18-Feb-2001
Category: Shounen-ai, sap
Rating: PG
Pairings: Sorry gonna make you read it.
Warnings: Mildest Lime known to mankind, a little salty language, a possibly squicky moment (but it's a brief one)
Feedback: C&C
Notes: Don't know why this thing made an appearance. But there you have it. Sorry about not telling the pairing, but I want the story to just play out for you. Tell me what you think (good or bad).
'-- indicates thoughts --'
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters belongs to Bandai, Sunrise and Sotsu Agency and are only being used for non profit entertainment purposes.
Quatre grabbed Trowa's hand and smiled at him. "Okay, it is agreed. We will tell them after this mission."
Trowa nodded, "I don't know if that is the greatest idea though."
"Trowa, we can't be afraid anymore. They have to know. We'll deal with the consequences later," Quatre said hugging the taller boy. "So come on we have a war to win."
Trowa and Duo were on a mission in Brussels. Although the number of mobile suits were larger than these two pilots had faced on their own, it was relatively easy to defeat many of them. One Leo took a lucky shot at Heavyarms and the gundam mobile suit had a brief electrical fire inside the cockpit.
"Tro, you okay, man?" Duo said over the communications array.
"Had a small fire in here. It's out, I'm slightly injured," Trowa accessed looking about the cockpit.
"Injured? How bad?"
"Don't know I've been busy fighting suits to really look," Trowa said calmly as he fired another volley at the four suits coming at him. He destroyed three of them.
"Trowa, why don't you let me finish this. There aren't that many more left. You head for those woods over there. I'll send these guys a nice Molotov cocktail compliments of Shinigami and meet you there later. What do you say?" Duo asked.
"Duck."
"Excuse me?"
"Duck. Now," Trowa's voice said steadily as he fired straight into Deathscythe's path. Duo did get his suit to duck down and the ammo destroyed two mobile suits that had snuck behind Duo's suit.
Duo witnessed the destruction on his screen before yelling to Trowa, "Show off!"
Trowa smiled. "Okay, meet you in the woods then, since you have everything under control."
"Trowa, was that sarcasm? I don't appreciate that. I'll see you in a few minutes" Duo said before concentrating his attention on the remaining suits.
Trowa turned Heavyarms towards the woods and headed in. He tried not to wince as he piloted his suit into a clearing he felt was far enough away from the battlefield. He powered down his suit and chuckled to himself. 'Maybe we don't have to tell them anything.' His eyes felt heavy and he could do nothing but close them.
He felt a sharp sting of a slap on his face when Trowa's eyes finally opened.
"You're still with me, ne? Good! Where's your medkit Tro?" Duo's said with a forced good cheer. When he found Heavyarms and got inside the cockpit which looked like smouldering ruins, the lack of movement on Trowa's part frightened him for a minute. He was relieved when he found a pulse and gentle shaking didn't seem to wake the boy. So he slapped him. Extreme times calls for extreme measures.
Trowa still groggy said, "Itai! What are you trying to do kill me? My medkit is useless. Didn't have enough time to replenish it from our last mission."
"Good thing I have a working one then. Let's get you out of here and into some fresh air," Duo said as he unbuckled Trowa's harness and positioned himself under Trowa's arm.
"I'm not an invalid, I think I can walk--" Trowa said defensively taking a step away from Duo only to be overtaken by dizziness. He didn't fall but he almost did. "Hell."
Duo laughed before once again gathering the tall boy in order to help him walk out to the platform. "That was the best imitation of Heero Yuy, I've seen in a long time. Now let's go."
Trowa glared down at the boy, "Is that sarcasm?"
Duo looked up with laughing eyes. "You betcha."
Once outside, Duo led Trowa to a nice grassy patch. "Sit here. I'll get my medpack." Then he ran off to Deathscythe.
When Duo returned, Trowa asked, "Did you complete the mission?"
Duo shook his head, "Damn, you must have been out of it. You didn't hear that loud explosion? Yes, the mission is completed."
"Have you contacted the others?"
"Not yet. I wanted to see how you were first before giving a report," Duo said as he set up a lantern which brightened the area. It was nightfall by the time he got back to Trowa. Although accessing injuries in the dark wasn't something Duo wanted to do, he didn't think Trowa could make it over to Deathscythe. Not to mention the cockpit would have been too cramped to work on the boy anyway. "So let's see your injuries, ne? Where does it hurt?"
Trowa pointed to his rib cage.
Duo could guess that pretty easily since part of the boy's shirt seemed to be burnt away in that area. He picked up the lantern and aimed it to the singed area. Some of the skin was damaged and to make matters worse it looked like some of Trowa's sweater had melded with the skin. "We need to get this shirt off of you."
Trowa reached down to pull the shirt off. Duo stopped him. "Nah, man, that might hurt you to do it that way. Why don't I try this?" He said as he pulled out some scissors and began cutting away the sweater.
Trowa looked at Duo like he was crazy. "I think you watched too many medical dramas, growing up, ne?" He asked bemused as Duo continued cutting away at his shirt.
Duo never stopped but answered back, "Maybe."
The shirt was cut away except for the parts that were fused to Trowa's body. Duo with tender hands brought the lamp up close and pondered. "I'm not a burn expert, but I don't think this can stay like this. It will become infected. Trowa, I'm going to have to do something that you're going to hate. I'm going to pull this off. It will be quick, but I'm sure it will hurt like hell. I'm sorry."
Trowa could see that Duo was sorry he was going to hurt him. He looked down at his injury and blanched for a second. Then he looked back into Duo's eyes. He took a few deep breaths before saying to Duo, "Go ahead, I'm ready."
Duo wanted to asked if he was sure, but he knew that would only delay the inevitable. So he gathered the fused material, stared at Trowa and nodded his head. "On three. One. Two. Three!" he said as he yanked the material like one would quickly yank a band-aid from a sore.
The scream that the erupted from Trowa's lips was the loudest Duo had ever remembered hearing from the quiet boy. Then the boy fell into unconsciousness, which to Duo was a blessing. Once the boy was out he began working on the burns with salve and gauze dressing. Duo felt the bile rising in his throat, this was the grossest thing he'd every witnessed and had to work on. It was even more disturbing than watching Heero reset his broken leg. But he knew he had to do this. So he set about going to work.
Everyone had returned to the safe house in France, except Duo and Trowa. Heero searched through reports on his laptop looking to see if there was any news.
Quatre found Heero in his room on the laptop. "Any word?"
"No."
Quatre said, "I don't think we have to worry just yet. It may be something minor that's holding them up."
"Hn."
"Come get something to eat Heero. If we don't hear from them soon, they we'll map out a plan to look for them," Quatre said as he touched Heero's shoulder.
"Quatre--"
"Don't argue me with. You'll only lose," He said as he pulled Heero out of his chair and down the hall towards the kitchen.
Trowa awoke with a start, not sure where he was. The only light was coming from a lantern. He sat up quickly before wincing.
"Ah, so you're awake? Cool."
"Duo?" Trowa asked. He could hear the boy but didn't see him anywhere.
Duo walked up carrying wood to start a fire. "As much as I like the view, I figured you'd like to warm up some."
Trowa flushed. "Ah, you tell that to all the half-naked guys you see."
Duo laughed. "So true. You know me too well, Trowa."
"Have you contacted the others?"
"Nope."
"Your reason being?" Trowa asked with one eyebrow raised.
"I wanted to know you were alright first. We can do it now, if you want," Duo shrugged.
"They must be worried by now, don't you think?" Trowa asked.
"Quatre might be, the others could care less," Duo said.
"No, I think the others would be concerned as well, Duo," Trowa said getting up and wrapping his arms around himself. The night air was cold.
"Let me get the fire started first," Duo said noting the shiver from the taller boy.
"Why don't you just lend me one of your shirts? You wear two," Trowa stated.
Duo laughed, taking off the black shirt. "Okay, but I doubt it will fit."
"Do I look like I care?" Trowa said, as he took the shirt and put it on. Of course it didn't fit. The sleeves were too short and the buttons barely met but it was better than nothing. "Let's call the others."
They headed for Deathscythe together. Once inside, Duo fired up the communications array and added visual as well as audio then programmed the coordinates to the safe house.
Heero answered the call with Quatre and Wufei looking over his shoulder. "Report."
Duo smiled. "Hello to you too Heero. I see you're as talkative as ever!"
Trowa began the report. "Three times the amount of suits than we anticipated being here. My suit was hit and sustained some damage. But the mission was a success."
Quatre stared at Trowa for a second. "Why are you wearing Duo's shirt?"
Duo laughed, "Doesn't he look great in it? Well, Mr. Stoic here forgot to mention that he's injured and that I've patched him up. Not to mention that Heavyarms looks like a burnt out husk. We can head back, but I think Heavyarms needs to stay here. I don't know how he even managed to get it away from the battlefield in the condition it's in. We'll come back together in Deathscythe. Expect us in a few hours. Okay? Duo out." He broke the connection before he could hear the lecture he knew Heero was probably getting ready to give.
"Duo--" Heero managed to get out before communications were cut. "Baka."
Trowa stared at Duo. "What did you do that for?"
"Did you want to sit through a Heero Yuy lecture on responsibility and the need to keep our gundams hidden?" Duo asked.
"Are you so sure that's was going to be the next thing said?" Trowa smiled.
"Absolutely. I know what all you guys will do in almost any given moment. For instance, I'm positive that Heero has just called me a baka. Wufei snorted and called me something worse and Quatre sat wide-eyed before trying to calm everyone down," he shrugged.
"And what will I do next?" Trowa asked intrigued.
Duo thought for a second. "You'll probably argue with me that you can move Heavyarms and ..." he was interrupted by Trowa's lips on his.
When Trowa pulled back, Duo stared at him dumbfounded. The green eyed boy laughed. "Bet you didn't think I'd do that?"
Duo blinked. "Tr-Trowa? What was ..."
"And I've rendered you speechless too? That is something to write down on a calendar," Trowa smiled again before he kissed Duo once more. This time he was hoping for a response. Slowly he got one. Duo kissed him back but there was hesitance in the kiss.
"Did you hit your head Trowa?" Duo asked concerned.
Trowa laughed louder. "Gomen, Duo," Trowa said. "It's just something I've wanted to do for a long time now. No, my head is just fine."
"You wanted to do that? With me?" Duo asked not comprehending. "Why? What about Quatre?"
"Yes, I wanted to tell you of my feelings for a long time. But you were so close to Heero, I didn't dare. Quatre and I are friends," he said.
Duo looked at him incredulous. "Heero? What are you nuts? Who would be crazy enough to fall for Heero?"
Trowa laughed. "Quatre."
"Quatre, what?" Duo asked not understanding.
"Quatre has fallen for Heero. We were going to tell you both of our feelings. This isn't exactly how I had planned to do it, but better late than never," Trowa said.
"Quatre is crazier than I thought," Duo laughed, avoiding the intense stare of the tall, green-eyed boy. "Why now?"
"It wasn't something that just popped up out of the blue," Trowa said. He wanted to touch Duo but he was afraid. 'Maybe I shouldn't have said anything,' he mentally sighed. "But given all the close calls we've had of late, we decided maybe it was time to express what we feel before it's too late."
Duo sat in the chair of his cockpit lost in thought for a second. He looked up and saw the fear in Trowa's eyes. Without thinking he reached for Trowa's hand. "I'm sorry, Trowa. I'm just a little surprised that's all. You and Quatre have always been joined at the hip. I'm still trying to make out what's happening here." He saw the light in Trowa's fearful eyes go out.
"It's okay. Let's get back to the others. We never need to mention this again," Trowa said in an almost dead voice.
Duo mentally kicked himself for hurting Trowa twice in one night. The first time physically, now emotionally. "It's really cramped in here. You pilot Deathscythe and carry me in the mecha's hand."
"This is your suit. I should get the piggyback ride," Trowa said without emotion.
"Yes, but you're hurt. I know you can pilot. You did with Heavyarms and the cockpit is basically the same," Duo argued.
"If Heero could stand me carrying him in an injured state, I think I can withstand the same. Just try not to accidentally slam me into a tree," Trowa said as he got on the platform and headed for the ground.
Duo couldn't continue his argument because Trowa had fled. 'Shit!' He turned on the outside speakers. "Okay, you win. Are you ready?"
He could see on the visual Trowa nod his head. Deathscythe's hand laid open on the ground. Trowa stepped on and held onto the thumb of the mecha as the mechanical fingers closed delicately around the slender boy. "Comfy?" Duo asked. He could see the nod and lifted the hand up. They headed to the safe house.
The ride back was a quiet one. Not like you could have a conversation with someone outside of the suit that easily. So while Trowa tried not to look like he was freezing, Duo began to think in earnest about Trowa's confession. 'What do I feel for Trowa? Or any of them for that matter? I care for them all like brothers I've never had. I've had crushes on all of them for varying reasons. I just assumed Trowa and Quatre were a couple. They are always together. Friends? Trowa. I like him a lot. He's funny and not in that stupid clown way he should be in the circus. He has a quick wit and just plain fun. He's certainly beautiful to look at. This is war though, we shouldn't be spending time looking for someone to love, should we? Trowa does make a good point. At least everyone of us had been hurt lately. Maybe our luck will run out soon, why not take what you can get. Crap! I wish I hadn't hurt him just now. It was the last thing I wanted to do,' Duo mused.
He radioed ahead and told Heero to have a car waiting for them when they arrived. Then he stared at Trowa shivering in Deathscythe's hand and felt miserable for him.
Trowa knew he was probably turning blue from the cold but didn't care. 'I've made a fool of myself. I shouldn't have said anything. Now he's disgusted and no doubt trying to find a nice way to tell me to go away. Dammit Quatre! Why did I let you talk me into doing this? What's that expression, better to have loved and lost? What a damn stupid expression. It's not true at all. Better to keep your mouth shut and survive is a more fitting epithet.'
When they reached the storage area for the gundam, both boys could see the small truck waiting for them. Quatre waited as Duo lowered Deathscythe's hand to release Trowa. Quatre ran to the boy who crawled off the hand.
"Trowa? Are you okay?" Quatre asked, concerned.
"Yes."
"You're blue! Let me help you to the truck. I'll turn the heat on," Quatre said as he lent a supportive shoulder to the taller boy.
Duo watched the two as he powered down Deathscythe. 'Thank god it's a truck. I'll sit in the bed. I'll get spared the mean stares from Quatre.' He got out of Deathscythe and followed the pair. "Hey Quatre! I'll sit in the back, ne?"
Quatre stared at him, then at Trowa, before saying, "Okay."
On the three mile drive to the house, Quatre tried to talk to Trowa, but he wasn't being very communicative. "You told him, didn't you?" he finally asked.
Trowa stared straight ahead. "Yes. It was a mistake. Have you told Heero?"
Quatre shook his head. "Not yet. He was too worried about you two. And I refuse to believe it's a mistake, Trowa. Now he knows. Isn't that important?"
Trowa refused to answer.
Once at the house, Trowa with Quatre's help made it inside, where Heero quickly took over, checking Trowa's wounds. Duo slipped past everyone into his room. Everyone thought Heero was oblivious to Duo's departure until he asked, "What's wrong with Duo?"
Quatre didn't know how to answer the question. Trowa spoke up, "Nothing's wrong. He needs some time alone to think." Heero just nodded, not understanding, but also not really caring either.
Once Heero deemed that Trowa's wounds were dressed properly, he let the injured boy leave.
Trowa headed to his room, surprised to see Duo there. "Duo?"
Duo had been sitting on Trowa's bed and jumped up at the voice. "You were down there a long time. Is everything okay?"
Trowa nodded. "Heero commended your doctoring skills."
"Damn, you mean I missed an actual compliment from Heero?" Duo smiled.
Trowa wanted to smile back, but couldn't. "I'm afraid so. Was there something you wanted?" He asked as he walked over to a drawer to get an undershirt out. He was tired and the bed was calling to him.
Duo could sense the weary apprehension of the boy even if he couldn't see it in the tall boy's face in this darkened room. "I want to apologize to you for earlier."
Trowa struggled to get the undershirt on but was having difficulties. "For what? Having an honest opinion? You don't want me. That's fine. I'm fine. Get over it."
Duo walked over to the boy to help him get the undershirt on. "Don't be an idiot, Trowa. You have to admit your little announcement came out of the blue. At least to me."
Duo's closeness and gentle touch as he helped him dress made Trowa shiver. "I guess you're right. My timing left something to be desired. As long as you don't hate me, we can continue to be friends."
Duo took Trowa's hands to stop him from pulling away. "I don't hate you. No, I don't want to just be your friend. Let's try for more," he said as he inched up on his toes and kissed Trowa.
Trowa pulled away. "Don't play games with me, Duo. I don't want you to feel sorry for me."
Duo stared in disbelief as Trowa walked away from him. He wasn't going to take dismissal that easily. He tackled Trowa, their bodies landing on the bed.
"Ouch!" Trowa hissed in pain. "You are trying to kill me."
Duo turned the boy over and straddled his hips. "Gomen, but you know I never play games with people's emotions! How dare you insinuate that!" Then he leaned down and gently kissed Trowa again. He could feel Trowa slowly letting his defenses down some.
When he pulled back he could see Trowa's eyes were glazed and he was breathless. "Okay, I'm sorry. But ..."
Duo cut off the words with another kiss. This time his tongue darted between Trowa's lips seeking its slickened mate. Trowa's tongue met Duo's and a lazy war of dominance began. Trowa's hands began to pull Duo's white shirt from its tucked position to snake his hands under the shirt. Duo moaned as he felt Trowa's hands gently rubbing his back His own hands began to caress Trowa's sides as he gently rocked his hips into Trowa's. Trowa pulled away to gasp both in pleasure and in pain. Duo jumped off the boy. "Sorry Trowa. I kind of forgot about your ribs. I don't want to hurt you." As he began to back away, Trowa grabbed the retreating boy's hand.
"Don't go," Trowa said huskily. "You didn't hurt me."
"Liar!"
"Okay, it hurt a little, but I don't want you to go. We can just lie here together and do more interesting things at another time. Is that okay?" Trowa asked.
Duo laughed. "Well, I guess I was rushing things a bit. Yes, this will be fine." He stripped down to his boxers and got in the bed. Trowa with a little difficulty managed to shrug out of his tight jeans and joined Duo in the bed. Duo pulled him over to lie on the braided boy's chest. As he gently stroked Trowa's back, he said, "Mmm, this is nice."
Trowa stretched as much as his injury would allow him to before settling in to snuggle with Duo. "Yes, it is," he said sleepily. Within minutes both boys were asleep.
Heero glared at Quatre. "You seem to always know what's going on. What's wrong with Duo and Trowa?"
Quatre decided this was as good a time to get his feelings out as any. "Trowa told Duo that he cares for him. I gather the news wasn't met with enthusiasm."
Heero raised an eyebrow. "Nani? But I thought you and Trowa ..."
"Are just friends. I guess it may have looked like more, but it wasn't. My heart belongs to someone else as well," Quatre said.
"Who?" Heero asked curious. This made for an interesting development. Trowa and Quatre always were together.
Quatre moved as close to Heero as he dared before saying, "You."
"Nani?" Heero was completely puzzled. "Why me?"
"You are too strong for your own good Heero. You think you don't need anyone, but that's not true. We all need someone. I need you," Quatre said inching closer to the boy, drowning in the confused state of those dark Prussian blue eyes.
"Need me? For what? Quatre you're not making any sense at all," Heero said as he felt himself take a step back from the blond boy.
"I need you like the earth needs air. You can't imagine how much I've wanted to hold you when you were close to collapsing from the pressures of this war. Or how many times I wanted to see if I could make you smile. It's not just about desire, although I do desire you greatly. I want you to know I'll always been there when you need me. Even if you don't want me right now," Quatre said with a sad smile wanting to touch Heero. He didn't think Heero would let him.
Heero stared at him stunned. "Quatre, I..." 'I what? Don't love him? That's not true. Of all of the pilots, I've always cared for Quatre. I've admired the Arab's inner strength and marveled at how someone who looked so fragile could be so strong. I don't desire him? I don't know I've never let that emotion through.' He came to a decision and pulled the smaller boy towards him and clumsily kissed him.
Quatre accepted the kiss. He pulled back and smiled at Heero. "So I guess this isn't a rejection?"
Heero stared at the boy and warmed to the smile. "Not a rejection. But there's so much I don't know."
Quatre nodded. "I know. But we'll learn together, ne?"
Heero nodded and smiled while hugging the one he would allow into his heart.
OWARI
(:./babaca/extremes)
