay? And let ‘Neechan give you some TLC, she's not a bad person, just a little psychotic. I should know, I am living with enough of them"
#I'm too scared to admit what you mean to me T-chan, but it was worth it for me, whatever happens. Duo thought. ‘And if I get out of your life before my luck catches up to me, I will be very happy that you live to be an old, old man even if I never get to see you again. Because I love you with all my heart and that is usually a death sentence.#
Duo stepped into Treize's arms and hugged him tight. They rocked back and forth for a few minutes before Duo reluctantly broke contact with the older man. He leaned up to give Treize a kiss good bye and walked out of the room very fast before he could change his mind. Treize bit his lip until it was bleeding, to control the impulse of grabbing Duo and carrying him forcibly off to that quiet cabin in the woods that only they knew about.
"Come on Wufie, time to leave." Duo said quietly as he walked into the other room and passed his fellow pilot. They quickly climbed down the outside of Treize's apartment and faded off into the woods. Wufie was looked back once, and was startled to see the Treize was standing at the window, clutching the drapes and staring off into the distance, watching them go.
Duo didn't say anything as they made their way back to where he had hidden his bike. Wufei was sure that he hadn't looked back.
Treize went to his desk and sat down. Une found him sitting there hours later, staring at nothing.
"Treize-sama?" She asked cautiously, concerned over his half dressed state and the emptiness in his eyes.
"He's gone." was his bleak reply.
"Duo-kun?" Une asked, frowning. Nothing would have pried the Gundam pilot away from Treize-sama. The little minx would never admit it, but he did love the general. Which was the only reason that she allowed things to go on as long as they had. And he managed to worm his way past her defenses. Treize wouldn't look this depressed if he had voluntarily sent the boy away. Something must have happened.
"Chang Wufei walked in on us. Duo left with him. The other pilots...." Treize voice trailed off at that. He had no idea what would happen. Duo didn't either. And if he was confident about the outcome of this meeting, he would have said something, so that he wouldn't worry. Duo never wanted him to worry him, dangerous as some of the things that he did were. Duo realized that they may kill each other in this war, but before that happened he didn' t want to cause Treize any extra apprehension about what he was doing.
Treize sat at his desk and stared at nothing, contemplating the long nights ahead until heard something about his lover.
Duo walked into the safe house, ahead of Wufei and with his hands laced over his head. Heero raised an eyebrow to this display, but said nothing. Duo stared at the ceiling as the other two greet each other. It wasn't that he was embarrassed, but they did deserve some privacy. Watching Heero's eyes soften as he brushed the other pilot's cheek with his fingertips was not something that he wanted to see, anyhow. Not the way he was feeling right now.
He knew in the back of his mind that it wouldn't last forever, but he had hoped that his fellow pilots would never find out what he had been doing. That he would be dead before they found out. There was too much about his past that he didn't want to tell to them.
He also didn't want to destroy the last of their illusions. He really didn't want to show them how dirty their superiors were willing to fight. Trowa was about the only person that he thought might understand, but he wasn't too sure about that anymore. Love got you all stupid and mushy, he was a prime example of that right now. Watching another piece of innocence go out of their soul was not what he wanted to do. If they killed him...well he really didn't care anymore.
He stopped believing that they were replacing a corrupt government with a shining new hope, when he was ordered to spread his legs for Treize. That it had turned out the way it did, didn't matter. He would have still had to have continued that relationship even if Treize was torturing him nightly, if those bastards thought it was to their advantage. But the rest of them still believed. And he wasn't taking that away from them.
It had become harder and harder to split his time between being a Gundam pilot, an assassin and Treize's paramour. He was tired, emotionally drained and didn't give a flying fuck anymore, about anything, including his own life. Dr. G would be proud, he finally broke him. He got his own emotionless killer.
"How did it go?" Heero asked Wufei. "And what is he doing here? I thought that he had something to do tonight."
"He did," Wufei sighed. "That is a problem that we have to discuss with Quatre and Trowa. Could you wake them up?"
"Why?" Heero asked suspiciously and then grabbed at his gun when he mentally added up all the pieces. Wufei went to see Treize Khushendra. Wufei returns with Duo, who is acting like a prisoner. Duo did something that might have betrayed them. Shoot Duo.
Duo sat down heavily, really not caring that Heero wanted to shoot him. The joke would be on them when they got their next set of orders. Would Heero shoot Dr. J for ordering his lover into someone else's bed? That would be interesting to see.
"I'll kill you." Heero threatened Duo.
"Forget that" Wufei counseled, "wake the other two, please"
Heero grunted and turned to follow Wufei's request, after handing him a mug of tea. Duo he ignored. Wufei sipped at his tea as Duo just stared at his hands on the table. In the heavy silence that filled the kitchen, Duo could hear the murmur of voices from the back of the house. After a few minutes, Trowa and Quatre filed in behind Heero. Quatre was yawning, but Trowa looked awake and suspicious as Heero did.
"Wufei?" Quatre piped up. "Why did you wake us up at dawn?" Another yawn split his face before he noticed Duo sitting at the table.
"Good morning Duo. I thought that you weren't going to be around for a few days?" Quatre asked innocently.
"Plans changed." Duo shrugged, not bothering to raise his eyes. Trowa frowned at this and glanced at Wufei for answers.
"We can't get information from a dead man Heero, put away your gun." Wufei said. Heero glared at him and then handed his lover his gun and went to stand on the other side of the room.
Quatre looked very confused and glanced at Trowa to see if he had any answers. Trowa shook his head. Okay no one knew what was going on. Why would Heero want to kill Duo, he wasn't teasing him?
"Wufei? Duo? Could either one of you explain why Heero just dragged us out of bed?" Trowa asked softly. He knew that they had walked into the middle of something and would like to know what his cue was supposed to be.
"Duo, do you want to explain things or should I?" Wufei asked.
"You"
Quatre frowned faintly at that. Duo had been quiet for a while. That in itself was a sign that something was wrong. Duo could drag out any subject into a conversation. He had the ability to talk about anything to fill the silences that stretched out between them at times. Combined with a peeved Heero and an upset Wufei, something had happened. Just what was going to take a long time to find out. No one seemed to want to talk about it.
Wufei sighed. Duo didn't seem to care how things came out. He had retreated someplace within himself and Wufei didn't think that he was going to leave there for a while. Wufei thought that the only thing keeping him at the kitchen table was the fact that he was too drained to move. The bare facts were probably the best way to go right now. If Duo wanted to add details, he would.
"I went to challenge Khushendra to a duel last night. It was a matter of honor on both sides. A continuation from New Edwards. I was there and found Duo with him already...in a" Wufei blushed, "compromising position."
Quatre and Trowa stared at Wufei, then Duo, who still hadn't raised his head.
"Duo?" Quatre asked his tone begging that it wasn't, "It is true?"
"Why would Wufei lie about something like that?" Duo asked tiredly. "Yes it happened. Why Wufei woke you all up about this was the need he had to deprive the rest of you of some sleep."
"Duo..." Heero growled.
"What Heero? Wufei dragged me back here to decide what is going to happen to me, instead of shooting me out of hand. Okay with that? You guys can have a discussion about what you want to do with me. Right now I don't care."
Quatre kept staring at Duo. He still hadn't lifted his head up and he just sounded so dead. Like Heero or Trowa when they had first met. Thinking back, Duo had been friendlier then, quick with a joke or to tease them. As Trowa and Heero had gotten more comfortable with life, for a lack of a better term, Duo had gotten more distant.
He was still good for a laugh and teased them, he just didn't hang around a lot with them any more. Meals had gotten to be the only time that they saw the other pilot, if they saw him. When he was with them, he spent a lot of time tinkering with Shinigami or hanging out in the kitchen flirting with the cook. He also went on a lot of short assignments and usually met them were they were supposed to be, if he had an assignment with them. Down time seemed to be a foreign concept to Duo. Quatre had thought that it had been because he didn't want to hang around with them because he was a fifth wheel, but something else had been going on.
"Duo," Wufei started gently, "how long have you been involved with the general?"
"Spring"
"That long..." breathed Quatre, mentally adding the time up. Spring, when he had found Heero and Wufei in a ‘compromising position'. He still blushed at that. And when he realized that Trowa and he had some connection to each other. And Duo was left out in the cold? Is that why he was with Khushendra? If so, Quatre expected something more from the other pilot then silence and indifference. Something wasn't adding up.
Heero twitched at Duo's reply and Wufei was very glad that he had given his gun away. If not Duo's brains would have been scattered all over the kitchen and they would never get to the bottom of what was going on. Treize had hinted at something on Duo's part, but Wufei couldn't figure out what. Was it love? Just sex? Boredom?
Duo wasn't going to say anything. Wufei was at a dead end to try and figure out motives, loyalties or anything else with the American pilot. There were pieces missing and he was trying to figure out what they were. He just lacked the experience to see them. He looked at Quatre, pleading with his eyes to have the other boy take over the questioning. He was much better at trying to figure out motives and emotions then anyone else here. Quatre stare back, his own expression confused. Quatre wasn't getting anything either off the facts that were known. And neither boy knew which questions to ask to get answers.
Silence filled the air as Wufei and Quatre tried to figure out what was going on. Heero didn't care, he was just waiting for orders on what to do, since he couldn't shoot the other pilot. Trowa as usual was keeping his own counsel and worrying about his lover. He could sense the emotional maelstrom that was going through Quatre.
Duo broke the stalemate by standing up. Heero made a move to stop him, but a small motion from Wufei held him in place.
"I'm going to sit with Shinigami'" Duo announced. "Come get me when you make up your minds"
"Can I assume that your promise to me still holds?" Wufei.
"Yes." Duo said softly. "I've already been stupid."
"You trust this bastard after you caught him?" Heero growled.
"I will point out to the rest of you that not telling us of his actions does not make him a traitor. While we do work together, on occasion, none of us have the same controller or mission objectives. We just never managed to ask him the right questions to get the information we needed. Since neither Quatre or I seem to be able to do that now, letting him sit with his Gundam is not going to hurt anything."
"Thanks Wufei" Duo mumbled as he stumbled out of the room.
Trowa frowned slightly as he went over the facts in his mind, only listening to Wufei and Quatre talk with half of his attention.
"Heero's right, how can you trust him?' Quatre asked. "What do we know about him? He doesn't talk about his past to any of us. I don't think that he would betray us, but it doesn't look good."
"Quatre, there is something going on that none of us know about." Wufei started, before Heero interrupted him, glaring at his lover.
"Like he's screwing the enemy? How much did he pass on to Treize? We should be moving now, our cover is blown."
"Heero our cover was blown long before today, Treize mentioned that he has enough information on us to find our when we started to walk." Wufei stated, a small frown wrinkling his face. "That's not it, he said he had information on me, Quatre and you. He couldn't find anything on Duo or a lot on Trowa."
"Hnn" Heero started, thinking.
Quatre flushed and snarled at Wufei, "Are you implying that Trowa..."
"No he isn't." Trowa spoke over Quatre's defense of him. "Duo and I have no records because we are war orphans. You all have had a family or someone that would take care of you. I had the Merc unit, which is all that he probably has records for. Duo I think had no one."
"And that means?" Heero growled.
"It means that I am going to talk to Duo, alone." Trowa answered. "He might open up to one person talking to him, instead of four trying to question him."
Trowa found Duo leaning against Shinigami, looking at nothing. "Why?" was the only question that he asked the other boy.
Duo shrugged. Trowa looked at him strangely. "Not answering is lying Duo." He challenged him quietly.
Duo flushed and sighed. Trowa had managed to hit the one thing that would get him to spill whatever he knew. And he would because Trowa looking at him with those green eyes knew that life was hard. Trowa had very few illusions left too. Most of them he had got from Quatre.
"Trowa, would you believe that they ordered me to?" Duo asked looking at Shinigami.
"What?" was the stunned response that he got. Trowa didn't know what answer he was expecting, but it wasn't this one.
"Orders Trowa and like a good little soldier I was supposed to follow them."
"Orders from who and why?"
"The why? Because controlling Khushendra meant that you controlled OZ, they thought. And he had just been betrayed by his lover and second, Zechs Mequisa. The bastard had wandered off to pull the Ambassador Peacecraft shit. He was vulnerable and ripe for the picking. So I was sent in by the mad five to seduce him and make sure that the Romafeller foundation didn't kill him or put their own bedwarmer in place, before our side wanted him dead. And if I didn't make him happy, the plan I overheard was that we would all be rotated through until he found what he wanted. I don't know if I was supposed to hear that or not. But I did and I screwed Kheshendra thoroughly, like the pro that I used to be." Trowa heard the disgust at himself in Duo's voice as he hugged his knees to his chest tighter. He still hadn't looked at Trowa.
"Treize must have been happy ‘cause he let me keep crawlin' into his bed. And he knew from the beginning that I was hoppin' in there because of orders, so he must have been more desperate then they thought. Or dumb. Or something. Someone on his staff is feeding our side his movements, because I always knew where he was. I banged him like clockwork every two weeks on the average because that's what they wanted me to do, ‘cause I was the bright shiny party treat that was there to distract him while someone else got the goods. The who? All our controllers. I think this was about the only thing those bastards ever agreed on."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Trowa asked quietly. He was disturbed about what Duo was telling him, but considering some of the experiences he had with his own controller, he would believe Duo. Even if this wasn't the Duo that he was used to. This stranger with his face seemed more real then the other Duo ever did.
"I didn't know you guys back then. I still don't really. It's more my fault then yours, I never made the effort. I didn't want you to hit by the Maxwell luck, there is enough risk in your lives." Duo's tone was wistful. "And the reason I was whoring on L2 was that I was in one the gangs that they have. You couldn't feed everybody enough with stealing, there wasn't that much to steal. And I watched out for the little ones. And I was with the Johns that meant one of them didn't have to do it so they could eat.
The situation really didn't change for me Trowa. Just moved location. I was trying to protect the rest of you from how immoral our controllers were willing to be to win this war. Wufei, Quatre, and even Heero are just so innocent about that and I want to keep it that way Trowa. Let them think that OZ is the only one that will play dirty. You lost your innocence probably about the same time I did."
"And how do I know that this isn't a story that you made up?"
Duo laughed bitterly. "You don't. It's a faith thing. Let me disappear for a month and see what happens. If nothing does you can kill me. But I think that within a week of my being reported MIA, one of you will get a coded message for a face to face meeting. And then they will drop the news on you."
"And if nothing happens?" Trowa asked, already guessing the answer.
"Then you get to kill me. I'll leave Shinigami behind. It'll make the Mad Five wash their hands of me faster. I kicked up such a fuss about flying, they won't think that I'd voluntarily leave him behind. Besides he's more valuable to them then I am. I'm locking down a few of the systems so you're going to have to hack into them. That should take a couple of days, if not longer. I'm going to complete the mission that I was supposed to do and then arrange for my death." Duo spoke offhandedly, like it didn't matter.
Trowa stared at him and then slowly nodded his head. "You've planned this for a while haven't you?"
"Not really," Duo admitted. "The program I had put in place early, just in case. And I managed to have a few accounts they don't know about that I drained off OZ, that will keep me going on the financial end. Everything else is off the cuff. I would like it if you didn't mention this to the others. If I'm wrong about matters, I don't want them to know what I was doing. Call me stupid, but I feel that it would be like kicking puppies to tell them this. I'd rather have them think it was a lark."
"And where will you be spending your time, after your mission?" Trowa asked.
"Boston. I'll be walking around Castle Island everyday about three. You can find there and tell me the results of my little experiment."
"Duo. You didn't have to come back here..." Trowa started.
"And what was I going to do?" Duo interrupted. "Shoot Wufei because I got caught? That wouldn't be right. Run and wait for the rest of you to catch up with me? I like being a Gundam pilot. I can't do that if I'm running from the rest of you. Hell not letting me pilot was one of the threats that they used to get me in bed with Kushrendra. You guys were the other."
Duo turned and looked Trowa straight in the face for the first time in their conversation. "No way should any of you have to put your ass on the line because I got ideas that I was suddenly above that and wasn't going to put out any more. Not after you all just found each other. Two weeks or less and one of you is going to get a message for a secret meeting. Unless things disintegrate politically. Then all bets are off."
Duo started to walk away, willing to leave everything behind for the mission. Trowa watched go back to the bike with calm eyes. Duo knew what he was doing. Explaining it to the rest would be the hard part, since he couldn 't tell them everything. Heero would be the only problem, but Wufei might be able to keep him calm. He had managed to keep Heero sane for the last few months, they were good for each other. And in few weeks Trowa knew who was going to get that message, he just hoped that their next target wasn't going to be too upset at his not telling them the whole truth.
Duo had climbed on top and was ready to leave when he stopped. "Trowa," he called back, "Be nice to Treize, he really is the innocent bystander in this whole affair. He gave me plenty of chances to walk away and I didn't. I got really stupid with this mess and it's catching up to me."
#You didn't get stupid, Duo. You just fell in love, odd as that seems. You had every right to. Our controllers just didn't have the right to throw you at someone as entertainment. And if they thought that you wouldn't, they were the stupid ones, but then they never saw us as human. And we were so involved with each other, we never saw how lonely you were.# Trowa thought.
End Part 6
Christine
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