26-Sep-2000
Category: Adventure, Action, Romance, Emotional Angst.
Pairing: 1x2, 3x4x5 (Combinations there of.)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, no money being made or sought just having fun in the
fanfiction sandbox.
NOTES: Hmm... not much to warn about this part. Maybe... umm... warning of one small blond having the attention span of a fruit fly? ::Grins:: The wonderful work of Bonne (bonnejeanne@yahoo.com) can be seen in Wufei and Heero. I can be held responsible for the actions of, handsome green eyes, the braided wonder, and the cute little blond!
Trowa stood just at the end of the bed, watching his two lovers, uncertain. He was poised and ready to grab Quatre, should the little blond attempt any more violence against Wufei but at the same time he didn't want to interfere with the young dragon's game.
Quatre sat on Wufei, awkwardly, his free arm drawn back and his body twisted, ready for flight. Expressive eyes were dark and focused with a hunter's gleam, slowly that gleam left his eyes and he blinked dumbly down at his lover.
"Wu... Wufei?" He asked breathlessly.
The Chinese boy looked at the *other attacker*. "Hey, I think he has me right where I want him, Trowa," he said.
Quatre looked quickly up at the other form. Trowa reached up and pulled off his hood, looking at Quatre quietly. The two stared at each other for a long time, till Trowa stepped forward and trailed, trembling fingers along Quatre's flushed cheekbones.
"Hello there, little one." He said softly, his green eyes bright with unspoken words and emotion.
Quatre looked back down at the grinning Wufei and up at Trowa, looking positively stunned.
Wufei reached and gently made tickling motions with his fingers across Quatre's midsection. "Earth to Quatre," he said.
Quatre eeped softly and jumped a little. Still looking between them as if he didn't believe they were there. Then he frowned at Wufei.
"I could have hurt you!"
Wufei looked back, his lips still slightly curved. "And I'd have been damn proud of you if you did," he said. "Sorry if you don't like it but part of doing what I do means testing you. It's not a job I leave to anyone else, koi, you should understand that."
Quatre frowned a little because he didn't like it. He didn't like hurting those he loved and his eyes went down quickly, fingers pressing gently along Wufei's lower abdomen where he'd hit him. Trowa stepped forward, reaching out and stroking his fingers tenderly through damp blond hair.
"Told you he'd be flustered." The green eyed boy spoke softly but with a gentle smile down at Wufei.
Reluctantly pulling his fingers away from Quatre's hair, Trowa went to the bathroom and grabbed a large fluffy towel. Bringing it back he wrapped the edges around Quatre's shoulders, he bent down to pick the little blond off the Chinese boy.
"The word you used was 'furious'." Wufei said dryly. He pouted - it was an obviously exaggerated expression not natural to his face but not unappealing. "Selfish. I liked him naked, wet and sitting on me."
Once Trowa had Quatre bundled up, he sat down, close to Wufei, his back against the bed as he tucked Quatre up in his arms. Rubbing his hands along the terry cloth to help dry and soothe the shivering body he looked over at Wufei with a wry little smile.
"Wait till he's over the shock, then he'll be furious." Trowa's little grin grew a bit at the pout, it looked... cute on the Chinese boy.
"Something to look forward to, then." Wufei said, sitting up and resuming a more customary expression. "You'd think he wasn't happy to see us," he added, still slightly teasing, in a serious, Wufei-type tone.
Trowa gave Wufei a warm, gentle little smile, then he laid his cheek on the top of the little blonde's head. He'd let Wufei tease Quatre and nudge him back on track in a moment. For now, Trowa himself needed to hold his little love and feel the slender graceful body filling his arms. Trowa took a slow breath, humming very gently as his hands stroked soothingly along bundled up limbs, then he stopped the motion so he could just wrap his hands around Quatre tightly, hiding his face in the damp blond hair.
Wufei got up, rolling his eyes slightly. "Guilt is a terrible thing," he said wryly. He walked into the bathroom and turned off the water, then came back, pulling out his communicator to let Heero and Duo know the 'test' was over and they now had the night off.
Trowa felt as if he could sit and hold Quatre forever. They had... some things to discuss but not right now. The Arabian was starting to squirm and Trowa grinned a little inwardly as he braced for what was about to happen.
Quatre's head popped the rest of the way out of the towel, hair all mused and twisted about his features as he looked around and glared indignantly up at Wufei.
"A test?? A test? Now?? You decide that *now* was a good time for a test?"
Trowa let Quatre go as the bundle of ire bounced to his feet, holding his towel around him like a cape. Completely oblivious, it would seem, to the fact that he was facing Wufei, buck naked.
Wufei tilted his head, his dark eyes sparkling with appreciation for the sight of the angry, naked blond. "Mmm hmmm," he assented. "Problem?"
Trowa stretched his long legs out to a comfortable spot, staying well below the line of fire.
Quatre's chin snapped up and those bright eyes burned up at Wufei. "Yes, yes I do have a problem with it!" Quatre arched his head a little, taking up the Master Quatre position, the towel hitting the floor as he braced his hands on his hips. "I do not need to be tested like some school boy and certainly not after a day of meetings."
Wufei nodded. "Objection noted. Your security chief feels differently. You could always terminate him."
Trowa looked at the little blonde's face then he slunk down just a little lower. Quatre looked positively furious. More to the point, he looked out flanked and furious. This was usually when the Arabian had been known to pull out some obscure slight from months ago and prove once and for all that he was the master at holding a grudge.
This time though... it didn't happen. Quatre's temper wound up. It was like a physical presence as his impotent anger rose and crested but instead of finding an outlet, it suddenly dissipated. Quatre broke the stance first and retreated from Wufei, sitting down on the desk chair and looking up at the dark eyed boy then to Trowa.
"Did you two, find out anything I should know about?" He asked. His tone calm and reasonable.
Wufei knelt beside his chair, taking his hand and holding it in a grip he could easily pull away from. "Before we talk about business, one thing," he said, looking up into those teal eyes.
Quatre made no move to free his hand. His eyes came to look at Wufei's face, searching the angles and planes closely as well as the expression. He gave a quick little grin. He couldn't stay angry at either of his lovers for long.
"Yes, koi?"
Wufei smiled slightly. "I knew when I took the job that I would eventually have to do things you wouldn't like. In fact Trowa likes to warn me every time I'm about to do something you won't like. I knew it would happen and I accepted it anyway. I knew that I would have to do them and then ask for your forgiveness. So now, I'm asking. Forgive me, please, Quatre Raberba Winner, for testing you. For choosing a time when you were tired and tense... because that is the best and perhaps only effective time for such a test. Forgive me for making you feel worried, and for being a position of hurting someone you love. Forgive me for the fear, if there was any. I regret the necessity."
Quatre didn't answer right away. He didn't give and automatic pat forgiveness without any thought behind it. Instead he watched dark eyes as Wufei spoke, letting the words sink into his conscious mind.
Trowa watched them both from where he sat at the foot of the bed. He wanted to go to them both, to make Quatre say the words but he held himself back, waiting.
"You will do this again... won't you?" Quatre asked softly.
Wufei looked back up at Quatre seriously, also giving his answer due consideration, "I don't know," he said finally. "It's possible."
Quatre nodded and his face took on a calm if slightly detached expression. "Then, you will be doing what you must to fulfill that role. I cannot fault or blame you for doing the best job you can do in a position that I myself asked you to take. There is no reason for you to ask for my forgiveness for doing your job Wufei."
Wufei nodded. "As your bodyguard, no. But as your lover, there is every reason, and I ask it. If you prefer not to, I can live with it. Not happily but I can. I'd rather have you alive and hating me than dead."
Quatre gave a little smile and this time, it was his turn to reach up and place his fingers on Wufei's lips. "I would be dead, inside if I hated you. I love you. So, as your lover... yes I am a wee annoyed that you choose now but yes, I do forgive you for the decision you made. Just because I was uncomfortable for a moment, does not negate the necessity of you doing what you did. You choose right Chang Wufei and I forgive my lover for scaring the hell out of me even as I thank my bodyguard for doing his job to assure both our safety."
Wufei smiled, allowing the relief to show in his eyes. He kissed Quatre's hand, then the wrist, then released it.
Quatre looked down at himself and blushed a little. "Mm, I think I'll get my slacks."
Trowa hid a little grin behind his hand as he stood up and sat down on the bed, watching the little blond get to his feet and pad back into the bathroom.
Wufei sighed in an exaggeratedly loud fashion, loud enough for Quatre to hear and then said, in a perfect imitation of Duo's voice, "Bummer."
Quatre chuckled but he still resurfaced with slacks on. Settling the zipper in place he leaned against the bathroom doorjamb, looking back and forth between the two young men. Trowa shifted a little under the regard and stood, walking to the picture window that dominated one wall of the room. A pale brow quirked but Quatre didn't say anything, looking back at Wufei instead, his expression curious.
"What did you two find out?"
Wufei tilted his head slightly. "A number of things," he said, not evading but thinking aloud. He glanced at Trowa, then looked at Quatre. "Some of the *most* interesting things I can't take any credit for... Heero Yuy has been a wealth of interesting intelligence. For example... I was not aware that Dorothy Catalonia and you were related...."
Quatre exhaled heavily. "I'd always sort of suspected... if you ever have the misfortune to meet Frecilia, you'd understand why. So, when Heero told my about my *visitor* I did a little family snooping and it would seem my family tree has a weed."
Quatre spoke softly and moved further into the room, back to the desk chair, which he settled on, pulling one bare foot up under his body. "Heero has been a busy boy."
Wufei nodded, looking at Quatre directly. "Yes. It's been very helpful to have someone of Heero's caliber a little closer to you than usual. I've also heard a rumor," he used the word with an ironic lifting of one eyebrow, " that Master Winner has recently been advocating the use of... let's say tactics which would not be considered strictly within the letter of the law... care to confirm or deny?"
Quatre smoothed one hand across his lips. Bright, jewel like eyes sparked for a moment. "Heero has been a wealth of information." He said quietly and then came smoothly to his feet. Watching them both in the reflection of the window, Trowa saw Quatre approach the glass and he dropped back to a shadowed chair in the corner of the room. His emerald eyes watched his blond lover closely, as if he were watching Quatre for the first time.
Quatre moved, as was becoming a habit, directly to the window. Looking out over the colony in which the night cycle was falling. "Disappointed?" He asked finally, tilting his head so he could see Wufei's face in the glass.
"Relieved," Wufei said simply.
Quatre turned slightly so he could look directly into Wufei's eyes. For a moment, the child was gone, wiped away by the man Quatre was becoming. Then he gave a little nod and looked back out the window. "I am, considering it amongst my options. As it was in the war, Relena Peacecraft is more then capable of battling within her convictions. I, however, know that sometimes, other means are called for."
Wufei nodded. He had not moved from the floor by the desk chair and sat easily, comfortable in that position. "Then I have hope that you won't be too ... disappointed when I confess that I have already made such a decision on my own behalf."
Quatre remained motionless for a long moment, then he turned about slowly, settling slim shoulders against the glass so he could face both Wufei and Trowa. He looked over at the quiet green eyed pilot and Trowa calmly returned the gaze. Quatre then looked back towards Wufei and he nodded slightly with a wry little grin coming to his lips.
"No, koi. I am not disappointed. You two are probably being more true in this then I am."
Wufei looked directly at the blond. "Each man determines his own justice," he said, in a clear, familiar tone. "What is true is determined by each. I did not wish to impose my justice on you, nor ask you to ratify it."
The little Arabian bowed his head slightly. " 'Each man determines his own justice'... I wish it were that easy Wufei. If I choose to do this with WEI, I put my people, unwittingly into the line of fire. Roger Mattes is no fool, he will fight fire with fire and neither of us will be able to publicly point at the other to stop it."
Quatre reached up and rubbed his hand across his face, ending with his palm pressed across his lip. "As I said... it is an option, one I have not discounted but I have not committed to it either."
Wufei stood up and went over to Quatre, looking down into his lover's eyes. " '...that easy..' " he quoted Quatre's earlier words. "Koi, it is never easy. There is one other thing to take into account. WEI's enemies are also the enemies of peace. That makes them mine, and Trowa's and Heero's... Duo's. You understand?"
Quatre closes his eyes for a moment, whispering. "I did not mean to trivialize your decision Wufei. I apologize if I did such." He opened his eyes and looked up into dark, beautiful eyes. "I know... I've spoken with Heero on this.. as I believe you know."Quatre said with a little wry turn of his lips, " as he said, build up of weapons like this is a threat to peace and a threat to Relena and those who make up the governments under her. There are just so many variables that I keep, 'seeing' " Quatre made a flustered gesture with his hands. "Still, the answer remains the same, no matter how many times I look at it."
He had been looking at it. Over and over. Some parts of his nature still sang against the furthering of aggressive actions. A part of him struggled against matching aggression with aggression. On the other hand, the tactician in him kept laying out the facts and leaving him with very few choices.
Wufei smiled slightly. He saw Quatre's thoughts begin to circle, and said, "Yes, I have talked with Heero. In point of fact, I was... cussed out by Heero. It was a rather interesting experience... he says little, punctuated with glares, but the effect is quite.... bracing..."
Quatre's busy brain slammed to a halt. Wufei... cussed out by Heero?? Something in that equation did not compute! "You... got cussed out by Heero?" He asked in almost wondering awe, curious as a cat.
Wufei nodded. He smiled and touched Quatre's cheek gently. "He said... that the strain on you was too great. That I needed to 'get back here' and find some way of providing you with protection that didn't drive you crazy. Apparently he doesn't think that includes himself."
"Oh." Quatre's eyes fell away then and he looked down at the carpet, his expression ashamed. "I haven't been easy on him. I don't think I learned to understand in time." Then, very softly, "I wish he didn't feel that way."
Wufei watched the blonde's expressions. "Tell him so," he said softly. "He was very concerned about you. He said it wasn't fair that you be 'forced to deal with' something like himself. He doesn't want to kill your spirit." Wufei sighed softly. "I told him even he wasn't capable of that. Was I right?"
Quatre was frowning deeply now and if Wufei and Trowa weren't quick, the little blond was likely to dart right out the door and find himself a Yuy to talk to. In fact he was busy mentally tracking Heero. He paused in his mental mapping and looked up at Wufei.
"You were right... when you said I was afraid of my strength. I'm very, very afraid of who I'll become but I'm not letting this rule me." Quatre's eyes blazed up at Wufei, full of that fire and a touch of something else, a touch of the power that Wufei saw the night Quatre came to his bed.
"I need to talk to Heero."
Wufei tilted his head. He studied the blond. Then he glanced at Trowa.
Trowa was watching his lovers. He was silent, taking in everything that was said and processing it along with the body language. His sharp green eyes were on Quatre and there was a hint of... unease in Trowa's expression.
Wufei caught Trowa's eye, his look asking, 'let him go?'
Trowa gave a small nod. He knew Quatre, he knew Quatre wouldn't be able to truly focus on anything until he saw Heero. Trowa could feel the levels of distress coming off the little blond, it was like.. little vibrations along a spider's web.
Wufei simply found the closet and retrieved a shirt, tossing it at the blond.
Quatre slipped on the shirt, as an after thought, he didn't even think to button it up, instead he darted on bare feet towards the door before Trowa could throw shoes at him. Trowa sent a quick glance up towards the ceiling and sighed softly.
"He's harder to dress then a 2 year old, I swear." The words were said, softly but with obvious affection.
Wufei smiled and shrugged.
Quatre darted out the door and stood there for a moment. All right, hmm... if you were an off duty Yuy... where would you be? Quatre blinked, then blushed, yes.. well let's hope we didn't interrupt *that*. Turning on his heel, Quatre pattered silently along the carpeted hallway towards the next room.
Pausing, before knocking, he tried to discern if he'd be interrupting anything but the doors were pretty solid and he didn't know if Heero had sound dampeners on this room also. Finally he stepped back and knocked.
Resting against Duo's naked body, in a nice, relaxed state after making love once, and before beginning again, Heero heard the knock and went on full alert instantly.
He sat up, glancing at Duo who was laying on his back, gently stroking the dark, unruly hair of his lover when the knock came. Duo's body also automatically tensed though his violet eyes glared a little. They were supposed to be off duty damn it!
He shared a look with Heero. "You expecting trouble?"
Heero shook his head once and moved quickly, grabbing jeans... they happened to be Duo's which were closer... and pulling them on. Without bothering to zip up more than half way, he gabbed a gun and made it to the door in a couple of seconds.
The door had a viewer to show who was on the other side. He saw the small blond form and relaxed only fractionally. "It's Quatre," he called back to Duo in a low growl. Then he opened the door and grabbed the little blonde's arm, pulling him inside and closing the door.
Duo had pulled his gun free of the nightstand and had been halfway out of the bed when Heero spoke. Grumbling, Duo set the gun back in the drawer, muttering. "You'd think Trowa and Wufei would be keeping his cuteness *busy*"
Quatre eeped softly as he was dragged out of the hallway into the room. He looked at Heero; cobalt eyes blazing slightly, hair more mussed than usual... jeans half-zipped... gun in hand, the Japanese boy was quite the picture. Taking in his appearance as well as the unmistakable scents drifting about the room, Quatre blushed. His nerve wavered for a moment and all the pretty words he'd been practicing as he waited at the door, flitted away.
So, he stood there... looked at Heero for a long moment. Then, he took a step and bounced up into the air, landing on Heero in a full body *glomp*. Arms tight around the Japanese boy's shoulders and legs around his upper thighs and waist.
Heero's eyes widened in the split second as he saw the flying body and he was able to brace for the sudden weight. He found his nose and inch from Quatre's and his cobalt blue eyes had never been wider.
End Part 18
Laekin
Please send comments to: seregill@aol.com or bonnejeanne@yahoo.com